UNESCO World Heritage sites in Southeast Asia Call 3 Names from Vietnam

In July 2023, the UK's Wanderlust Travel Magazine had selected 16 of the most impressive sites out of 41 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia, including wildlife parks, natural wonders, temples... Vietnam has 3 nominated heritages: Halong Bay (Quang Ninh), Hoi An Ancient Town (Quang Nam) and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Quang Binh).

Halong Bay

Halong Bay (Quang Ninh) is at the first place in the list of 16 most impressive world heritage sites in Southeast Asia. Though Halong Bay is not the only place in the world to see majestic towering limestones, the UK Tourism Magazine introduced Halong Bay as "the most impressive scale in the world", with around 1,600 large and small limestone mountains jutting from emerald water. Halong Bay was first recognized by UNESCO in 1994. Twenty years later, very little changes happen to those scenery but the transportation makes it easier for people to reach the site.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Halong Bay attracts tourists with hundreds of limestone islands and schist islands with different shapes. You are not able to find the two similar stones. There are places where the islands gather and look like they are stacked on top of each other, there are places where the islands are alternately vertical and horizontal, forming a line running for kilometres like a wall. Besides giant cruise ships, kayaking and swimming are both intimate ways to admire limestone caves, stalactites, stalagmites and serene fishing villages.

Hoi An Ancient Town

The next destination of Vietnam mentioned in the list of 16 impressive Southeast Asia’s UNESCO heritages is the Hoi An ancient town, Quang Nam. This place ranks 6th on the list. Hoi An ancient town was recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site in 1999. It used to be a prosperous trading port and home to merchants from many Asian countries until the Thu Bon River was silted up 200 years ago. Then the majority number of merchants were forced to leave. Today, the Vietnamese-Chinese-Japanese styled houses with yellow walls, red tiles covered with moss, and the peaceful rhythm of life here seem to be separate from modern life.

Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An is truly a reflection of an old town Vietnamese people’s life for centuries, though you still find the modern services that local people skillfully input. The best way to discover this town is walking. Sometimes tourists love riding a bicycle around to see more interesting things beyond Hoi An downtown like coconut forest, herbal gardens, vocational villages,... Shops and restaurants open full two sides but trading with a very leisurely pace of life. On full moon day each lunar month, the lantern festival is up and visitors can admire the magical lit in a soothing atmosphere.

Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park

Finally, the list names Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. With 885 square kilometres of primaeval forest and some of the oldest limestone peaks in Asia, it's no surprise that Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park appears on UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia list. The Wanderlust Magazine describes the stunning caves and underground rivers in Phong Nha Ke Bang as "form the lifeblood" of this magical underground habitat. One of the highlights in the National Park is Son Doong cave, recognized as the largest cave in the world. The cave is 5 km long, so big that it can "cram an entire skyscraper inside". In the cave, there is a stream, valley, emerald water lake, even diversified fauna and flora, which form a distinctive ecosystem. Son Doong cave was first officially opened to tourists in 2013.

Cave in Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park

Besides, Va cave is also an interesting destination which is newly discovered and open tours in 2016. When visiting Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, some of the caves that are easily accessible include Phong Nha Cave, Thien Duong Cave and Dark Cave.

More and more caves are found here, including Va cave, Hang Ho Cave. Because of the difficulty of typography, these caves should be discovered with a professional tour operator. Currently, the number of companies allowed to run special cave tours is limited.

Son Doong cave - a UNESCO Heritage Site

In addition to 3 destinations in Vietnam, there are 13 other UNESCO heritage sites in Southeast Asia mentioned by Wanderlust. Sites include Singapore Botanic Garden, Luang Prabang (Laos), Gunung Mulu National Park (Malaysia), Sukhothai Ancient City (Thailand), Preah Vihear Temple (Cambodia), Komodo National Park (Indonesia), Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (Philippines), Philippine Cordilleras Rice Terraces (Philippines), Kinabalu National Park (Malaysia), Sumatra Rainforest Heritage (Indonesia), Angkor Archaeological Park (Cambodia), Conservation Area Wildlife Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng (Thailand) and Borobudur temple complex (Indonesia).

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