Ho Dong Tien cave

Ho Dong Tien (Fairy Lake Cave) is one of the most beautiful caves on Halong Bay. It's famous for the beauty, geological and historical values.

Ho Dong Tien  cave is same as other caves if you just look at its gate from outside. Its entrance can be flooded up to one third when the tide rises. The Cave can be divided into three chambers and the way connecting them is very narrow that is big enough for only one person to go through at a time. It’s very dark in the middle of the cave so you need to bring torches in order to discover the cave and watch beautiful stalagmites and stalactites which are everywhere and make the cave become more special. Besides, we can see limestone lofts hanging on the wall, which are relics of geolical history of Halong Bay. They have been formed for thousands of year so scientists can do research and restore geological history of this area. It’s interestingly that there are small animals living inside the cave where there is no sunlight but nobody know how they can survive.

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Ho Dong Tien cave

The second chamber of the cave will lead you to a small close lake with shallow water. The lake was surrounded by lime-stone mountains, where fairies came here for bathing and sleeping according to legends of local residents. Thus, “Fairy Lake” was named for this cave by the locals. In fact, this special landscape has a special ecological environment which is the home of many endemic species.

It’s quite wet and dark inside the cave so the ground is slippery. In order to discover the whole cave, you need to wear nice shoes with a good grip on the ground. You can go to this cave either by kayaking or small boat rowing by the local people, it’s will be memorable experience in Halong Bay.

Ho Dong Tien is a nice place for celebrating your birthday and special events with your family, friends. The capacity can be around 15 – 20 people. There are some cruises and travel agents provide this services so don’t worry about how you can do that. Come to visit and feeling the special of Fairy Lake Cave.

Mountain Climbing in Halong Bay

Halong Bay cruise is one of the most majestic climbing areas of the world. There are over 3000 limestone islands in the Halong Bay region of Vietnam and we hardly scratched the surface in our two week quest to explore them. The area has several sport climbing routes and has vast potential for further development. It is unusual to spend an entire climbing trip on a boat, but then it is unusual to do over 40 new routes without using a rope.

All professional climbers coming to Halong agree that Halong bay is the paradise of adventurous mountain climbing as it has thousands of islands with high lime-stone mountains.  Tourist could see countless beautiful limestone faces. To enjoy this stunning archipelago of karsts you can try climbing Rock Mountain. If you never climb Rock Mountain, guides will guide some base skills and some notice during climbing time. After a brief introduction, guides will outfit you with safe and comfortable certified UIAA harnesses, shoes, and helmets.  With the coaching of our experienced guides, climb as high as you like over the emerald waters of Halong Bay.  On a clear day your cruise home will include a majestic sunset, over calm waters, speckled with islands.

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Tourists will excited to subdue high of mountain and reach true climbing experience.  From the high, tourist could obverse overview of Halong bay. There is no better way to enjoy Vietnam than getting high over the emerald waters rock climbing in Ha Long Bay. Rock climbing in Halong bay is the most unique and exciting way to make your trip to Ha Long Bay most memorable.

Mountain Climbing in Halong Bay

This activity is usually combined with kayaking to explore natural environment of Halong Bay. You can kayak into hidden lagoons, through limestone archways, grottoes, and floating villages. After that you will climb Rock Mountain to obverse overview clearly. Next, you could take part in activities: soak up the sun, sightseeing, swim, beach hop, and watch the wheeling black kites as they dive for fish.

Tips for safe dining of seafood in Halong

Halong, known as the world heritage city with thousands of caves and grottos, is also famous for its abundance of nutritious and delicious varieties of seafood like crab, prawn, fish, or sea-snail. Gourmets who come to Halong can hardy resist the taste of fresh seafood without the worry of gaining weight. However, there is always risk of food poisoning hidden in seafood. Below are some safety tips to avoid trouble with dining in Halong bay tours.

1. Avoid eating raw seafood in general

Raw seafood or unprocessed seafood may contain the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria which is harmful for the digestive system. Moreover, the bacteria can live under high temperature (more than 80oC). Although sushi and sashimi is very tempting, try not to eat too much, esepecially from the dubious dining places. Fresh seafood in Halong Bay

2. Never eat raw crab

Tips for safe dining of seafood in Halong

Inside unprocessed Ha Long’s crab is a very dangerous parasitic bacteria named lung fluke that may mess up your respiratory system with symptoms like lead to severe cough, coughing up blood, or even cerebral paralysis. It is highly recommended that crabs have to be fully cooked for at least 20-30 minutes. Travel to Halong with Vietnam tours

3. Seafood shopping tips

Buying your own seafood in a market to bring back to your hotel and ask the chefs to cook for you is a very enjoyable experience. However, remember to choose ones which are still alive and fresh, because dead sea-animals, especially one that has shells, contain much higher level of bacteria or poisons.

4. Avoid drinking excessive beer while eating seafood

Scientists say drinking beer while eating seafood increases the probability of having gout or arthritis disease. Therefore, it is recommended that you limit your alcohol consumption when being served seafood.

5. Avoid having fruits/tea after having seafood

The reason is that the acid inside sour fruits may negatively affect the process of absorbing protein from seafood into your body. Besides, tannin from fruits may react with calcium and protein from seafood to stimulate your digestive system that leads to stomach-ache and vomiting. Same thing happens if you drink tea after a seafood meal.