Blogs from Cat Ba Island, Hai Phong, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 6

Advertisement

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island November 11th 2009

From Hanoi, we aimed to make our own way to Cat Ba Island, which is billed as the quiter way to enjoy the karst coastal landscapes of North East Vietnam. The aim of making our own way there was to avoid the craziness of Ha Long City, the gateway to what must be one of the most visited areas in South East Asia I would guess (Ha Long Bay). We failed miserably, booking our journey through our hotel without checking the route, which was a bit dumb! This meant we were effectively hitching with organised tours, joining their cramped bus journey to Ha Long City where we were finally ushered on to a boat (after a maybe 2hr wait) which was with another tour group. Once this got to Cat Ba Island we were free to ... read more
Ha Long Bay
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island October 10th 2009

Salut tout le monde, papas and mamas ! on vous donne enfin des nouvelles apres quelques jours de silence ! On a quitte Sapa par le train de nuit et mieux dormi qu'a l'allee. On a decide de partir pour la baie d'Halong qui nous appelait plus qu'un autre coin d'ethnies montagnardes (Mai Chau) ou on ira peut-etre apres si le coeur nous en dit. On est arrives a Hanoi vers 5h du matin, les yeux colles, les deux pieds dans la meme bottine dans mon cas et on a essaye de trouver la gare indiquee dans le guide comme point de depart du bus pour Bai Chay (point de depart pour la baie d'Halong). On s'est retrouves dans une gare d'autobus de la ville ou on a reussi a se faire comprendre assez pour etre ... read more
on part dans la Baie d'Halong
grottes surprenantes
pieds de Bouddha

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island July 29th 2009

Yes. I'm 30. Three whole decades since I appeared in a maternity hospital called Little Thorpe in County Durham on a hot July day in 1979. I had a double chin and weighed in at 9 pounds. My weight hasn't changed much since then, I just got longer. I doubt that back in 1979 anyone guessed I'd spend my 30th birthday as an English teacher in north Vietnam. For a start, I doubt many people in the west imagined a future in Vietnam in those days. And then there were the career options. Firstly, by chance of geography I might have been a coal miner like my dad, his dad and his dad's dad...but I wanted to be a sailor. "A captain of a big ship" in fact. I even signed up (or I thought I ... read more
work birthday party
Some of the Apollo staff
Cat Ba Sunrise resort

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island July 3rd 2009

After yesterday’s debacle, we figure things had to get better…we were only a little correct with this assumption. The hotel we were in only had rooms for us for one night, so we had to set out on a quest to find 2 new rooms—we also found out it was a holiday weekend and Vietnamese were coming out in full force for the occasion. We finally find a place on the beach; there were small huts with two hammocks hanging inside. They were cheap and we weren’t picky. Before settling into our new beachfront home, the girls and I sought out bus tickets to get down to the next town, Hue (pronounced way). The first travel agency wanted to rip us off by 100,000 Dong; luckily, we tried a second one. With bus tickets in hand, ... read more
Next morning
Goat got loose
In the back of the sleeper bus

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island July 2nd 2009

Thursday morning we depart our hotel at a reasonable 9:30am to catch a mini bus to Halong Bay, where we will get the ferry to Cat Ba Island. Everyone advertises tours out to the islands, but we figure we can do it ourselves. There is six of us in total: the Fins, the Irish girls, Wade and I (the Americans). Arriving at the bus station was a hectic mess, the minute we exit our cab we’re being dragged in several directions. We rush and buy a ticket and make our way to the designated mini bus. Imagine my wonderful surprise when I got to get in the bus and who do I see? The previous American girls who insist the word “Frosty” and “healthy” belong in the same sentence…fantastic. We wait about 20 minutes before the ... read more
Our majestic steed
beginnings of a lovely sunset
Awesome views along the way

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island June 16th 2009

I wasn't initially impressed by the island. This may have had something to do with the fact that it was pouring rain after our time in Halong Bay. With nothing to do in the morning when our hike got cancelled, we spent time drinking Vietnamese iced coffees, eating lychees and deflecting crude pickup lines from self-purported Vietnamese playboys. Thankfully the weather cleared up and I got to spend the afternoon at the beach observing the Vietnamese enjoying their beach vacations. It was great determining current Vietnamese beach fashion, who was there with their current consort/mistress and of course current Asian trends in avoiding the sun. The Cat Ba beach looked like any other normal beach but was not on the mainland and so it was a destination for the well-off who were able to take the ... read more
sunset
floating villages
Halong Bay cave

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island June 8th 2009

Day 35 Monday June 8, 2009 Rented a motorscooter and went to Cat Co 2 beach. Wasn't feeling to great and the beach was crappy and the chair rental was little high 60,000 VND. Hung around town and made our plans for the next day. Vietnam facts from my experience: -Money is in Dong, abbreviated VND ...17,500 VND= $1.00 US -Most places quote you prices in US dollars -They charge 3% to use a credit card -They take your passport at every hotel to get permission from the government to get permission for you to stay. -Seems that women carry the heavy carts & baskets and do the harvesting in the rice fields while the men do the ploughing in the rice fields and tout in the streets in the city...Cush! -You can rent a ... read more
Vietnam (209)
Vietnam (207)

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island June 7th 2009

Day 34 Sunday June 7, 2009 Switched boats early in the morning to go to Cat BA Island. We met some people from South Africa and Australia. They were fun to talk to. We were dropped off on the harbour and of course it was about 18km from the harbour so we waited for 30 minutes in the sweltering heat on a bench with a littlle stitch of shade above us. Teh bus trip was only 10,000 VND (57 cents) to Cat Ba town and we stayed at the luxurious Bay View Inn with two super fans above the bed, and air conditioner that worked whenever they remember to turn the breaker switch on, pirated cable TV, and electricity that sporadically shut off during the night=) It was fairly clean and cost $15/night so no complaints...We ... read more
Vietnam (194)
Vietnam (195)
Vietnam (196)

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island June 1st 2009

22nd April 2009 Today went exactly as we’d planned. We breakfasted at the hotel, met our Spanish friends and walked to 2-3km along the coastline and finally ended up at Cat Co Beach. We did stop off for a swim in the cool sea along the way. The scenery was magnificent, steep cliffs and islands covered in dense vegetation. I even saw a few birds which was a nice surprise. I was especially pleased to finally get a good photo of a Blue Rock Thrush which seemed to quite common on Cat Ba. At Cat Co Beach we noticed many large jelly fish stranded and dying on the shoreline. The ancient animals were victims of boat collision. I did manage to find a few alive but stuck in the swallow waters. This I couldn’t ignore so ... read more
Behind us is the floating fishing village
with our new Spanish friends
Buzzed by a Black Kite




Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 8; qc: 92; dbt: 0.0798s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb