Cat Ba Island

We’re off to another home stay for two nights … leaving the suitcases at the Hanoi apartment and just taking backpacks. Pick up spot is the Circle K, no later than 7:10am, a guide will greet us. Arrived 2 minutes to 7:00 … there was a bus already there – not the bright red one expected. Although going to Cat Ba it wasn’t our bus. A red Cat Ba express zoomed by without stopping … was that ours??? Precisely at 7:10 a scooter pulled up, driver confirmed it was us and seconds later the bus pulled in. This process was repeated all around town until every seat was filled and we set off. There’s no easy exit from the city, and certainly not at morning rush hour. The poor driver was already stressed enough having to do a multi-point turn around a sharp bend (holding up traffic), so when a bike peddlar ambled across right in front, I imagine his outburst contained some choice and colourful words in Vietnamese!

About an hour into the journey there was a 20 minute ‘comfort stop’. This rest area was laid out with beautiful Vietnamese crafts, but with only a few minutes to grab a coffee and visit the toilets, there was no time for dawdling (plus the coffee shop was well hidden upstairs). It was close, but we made it with mere seconds to spare .

Farms and rice paddies spread out both sides of the highway with every conceivable fruit and vegetable being grown. Ornate graveyards dot the landscape in groups or singly … all above ground as the water table is so high. At the ferry terminal all passengers had to disembark and walk on while the bus maneuvered the tricky ramp. Has to be the slowest ferry ever .. but we made it to the island.

Cat Ba is a small, not hugely developed area with a World Heritage Status National Park and some of the rarest monkeys in Asia. Unfortunately, as with everywhere else, tourism brings both good and bad change. You can see it in the building of big commercial centres and fancy hotels currently under construction. At the moment though it’s lovely to see bougainvillea of every shade bordering the roads, lush vegetation and small Buddhist temples dotting the hillsides. Green Home Stay was first on the list and we were deposited on the highway a short walk away. There are dozens of Home Stays in this area — all run by local individual families – so the money stays where it should rather than big hotel chains.

Room was not quite ready so a hot, fragrant bowl of crab soup in the airy communal dining hall filled in the time nicely. A National Park hike tour was booked for 1:30 – car arrived promptly with a friendly Belgian couple already aboard. Two Spanish guys from Barcelona joined us and we set off. Just after meeting Nyuen, our guide, a mum and baby golden-headed Langur clambered down the bank to see us.

We’d been warned that this hike was not for wimps, but went anyway <grin> Up through the rainforest, steep … really steep carved stone steps and natural rock … it must’ve been a grueling task to initially install … and even now workers were toiling up the almost vertical slope carrying 40 kilos of sand and rock to repair the trail. We struggled with just ourselves … not so much physically, but with the sunscreen and bug spray, cooling down was difficult at first. Water and photo breaks were most welcome.

Higher and higher … stopped to view a giant centipede … must have been a good 8-9 inches long. You wouldn’t want a bite from him,! https://youtu.be/fMUN-1W8pDQ Almost at the top is a viewing platform providing incredible panoramic vistas. But nope … not quite finished yet. Another scramble, vertical in places with wickedly sharp rocks, and SUCCESS. 360 views and waaaay down into the valley where a thread of a road was just barely visible. Wow! Now to climb back down!

Along the way Nyuen pointed out a meter-long Asian Vine snake … an impossibly vivid green that would have looked ridiculously artificial in a cage, but blended invisibly against the leaves. https://animalia.bio/asian-vine-snake/1000 A small dog tagged along, looking hopefully for a tidbit. She was gentle and grateful for a drink, but as Rabis is ever-present in Vietnam, caution with any stray is recommended. Just as we were leaving, a cluster of women in glorious Ao Dai (Vietnamese national dress) .. like a flutter of exotic butterflies asked if we would join them in a photo. No idea what the occasion was, but they seemed anxious for us to participate … so we did <grin> Sadly no photo but here is what the Ao Dai looks like. Simple, practical and elegant. https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=vietnamese+national+dress&type=E210CA876G0#id=49&vid=e3b75049922504da415f63d78bad0f6c&action=view

An extensive system of caves were well worth a visit, and the tour ended with the Hospital Cave … used during the war – not only for treatment, but also for sheltering local villagers during long bouts of bombing. It would’ve been a horrifying experience … wondering if the mountainside would collapse.

Back to the home stay for dinner. A young French family with two small children were staying and when the food arrived, the owner’s wife scooped up the baby with delight … and allowed the mom to eat her meal.