Ha Long Bay is Vietnam’s most popular tourist attraction, was the next stop. (We are actually now in Hue but between no reception in HLB and then a day of travel, we are behind on posts).
This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so declared not once but twice. Not sure on why that is. This bay has 1,969 islands, half of which have names, 40 of which are inhabited. It’s all a series of limestone and schist, but that will be Karen’s domain.
Fishing here is now only for those families who have been doing it from prior to the declaration, and the rest of the activity is tourist. Boats for hire take travelers out to cruise the islands, and are allowed to go to the inhabited islands to see the caves there, and are required to congregate in one part of the bay for mooring.
We went to one such cave, and were fortunate to be the only people in the cave. It has evidence of ancient habitation in the form of shells and animal bones. During the war, it was used to store ammunition. All of that was cleared out.
Then we spent the night on the boat, and returned to the shore the next day. What would have been nice is to have another day or so, but so it is. The….flotilla…. Of boats congregating and returning is a sight in and of itself.
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