Cat Ba National Park

Cat Ba Island is one the popular attraction for traveler when they join Halong Bay tours. Usually tourist spend one night overnight on cruise and one night overnight in Cat Ba Hotel. Cat Ba island is one of the largest island, belong to Hai Phong city with an area of 280 km2, included Cat Ba National park, complex of beautiful bay, Cat Ba center town.
Cat Ba Island view from the peak of National Park

Cat Ba island has a variety of natural ecosystems with limestone, forest, beach, cave… Original Cat Ba is the place of fisherman. They live in Cat Ba town and floating villages around the island. Today Cat Ba become one of famous attraction for tourist.  Tourist arrive here and join many activities on the island: Trekking through Cat Ba National Park, Biking through village with mountain landscape, kayaking to explore the bay, swimming in natural beach… Vietnam travel
There three beaches in Cat Ba island: Cat Co beach I, Cat Co beach II, Cat Co beach III

Cat Ba National Park founded in 1986, covered an area of 98 km2 with 109 km2 of land area and 52 km2 of sea.  There are 1,561 species of flora from 186 families, 406 species of trees. There are 279 species of fauna, included 53 manual species. 160 bird species, 274 species of insect. There are 178 coral, 900 fish, especially Cat Ba island is a home land of langurs, it going to disappear in the world. Today there are only 68 langur in the National Park.

There are 68 langurs left in Cat Ba National park

Cat Ba National Park

Tourist is easy to get to Cat Ba island when they join Halong Bay tours. Halong Bay cruise will drop you in Gia Luan or Beo tourist wharf then take the shuttle bus to Cat Ba town. Optional from Hanoi ( 160 km to Cat Ba ) tourist will take bus and drive to Hai Phong (50 km to Cat Ba island )city then transferred by ferry to Cat Ba town ( not recommended for tourist, It take long time to get to Cat Ba island. Drive to Halong City then join boat trip to Cat Ba island. You will be enjoyable with Halong Bay view) Huong Hai Sealife Halong bay
Cat Ba National Park has various types of animals, trees, insect, fishes...

Cat Ba island welcome 350,000 tourists every year. There various type of services in Cat Ba island: hotel form 3 star hotel to 5 star hotel or resort in Cat Ba island, driving motor or biking to explore Cat Ba island, kayaking to explore the bay, drinking some beer in the bar, joining massage services. Food in Cat Ba is perfect with various of seafood.

Halong seafood

Visiting Ha Long Bay will provide you a chance to enjoy the beauty of one of World’s Natural Heritage but aside from this, you will also be impressed by a variety of tasty seafood that will melt even the hardest of appetites. It is said that seafood in Halong Bay cruise is more delicious than the other coastal places in Vietnam. This comment is true as many rock islands and coral reefs in Ha Long Ba provide nutrients to make seafood in the cliffs and coral reefs tasty and abundant in species. 5 places to enjoy seafood in Halong Bay

Counting on economic conditions and the convenience of the trip, you can try many ways to enjoy Halong seafood by yourself. Here is one way which most residents in Ha Long Bay usually enjoy and offer their guests.

Halong seafood

If you visit Ha Long, I can invite you to my house or a restaurant in Bai Chay, or visit  “snail supermarket” in Cai Dam or simply go around Ha Long for its well-known places like Huong Duyen restaurant in Tran Hung Dao Street or Cai Xa Cong in Ha Tu ward. You can even enjoy seafood on the tourist boats….. Some appetizers like hotpot an appealing and delicious way of enjoying seafood are also available for taste testing. Varieties of oysters, snails, crabs, squid, shrimp, fishes that are baked, boiled, fried or steamed will make your mouth watery. These kinds should be prepared in a moderate amount to enjoy many other local dishes. Next, some typical sour but inviting soups can be served like mussel or fish soup together and some other dishes like barnacle cooked with bamboo shoot, “Bong Thua” with kohlrabi, or squid or cuttlefish with celery leaves and fresh garlic are always available. Finally, rice can be enjoyed with a sunny fried mackerel. If you need vegetable dishes, water spinach or collard greens sauted with garlic are ready to serve. If hotpot is chosen, seafood choice relies on your favorite. Moreover, hotpot soup has the kind of sour taste   made from tamarind, star fruits, tomato and many kinds of green vegetables such as water spinach, broccoli, fresh onions, celery, cauliflower, tofu ….can be served. Rice noodles or instant noodles can be ordered at the end of meal. Visit Halong with Travel to Vietnam

