Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay – A UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ha Long Bay, one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature, features thousands of limestonekarsts and isles in various shapes and sizes. It’s the centre of a larger zone which includes Bái Tử Long Bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà Islands to the southwest. These larger zones share similar geological, geographical, geomorphological, climate, and cultural characters.

Ha Long Bay has an area of around 1,550 km², including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km² with a high density of 775 islets.The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The evolution of the karst in this bay has taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate. (Wikipedia)

Halong City, a reformed coal-mining town, is gateway to one of the most majestic sites in Vietnam. Capital of its province, it now capitalises its greater profits by promoting tourism. Its nearby Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is attracting tourists both domestically & internationally.

 “Halong Bay is the kind of rare site that inspires fairy tales and landscape paintings. It centres on a field of limestone karst towers jutting out the bay and soaring high over green waters. These rock formations take a number of odd, often surreal shapes. The name itself means ‘descending dragon’, and looking out over the myriad rock shapes, its easy to imaging the undulating tail of a dragon snaking its way through the water. “

Source: Wikipedia Pictures

A first visit to Halong Bay, with craggy, forested spires and perpetual mists, requires a few moments’ processing. After that initial gaze, visitors descend for all kinds of activities. Weaving through the pillars by kayak or rappelling off a limestone precipice are especially popular pursuits. Old Chinese junks launch sightseeing cruises from the pier.

The best hotels near Halong are on Cat Ba Island – an enviable place to spend a night or two. It’s an oasis of jungle in the midst of the bay, home to sandy beaches, lakes, Buddhist grottoes, waterfalls and five-star resorts.

 

The World’s Largest Rare Diamond – Argyle Pink Jubilee

By P Chong                                                                                                       Saturday, 25 February 2012

 Wikipedia –       Argyle Pink Jubilee

              Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. The bigger they are

the more treasured & pricy they become. Diamonds immediately

invoke in your mind such famous names as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor

right up to the Queen. What if they are rare and large

and of the unusual pink colour?

In its 244-year history Christie’s, the high-profile auction house, has only auctioned 18 polished pink diamonds larger than 10 carats. Large diamonds typically end in museums or or in the hands of the rich & famous.

Recently in February 2012, a lot of excitement has been generated by the finding of a rough pink diamond weighing 12.76 carats (2.55 g). It is the largest rough pink diamond unearthed at the Rio TintoArgyle diamond mine in Western Australia. It is called The Argyle Pink Jubilee.

The rough diamond – estimated to be worth millions – light pink in colour started its cut in Perth on 21 February 2012.The cutter is Richard How Kim Kam. The stone will be graded by a team of international experts. It will then be be sold by invitation-only tender.

It is similar in colour to The Williamson Pink, which is the diamond that Her Majesty The Queen received as a wedding gift and was subsequently set into a brooch for her Coronation. More than 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds come from this mine.

Expert diamond polisher Richard How Kim Kam has now started work in Perth on preparing the stone. Mr Kam, who will take about 10 days to cut and polish the diamond as a single stone, said “I’m going to take it very carefully. I know the world will be watching.”

When the diamond has been cut and polished it will be graded by a team of experts and showcased to the world before being sold later this year.

Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson said “This rare diamond is generating incredible excitement. A diamond of this calibre is unprecedented – it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone and we may never see one like this again. The individual who gets to wear this remarkable pink diamond will be incredibly lucky indeed.”

 References

^Rare 12-Carat Argyle Pink Diamond Unearthed In Australia. Forbes. 21 February 2012

^Australia’s largest rough pink diamond unearthed. BBC News. 22 February 2012.

^ abRio finds ‘unprecedented’ 12.76 carat pink diamond in the Kimberley. The Australian. 22 February 2012.

^“Australia’s largest rough pink diamond unearthed”. BBC News (British Broadcasting Corporation). 22 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.

^ ab“Rio’s biggest pink diamond gets the cut”. The West Australian (West Australian Newspapers Limited). 21 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.