Today we travelled on a night bus for about 16 hours we then stopped briefly in Hanoi to get breakfast then got our next coach and ferry which took another 5 hours! First glimpse of Hanoi remind me somewhat of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, it appears at first sight to not have a lot of tourism, but we have only been in a small area so far. We went to a local diner where we ate assorted local food, some of which didn't take my fancy and some of it I'm convinced was dog (if so it was damn nice). Well that's enough Hanoi for now on to Cat Ba. Having arrived at the island I can say that this has the most beautiful and scenic natural surroundings of any place I have been on this trip. A combination of coast with thousands of islands all as tall as small mountains stretching far off into the distance. This is pretty much how I pictured this area and it's all made better knowing we made it here before Joel's flight!