From the book: Cat Ba Island

01-Apr-2018

It has been a long time since I recorded an entry in this book. Maybe its the hectic, long day nature of Vietnam. Maybe its the way I have stayed in Hanoi longer than expected. Most others have taken weekend breaks away to Sapa and Ninh Binh.

This weekends trip to Cat Ba Island has broken the routine of drunken Fridays, Boring Saturdays and lesson plan Sundays. I will have to retroactively add an entry for Halong Bay here and stick a lot of souvenirs/collectibles in here too.

The bus to the island was above average for comfort. The wi-fi is still lacking, but Mr Bean was on at least. Pretty standard route through the North Vietnamese countryside.

Arriving at the island on a small group boat, we travelled through a coastal road route, seeing rice fields, green limestone hills and jagged islands. Blue skies were also a relief to Hanoi’s often smoggy atmosphere.

The hotel looked dodgy on the outside compared to others in the Cat Ba strip, but it has lovely, if simple rooms with a view of the harbour. I would likely stay again, unless something better crops up on tripadvisor.

The plan was very simple: Travel the island at our own pace, see the sights and relax. It was me, Diane, Andy, Kristina, Sarah, Alex, Rebecca and Jon. Unfortunately Jon felt sick and had to lie down in the room for the duration of the trip.

Jon has been the biggest casualty of Vietnam in my opinion. It feels like he has been ill for 2/3rds of the entire internship. I feel sorry for him & its hard to help other than offering a listen or food to keep going. I wish he could figure it out, but I don’t know what to do about it.

Myself, Diane, Andy, Rebecca & Alex rented out mopeds and did a tour of the island. Words don’t do justice to the beauty of the island. Greenery everywhere, sharp ascending pillars, miles of open road, and wildlife all around. I hope to buy postcards to send home the gorgeous look.

After checking out the forests & the coast, we raced to the top of Cannon Fort before sunset. By this point we were low on fuel, but we made it. Stunning views of the bay, similar to Ha Long’s jagged islands, but from a high viewpoint. Many pictures were taken.

Alex had tripped on the way back to her moped and lost the key! I ventured into the now dark pathway and found it in the woods after a but of blind searching. We practically used gravity to do all the moving back into down, bombing it down the hills. We found the gas station and got fuel in the end, with just a minute or two worth of fuel left.

I had a clam soup dinner, and it was fantastic. It was the highlight of an otherwise weak menu at the Oasis bar. They just kept forgetting meals or sending out 2 plates at a time. Still, it wasn’t all bad. A round of mojito’s were given to the table as an apology, and Tiger was just 10’000vnd.
“Then Rebecca got super drunk and got sick and had to be brought to her room”-Rebecca’s own words!

Yes, a lot of alcohol was consumed that night. I was fine since I stuck to Tiger, but Rebecca needed to return to the room at 11. Her bucket of vodka tasted like poison, the sort of cocktail you make in college. Myself, Alex, Kristina and Sarah stayed out until 1. The awful trap house music made us call an early night. Some of them had balloons as well.

Returning to the room, Jon didn’t feel any better. He mentioned leaving and going home. I felt like agreeing with him, before going to sleep.

The next morning was pleasant, with a simple rice breakfast and walk on the main strip. I found no Cat Ba postcards. Vendors said they had Ha Long cards only. I’ll need to print out my own. No sign of any post offices here either. You would wonder how mail ever gets delivered at all.

Back at the hotel, we decided to walk to a beach 5 minutes away. It is so close to being a paradise beach; a small cove with limestone islands in the distance. It was quiet as well, and worth spending time unwinding. The only things that detracted were a JCB doing work on the sand, and a private resort beside the cove that didn’t keep the look natural. I had a quick swim and had to leave quickly. the bus to Hanoi was leaving in 30 minutes. I would have to see this again.

The bus back was fine, I got tasty crackers and watched some more Mr Bean. Then I wanted nothing more than to chill in my room. Sadly I had no energy to wish those back home a happy Easter. Maybe next week I will call.