The Road to Ha Long Bay World Heritage site

Our drive to Ha Long bay was most interesting as we left Hanoi and ventured out into the Vietnam countryside. The city continued to show its urban side with tiny streets, crowded houses, garbage everywhere, building sites in various stages of completion from no start to frames only to empty finished dwellings. Then we entered the motorway and crossed one of the many bridges near Hanoi and came upon velvet green rice fields and open market gardens.

There were not many farmers working the fields as the planting was done but there were water buffalo about and some diligent farmers pulling weeds and scooping water into the irrigation ditches. Some paddies were surrounded with white plastic which we were told was the keep out the rats as the rice matured. Others had little white rags posted on poles to act as scarecrows to ward off birds. No harvesting was in sight but generally the fields and countryside were beautiful.

As we drove along we saw several factories once of which was Canon. There are 4 in Vietnam and they are very productive and offer good work for local residents. The other, just outside of Hanoi, is the Samsung factory - the largest one in the world - also a huge employer and local benefactor.

Housing in Vietnam is interesting in that most houses are very long and deep, having two rooms either side of center. They are built up, to 3 stories and have no windows on either side but plenty front and back. They are multi-generational and grandparents often look after little ones while parents are away as work. There is also often a shop on the ground floor at the front and everyone sells almost anything from there. Wages are extremely low and the US dollar seems to go a very long way. For example, a 4 litre container of water costs about $3 and will last a family almost a month. Other water is boiled for use and used sparingly.

I'll share more about the people and their lifestyle, but I should get on to Ha Long Bay which was the title of this Posting. Ha Long Bay is very built up with many hotels and tourist amenities. There are over 300 tourist boats ready to go out on the bay showing the beautiful limestone formations. Some junks are overnight vessels while others are day trippers. Our wooden junk with huge sails was a very new one and most comfortable for the one night we spent aboard.

We were welcomed by the crew with a yummy lunch and then we went on deck to enjoy the numerous islands. The water is notoriously polluted and I really could not believe the govt allows it to stay that way. This is one of the best resources Vietnam has and the tourism dollars are plenty in the area. Nonetheless, we sailed on by the icky water and enjoyed the sights.

It was very overcast with heat haze, which allowed us to sit outside and not totally melt as we had been doing in the city. We went to see a fishing village and were afforded a seaside view from a little dory type boat rowed by a single local fisherman's wife. We saw a small hatchery, their school, chapel, provision boat, floating homes and a truly different way of life.

After our visit we returned to our ship for more good food and fellowship. We sailed between the islands eventually getting to one where guests could climb to the top for some stunning views! My sister did just that with the following results!