The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has issued emergency safety recommendations following two incidents involving foreign travellers at the end of October. Both accidents occurred when people were trying to take photographs in dangerous places.
On Saturday, in Ha Giang province, at Lung Cu cape, a man fell into a three-hundred-metre chasm. To take a panoramic shot, he stepped over the railing and stood on a concrete parapet half a metre wide, but lost his balance. Military rescuers descended into the gorge and managed to haul the injured man up. He survived.
The following day, in Lam Dong province, in a forest near the city of Da Lat, a tourist from Malaysia left the path to take photographs. She failed to notice a karst sinkhole hidden by grass and pine needles and fell into a pit about ten metres deep. Rescuers extracted the woman two hours later; she was taken to hospital with fractures.
Bui Thanh Tu, a representative of a Vietnamese travel company, told the local newspaper Tuoi Tre that such cases are linked to the influence of social media. According to him, independent travellers chasing striking shots underestimate the risks: a surface made slippery by dew, gusts of wind, or simply a lack of experience.
A perfect trip is not the one where you took the most daring photo, but the one from which you returned home alive and well.
— Bui Thanh Tu, marketing director of a travel company
In the northern provinces bordering China, strict rules apply. There, it is forbidden to fly drones without special permission or to approach border installations. In addition, travellers are advised to beware of street thieves who snatch bags and phones from pedestrians on the go.
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