One kind of drink that can be considered as a particular specialty of Ha Long is Ruou Ngan (a kind of local seafood like clam dipped in wine), which is quite suitable to serve with seafood. There are three ways of making Ruou Ngan; the first one is  shelling out 3 live intestines of Ngan and putting them into a big cup and then chopsticks in opposite directions are used with trashed hands to poke, hold down and hit until guts get soon crushed finely, dilate and turn into dark red. White wine is poured into it and a glass of fresh rosy wine suddenly appears in front of us. Another way to make, Ngan which is not too old or too young is to tie cleaned shells to boil, then shell out for putting 2 or 3 guts and their water into the cup, depending on drinkers’ taste. Wine is poured into it and chopsticks are used to gently poke two sides and make their liver bladder rupture. As a result, we can enjoy a light pink or bluish glass of wine depending on the way of cooking Ngan. The third way is putting from 3 to 5 bowels into a small aluminum pot, then pouring wine and boiling again. Finally, a hot drink is ready to serve.

Ruou Ngan tastes tangy and slightly salty when tried for the first time, but then its fragrance effuses at the tip of tongue and suddenly makes our body incredibly warm. This kind of alcohol can be addicted if used regularly.

Đôi điều cần biết khi sử dụng nhung hươu

nhung huou tuoi cũng như các loại thuốc bổ khác, mặc dù người già, phụ nữ, trẻ em, kể cả thanh niên trai tráng... đều có thể sử dụng được. Lộc nhung có thể tán thành bột, ngâm rượu, hoặc chế biến thành món ăn thuốc để trị liệu trong ôn thận tráng dương, sinh tinh dưỡng huyết, bổ tủy, kiện cốt... dùng thích hợp cho các bệnh gân cốt yếu ở người già, trẻ em chậm phát triển, đàn ông dương hư, di tinh, liệt dương, vô sinh, đau lưng, chân tay lạnh yếu, tử cung lạnh, vô sinh hay tử cung phát triển kém, công huyết bế kinh, thiếu máu nặng hoặc huyết áp thấp đều dùng tốt. Tuy vậy, cũng vẫn có những đối tượng như: những người âm hư phát nhiệt (hỏa vượng), hay người đang mắc các chứng viêm nhiễm, tăng huyết áp đều không sử dụng được lộc nhung.

Một số cách sử dụng nhung hươu thông thường

Bột nhung hươu: Tán nhỏ nhung hươu thành bột, mỗi ngày uống từ 1-3g, chia 3 lần, chiêu với nước ấm. Cách này có thể dùng cho mọi lứa tuổi.

Đôi điều cần biết khi sử dụng nhung hươu

Rượu nhung tươi: Lấy 20g nhung hươu thái lát ngâm vào 500ml rượu ngon, để trong 14 ngày là uống được. Mỗi lần uống 1 thìa cà phê, ngày uống 1-2 lần vào trước bữa ăn làm khai vị. Hết lại làm tiếp uống. Cách này chỉ phù hợp với người lớn và có thể uống rượu được. Nhung hươu được lấy từ những con huou giong chất lượng
Rượu nhung hươu sơn dược: Nhung hươu 30g, bỏ lông thái lát, bột sơn dược 30g, bỏ vào túi vải buộc lại thả vào bình rượu cùng lộc nhung. Để 7 ngày là dùng được. Mỗi ngày uống 3 thìa canh. Chữa liệt dương, người già đái đêm.

Rượu nhung tươi, trùng thảo: Nhung hươu 20g, đông trùng hạ thảo 90g, rượu ngon (40-50 độ) 1.500ml (một lít rưỡi). Các vị trên thái nhỏ cho vào bình rượu để trong 10 ngày gạn lấy rượu uống, ngày uống 20-30ml, dùng cho người đau lưng, mỏi gối, sợ lạnh, liệt dương... do thận dương hư suy, tinh huyết khuyết tổn sinh bệnh.

Trứng gà hấp nhung hươu: Lấy bột nhung hươu 0,5-1g, trứng gà 1 quả, cho bột nhung hươu vào trong trứng gà hấp chín, hằng ngày ăn vào buổi sáng sớm lúc bụng đói, cần ăn  15-20 ngày liền. Cách này tiện lợi cho trẻ con và người không biết uống rượu. Món này thích hợp sử dụng cho người huyết áp thấp, thể chất hư nhược, gầy gò, sợ lạnh, chân tay lanh, liệt dương, đái đêm...

