Cat Ba

Wow, it's a long time since either of us posted anything, sorry about that. Since the last post we've been to Cat Ba and come back, and then been to Bangkok and meandering off in Thailand, and now we're back in Bangkok.

The journey to Cat Ba (an island off the coast) should have been fine - you get on the bus and pay a combined fare for the bus to the port and then the ferry to Cat Ba. It didn't work like that, of course, we were kicked out of the taxi at the bus station (a slight exaggeration) and then as soon as we mentioned "Hai Phong" (the port) we were pointed towards a bus - it did say Hai Phong on it, I think, but it hardly mattered, people were actually poking us onto the bus. We found that it cost less than we expected it would.


(Cat Ba is the island; Hanoi isjust off to the left. You can drag the map around.)

The journey to Hai Phong was fine. Once we got off the bus however we discovored that the port to catch the ferry was a long way away from the bus station, and so we had to catch a long and therefore rather expensive taxi (well it didn't cost more than four pounds for the entire taxi journey but for Vietnam that's expensive!) through a load of industrial estates to a makeshift port to catch the ferry we shoulds have gotton a bus directly to. Ah well, you learn from these things.

Cat Ba was beautiful- the scenery was amazing. Jungle on the inside, a few rice paddies, lovely blue ocean with karst limestone scenery just like in all those pictures advitising the area. We got off the bus and found an empty hotel (they're all pretty empty), we we're there only guests for most of the time. Then we explored the area which was pretty much just a street of hotels and restaurants overlooking the bay filled withj lots of little boats which we throught was strance- they filled a massive area of ocean. There were also a few beaches a small walk away, accessable by rickerty wooden walkways built over the ocean around the cliffs seperating them. They were rather built up beaches with a restaurant, shops and huts you can pay to use, but it was low season and the beaaches were pretty much empty, so there was lots of unused sand to go around!

The second day we took it pretty easy- we slept in, had a leisurly lunch and a beer by the beach In fact I'm not really sure what we did that day we took it so easy. The next day we had signed ourselves into a boat trip. We were on it with a group of five spanish guys who were extremly friendly. The boat tpook us out through all those boats in the bay and we discovoured why there were so many- it was a floating village! Up close you could see all the little houses floating in the water, cmplete with little boats for getting around and pet dogs. There were more little water settlements along the way as well, all just as interesting as the scenery around us!

The boat tour first took us to a cave we explored- we got off the boat and went deep into this cave with only one tourch in the hands of the guide which was an experience. The cave was massive complete with bats and dripping stalagtites, and miraculously noone got injured! We then sailed away to a beatiful laggon where we got on some kayaks and exploired the aread, going through a long natural archway into a secluded pool area, and then into another cave. Same as last time (one tourch, 7 followers, oh and the guide didn't speak a word of English) only this time in kayaks in a pitch black cave, an experience we wont forget. The day continued with a pleasant Vietnamese style lunch on board, some snorkelling and diving off the boat, and a long leisurly trip back (where almost everyone fell asleep due to the combination of food, sun and the gentle rocking of the boat).

The next two days unfortunatly weren't as eventful. I started feeling ill on the boat ride back and speant the next two days only getting up from bed when Rory was hungry (I couldn't let him eat alone). I managed to finally starve the bug out of me enought for us to spend the final day by the beach. We swam again the final day and the water was wonderful- it was soo warm and clear and the sand fine- you could wander a long way out before going out of your depth. The next day we took a mini bus back to Hanoi (booked it all the way through this time) and headed back to the jazz club for our last dinner in Vietnam.