Vung Vieng Fishing Village

People from Vung Vieng fishing village in Bai Tu Long Bay in North Vietnam supplement their income by rowing tourists around the waters.

It is mesmerising sitting in a rustic wooden boat, gliding across the water. The tops of the mountains are covered in cloud as a gentle rain falls.

Bai Tu Long Bay in North Vietnam was designated a National Park in 2001. It adjoins the UNESCO World Heritage-designated Halong Bay to the south, and all the tourism there operates with one eye on a UNESCO management plan.

Vung Vieng Village, in the heart of Bai Tu Long Bay, is one of four small fishing villages in the area. Home to more than 60 families, it has become a model for eco-tourism development in the vicinity.

Originally, the families of the illiterate fisher-people in this region lived in the many caves that dot the surrounding limestone caves. However, more recently the people were moved into small villages of floating homes as part of the establishment of the Ba Mun National Conservation Zone.

A floating school was established for the children, but attendance rates were problematic (they were drowning in homework), so children now attend a compulsory boarding school on the mainland, some 24 kilometres away.
Traditionally, the floating villages were extremely poor, with their only income for food, fuel and potable water, coming from fishing. With the help of the management planning organisation, tourism operators, and other external funding, this is gradually changing.

Managed fish-farming, pearl cultivation, and eco-tourism has helped these villages generate a sustainable income and has raised local awareness of environmental protection issues.

Our tender drops us off on a tourist dock where local rowers collect us for our tour. The slightly built Vietnamese women seemed to have no difficulty rowing us around. All the boats have the nets on the back for rubbish to encourage them to be more mindful of litter as boat operators are paid for all the garbage they collect.Read more