Squid fishing on Halong Bay

Night Squid fishing in Halong Bay at night is an interesting activity at which tourists can experience the feeling of being a fisherman. Tourists will have the instruction from local fishermen about how to fish a squid in the sea.

Night Squid fishing is the most interesting activity and wonderful pleasure of the night journey on Halong Bay. Tourists are provided with fishing rods and racquets so that they can actively use them to catch squids. Tourists must be excited to clearly see light-drunken shoals of squids lazily hovering around; and, step by step each squid is enticed and picked up, remaining totally fresh and striving convulsively. Especially, during the squid season, it would be common to see large shoals of squids surrounding the cruiser and each tourist may catch an average of 30 squids for each squid fishing night. Read more: Map Halong bay

The squids caught will be used to make dishes for tourists. This is also an ideal time to gaze Halong bay by night. The sea water surface is sparkling with reflected light from cruises anchored on the bay. Foreign tourists are extremely fond of boiled whole squids because when eating, they can enjoy the interesting feeling of ink line breaking out pitch-black in the mouth, splashing all over the face and taking pictures. The tourists eat while singing Karaoke and dancing. In alcohol yeast, everyone becomes enthusiasm and excited singers and dancers. visit North Vietnam tours

Eco Tours Halong bay Where to go and What to do?

Halong Tours Booking introduces some eco-friendly activities in Halong bay - Catba area and a piece of knowlegde about Eco tourism. "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people."

1. Some eco tour products and activities in and around Halong bay:

Cycling tours: tour with main transportation is bicycle; You can join this activity in Cat Ba Island. In stead of taking a bus or car, you can contact us for a bike and ride to Halong bay. It is 170 km far and takes 7 hours in biking. Read more Halong bay map

Halong bay map

Homestay tours: Come to visit and stay with the local people; the homestay can be in Cat Ba island, in some fishing villages on Halong bay. with this tour you  can work on the farm with the real farmer or being a fisherman with local people on the bay. Homestay can be on the way from Hanoi to Halong bay. It is Dong Trieu Potery village. This place is suitable if you get to Halong bay from Hanoi by Bike.

Kayaking and rafting tour: tours with main activity is kayaking or rafting. Almost of overnight Halong tours with Cruise will offer this activity; Example: Alova Gold Cruise Halong tour 3 days 2 nights offers 1 full day to kayaking; This kayking day is to discover Halong bay in a quite area with main activities is kayaking and swimming. biking_in_catba

Charity tours: tour with the main purpose is help the local community or the disadvantaged people. The children who live on the floating villages on Halong bay need your help/ assistance of food, clothes, book, medicine...They have no money and bad traffic condition to join the shool. Please come to help them.

National park tours: Tours with the main destination is the national parks or natural reserves. In Halong bay area, we have 2 National Parks: Bai Tu Long National Park and Cat Ba National Park. You can book tour with Halongtoursbooking.com to join both those National Park to discover the natural heritage - Halong bay

Trekking tours: tour to the remote area with main activity is trekking or hiking; Trekking activities is very popular choice when you take a tour to Cat ba National Park.

Rock climbing tours: tour to the mountainous area and main activities is climbing. In Halong bay, you can take this tour for 3 days 2 nights - overnight in Cat Ba.
Example Itinerary can be:
Cat Ba Rock climbing in Monkey Island
Morning: Rock climbing
8:30am – 9:00am: Coastline ride into the small farming village of Lien Minh
9:00am – 9:30am: Basic instruction and introduction to Rock Climbing
9:30am – 12:30pm: Guided Rock Climbing in Butterfly Valley
12:30pm – 1:30pm: Delicious lunch on a bee farm with fresh local foods
1:30pm – 2:00pm: Return to Cat Ba TownChildren_on_Halong_bay

Community education tours: tourist and tour guides will conduct a short training for the local people about personal hygiene or language.

Camping tours: happened on the beach or in the Cat Ba national park; The camping can be on the deserted beach with double tent or at ready-set-up basecamp (also on beach) with bamboo hut depending on the weather condition and availability. Camping sites can be on Viet Hai Fishing Village or other suitable beaches around Cat Ba Island area. The crew (some people) from support boat will cook our dinner and make sure we have a comfortable night, dinner and overnight at the campsite.

