"Halong Bay & Cat Ba Island" a Ha Long Travel Page by Ewingjr98

Halong Bay is a fabulous area of sheer cliffs plunging to deep blue water. For scenery and photo opportunities, this was the highlight of my trip to Vietnam.

Our 3-day trip started in Hanoi. We took a bus to the city of Halong, stopping at a village for a restroom/souvenir break. Not really interested in souvenirs, my friend and I wandered into the village and through the town's market. Upon arriving at Halong, we boarded our interesting wooden boat with orange sails. After a quick ride, we stopped at the slightly disappointing Hong Dau Go caves. We had a great multi-course lunch on the boat, included in the price. The next several hours were spent on the boat just gawking at the amazing islands. Eventually we stopped in a secluded cove for swimming in the nice warm water for about an hour. Just as it got dark, we arrived at Cat Ba Island, on the back side from Cat Ba town. We had dinner on the boat, had some drinks, then swam after dark in the water as warm as a bath. We slept on the deck of the boat under the stars.

The next morning, we got up with the sun and had an American-style breakfast. We went to Cat Ba town, checked into our hotel, the Sun Flower One, then got on a bus for Cat Ba National Park. At the park, we began a 9km trek through beautiful jungles and rugged terrain. With the intense heat and humidity, this became a taxing nine hour journey (including stops). During the hike, our guide pointed out several animals and a crater from the Vietnam War. We stopped for lunch in a small farming village called Viet Hai. At about six in the evening, we boarded a boat at Lan Ha Bay that took us back to Cat Ba Town.

That evening we had another nice dinner in the hotel, then I wandered around the town to a bia hoi for a few drinks and to watch the people go by. I finally relented to a young man who wanted to take me for a ride in his mid-sized row boat. He gave me a wonderful hour-long tour of the harbor for about US$2.

The next morning we boarded the boat and went back through Halong Bay to Halong city for our bus ride back to Hanoi.