Cat Ba and Halong Bay

Decided that as the package tours to Halong Bay all returned to Hanoi that we'd make our own way there. This was pretty easy and after a big bus, small bus, hydrofoil and one more big bus we were in Cat Ba town. Cat Ba is the largest island in Halong Bay and apparently the only inhabited one. The town is kind of like an English seaside resort except for the Vietnamese food and the sunshine.

We had a mooch about, drank some Bia Hoi (cheapest beer in the world) and had some noodle soup. Then we enquired about day trips around Halong Bay. Our hotel were very keen for us to take their trip but we kept saying no and booked elsewhere. The trip was pretty standard - quite a few of us on a smallish boat which went out to sea past the floating markets and then into the beautiful Halong Bay.

The scenery was pretty fantastic although to be honest, after an hour of it, gets a bit samey. After a few hours sailing, we went to a cave which was a tourist trap (Claire got a little mirror) albeit a pretty cool tourist trap. The light made it feel a bit Indiana Jones and I got some decent photos amidst the crowds.

After the cave we stopped off at a raft village and did some kayaking through caves which was fairly good except the kayak was damn uncomfortable and my oar was knackered. Also, it's just like the scenery we'd been looking at for three hours except from a lower vantage point. The bay is pretty dirty too with many massive jellyfish floating around.

We then had a very nice lunch (fresh fish and stuff) on the boat and scoffed more than our fair share - the group of Germans at the other end of the table didn't like the look of the food whereas me and Malik (guy we met on the boat) were starving hungry so we got all their food too.

We then headed for Monkey island which, as you can imagine, had lots of monkeys on it. It was crap. The sea had rubbish floating in it, it was damn hot and the only cafe was a complete rip-off. The best bit I suppose was watching a monkey catch a can of beer and drink it.

Spoke with Malik and his wife Ulrika on the top deck about places in Laos and Cambodia (where they'd already been) and arranged to meet for dinner at the floating restaurant in Cat Ba (of Top Gear fame). Boat got back to Cat Ba and we went back to the hotel for a while to chill out. Realised I had left my flip-flops on the boat - gutted! Mind you, they did cripple me for a few days so probably for the best.

Got the free boat to the floating cafe and were told how much the fish (which were kept in baskets under the restaurant i.e. the sea) were. They were way way too much so we just sat down, had one beer and then caught the free boat back to shore. Then we had dinner at our hotel served by a very grumpy teenage girl who clearly wanted us to sod off as it was getting late. No tip.

Didn't really do much else in Cat Ba as it was not that great a place - quite touristy and not that special really. Halong Bay was very pretty but also kind of ruined by tourism. Shame really.

Next place, Ninh Binh, Tam Coc, Bicycles and the real Vietnam.