SaigonSighs30 ‘Sittin on the Dock of the Bay’- Otis Redding 1968 – but in this case it’s Ha Long Bay.

13 Jul
Ha Long Bay off the North East coast of Vietnam is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s name means ‘Descending Dragon’.
The Bay is navigated by large wooden tourists boats, some of which still carry sails. Tourists sleep on these boats 1,2,3 nights, depending on your schedule / pocket. The food is predominately rice and sea food as you would expect.
These vessels were beautiful varnished wood but then the government decided they should all be white. A quick makeover resulted in some not too attractive results!
If it moves BLANCO it!
The bay and its Limestone KARSTS makes an excellent back drop!
There are whole ‘floating villages’ where the occupants rarely step onto dry land. Fish are ‘farmed’ underneath the rudimentary dwellings and eagerly feed on ALL waste!
Wherever your boat anchors for the night there will no shortage of opportunities to buy. Should you want a Banana!
Friends and neighbours! The bay has about 2000 islets. One of the biggest is Cat Ba island famous for the ‘white headed Langur, only 68 monkeys are reported to be still alive on the island. The only place in the world where the species can be found.
A visit to ‘Monkey Island’ (Not Cat Ba) is on most boats itinerary for an afternoon of sun, sand and swimming. Just don’t leave anything unattended as the monkeys will have it. They’re aggressive and very fast!

And RELAX! Sunset and cocktail time! Oh just one moment, do you want to buy a banana?

Otis Redding of course was singing about the San Francisco Bay. He recorded the song on December the 7th 1967 and then was killed in a plane crash 3 days later. What a loss!

Love and peace John

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