sun day 163

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With this being our 2nd and last day on the boat I think most of us were quite happy to get off it! Starting with wishing Hayley a Happy birthday and giving her the card and a cake (which wasn't looking its best) that id brought her yesterday - she was chuffed. Making our way upstairs we had breakfast which was a few slices of bread with a very uninspiring egg. The crew then wanted us to check out of our rooms by 08.30 presumably so they could go and have a lay down before the next lot of tourists come on board! Sailing back over to Cat Ba island which was a few hundred metres away was to be our first and well, only stop of the day! Dropping some more people off ( who had signed up to do the 3 day 2 night option) and again picking some others up we then went back to the mainland for lunchtime and the end - thankfully - of our trip! A couple of people had said to the crew that the 2nd day should've included a trip, to what they call the male and female islands - the crew, with raised voices ( they had pretty much shouted at everyone on the trip - apart from the Vietnamese!) said "well, if you had wanted to see them you should have asked - its too late now - we've sailed past"!! With a lot of people taking down the names of the crew and the company name to complain I just thought the whole thing would fall on deaf ears. Sadly my Rough Guide book ( which is now 3yrs old ) mentions the rudeness and complete unprofessionalism of some of these Ha Long bay boat crews - and its still happening! Unless you are willing to pay upwards of £150 it seems you just cant predict the type of service you'll get. Its such a shame that things like this are still allowed to go on in one of the countries most beautiful areas. Pleased to be off the boat and saying goodbye to the nice people we had met Hayley and I made our way back to the port to see about options of getting to Cat Ba island, to spend a couple of days there. On the stairwell of the port building was a very small sign that said ' tourist info - upstairs' so heading up we found 3 ladies laying on the floor - asleep! And 1 on her phone - It felt as if we'd found a secret place! They woke with the surprise of some tourists actually finding them! After obtaining some information ( and telling them about the very disappointing trip we had just had - fell on deaf ears) we jumped on the back of a scooter to be taken round to the Cat Ba island port. For 70,000 dong £2 we waited half an hour for the ferry ( we did pretty much the exact route we had already done!) getting off we headed to find the public bus to take us to the other end of the island to Cat Ba city. A really friendly boy walked us to the bus and parting with 25,000 dong 80p what a pleasant route across the island. With the windy, hilly road making its way in-between all the limestone karsts that make up the island - with a large part of it being a national park we made it to the city at the far end. Stopping at a bar for a drink and to find a hotel online, we then headed in search of one. After popping in a few and being a bit indecisive we finally made a decision and took one! Having a much needed hot shower we then popped out for a bite to eat and thought that we should have come here first - rather than sign up for the disappointing trip! Oh well - hindsight! At least the good that can come from this can be my advice to other people. Heading back after chatting to a nice Aussie chap we planned what we would do tomorrow.

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