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Halong Bay Continued!
We arrive at the Sunflower Hotel on Cat Ba Island. Before we check in dinner is served and we find ourselves sharing a table with the same guests, food was such a treat again! The hotel is quite dilapidated; the Germans said they had "mushrooms" growing on their walls! We are staying on the 5th floor too, the rooms were so dated, nice floral duvet covers but Jade and I were still in such a bubbly mood.
We head down to the main town area of Cat Ba Island, apparently there was a night market? All we found were little shops selling all kinds of pearl jewellery. It is really eerie as it is so quiet and not like the busy Vietnam we have been used too.
Armed with Choco pies, we headed back to get our heads down for the evening, as we had to be up for 7 for breakfast then trekking in the National Park after.
Breakfast was minimal, delicious all the same! Our guide comes to tell us we will be going to do the trekking in the afternoon, and that we had some free time to explore Cat Ba Island. Cat Ba itself is attractively situated around a bay teeming with small boats
We sit down on the harbour front of Cat Ba and enjoy a Vietnamese coffee! We are getting addicted to them! There is no one around, it's like a ghost town, and what did we expect? We are here out of season for Vietnam. . It is commonly used as an overnight hotel stop on tours to Ha Long Bay
We have lunch at the hotel and are now told that we have to wait till 4 pm to do trekking! We are a little bit annoyed as we could have made the most of the day. Jade and I decide to head to the beach.
Cat Ba still has the dramatic and rugged features of Ha Long Bay. The beach is fantastic, you can just imagine what it would be like if were to be a sunny day. We walk around the coast and down on to another beach. There seems to be a path around the rugged coastline but it seems to be in disrepair so we opt out and write messages in the sand and use the hundreds of shimmery little fish to decorate (no one call RSPCA please, they were dead BEFORE we arrived!) before heading back to eventually go trekking.
Now on our way trekking! The scenery and greenery is just fantastic as we make the climb on the bus trip there.
At the national park there seems to be a few small houses scattered in this forested area but it is otherwise quite desolate. As we start the trek we are faced with what seemed like about 2000 steps before we got on to the muddy part of the trek. As much as it was cool here, Jade and I were both sweating so much. I am so proud that Jade is the only female making this trek, I am not sure why the other girls didn't do it. We make our way through the dense forest and up steel make shift ladders, it is real hard work. I am following 2 Czech guys who are speeding off up the climb and Jade is just behind me with a Malaysian guy. As we reach the top of the stairs you can really see what an achievement we have made and we are still not at the top.
WE MADE IT! The view is just spectacular Jade takes a sit down as we both catch our breath. This was so worth all the hard work and effort! A region of rugged mountains with elevation 500 m, we are 286m up, of which most are in the range 50-200 m. Cat Ba island is mainly limestone alternating narrow valleys running along the northeast-southwest. There is a metal tower that you can climb here at the top of the view point. The Czech guys rush right to the top, I decide just to go to the first ledge as it is making my legs wobbly.
Now making the descent of this hill and we seem to be going a different way , a much more difficult and steep way with no walk ways or path, just sloppy mud , Jade and I are holding on to branches just to clamber down. It is quite treacherous to be honest. And forgetting to mention that Jade really didn't come dressed for the occasion, as she has got her long dress tucked into her knickers! I didn't notice to be honest I thought she looked amazing! As always. We reach the bottom at last, Jade is shaking and I am literally sweating buckets we are both so exhausted… so pleased we achieved this climb, and just before nightfall! Back on the bus and making tracks for our night's stay on the boat! Two super excited people en route.
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