Chilling out in Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba

Chilling being the operative word! We spent most of the time in our down jackets and trousers, which is quite a change from the 30 degree heat we're used to.

We’d booked on a two day, one night boat trip with Swan Cruises organised through our hostel. We were picked up in the morning by our guides and driven the four hours to Ha Long Bay by minibus. When we arrived at the marina, it was quite cloudy and you couldn’t see the top of the ferris wheel! Undeterred, we boarded the little tender to take us to our boat.

The other passengers on the boat consisted of two German men, one German lady, an American man, two ladies, one Irish and one Basque both living in Ireland, and an Argentinian man and Mexican lady, both living in Vancouver. This mixed group made for interesting conversations during meal times and we learnt a lot about different places.

Our first activity on the boat was lunch. All the food on the boat was very plentiful and tasty and we left feeling very well fed! As we ate, the boat motored over to our overnight stop. We were actually staying in Bai Tu Long Bay, which is the third bay in the Ha Long Bay area and is restricted to 50 boats a day. This makes it quieter than Ha Long Bay, although being off season and not great weather, it wasn’t too busy anyway.

After lunch, we jumped into kayaks for a bit of sea kayaking to a nearby beach. It was amazing being in the water surrounded by massive karst outcrops. When we landed on the beach, James braved the cold water and went for a brief swim in the sea before playing see-saw with a large bamboo stick that had washed up on the beach.

As time was pressing on, we got the tender back to the boat instead of kayaking. We had an hour or so to shower and get ready for dinner and then it was back into the dining room for food. The highlight of dinner was the steamed prawns, where the chef cooked the prawns in front of us using hot coals and a lot of pressure. They were ready in seconds and tasted delicious!

After dinner we played some puzzle games and had a go at squid fishing, although we weren’t successful.

The next morning I was up at 6:15am for some early morning tai chi. James stayed in bed, as did most of the other guests, so it was just me, the Basque lady and our guide Viet. It was a lovely setting to learn tai chi, but I’m not sure I was particularly good at it! After another lavish breakfast, we jumped back on the tender to go visit a cave. Unfortunately it was pretty crowded, but it was nice to see anyway.

Back on the boat, I made use of our balcony to spend some time reading, although it was still a little wet and cold. We packed up and checked out before having a spring roll cooking class and making our own for lunch. We had an early lunch before disembarking back to shore.

We enjoyed our trip, despite the weather and the fact that we didn’t actually get the honeymoon suite we’d paid for (this was later refunded by a very apologetic manager from Swan Cruises). The mist added a certain charm to the area and personally, I was just excited to be in an area I’d seen so much of in pictures.

Instead of going back to Hanoi, we were spending a couple of nights on Cat Ba Island so were dropped off near the ferry terminal on the way back. This was after the bus had driven round the roundabout twice to avoid the traffic police as buses aren’t allowed to stop. We had to take a taxi to the ferry terminal and unfortunately we’d just missed one so had to wait a couple of hours for the next one at 3pm. This gave us time to ring James’s mum and wish her happy birthday.

The ferry journey was very picturesque, passing through more karst landscapes. On the other side, perfectly timed, was a local bus which would take us to the town of Cat Ba 28km away at the other end of the island for only 30,000 VND, or £1. This worked out perfectly and dropped us very near our hotel.

Once checked in, we went for a walk along the harbour, scouting out suitable places for dinner. Being a Sunday night and the off season, it had a slight Mary Celeste feel about it as most places were pretty dead, so we headed to the number one place on TripAdvisor, which did have some customers! We were entertained after dinner by a couple of small children who were enjoying playing with five fake flowerpots. It’s amazing what can keep children entertained!

A quick side note on children in South East Asia. Most adults take them with them to work, be that in cafes, on reception at hotels or at bars. They are also allowed to happily play in the street, by busy roads or on building sites. Parents have a more relaxed attitude to parenting, and we’ve seen small children allowed to play with burning open fires, or left standing on tall pub stools unattended. It’s hard to say which attitude is right, as it’s nice to see them having freedom but I have also had to stop myself jumping in at times!

Before dinner, we had tried unsuccessfully to book a rock climbing trip for the next day, however on our second attempt we were successful! We therefore headed back to the hostel ahead of our early start the next morning.

We woke to drizzle, which isn’t ideal for climbing, but we weren’t put off. After a breakfast of pho (first time it actually seemed to be reasonable to eat a hot bowl of soup for breakfast!), we were introduced to our climbing instructors and taken in a minibus to the pier. We boarded a junk boat and then transferred to a small tender which took us to Moody Beach. This was our own private climbing wall, where we spent three hours trying to climb various routes, some successfully, others less so! The views from the top were amazing though and even I enjoyed myself by the end!

Back on the junk boat, we had a massive lunch with some other people who had been kayaking that morning, before being transferred back to the mainland on the tender. We were very lucky to get this trip as the company we went climbing with, Asia Outdoors, was closing down at the end of the month and we were the second last people to climb with them. It’s a shame as they are a good company with a good reputation.

Back on dry land and with it being so cold, I decided it was perfect running weather, so went for only my second run in two months. Needless to say, my time was not quick, but I did manage to complete my 5k so was happy.

That evening, we went to a restaurant recommended by the climbing instructors, which was back into town at the top of the hill. The food was tasty, and I particularly enjoyed a glass of white wine produced in Da Lat, which was not too sweet but not very acidic either. Perfect!

To finish our night, we popped into a games cafe where we spent an hour playing various games in a somewhat smoky room. It was surprisingly good fun and I didn’t really want to leave after the hour was up!

The next day we had a lie in and a lazy morning, before getting our transfer back to Hanoi. This involved a coach (which arrived an hour late), which took us to a very short ferry crossing to another bus all the way to Hanoi. On the way we were given complementary cream egg cakes, which aren’t what they sound like! In fact they tasted like the lady finger biscuits you put in trifle, which took me back to my childhood!

We arrived back in Hanoi about 5pm and went for dinner at the best Bun Cha Hanoi place in Hanoi, called Bun Cha Ta. I have to say, it was pretty tasty! On the way back, we stopped for dessert at a little burger place that was doing special Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un Summit burgers. As we were returning to our hostel to catch our overnight bus to Sa Pa, we bumped into T and Joe from our slow boat trip to Laos. We’ll hopefully meet up with them when we get back to Hanoi in a couple of days time.

The weather played a massive part in our experience of the North of Vietnam, but in some ways we’re happy to have a bit of a break from the heat. Despite the drizzle and cold, we enjoyed our trip to this amazing karst landscape and it was a delight to be able to experience it up close. Maybe one day we’ll be back to see it in the sunshine.