Vietnam - Cat Ba Island & Ha Long Bay

Our journey to the Vietnamese Island and National Park, Cat Ba, and the surrounding area of Ha Long Bay, began with a 2.5 hour train journey to Haiphoomg, for the grand total of GBP1.20 (EUR 2). Fantastic value, although the hard wooden seats meant that we were happy to get off at the end! (While we are on the subject of wood, apparently it is common for the Vietnamese to sleep on hard wooden beds, i.e. no matrasses, in summer as it is so hot!).

Once we had arrived at the train station the next step was to get a boat across to the Island of Cat Ba. There are variety of options with regards to the boat (fast, slow, different times etc) and with people getting commission for different journeys we were accosted by many people all giving us different information so that their offer sounded the best! (This would have been a useful time for Nicola to be fluent in Dutch so we could discuss in private - especially our pricing strategy!). Anyhow, eventually we made our decision and bought the tickets.
Given that we were already at the jetty, we were a little surprised when we were put in a minibus and driven 20 min across town to the port, where our boat was waiting. But everyone seemed to think this was pretty normal, so we just went along with it. Once on the boat we decided to sit outside for the 60 min crossing, to the amusement of the locals who couldn't seem to understand why we would want to be outside when there were comfy chairs inside.

Around 4 pm we arrived at Cat Ba Town, a small fishing town, with great views, which has expanded with guesthouses/hotels/restaurants along the promenade. A nice enough place - a kind of Vietnamese Blackpool/Zandvoort, complete with lovely multi-coloured umbrella style street lights.
Given that we were here in winter - the busy period is May-August - it was quiet, but within easy reach of Ha Long Bay, so it was a great place to base ourselves for a few days.

On our first full day we took a day boat-trip around Cat Ba Island and into Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay has over 1900 steep limestone islands/outcrops jutting out of the sea, over an area of perhaps 30 sq km. While limestone islands like this are not unique, Ha Long Bay has the largest number and it has been dubbed by some as the 8th natural wonder of the world. It certainly is impressive and we saw some amazing scenery as we sailed in and out, and around these natural outcrops. We had the boat to ourselves, as we had decided to treat ourselves, which made it extra special as we could relax on the deck and watch the world go by. For lunch we anchored in a quiet, sheltered bay with small untouched beaches. We had a little paddle but chickened out of the swimming as the water was too cold!
We ate a fantastic lunch on the boat of fresh fish and squid. The skipper used this break to collect fresh clams by digging in the sand around the waters edge, which made for a a nice afternoon snack.
As well as the amazing scenery we also passed a couple of floating fishing villages, which are nestled in the sheltered parts of the outcrops. There were around 5 houses in each village all with fishing nets, boats and a lot of dogs! Even here we didn't escape the 'you buy, you buy' culture people paddled up to us in a small boat laden with drinks, crisps, fruit - a mini supermarket!!!!!

Our second full day on Cat Ba was not so relaxing as the first, since we took part in an organised 4 hour hike through the national park (you were not allowed in without a guide). Through tropical-like vegetation, the path started out paved and very easy (we even encountered Vietnamese in high heels!), but after an hour it had turned into more of a rock scrambling expedition, which was quite steep in places! After 3 hours and 4 steep hills later we had a final climb to the top where were rewarded with fantastic uninterrupted views of the mountains. Our guide, who wasn't that young, did this 4-5 times a week - we were suitably impressed, especially as it took us some time tom recover! The day ended with a boat ride back to Cat Ba Town and a well deserved beer or two in the evening with a fellow trekking couple.

It is now 11am in Cat Ba and we are off to pack our bags for our journey back to the mainland. From there we fly to Ho Chi Minh City, where we stop overnight before flying to our next destination Phnom Penh in Cambodia....