We considered the train journey (a total of approximately 39 hours) up to Hanoi which would have given us chance to see more of the country, but in the end (with an eye on our visa restrictions and our time left in Asia) decided to fly from Ho Chi Minh city up to Hanoi. Being a bit tired of busy cities, we spent only a single night in Hanoi before making our way (2 buses and a boat) over to Cat Ba Island.
Cat Ba was in our sights as it is within easy reach of the beautiful Ha Long bay, and many boat cruises leave from there to take tourists around the picturesque bay littered with limestone sea-stacks. We’d heard mixed reviews of the cruises (more booze than cruise) and were looking for an alternative way to see the sights.
We had booked 3 nights in a hostel on Cat Ba, and day 1 was already sorted, we would go kayaking around Lan Ha bay with a company called Asia Outdoors. Lan Ha bay is less well known, but only just across the main channel from Ha Long and is equally beautiful and a lot less busy! The kayaking itself was definitely aimed at the lowest common denominator tourist, the boats were two-person sit-on-top kayaks, and for us (some would say snobby!) more experienced types, decidedly clunky to manoeuvre. However, the views more than made up for it, and we had great fun ducking under low rock arches, discovering hidden lagoons and even went for a swim despite the risk of being ‘jellyfished’.
The following day we had nothing planned, but decided we’d like to do some hiking in the national park at the centre of the island. The national park entrance was a few miles away from Cat Ba town, and a number of organised tours left each day, but with my determination not to end up on any more big group tours, I set out to try and get us there independently. The advice online from other travellers was very clear; Rent a Motorbike! The traffic is minimal, there’s no driving license required in Vietnam for bikes 50cc and under, and my newfound online role models all said “it’s very easy even if you’ve never ridden before”. Ok, great, what could possibly go wrong?
We negotiated with our lovely hostel host to hire a scooter, and she even helped us with some quick driving instructions. I confidently mounted the scooter, started the engine, checked for any traffic (there wasn’t any), and gave it some gas. I shot across the road at a 45 degree angle and nearly crashed into the kerb on the other side before I managed to stop. Oops, maybe this was going to take a little more getting used to than I thought! Our host was beginning to look a little worried, and turned to Mel “maybe you should drive?”. Mel gave it a go, and did much better than me, heading down the hill and managing to turn it around to face back up towards us. She then stopped and didn’t move. Oh dear. I found out later she had just free-wheeled down the hill and didn’t know how to accelerate to get back up!
On my second attempt I did much better, and (with strict instructions from our host to call her if we got into any trouble!!) we set off.
I’m pleased to report that this adventure ends with no incidents, we had a lovely walk through the forest in the national park up to a viewpoint and back, and travelled back to Cat Ba town where we (with some significant sense of relief) handed back the keys to our scooter.
We were having a great time on Cat Ba, and decided to extend our stay an extra night. This gave us another full day, and we decided to give the local climbing scene a try. Back to Asia Outdoors office and booked onto their top-roping climbing session. For this we got another ride out into Lan Ha bay on their boat, fed a lunch of rice, spring rolls, vegetables, curried-fish and fresh pineapple, and dropped at a beautiful bay with our climbing guides for the afternoon.
Top-roped climbing was probably a bit of a cop-out for Mel and I, who are capable of leading ‘sport’ climbs (pre-placed anchor points). However, the climbing was excellent, on good quality rock, and the top-roping meant that we could relax and just enjoy ourselves. We got 4 good climbs in each, ranging from french-grade 4+ (very comfortable) to 6a (a little tricky for us) in some nice sunshine with the incredible backdrop of the sea lapping the beach.
Back to the boat for the 30 minute journey back to Cat Ba town while watching the sunset from the open top-deck. Good job they had a well stocked beer fridge!
Melanie and Colin Go Travelling 