Cat Ba Island

We had to get up at 5:30am to get a taxi to a bus stop in Hanoi.  Our bus was at 7:15, but we were unsure how long it would take to get there.  We paid our hotel bill and started walking looking for a Taxi.  We found one and negotiated a fair (which as it turns out was double the meter...)  We had time to burn and was glad to discover free wifi.  When it was time, we jumped on the bus and starte the journey to Hai Phong.  At Hai Phong we had to wait for a second bus to take us to the dock, which was about 30ks down an incomplete road.  An interesting experience... The boat arrived and took us to Cat Ba where another bus was waiting to take us to the Town.

We found lodgings and had some lunch.  We were wondering what we should do the next couple of days and discovered an advertisment for a days kayaking and rock climbing, it sounded interesting so we went and checked it out. Afterwards we went for a walk to discover the immediate surrounds.  Cat Ba is a very beautiful place (well minus the high rises)  It is nestled on a thin strip of land between the bay and sheer mountains.  You will see what I mean when I upload photos.  The walk took us around a couple of the 'headlands, where the beaches are (and unfortunately resort hotels)  We had some dinner and called it a night.

We had signed up for the day trip so we woke up the next morning, had some breakfast and got going. The morning was spent cruising through all the limestone Karsts, before anchoring and getting the Kayaks out.  We spent 2 hours making our way through some caves into secluded lagoons, around entire karsts and generally just chilling out.  A fine lunch was served and our rock climbing guides joined us.  We hopped onto a decently un-seaworthy wicker boat who took us to a beach where the climbs were.  The rock climbing was excellent fun.  They set up four different climbs, which I managed to reach the top of three.  I am regretting not sticking it out on the first, as I reckon I could have done it.  Needless to say I will be giving it a crack in Brisbane when I get back.  Reluctantly we got back on the boat and headed home.

Today we are hiring some mountain bikes to explore the rest of the island.  Should be good fun.  Tomorrow we head back to Hanoi to catch a plane to Thailand.

Cheers,

Michael