Rock the Cat Ba

We headed a few hours east of Hanoi to Halong Bay in the Gulf of Tonkin. Most people take a tour from Hanoi to the bay and Cat Ba island for a few days, but we were really happy we didn't - although we traveled with a tour group to the island, which reinforced our decision. The boat we paid for was supposed to include a trip to the caves and a stop at Monkey Island, but it didn't, and the angry little Vietnamese guide was not letting us off the boat with rest of the people on the tour (and after smirking at his antics, I was even told "No Smiling!"). But regardless of the grumpy tour guides and the partying Canadian crew we shared the boat with, the scenery was breathtaking. More than 3,000 vegetation covered islands rise out of the waters, making it quite a natural marvel. After the four hour boat ride, past islands, caves, and floating fishing villages, we arrived at Cat Ba, the largest and only inhabited island of the bunch.

The mountainous island was covered with a jungle that was straight out of Jurassic Park - it was absolutely beautiful. And to add to it all, we stayed in the nicest hotel (since India) yet for only $9 a night, including a beautiful view of the bay filled with fishing boats and the surrounding islands. That night we ate a pineapple pizza, had a bia hoi with some new friends, and watched a Vietnam War movie on HBO, it was a perfect evening.

We battled between biking the jungle interior of the island, or kayaking the open waters, but we jumped at the opportunity to explore some of the tiny islands just off the shore by kayak. We started in Bat Bao harbor, on the other side of the island from our hotel, and it didn't take us long to learn a few things about sea kayaking. One, we should have rented the more expensive kayak with a rudder so we could have navigated the waves more efficiently, and two, its not a great idea to try to paddle onto a shore that is filled with rocks and increasingly larger waves as the tide begins to grow. Once we got close enough to realize we needed to turn around from this tiny beach, it was too late, and the waves slammed us onto the shore. It took some team work to push ourselves out past the breaking point of the waves, but we finally succeeded after a few tries.

Like everywhere else we've been, we could have stayed a few more days enjoying these tropical islands, but we headed for the mountains by train the next night.