Ha Long Bay & Cat Ba Island

I was lucky enough to visit this World Heritage listed icon two times during my stay in Vietnam. My first time was with my Intrepid Tour on arrival to the country & the second was on a well deserved break from teaching English in Hanoi, when my friend Kath decided to come over for a visit.

There are few ways to get to Cat Ba island depending on how adventurous you are. The first is to take the ultra fast 45 minute Russian hydra foil direct. The second is to stay there after your first night on the Junk boat or the third is to coast along at 1 Km an hour on the 2 hour 45 minute locals boat. This was Intrepids choice the first time I went which is good for the first 15 minutes until the fans stop working, you have no legroom and the hawkers keep at you to buy their chicken meat and water.

Once on Cat Ba it’s a good place to escape the crowds and traffic of Vietnam. The streets are free of traffic and it is so quite that you would swear you were in another country. Watch out for the night butterflies though. These are girls that come out and try to entice you in for a massage but there are little extras thrown in.

The first time I went we didn't do much except drink & eat on the beach front. It wasn't until the second time that I really managed to discover the beauty of this place. We booked a 2 night package with a small local operator who put us on Halong for the first night & then Cat Ba for the second. This time around though, we went for a hike to a local village on Cat Ba island where we met a few of the locals & listend to a few of their stories. The village we went to was established during the war. Some of the people from Hanoi & Hai Phong decided to escape the enemy & seek shelter & peace on the island. Not too much has changed here since it was established, but they have recently got their very first post office.

If you can't make it to Cat Ba Island than it is possible to just do one night on Halong Bay. It doesn't matter who you book your trip through you always seem to stay on a similar style boat. The boat on both of my trips was nice & so too was the people & food.

Halong Bay is one of the must do's for any trip to Vietnam.