March 20 - Mixed Feelings on Cat Ba

My first task in the morning was to agree with the receptionist that they would clean my clothes - I knew for sure that I would return to Haiphong a day or two later. She agreed for about $4 - fair enough.

After a very average breakfast (especially when comparing it to the luxury hotels in the two prior days), I decided on trying the new bridge, as versus riding the fast boat. Outside town, it was a long-long ride along a gigantic port, with ships being loaded by cranes, silos, tanks - and huge lorries cruising everywhere. They did not really have a lot of understanding for me - they just decided to change lanes or head out of driveways - I guess they did not hear me swearing at them.

At one point, I checked on Google Maps whether I was riding on the correct road - the long new bridge was already in view, but I did not see an entrance to it. Oh no! I found out that I missed a turn to the right, my road would become a dead-end in the sea. Instead of turning around, I managed to cut through an industrial ground to the correct road, nobody bothered to stop me.

The four-lange bridge, not only brand new, it was also very long, about 15 kilometers, out of which close to 6 km was over the water. This being my first sight of the South China Sea, it was rather disappointing, this was shallow water, looking more like a boring lake.

15-km bridge - crossing salt water (though not too exciting)

A biker on a racing cycle overtook me, he was heading the same direction, to a ferry. The bridge does not cross over to Cat Ba island, a 20-minute ride is still needed.

Ferry to Cat Ba Island

The island looked exciting, full of hills and mountains - it is supposed to be a paradise for hikers, also boasting a national park.

Views of Cat Ba Island

There were about 25 kilometers to ride on the island itself, to the town of Cat Ba, and this was a very pretty one, leading next to the national park, with lush, green vegetation, a bit of a roller-coaster, with close to zero traffic - except for the occasional motorbike ridden by some tourist. Halong Bay is a beloved destination - one of the top ones. In fact, according to one survey(there are countless of these...), Halong Bay is the second most beautiful water destination - in the world. Close to entrance to the national park, I met an American road biker, an older guy who was a bit under the weather - he told me to except a flood of tourists at Cat Ba town.

Lush vegetation

Halong Bay, a UNESCO Word Heritage site, is a bay with countless number of limestone islands and rock formations, topped by forest rise. I decided to skip the national park, which would have meant lots of hiking, and also the two or three large caves - I wanted to reach the water. You see, After the detour to Ba Be National Park on the third day (I was not really impressed by it) and then due to the broken bolt at the Chines border, I had "lost" about four days - add to that the previous three days, where I had ridden over 450 kilometers through boring, flat landscape. I felt a bit pressed for time and realized that I had to make sensibel trade-offs. Visiting a cave means riding to its entrance, securing the bike, changing shoes, buying the ticket, seeing the cave itself, then changing back, returning to the main road - this could "cost" 2 hours or more, equivalent of 25 to 40 kilometers of cycling, especially with short days. So on I rode.

My first view of the bay was from a hill along the road, it was quite beautiful.

First view of Haling Bay

I reached town around noon. Cat Ba Town had a nice promenade on the coast, courted by countless hotels of all categories, overarching each other. I ran into a tourist agency and for about $10, booked a boat trip for that afternoon, leaving at 2 pm. I had lunch at a local market - was quite tasty, then, with still over an hour on my hands, went to one of the three beaches near town and decided to go in for a swim. I saw a few people sunbathing (no one was actually bathing), and went up to a young couple to ask them to take care of my belongings. I asked where they were from - Budapest, Hungary was the answer! We chatted about Vietnam, then I dipped into the somewhat cold, but very refreshing water.

Floating villages

Close-up of a village

Mr. Tourist Trap (or Mrs.)

View from the top

Back to the harbor, another motorbike ride (that I had to survive) back to the bureau - I complained a bit, that they promised a lot more boat riding and not idling for two hours on some zoo of an island. Oh well.

I read in Lonely Planet that the nicest view in entire Vietnam was from a hill above Cat Ba Town, so I rode up on a very steep hill, paid an entrance fee of about $2 and from a former battalion, enjoyed a wonderful sunset, along with a herd of tourists.

Sunset from the top of Cat Ba Island

While the sunset was nice, I yet again had the feeling of having lost half a day on this particular boat ride - and considered not only leaving Cat Ba, but even Vietnam. If I was only moderately impressed by the main attraction in the country, then there is not much left to do, is there? It did not help my mood that I the hotel I'd picked was quite run-down (Princess Hotel) and that dinner at a small, local restaurant was not the best. I was a bit frustrated in the evening, ready to leave the island.