Hanoi to Cat Ba Island

Well, I woke up at 4am and got some water. By 5am I was awake for the day-I caught up on social media until it was time to wake up. We had breakfast, played cribbage and came back to our hotel room to stay in the air con. We didn't venture out, decide to explore more? Nope-we stayed in our wonderfully cool, climate controlled hotel room until it was time to settle our bill & take a taxi to the bus station. 

(He's not sleeping, he's Facebooking as its my day to blog again today.)

Our taxi ride was surprisingly pleasant & hassle free. All the guidebooks warn about taxis and getting ripped off as a foreigner. Our hotel called a taxi so we paid $1.48 to get to the Hoang Long bus station. When we showed up at the bus station which looked more like a garage. I thought there was some mistake-yet I could read the words of the bus station. Chris quickly noticed an "office" and we headed in to buy our tickets. The guy spoke no English-just wanted the $$ for the tickets and as they printed out told us what time. We were so thankful we didn't make an extra trip yesterday to purchase tickets. The guidebooks said to book in advance but the website said to buy the day of-even onboard!! We took a risk (considering we have a non-refundable day paid for tomorrow on Cat Ba), prayed and once again God is in the little things. Each day I've said "please provide" prayers and each day they have been answered. He is faithful and cares for us deeply. 

We boarded the bus to Cat Ba-with no one speaking any English for a bus full of tourists. I am so proud that I did not throw up on the first bus portion of our trip to Cat Ba. I took my non-drowsy motion sickness medication when I probably should have taken the drowsy version to knock myself out. Our seats were not anchored properly so every time the bus braked or accelerated, we tipped forward or backward-which was constantly. Despite my dry heaving-I did not throw up. Mind over matter!! The air con was on but not in any way sufficient-so that wasn't helping either. My saving grace was the 4-5 check points we went through by the bus company in which another staff member came on, counted riders, and got off. Those 90 seconds not in motion were sheer bliss. A Taiwanese movie "My Beloved Bodygaurd" played with Taiwanese & English subtitles. It actually was a cute story about a retired "Kung Fu Panda" protecting the little girl next door whose dad was caught up in a crime ring. The storyline was clear enough without the subtitles-and lucky us, we got to watch it twice.  After 1.5 hours our bus stopped, we unloaded our luggage and waited for another bus. We then boarded a second bus that took us to the dock (which was much more remote & ghetto than you're imagining) and waited for 20-30 minutes to get our luggage and walk to a boat which took us to Cat Ba island. 

We picked a seat by the window to enjoy the heavenly breezes and promptly had to close it as water was pouring in once the speedboat hit full speed. Leaving us once again trapped in a small space & sweating profusely. 

 (In moments like this I wonder if I'm too old or too particular to be a backpacker.)

Once on the island we boarded yet a third bus to drive us the length of the island to deliver us to the town of Cat Ba on the farthest tip of the island. All I asked for was AC-and got it!! Although the whole operation seemed disjointed-all guide books and blogs pointed to this as the BEST way to get to Cat Ba Island.

From what I could tell on the ride in, the mud-lines lead to homes & separate "land" which in this case is water. 

I like this next picture for the dichotomy: the traditional homes, the landscape this area is known for, and the progress of the power lines. 

We arrived, safe and sound to Cat Ba town & located our hotel. As we climbed the stairs to our hotel, I became nervous. The hotel's 4th wall is the rock face. 

We entered our room...

And it is a room with a view:

The view is beautiful. This seems to be a place where mostly locals stay & there's been a lot of slamming of doors and yelling in Vietnamese. I took a nap upon arrival as I was still feeling sick from the travel. We turned on the air con & this room even has a fan. The bed is a "cardboard bed" as its flat, has no plush or give and is a step above the ceramic floor. 

The bathroom leaves lots to be desired: 

Yes, that is an "open shower." Considering the air & fan don't reach the bathroom-the concept makes sense. Made doing laundry by hand quick & easy! 

We walked the strip, checked in to our tour for tomorrow & were fitted for climbing shoes. Cat Ba is certainly a tourist town-mostly for locals. Check out this market with "sandpits" in the middle for kids to play in.

We found a place to eat with several tourists. Chris just wanted a cheeseburger. I felt the need to go more local & went with baked fish with garlic & lemongrass. The sauce was surprisingly spicy! 

We packed our bags for our "big day" tomorrow. We're going to see Cat Ba islands via kayak and then rock climbing. (Not looking forward to rock climbing with sore feet.)This was my "top" to do in Vietnam so I am excited.  I'll leave you with a photo of Chris after dinner as we sat & enjoyed the ambiance.