The album of Halong Bay and Bai Chay Beach in 1991 has been recently published by a German photographer. This photos will give you a deeper understanding about Halong Bay’s history.
According to the photographer, he had to take two ferries (Binh Ferry and Rung Ferry), embark on Hai Phong Province then Quang Ninh in Summer of 1991. At that time, because Halong City hadn’t existed, the center of Halong Province was Hong Gai Town.
Thanks to its natural beauty, the blue and clear seawater and the serene atmosphere, Bai Chay Beach was considered to be one of the best ones in the Northern Vietnam. In 1990s, it took 30 minutes to reach Hon Gai Island by ferry.
At that time, even though the tourism services were still simple and modest like this, many company took their staff there to enjoy a great summer holiday each year.
The services just included in floats and swimming suits renting, photography and commune bathrooms.
Before 1986, taking photos with floats was a popular posing style. The picture tells us that Bai Chay area used to be a petrol station for most of boats and shippers around the Halong Bay.
Tour services on Halong Bay hadn’t included dining and staying on cruise overnight. Instead of a modern Halong Bay Cruise, the only way to sightsee the bay was taking a small boat like this.
Tourists were transferred to Dau Go Cave and Sung Sot Cave then went back. The itinerary was only within half of the day.
There were 1969 islands in total and 40 of them were dwelled on by local citizens.
This was the place for boats to drop their anchor near Bai Chay Beach.
In 1991, Bai Chay Pier was still used by both tourism and fishing boats.
The trip by boat around Halong Bay usually lasted about 2 – 3 hours. According to the Buzzfeed’s survey, Halong Bay ranked 16th in the list of 26 most beautiful destinations all over the world.
This was a fishing family on the Bay in 1990s. The boat was the home to a parents and their children to live in.
The local people made their living by catching fishes, exploiting coral reefs and selling them for tourists.
In 1994, Halong Bay was recognized as one of the natural world heritages by UNESCO then the government had duties on preserving the nature, environment and landscapes.
As you can see, here is a nice coral reef taken from the bottom of the bay.
In the past, children got used to the life on the sea. They had a great sailing skills and even could help their parents sell seafood and coral reefs for tourists.
According to the photographer, Halong Bay was still a wonder which challenged all the scientists to explore its tectonic process.
In a nut shell, the desire to learn new things was an incentive for the photographer to travel around the world in order to discover and take photos of stunning beauties.
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