Vietnam — Ha Long Bay, Vietnam — part 3 of 3
Exploring Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
September 2015
OK, the third part of my review of my visit to Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.
Besides being a tourist attraction, Ha Long Bay is where people live and work. There used to be a thriving community living in and around the bay. Sadly, tourism and “progress” has caused the loss of many of these communities.
Some people still live in the small fishing villages in the bay, but most of the commercial activity is now confined to small boats selling water, snacks and souvenirs to the larger tourist vessels.
The stamina and determination of some sellers were amazing, as they seemed to chase us on our boat for long distances across the bay.
One thing that stuck in my mind about Ha Long Bay was the lack of wildlife. I saw very little. Considering that most of the small islands had vegetation, and unscalable cliffs, it was surprising that there wasn’t more seabird life around. Why not?
One thing that was very sad to see in Ha Long Bay was all the pollution. There was a lot of it — mainly plastic bottles and bags.
It was interesting how the pollution collected in the water. Tidal flows and eddies congregated the plastic waste into small areas. Occasionally, you would see a string of bottles in a line working their way across the bay on one of these currents.
And again, no matter how far we travelled in the bay, we would turn a corner, and the city would be in the distance. I assume the city produced most of the plastic waste we observed in the bay?
However, despite the pollution and all the other boats, there is no getting away from the fact that Ha Long Bay is a stunning location.
In summary, I found the bay stunning, but I was disappointed by how many other tourists were in the bay and all the pollution.
