A Long Way to the Top
Halong Bay, 13th to 16th May 2002 (Part 1)
The next morning, we returned to the shore of Cat Ba island, and
hopped on motorbike taxis to reach the hotel where we'd be spending
the 2nd night. We were told to leave our bags in the room, then we
were going to head out to another island. I went up to the room I'd
been given, and...WOW! It was an amazing hotel, possibly the nicest
place I've stayed on my whole trip! Really nice, clean, spacious
rooms, air-con, TV, fridge and fab bathroom! I could tell it was
pretty posh by the way they provided free toiletries & toothbrushes.
A place like this would cost at least 80 pounds a night in England!
After I'd got over the shock, I headed downstairs to join the
others, equally impressed with their rooms. After breakfast we
boarded a bus to get back to the boat & set out.
After a couple of hours cruising, we reached a small port. River,
our guide, told us that the boat couldn't go any further because the
water was too shallow. So the next hour was spent scrambling along a
narrow, rocky outcrop, trying to avoid slipping or twisting an
ankle, rocks can be very unforgiving to fall on to! Still, even
though it was hard work, it was good fun.
When we reached some real land, we took a short walk to a small
village. The village was quite basic. Really simple mud/cow-poo
huts, no electricity running water, police or hospitals. The people
were very friendly though and tourists obviously came through here a
lot, there were specific eating areas for the tour groups.
River told us we'd take a short, easy walk to the top of a nearby
mountain for some views then be back for lunch at 1pm. As it was now
12 noon and the path to the top was 4km (inevitably up-hill) I was
doubtful we'd make it, but River insisted.
After a hard climb up a steep, muddy slope, we were getting a bit
concerned. It had been raining so the path was difficult to climb
without slipping and if it started raining again, the whole thing
would become one big mudslide. After 40 minutes of climbing, we
asked River how far we'd come, he said just under half-way to the
top. I pointed out again that it was quite obvious we wouldn't be
back at the village by 1pm. After a large heated debate, everyone
getting a bit confused & annoyed, the girls & Andy decided they
wanted to head back. The tour had advertised an 'easy trek' but this
was proving quite difficult. So they headed back down, while Dave,
Gilad & I continued up with River.
We continued climbing the steep muddy trail, and we were soon all
covered in sweat and were finding it quite hard going. That is,
everyone except River. River found it annoyingly easy, springing up
the path with the ease of a mountain goat wearing his simple,
little, plastic, slip on flip-flops. He obviously thought that all
of us Westerners were very unfit.
When we reached the top though, we were rewarded with spectacular
views of Halong Bay, Cat Ba National Park and rolling green
mountains. We stood at the top for 20 minutes, taking photos and
re-gaining energy. Once we were ready to go, we headed back down.
Again, the going was quite tough and we had to be very careful not
to slip. Of course, River bounced down with the greatest of ease. We
were all sweating, and drank at least a litre of water each. River,
on the other hand, didn't even want a sip of water. I guess if
you're not sweating (like him) you don't need to drink!
By the time we reached the village again, it was 2:15pm. We were
absolutely starving, and polished off the huge lunches quickly.
After a short walk back to our boat, we took the ride back to Cat Ba
Island and we all rushed to our rooms for much needed showers.
We ate dinner with another group of people on tour. There was a
really interesting couple, an Austrian Guy & a Spanish lady, who had
just adopted a Vietnamese baby and were touring Vietnam before
heading back home to Austria. They were a very interesting family,
they both spoke English, Austrian, Spanish & Catalan and now with
their Vietnamese child, they really were an international family!
After dinner, we decided to head out for a few drinks in Cat Ba
town, there are dozens of bars & cafes & sea-side drinking stalls to
choose from. Once we'd picked one, we stuck to it for most of the
evening, just drinking and chatting. However, before heading back to
the hotel, Gilad & Dave managed to convince us all to go to one of
the many Karaoke places and try out a few songs (Karaoke is VERY
popular here). After singing a few really cheesy songs very badly,
we called it a night.
The next day we took a long cruise around the bay again before
reaching Haiphong city. It was a long cruise, but the time passed
quickly while we enjoyed the views that the bay had to offer.
The journey back to Hanoi was easy & uneventful. We got back to
Hanoi at about 6pm and had a quiet evening before calling it an
early night, to recover from the activities of the past few days.
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