Experience "healing" tourism after storm No. 3 Yagi

Explore the heritage site while picking up trash.

These days, the atmosphere in Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay is more vibrant. The caves, the time-worn limestone mountains, and the tranquil bays remain, but amidst the sound of oars splashing in the water, there are the lively conversations of tourists, some guides, and sailors as they paddle their boats and collect floating debris from the bay's surface.

The crew and guests of Heritage Binh Chuan retrieved floating styrofoam buoys in the Frog Pond area while kayaking.

From 7:30 a.m. every day since the storm subsided, Le Van Uy and the crew of the Heritage Binh Chuan cruise ship have become diligent sanitation workers. Uy, originally from Thanh Hoa province, has been working as a fisherman in Quang Ninh for over a decade. Besides his responsibilities as captain, every day Uy, along with the crew and tourists, collects dozens of sacks of floating trash in the Ao Ech area of ​​Lan Ha Bay, even though Typhoon Yagi passed a month ago.

"Because the kayaks are small, only seating one or two people, we couldn't collect much trash. However, we did find some styrofoam floats – remnants of fish farms torn apart by the storm – as big as barrels. We collected a few dozen of these each day. The trash was gathered at the back of the yacht, waiting to be brought ashore the next day," Uy shared.

Mr. Michel Lannion, a French national and one of the guests on the cruise on October 10th aboard the Heritage Binh Chuan yacht, also participated in cleaning up trash with the crew. "This is my first time in Vietnam. With its pristine beauty and majestic limestone mountains, Lan Ha Bay is one of the most beautiful bays in the world . However, there is still so much trash here. I know your country was recently devastated by Typhoon Yagi, so I wanted to contribute to beautifying the landscape," Mr. Michel expressed.

Similarly, passengers on Orchid Cruise – one of the cruise ships of the Pelican Group – regularly participate in cleaning up trash along their tour routes in Lan Ha Bay. Their oars become makeshift trash nets, picking up discarded styrofoam floats, torn fishing nets, pieces of wood, branches, or plastic bags floating on the bay's surface.

The quiet efforts of sailors and tourists contribute to keeping Lan Ha Bay clean.

"Tourists noticed a lot of trash at the kayaking spot in Tra Bau area, so they collected it and brought it back to the boat. Foreign tourists have a very high level of environmental awareness. Although the amount of trash collected wasn't large, they contributed to cleaning up the bay's environment to some extent," said Nguyen Duc Hung, a tour guide at Orchid Cruise.

Working together to "heal" after Typhoon Yagi (Typhoon No. 3).

While tourists and crew members of Heritage Binh Chuan and Orchid Cruise contribute daily to cleaning up the environment of Lan Ha Bay, some tourism workers and tourists also pitch in to clean up the road through Cat Ba National Park alongside the authorities.

Previously, the Ha Long Bay Management Board announced that after a three-day intensive cleanup campaign (from September 15-17), units had collected nearly 500 cubic meters of garbage and more than 70 floating bamboo rafts, contributing to overcoming the problem of waste causing unsightly conditions and environmental pollution, restoring the landscape, and continuing to attract tourists to Ha Long Bay.

"At Cat Ba National Park, the Cat Ba Forest Rangers are working hard to clear the route. In reality, many forests have been severely damaged, and many sections of the old trail have been destroyed by the storm, so it will take another 10 days to completely clear the route. After clearing the route along Dai, we decided to proceed to Viet Hai. We're crawling, rolling, and scrambling step by step in the final leg to reach the finish line," this is one of the news items shared by Ms. Nguyen Thi Nham, Deputy Director of Aroma Viet Nam Travel Company, regarding the situation of the approximately 8.5km trekking route through Cat Ba National Park.

A week after Typhoon Yagi passed, Ms. Nham and her colleagues became reluctant tourists, helping to "heal" this familiar trekking route. Seeing them struggling to carry large branches, without being asked, some foreign tourists also pitched in to help. "We organized these trips into Cat Ba National Park ourselves to repair the damage after the typhoon. An entire green forest was flattened, many areas were almost bare. Trees were scattered everywhere, blocking the path. After nearly half a month of clearing with the authorities, the trekking route through Cat Ba National Park is now open," Ms. Nham excitedly announced.

Tourists on Orchid Cruise are both kayaking and collecting trash in the Tra Bau area.

Similar to Ms. Nham, CEO Pham Ha - owner of the Heritage Binh Chuan yacht - along with hundreds of Lux Group employees and representatives from other organizations, organized a trip from Hanoi to Ha Long to participate in… “healing” the environment there. Such activities have become a movement of “healing” tourism for Ha Long Bay over the past few days.

"Departing from Hanoi early this morning, the LuxGroup volunteer team – including company employees, students, staff from various other businesses, tour guides, and international tourists currently in Ha Long – launched a campaign to clean up Ha Long Bay. The volunteers enthusiastically cleaned up Tuan Chau beach, collecting waste from boats and floating houses washed ashore by Typhoon Yagi," a representative of Heritage Binh Chuan announced on September 21st.

Previously, the Ha Long Bay Management Board launched intensive cleanup campaigns in the heritage area. Hundreds of cubic meters of waste were collected by participating units, organizations, and individuals and transported to designated collection points for disposal. To date, cleanup efforts at the Tuan Chau International Passenger Port, tourist attractions, and on the water surface continue to be carried out by organizations and individuals operating in Ha Long Bay to quickly restore the landscape of the heritage bay.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/trai-nghiem-du-lich-chua-lanh-sau-bao-so-3-yagi-192241015140225813.htm