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Published: March 27th 2010
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Cat Ba Island
Most every traveler to Vietnam goes to Halong Bay. It's a World Heritage sight and quite gorgeous. We wanted to see it, but wanted to avoid the super touristy route, so we read an alternative would be to make your way to Cat Ba Island which is south of Halong, and take the boat from there. You can see some of the same sights, but there wouldn't be as many boats or people. Getting to Cat Ba Island, our jumping off point for the much-touristed and raved about Halong Bay involved no less than one taxi, 3 buses, one ferry boat and a motorbike ride. Just like we'd been advised by the trusty interwebs and guide bibles, the trip went fairly smoothly, delivering us to the main street of Cat Ba Town from the busy ones of Hanoi in just about 5 hours. We were momentarily confused and worried when the first bus arrived in Haiphong and we were escorted over to motorbikes...no one had told us that would be involved, but the site of Dave on the back of that tiny bike (he only had to stand up to completely dismount) with his pack and little half
egg-shell helmet had me laughing and forgetting that I didn't have the slightest idea what was going on or where we were headed. It ended up being just a short transfer to another bus station, so all was well.
Cat Ba Island was interesting with its super skinny tall buildings. There seems to be a building boom going on currently and some streets were just lined with new construction projects. We (Dave especially) enjoyed watching the construction and the very different work techniques employed. I liked the assembly line of workers hauling concrete in large bowls on their heads, each bowl being filled by shovel by two women and a third would be the lifter. She would grab one side while her recipient would grab the other and they would hoist the bowl on to the worker's head. As soon as he turned to leave, another would be right behind him and the woman would hoist the next bowl. It was pretty cool. Dave might also have to rig up some pulleys on his future job sites as we were impressed with the efficiency of all the materials (cement, bricks, whatever) zinging up and down the building in large
buckets or sometimes baskets. I will say, I did not walk under any of them, however sturdy they appeared.
So the first day, we just walked around and tried to figure out what our next step would be. After coming from HCMC, Hoi An and Hue, Cat Ba was a pleasant break from the loud traffic and many people. There was definitely a touristy zone but the sellers and motorbike renters seemed a bit less aggressive. Hello, Pearl? Hello, Motorbike? Usually only the one offer to which a smile, head shake and quiet "No Thank You" would end the intended transaction quickly.
We were a bit daunted by the whole prospect of Halong Bay, having heard and read about the scams and how touristy it was and so on. But we'd been assured by friends that had been here, it was worth it to see. So we opted for a two day boat trip into Lan Ha Bay and just the southern reaches of Halong Bay. We would only have to share with four other people and would have some say in the route and pace of the trip, as opposed to being herded into caves and around islands
the way so many trips do. While sometimes unavoidable, these "route 1" trips (named after a tourist trek we did in Brazil, with about 24, 354 other sheep) are not our style if we can help it.
We met up at the booking office (SloPony Adventures, an outfit specializing in rock climbing in the area and seemingly well-run) that evening to work out the details and meet the other people: two guys from Holland who were motorbiking around the country, a girl from England and a young guy from Wales who was traveling alone and had just completed the Trans-Siberian Railway trip and a month in China.
Lan Ha & Halong Bays
Next morning, we met again at the office and then loaded into and onto a mini-van and some motorbikes for the short ride to the other harbor where our boat was. It was a pretty nice boat, not overly posh and not overly basic, in my opinion. There were two rooms, each with a bath and a great top deck with table, chairs and many bean bags.
The first day was spent slowly motoring around the floating fishing villages that surround Cat Ba Island and spill
into Lan Ha Bay. We picked up some beat up kayaks at one floating house/fish farm and then paddled around. It was a first for Dave and I in a double kayak, AKA a "break-up boat", and I'll admit I prefer our single boats at home, of course, but we got in our groove and checked out the sights. There were no guides on our trip, just the boat captain and two crew/cooks. They spoke only the tiniest bit of English, so they more or less just gave us the boats, pointed, said something about a cave, and something about two hours. What we found wasn't really a cave, just an arch in the rocks that allowed access into a lagoon, which was cool enough. We saw some huge jellyfish, got out on a few beaches, and generally just enjoyed the quiet. Paddling among the floating villages was cool, too, though I felt a bit like I was trespassing in someone's back yard, especially as the dogs captive to each floating house barked and growled to announce our arrival. Seemed kind of sad to have dogs out there, as they don't have far they can go, and I became a
bit distracted and grossed out for awhile wondering about where they poo, but didn't see any turds floating by, so whatever.....
We returned to the big boat for lunch and for sunning on the deck time. The rest of trip was pretty much spent like that....lounging about on bean bags in the sun, drinking Halida beers, eating, playing cards, and taking photos of the gorgeous sights around us and the endlessly fascinating floating villages and fishing boats.
One of the Dutch guys was having a birthday so we made the evening into a bit of a dual celebration for him and Dave, as Dave's birthday a few days earlier of mini-van travel and beers at the DMZ Bar in Hue had been a bit dull. Many card games and bottles were enjoyed and I'll say a good time was had by all. I do kind of wish the Vietnamese guide guy who came to visit our boat late in the evening hadn't challenged my womanliness by saying only the men should drink the whiskey or something to that effect. Well, I really wished the next morning, that he and that bottle of Wall Street Whiskey hadn't shown up
at all. But I soldiered on, tough as it was to lay in the sun, read and take the occasional paddle.
We got back to harbor at Cat Ba Town just before sunset. We said goodbye to our fellow travelers, went for showers, food, etc. We slept on the hardest mattress in the world and then got up and started the travel process back to Hanoi.
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Dad
non-member comment
Love the Photos
Wow...so pretty and different from the busy streets. Wish we were with you.