Cat Ba Island (Part 1)

For the written account in the book, click here.

Cat Ba island is a place I think of that’s overlooked in the grand scheme of Northern Vietnamese travel. I feel that if Ha Long Bay had a cruise that was of poorer quality than the Oasis Bay Cruise, then I would have placed Cat Ba above Ha Long in terms of fun and discovery over the internship. The largest of the islands around the Ha Long area, it was full of the stunning limestone islands as you would expect, but its larger area also meant national parks, motorbiking from beach to beach, a large enough town to get some fantastic seafood meals, and of course a good pub with a pool, but more on that in a bit.

This trip was much more of a house 5 trip than the last few ones. Myself, Andy, Diane, Alex, Kristina, Sarah and Jon were all raring to go to the island for a weekend break. The exception to this house 5 clique was Rebecca. By this point she had visited me and the others a lot and we had even set up the telly downstairs to watch School of Rock once under her suggestion. It was nice to have her along at least.

We packed and regrouped at the Old Quarter, waiting for the Cat Ba Express. Memory recalls Andy was looking for weasel or egg coffee, but the bus had arrived before we had any time to truly settle down anywhere. Surprisingly it was one of the few times I had felt like I was taking in the Old Quarter and not just on the back of a bike speeding through it to beer street. Among all the hustle and bustle of cables, motorbikes and old houses, a bus arrived, and we got on.

The drive to Cat Ba was very similar to Ha Longs; a stop at a gas station halfway through (with cute doggos), a few snacks, and a telly on the bus showing Mr Bean. All familiar stuff, until we got on a boat…

being an island, we got a boat, before getting a second minibus that drove through to the destinations and hotels. Rebecca hit her head on the boat, and recovered by keeping on deck watching the gorgeous limestone peaks appear in the distance. It did feel more barren than Ha Long, but it turned out that the stunning scenery was on the other side of the island. The bus dropped off tourists and we were among the last to get off, arriving at a hotel just past the main town. The Oasis Hotel.

The hotel was not too bad at all. A fairly spacious lobby gave way to some familiar rooms, and with a pub and restaurant next door. I was with Jon, Diane was with Andy and the rest were all in one large room. Slumber party for the girls, mad lad banter for the boys, and a bit of craic along the way! After a fairly simple meal of bacon and eggs, we started planning out the day, wondering where to get motorbikes and what to see. Unfortunately, Jon wasn’t feeling great again, and I left him in the room to relax for a bit. It had occurred to me that he had his mask on all the way from the Cat Ba Bus to the hotel, and wondered if the reduced smog had got to him or if it was just in his head. Either way, it was unfortunate as he seemed OK with the burger and chips as his meal. I only hoped he was OK and I got him some orange juice to keep hydrated while he stayed in.

The hotel knew a guy and showed up a map of the island as well as a few Yamaha Nouvo’s. There was enough for pairs, so I was going to drive and let Rebecca ride shotgun. She seemed to have no issues as I generally rode at a decent speed and not like the speed demon show offs that were in Da Nang. After a refueling (and likely 30’000vnd scamming) at the only petrol station on the island, we began our trip.

Cat Ba is a wonder to explore. From the coastal town, we drove up and down through vertical hills, winding roads and through all the tropical greenery. Along with the quieter than expected roads, this was bliss to drive through. We passed the underground hospital, the natural park and had many photoshoots by the quiet roads and surrounded by dense foliage.

Eventually we reached the other side of the island. For its size (comparable in road length to Inis mór, if not size) it felt satisfying to make it to the end and stop at a closed ferry port. There was an ice cream vendor though, so we got some fizzy drinks and had a chance to sit down and take in the scenery. The port had great views of the surrounding bay, and while not being as captivating as Ha Long’s islands, it was still nice to take in as the hottest part of the day began to wind down.

Diane had a plan of reaching Cannon Fort by sunset, to have a view of the town and more of the limestone islands. However, now that we were on the other side of the island and had just enough time to spare, we backtracked until Andy noticed something; a wonky, wooden bridge.

We crossed the bridge at a steady pace. Some sections had only one support pillar on one side, along with balance beams and planted bamboo flags as a grip. Traversing over quicksand and mosquito filled still, dead water made for a true feeling of adventure. We were handsomely rewarded with a pagoda and cave at the end of the long bridge. This may as well have been one of those bonus islands you find in an action adventure game. Not much was actually gleamed on the actual history of the pagoda, but we decided to climb into the cave beside it. After using a torch, we found some tiny urns, some buddha statues and an altar. It was implied that this may have been a burial spot for a young child from the smaller sized urn, but we couldn’t be sure. Exiting the cave, we took one more look around the temple before returning to our bikes, and having a gesture by the outdoor altar. The mystery of the cave and temple has stuck with me to this day as a big thing done at Cat Ba.

We were running out of time (and fuel) to make the Cannon fort by sunset, so we rushed as fast as we could to Cat Ba town. For all the speed, Rebecca seemed fine with being on the back, and even did a bit of GoPro shooting through the journey. Fortunately, we did make it to the fort after around an hours ride, and with mere minutes before the sun set! We got to business immediately after riding up and down the steep hill.

The fort itself was strategically placed. The view over the rest of the bay gave it an obvious advantage for any naval battle. But we weren’t here for the combat thrills, we were here for the panoramic views, and we got exactly that. Limestone islands that went on for miles, the small fishing villages and the town lighting up one bulb at a time, and some floating boats and bars flashing all the lights they could to show off that they were the party boats to be on. We could hear some Vinahouse from the town, just 300 meters away despite being at the highest point. We took a few photos at the peak, but none of mine turned out great due to a bad exposure setting. Then we took a minute to take in the view as the sun set, the full moon rose, and the night began…