Budget: 1,200k Dong/$60; Spent: 2,455k Dong/$120
Jeff here.
Today was like waking up from a dream. A boring, repetitive, claustrophobic dream. The past couple of days have been so-so. We've felt a little lost, not really knowing what we are doing out here. Perhaps it was that we had no firm plans or anything to look forward to, because today, with our tour beginning at 8am, we woke up with a purpose and I think this made us happier. The sun also came out today. That didn't hurt either.
Our day began at 6:30am, which might sound terrible, but it's so bright in the morning waking up wasn't really hard at all. By the time we made it to the restaurant for breakfast it was only 7:15am, but it might as well have been midday it was so bright. It's a fantastic way to wake up. We had a pretty nice breakfast. For the first time in a long time I actually felt very full. It's a nice feeling to have once in a while!
We arrived at the tour agency, Cat Ba Ventures, and almost immediately hopped aboard a bus after being handed two 1.5 litre waters. They were large, but we would be needing those. The bus ride took us to the entrance of Cat Ba National Park. It turned out there were three others also doing the tour today. A younger couple, who were speaking Spanish to each other, and an older gentleman, who seemed to speak French.
Our hike began simply enough on a paved road that more or less remained flat for 20 minutes. The paved road led to a parking lot, and from here on out, there was no pavement. In fact, I would argue, there was often no path at all.
Anyway, we were told that we had five different "mountains" (hills) to get up and over before the end of our hike, which ended at a village where we would be eating lunch (8 km to the village). The first hill was more or less just stairs leading up. And up. They weren't very steep, but they went on for eternity. The Spanish couple disappeared into the distance and the French guy lagged well behind. We got to the top of the first hill and we were all pretty tired. After a five minute break or so, we carried on, going back down the hill, across a plain, and then up the second hill. It was at this point when I genuinely began to worry for the older guy.
He was huffing and puffing, sweating like mad, and his face was beat red. This was clearly not something he did everyday. As we climbed the second hill I stayed in front of him, but close, so that he didn't feel like he had to rush. It was concerning, but he made it up that hill, and then three more. And let me tell you, those were not easy climbs, especially the last two where the path literally disintegrated and we were clamoring up over rocks. Patty noted that this path would never exist in Japan: it would be impossible for girls in high-heels. Here's our guide and the "trail":
The climbs were pretty challenging, but more difficult and scary than physically demanding. At least for Patty and I. The older guy would probably disagree! The way down from the fifth hill was the worst part of the whole trek. The rocks were loose and many of the stones were jagged. It's not like there was the opportunity for us to fall off an edge to our deaths, but the chances of an injury like a sprain or broken bone was higher than we were comfortable with. In the end, we made it down with no problems. Once we were at the bottom, we waited about 20 minutes for the older gentleman to get down, since he had slowed considerably after the last two hills.
From there, it was a 20 minute (horizontal!) walk into the village. The village was in a very pretty valley. Once we were in the village it was another 5 minute walk to our restaurant. Here are some pics:
The meal was pretty good and was included in the price of the tour. The conversation around the table was minimal. I think everyone was too tired to talk. Once we were done, it was another 5 km to the harbour where we would be taking a boat through Lan Ha Bay back to Cat Ba Town. The French guy decided to pay for a ride on a motorcycle to the harbour instead of walking, which I think was an excellent choice for him! We walked with the Spanish couple (Lara and Miguel) and learned quite a bit about them. They told us how difficult it is in Spain right now because of the recession. Apparently, it's extremely bad and violence will likely erupt if things don't get better soon. Lara lost her job because she worked for an NGO and the government cut its funding. Miguel was just hired for a new job and would start when returning to Spain in a couple more days. Many family members and friends of theirs have been affected. They told us that there is no such thing as declaring bankruptcy in Spain, so once the bank takes back houses people cannot afford, they sell the houses and force the previous owners to pay the difference. This sounds like absolute madness, especially since the Spanish government apparently bailed out the banks twice! So, essentially, the Spanish government bailed out the banks with the people's money, but would not bail out the people with the people's money. But I guess the same thing happened in the US, and probably in many other places as well. It's so sad.
Our walk to the harbour was very beautiful. Here are some pics:
Once we arrived at the harbour a boat was waiting for us. We all jumped on and away we went. It was an extremely calm ride for the first 15 minutes or so, and then it got a little bumpy for the last 30 minutes. We really enjoyed the bumps. Reminded us of Ocean Park in Hong Kong! Here are some pics along the way:
We were dropped off at a harbour a couple minutes away from Cat Ba Town. A minivan had been arranged to drive us back and it took only minutes before we were standing in front of our hotel again. We decided to go straight to the shower to get rid of all the mosquito spray. There was a beautiful sunset from our window:
After showering we grabbed dinner at the Bamboo Cafe, before heading to Good Bar for some drinks and fries. On our way back to our hotel, Patty began looking at some pearl necklaces being sold be a street vendor. We looked up how to tell if pearls are real, and it seemed like they were, but who knows. Patty ended up buying two necklaces and some earrings. They're very nice, and she's pretty excited about them.
Back in our room we booked our one night stay in Bangkok and that was pretty much it. Time for some much needed sleep!
Good night!
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