Tag: seascape

Fishing Boats in Early Sun, Kê Gà

There is a fish market that gets going in the pre-dawn every morning in Kê Gà village. I presume the boats in this photo are back from a night of fishing in waters near the coast. As far as I know, Vietnam does not have any of the huge factory-type fishing boats that put to sea from Japan and a number of other countries, but there are some larger Vietnamese boats that operate in deep water for days at a time. Smaller boats like these and the ones I see in Hoi An stay closer to home.

Fishing Boats on the Beach, Kê Gà

I went recently to visit my friends Mark and Phoung who live in the seaside village of Kê Gà about 150 km east of Saigon. The trip by mini-bus from Saigon took around three and a half hours, a good part of which was spent crawling through the traffic generated by Saigon’s vast urban sprawl to get to a new expressway that took me most of the rest of the way. Kê Gà, itself, is a quiet place with residents depending mostly on fishing in the East Sea and the raising of dragon fruit for their livelihoods. The center of town consists of a restaurant or two, a small sample of Vietnam’s ubiquitous noodle shops, and several coffee shops. A number of homestays and a few proper hotels – though none of the big resort variety – are located along the beach or on the highway that runs through town hugging the coast. Visitors it seems are mostly Vietnamese escaping Saigon for a few days of relaxation. Non-Vietnamese faces were few and far between, at least during my stay. Local beaches are pleasant enough, but definitely not of the tropical paradise variety.

To determine how far off the beaten track for foreigners a place is, like many of our kind, I consider the availability of imported Western foods in the area. Mark uses olive oil as representative of all imported foods when making his calculations, and that makes perfect sense to me. After all, you have to draw the line somewhere and being able to buy olive oil seems as reasonable a place as any. In any case, the nearest olive oil to Kê Gà is in a Korean big-box chain store called Lotte located in the small city of Phan Thiết about 45 minutes down the road from Kê Gà. So when you just cannot take another day of steamed rice or bun, you have to plan a drive to get the makings of that eggplant parmesan with penne you are craving.

On the plus side, if you think being out of the house at 8:30 pm constitutes a late night – and I do – then you are almost sure to like Kê Gà.

Kê Gà’s fishing fleet is anchored off shore along various stretches of beach. I presume the covered boats here are also fishing boats or serve the larger, anchored fishing boats in some way, but I do not know their function. That is Kê Gà light house in the background.

Climbing Hai Van Pass

A spectacular view across Da Nang Bay opens up as I drive towards the summit of Hai Van Pass. The pass goes over the mountains that divide Da Nang and the coastal plain to the south from Hue and the coastal plain to the north. Looking due east, Da Nang’s downtown area is hidden by low clouds just to the left of center of this image. The city, which now has close to 1.4 million people, has expanded along the south side of the bay, with urban development now extending almost to the base of the pass.

Late Afternoon by the Sea, Cham Island, Vietnam

Minh and I spent 24 hours taking a look at Cham Island, which is about 15km off the coast of Hoi An. Actually, there is one small island where all the residents live and several tiny islands that make up the small group, so I suppose it is more accurate to say Cham Islands. Called Cù lao Chàm, the island group has been designated a world Biosphere Reserve recognized by UNESCO. The largest of the islands is about 12 sq km, and home to some 500 families, according to one local resident. The primary occupations appear to be fishing and servicing the tourists, almost all Vietnamese at this point, who arrive to look around, swim and snorkel in the clear water of the East Sea, and enjoy eating the fresh seafood provided by the island’s other industry.

Cù lao Chàm is part of Quang Nam province, and provincial authorities are intent on developing tourism on the islands. As recently as a few years ago, the big island did not have a 24/7 power supply, and the water and beach areas were dirty with trash. Today, there are guesthouses along the waterfront road in the largest village, and the village areas and beaches are clean – there is virtually no trash in the water – the entire island is quite delightful really. Also on the plus side, there are no cars on the island, people move around on motorbikes. There is no gas station, so somebody must be bringing gasoline in drums from the mainland.

There is a second small village down the road from the large village where the tourist boats arrive. Lots of construction here of what appear to be large villas. It is easy to imagine the fragile, and still rather pristine environment of this island being overwhelmed by tourist arrivals.

The small beach in the photo is a km or two from the main village. Locals come for a swim late in the afternoon when the sun is low in the sky and not as intense as it is midday. The soft light is spectacular.