2. What is Ecotourism?
The Definition
Ecotourism is defined as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." (TIES, 1990).
Conservation
Offering market-linked long-term solutions, ecotourism provides effective economic incentives for conserving and enhancing bio-cultural diversity and helps protect the natural and cultural heritage of our beautiful planet.

Communities
By increasing local capacity building and employment opportunities, ecotourism is an effective vehicle for empowering local communities around the world to fight against poverty and to achieve sustainable development.wwf_logo

Interpretation
With an emphasis on enriching personal experiences and environmental awareness through interpretation, ecotourism promotes greater understanding and appreciation for nature, local society, and culture.

Principles of Ecotourism
Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. This means that those who implement and participate in ecotourism activities should follow the following ecotourism principles:
Minimize impact.
Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
Provide direct financial benefits for conservation.
Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people.
Raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate.

Enjoy Lobsters When Visiting Halong Bay

When you are on your favourite Vietnam Tours and you think you have marvelled enough on the beauty of Halong Bay, then you have only satisfied one of your senses.

Of course the landscape, the emerald sea, the more or less 2000 limestone karst and the beautiful junk boat cruises leave nothing but beautiful visual memories. World travellers say that if you want classical music and refined culture you go to Prague, but if you want amazing wonders of nature you go to Halong Bay. This was a fact recognized worldwide as Halong Bay was officially named one of the Seven Wonders of the World in 2012. On top of that, since 1994, the bay was already listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But do you know that the perfect Halong Bay experience of your best Vietnam tours is more than what meets your eyes? V’spirit Cruise Halong

Once you reach Bai Chay City when your Vietnam Tours adventure brings you to Halong Bay it is recommended that you take a journey down gourmet lane as you take a sample of the city’s delicious seafood selections. All the seafood is fresh as they were ordered by the restaurant owners early in the morning directly from the boat of fisherman docking on the beach. This means you can be sure that the flavour of the sea is still not lost on the lobster that is going to be served to you. If you want the surest way to eating the freshest lobster, then go to restaurants that have lobster tanks where you can choose a live lobster to be cooked exclusively for you by the resident chef. You will enjoy a sumptuous meal of lobster cooked Vietnam style and this means that only fresh ingredients are used to cook your live lobster. Paradise Cruise

Enjoy Lobsters When Visiting Halong Bay

Once you have tasted the best lobster on your Vietnam Tours travel in Bai Chay City, it is time to enjoy your lobster to the next level. On Halong Bay’s biggest island, you will experience fine dining on board a floating restaurant. And what could be better than eating your favourite seafood on top of the bay that offers its own bounty. On Cat Ba Island, seafood is ordered from floating villages that have their own aquaculture. Residents of these floating houses tend lovingly their fish cages full time since it is attached to their house and that means only seafood of top quality is going to be served on your table.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to pack your plate and fork and be ready to enjoy lobsters in the very beautiful Halong Bay.

Hon Chong travel guide

Whatever the tourist brochures tell you, Hon Chong is not the Halong Bay tours of the south -- it is as simple as that.

A few rock pinnacles and limestone karsts do not a Ha Long make.

That doesn't mean that it isn't a worthwhile destination in its own right, however. A welcoming seaside village set on a rugged coastline, Hon Chong makes for a decent R&R stop on any Mekong tour. This is especially the case if you're headed towards Cambodia for the overland crossing with Kep. Read more: V'spirit cruise Halong bay

Though it sees a flood of Vietnamese holidaymakers around Tet, it can feel practically deserted for the rest of the year, making it the ideal locale to lay back in a hammock and unwind.

Hon Chong travel guide

Though the town's sole road fronts along a lovely pine-tree fringed beach, the swimming in Hon Chong isn't very good. The sand is too slimy, and the water too shallow -- those fisherman walking 20m from shore? They aren't on stilts. Read more: Vietnam tours

But the sand is still great for getting some sun, or enjoying a seafood lunch. You feel more active than this, the Chua Hang Grotto makes for a worthwhile afternoon out.

Orientation
Hon Chong consists of only one beachfront road, along which all the town's hotels and restaurants are located. There is no hospital, bank or post office here, though on a good day, Ha Tien is only a few hours away over a dreadful road.

Internet doesn't seem to have quite made a splash in Hon Chong yet. For the moment, An Hai Son Resort has WiFi available in their restaurant, and you may be able to convince them to let you use one of the computers in their office.