Nov 21-23, 2009
Halong Bay if you believe the Vietnamese, is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It has a UNESCO stamp to back it up, plus there is nary a soul anywhere who will tell you that its overblown and overrated. The 2000 drop-dead gorgeous limestone pinnacles rise from the emerald coloured Gulf Of Tonkin, like humps on a dragon (if you believe the local lore). Whatever, after 8 exhausting, demoralizing days fighting H1N1, and God knows what else in Hanoi, it was a ladder from the almighty, giving us our first fabulous days in Vietnam. Smog and motorbike free, our lungs could breath and we could finally chill without the constant threat of a motor bike wrapping itself around us.
Our one regret was our limited time. We booked a 3 day, 2 night cruise and wound up spending a night on Cat Ba Island. The jungle trek under a canopy of lush green foliage alone would have been worth the trip.
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island sunset
Another interesting feature of this area, and other coastal regions, are the fishing communities. They are total functioning communities floating around their fish farms. Stores, gas stations, eateries…they’re all there. We saw an abundance of dogs on them and feared that they were food. However we were told that they were guard dogs, and thefts among neighbours and fellow fish farmers was common. Children are boated to private schools on Cat Ba Island
From Cat Ba we also beached for a few hours on Monkey Island, where the ‘wild monkeys’ on the beach make moves on your cameras and bags, anything that can pass as containing food. Pesky critters.
Alas, has we been healthier, we’d have gone for a longer and more remote stay, with better kayaking and biking. This spot immediately shoots up to Trish’s top five, and is one spot we would return to.
Early morning, Cat Ba Island harbour
