Cat Ba

We spent five nights on the beautiful island of Cat Ba.  Cat Ba is at the opposite end of the bay to Halong City and as a result is cheaper, less busy, and less polluted.  

We spent an incredible day on the water kayaking on Lan Ha Bay.  The scenery was spectacular, the kayaking fairly easy with swim stops faily regularly to make for an enjoyable day.  Beers on the boat heading back to Cat Ba capped the day off nicely.

Day two we took to the road hiring our very own scooter to get us around the island.  We started with hospital cave which was used as a bomb proof secret hospital during the war and as a safe house for VC leaders.  The cave complex had operating theatres, a cinema to show training movies for the soldiers, and a swimming pool for keeping fit.  We then zoomed off to fort cannon which has amazing views of the bay.  The Japanese installed gun emplacements here in WWII.  After taking a break for lunch we headed to the beach and spent the rest of the day swimming in the near almost spa pool temperature.  You had to go out quite deep to find cooler water.

The following day we relaxed in the morning completing blogs, and booking hotels and planning destinations for our trip.  After lunch we walked to the beach. 

On our last day we returned to the road.  We got another scooter and this time we went right up to the top of the island.  There was literally nothing there! One or two boats offering to take us somewhere/anywhere we wanted to go.  We followed the coastal road back to Cat Ba Town.  Part of the road remains unsealed so it was a bumpy ride back.  We saw wild hogs crossing the road and also a snake! The snake was a bit creepy, it was moving so fast that it was almost jumping & slithering at once.  So gross.

The next day we caught the bus/ferry/bus/bus back to Hanoi.  In Hanoi we arrived at 2pm so we walked around to get some lunch and then after exploring our area we went to the hotel to cool down. We there on a Fridsy night so that is lucky as the night markets are on Friday - Sunday nights from 7pm.  That evening we walked around the night markets and had some street food for dinner.  It was an early night for us as we had a 5am alarm set as we were flying to Thailand!

Goodbye Vietnam - you have been awesome.  We love your food and beaches, but your heat is just a little too much!  I even begun to like your coffees.