In search of paradise

I sometimes feel that I am destined never to find a paradise beach. I first went looking in Ecuador in 1997 only for the coast to be tragically devastated by El Niñ o. Trying my luck this time in Vietnam - our first glimpse of the sea in South East Asia - and the monsoon that should have happened over the last few months has decided to get it all over and done with in the couple of weeks that we are visiting. Paradise always seems to be soggy.

We rocked up at Paradise Resort (we really tried) in glorious sunshine. In the two hours before the rain set in I got a glimpse of paradise, with coconut laden palms overhanging coral white sands and not another tourist in sight on the beach, only fishermen and a chap mending a coracle. The water was warm and clear.

But alas, all is not well in paradise. Both beach and sea were full of rubbish. Clothes, rope and plastic bags in all the colours of the rainbow adorned the shore. It was glorious to collect exotic shells from the beach but not so fun having to tiptoe over discarded bottles and peanut packets.
Sunset over the South China Sea and the coracle rollers of Doc Let was picturesque and watching the fishing fleet out at night with spotlights hauntingly beautiful. But the seemingly thin layer of oil on top of the waves this morning rather ruined my pre-thunder storm dip.

To be here enjoying the warmth and peace whilst the British eat baked potatoes in front of Guy Fawkes bonfires and the results of the American election trickle in (for today in Vietnam is yesterday in the U.S.), I know I am very lucky. I also know that this paradise would be greatly enhanced if more people thought about the environmental consequences of their actions.

It would be interesting to trace the origin of the plastic bags on paradise beach. I wager that they are not all from Vietnam but are a more travelled bunch from perhaps China, Japan or even as far away as the United States. And yet we keep making and taking plastic bags (and other superfluous plastic goods) that will all eventually end up on someone else’s paradise beach.

Of course even in paradise it rains, but these Vietnamese beaches are going to fare pretty badly under predicted climate change scenarios. Vietnam is one of the countries most likely to suffer from climate change. If the predicted sea level rises occur, one million people in the delta regions will be directly affected and most likely displaced, with a further 43 million people (over half the population) living in vulnerable coastal zones.

My journey in search of a paradise beach can go on (and will resume in Mexico), but for the Vietnamese they are not only losing their paradise but also their land, livelihoods and loved ones. Perhaps I won’t be the only one in a never ending search for paradise.