Everyone cruising out of Ben Beo harbor on the ubiquitous Cat Ba boat tour has the same thought: how do people live in this floating village?If you take a close look at Lan Ha bay on google maps, you’ll see several floating guest houses! I was curious enough to arrange a stay at one.

To be quite honest, I was miserable; the experience really highlighted all the conveniences I love and rely on. There’s no air conditioning, and a fan doesn’t help much under a corrugated metal roof in the summer heat; WiFi is nonexistent and phone service is spotty; water pressure is absolutely nonexistent, they bathe by rinsing with rainwater collected in barrels; all electricity comes from a big rechargeable battery, so sometimes there isn’t even enough to charge your phone; food is limited to the fish they farm, the veggies and herbs they can grow seasonally, and instant noodles.

If you are prepared to endure this for a couple days, you can enjoy peaceful unlimited solo swimming and kayaking. Everything you buy at the homestays will be low quality and incredibly expensive, and you obviously can’t prepare food yourself. It’s hard to learn much about their lifestyle because their English is extremely limited, so if you are interested in how and what they farm you must stay a while and be very observant.

If you are looking for authentic experiences where you can live like a local, this is definitely it.