Cat Ba Island

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3rd mar - Monday


Breakfast over, four of us transfer by launch to join another party aboard a similar vessel. One and a half hour sail to begin our two hour trek in the Cat Ba National Park.

We are now quite a large group. Weather calm, cool with very good visibility. Once again we are lucky with the weather, as officially in Halong Bay, February and March have the poorest visibility, and we are told that only last week all sailing boats were cancelled, for safety reasons. Had that been the case for us, we would have been so disappointed as this area is a 'must see' for any Visitors to Vietnam, having earned it's ecological recognition status recently.

So, we disembark and a coach journey of half an hour to the edge of the Cat Ba National Park for our trek and are met by our enthusiastic new local guide, aptly named 'Monkey'. ( he DEFINITELY earned his name, see the photographs). First ten minutes are very pleasant.......... But then the trek turns into Paula's worst nightmare - grappling with rocky steep wet pathways, slippery mud, flimsy ladders, sheer drops, you name it, we climbed it - right to the top!

Ngu Lam Peak is it's name, and yes we would do it all over again, but not right now. Being the oldest in our group was not natural for us, but we managed to stay with and, mostly lead the group, although it half killed us, there is no substitute for youth. Leo is now Paula's hero as he not only safely completed the trek, but shouldered our 8kg back-pack and hauled her up and down the peak as well!

Back on the coach for half hour, check into our very pleasant Hotel room, down to group lunch, lots of bonding now within our young group, excellent food, starting with hot pumpkin soup and seasoned thick crinkle-cut chips, it most definitely is Winter food here. Cat Ba Langur are an endangered species of Monkey, with only approximately 70 currently left in the World. We are due to visit Monkey Island to see them this afternoon, which is a treat, as visitors not normally allowed because the monkeys are very timid and sensitive. Unfortunately the trip is cancelled without explanation. We are led to believe the tracks are too treacherous due to earlier rain.

Free time all afternoon, so taking advantage of wi-fi opportunity to post our blog before taking a walk around Cat Ba beach and town. Lovely lazy afternoon. Days are running through our fingers like sand it now seems, making the most of our final days here.



Tip of the Day: If your guide is called 'Monkey', then Monkey by name is Monkey by nature - he will leap out at you from behind tree trunks/make loud monkey howls/swing around tree vines/show off in funny poses and be very cheeky by nature - ours was a treat to meet !

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