Blogs from Cat Ba Island, Hai Phong, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 5

Woke up to the sound of thunder and rain at about 5am. We had to get up earlyish as brekkie was at 8. Weather was horrendous, torrential rain. English girls were only on a one day tour so they stayed on the big boat while we got on the little boat to Cat Ba Island. Here we were joined by another tour group (14 people all in their 20's, all from UK except 2 Canadians). Other group had already chosen to cycle on Cat Ba so our group, together with our non English speaking local guide went trekking in the most horrendous weather. We'd all bought plastic ponchos (read: really thin, pretty useless carrier bags) and me and Rob had rain macs on too, we looked well stylish as we trudged through the jungley mountain. It ... read more

Day 130: Tuesday, April 6th, 2010. Halong Bay to Cat Ba, Vietnam. Intrepid notes continued: "On day 12 we arrive at the beautiful and relaxing Cat Ba Island for one night. On Cat Ba Island we stay in a basic one-star hotel. There are options to trek in the national park, spend time on the beaches, kayak the warm waters, check out the local markets or watch the harbour activity. The lovely foreshore is a great place to sip an evening beer and watch the sunset. Upon arrival at our guesthouse we will take a short orientation walk, your leader will point out the best options for internet, cafes, restaurants and which way to the beach." The weather is much clearer (still foggy but not oppressively so) and, liter aside, it was a beautiful morning. I ... read more

Well it was with a great deal of trepidation that we boarded the plane from laid back Laos in Luang Prabang bound for Hanoi. We'd heard plenty of horror stories about scams and people being ripped off from the moment they landed to those who had been heckled virtually their entire way around the country. Well, we couldn't have had a more opposite experience! Exec summary: What a stunning country. The people were amongst the friendliest we have met, the scenery dramatic, spectacular and varied, the food delicious, the chaotic cities electrifying and the white beaches magnificent and relaxing. All in all, we'd love to go back some day to do the bits we chopped out of our trip as well as go back to those where we'd loved to have stayed a bit longer. And ... read more

Cat Ba Island So we opted for a taxi ride to one of the many bus stations in Hanoi, unable to find a convenient local bus route and unwilling to face the traffic fumes for the 4km walk. This proved to be a good choice as it was further than we thought but also pretty cheap considering it was a 'proper' taxi and not a two stroke, three wheel monstrosity held together with string and paper-clips - ie. An Indian auto-rickshaw. The ferries to Cat Ba island leave from Haiphong on the coast at the most inconvenient times which would require either staying the night at the lovely industrial city of Haiphong or a 4am start from Hanoi. Thankfully the good folk at Hoang Long transport realised the impracticality and devised a bus-boat-bus system that leaves ... read more

Hey Guys, Well after resisting all the Touts offers to do a package tour from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island we opted to take the local buses and get there ourselves. Although it wasn't as smooth as a packaged tour might have been, it's more rewarding doing it yourself. That's not to say it's not without it's stress and headaches. We managed to get the bus to Haiphong and then after figuring out where the ferries to Cat Ba were we managed to walk to the docks, this is where following our Lonely Planet has screwed us again (although it has saved us a lot too). We were greeted by a lady on a scooter just as we were about to reach the docks telling us to hurry the boat was leaving. We were mis-informed that ... read more