Junk Vietnam

Difficulty to find – 1 (easy), 5 (almost extinct): 4

Why would I want to sail a junk? Aerodynamically the junk has the worlds most efficient sail

The junk, one of the strangest and most fascinating indigenous sailing craft, can hardly be found anymore in the country where it was born. In the last 25 years China has aggressively pushed for the introduction of modern motorized cargo vessels. The story of the junk, with its efficient sail, is a classic example of the demise of a maritime tradition as a byproduct of a booming economy. However, all is not lost for the junk afficionado. Because along the shores of the South Chinese Sea there is a country that can be regarded as the last junk frontier: Vietnam.