After much debate, and many a recommendation from fellow travelers, we decided to try to do the infamous Halong Bay, without actually doing Halong Bay.
 
With an isolated and off-the-beaten-track appeal (and far fewer visitors), the rugged, craggy and jungle-clad Cat Ba Island turned out to be a little gem. Cat Ba town itself is really laid back, and proved to be an excellent base (after waiting out the rain) for kayaking around Lan Ha Bay (Asia Outdoors, based in the Noble House bar, proved to be a great little outfit). 

Geologically these 300 or so karst islands are very much an extension of Halong Bay, even if geographically they are part of a different province. They share the same emerald sea, and the limestone pinnacles and scenery are every bit as beautiful as Halong Bay (so we were told), but in our opinion these islands have some definite additional selling points: they have numerous white sandy beaches and, just to drive home the point a little more, there are pretty much NO TOURISTS! Yay!

 I had fully prepared myself to be disappointed -- even if still awed by the Bay's natural beauty -- by the talked-about chaos of hundreds of motorised tourist boats (Junk boats) clogging up the waters. So I could not believe our luck when we paddled out to Lan Ha Bay to find only a handful of Junk boats. Otherwise the only 'traffic' was from local fishing boats serving the floating communities. 
 
Fort Cannon
 
While waiting for good enough weather to go kayaking we kept ourselves busy with reading, coffee drinking and foot massages. But you know David, he gets itch feet (the rather aggressive foot massage, at the Flightless Bird Cafe, proved insufficient). So, once again, I got dragged on a steep 30-min walk to Fort Cannon. But I have to say, Lonely Planet wasn't kidding, the summit offered one of the best views in all of Vietnam... And ice cream :)

 Further delights (mainly for the Davids of this world) included a helicopter landing pad, underground tunnels and two well-preserved gun emplacements (one 'manned' by life-size Viet Minh mannequins). 
 
...or were they mannequins? We came across this hastily hand-scrawled note next to one of the ones in the mini museum: "Help, they've turned me into a plastic model. They're catching people. Save yourself before they get you!"