travel journal: Hanoi to Cat Ba Island

We started our last morning in Hanoi with an obligatory visit to the wonderful little french bakery that we've been to each day now, hoping to find the chocolate croissants that have been elusive since the first morning. After coming too late the past two days, this time we came to early. Oh well. Then for a final visit to the lake, mostly because we heard it was a popular place for locals to get up and stretch. We found some inferior chocolate pastries and had a seat on the western shore which was scattered with older Vietnamese women all hopping and stretching and chatting. Then back for a final breakfast of Pho and on to pick up the motorcycle. The owner of the shop was out of town on a tour, but his partner was just as easy to deal with. A quick check over of the bike with a short ride to gas and a good few minutes with about 10 bungee cords getting our bags secured on the little rack, and we were set to go.

Our trip started with a relatively uneventful ride on the highway (4 lanes, plenty of busses, trucks, and other motorbikes) - about 100 km and two hours - from Hanoi to Haiphong, a major port city towards the coast. Haiphong was an interesting place to ride through. Even though we only saw it quickly from one end to the other, it gave us a bit more of an idea of the everyday Vietnam. Trusting the too-small road map and our collective memory of a few minutes of google mapping before leaving Hanoi, we continued on towards the Dinh Vu ferry, which promised us the cheaper, less tourist travelled route to Cat Ba island. Nothing we researched even hinted that the road to the ferry would lead us through a dusty, diesel truck dominated, pothole ridden industrial wasteland. I have never seen a place like it. Mile after mile (km after km) of a world controlled by smog billowing factories, towering ship building yards, and not a single sign or hint that we were on the right path to what is often described as one of the most beautiful places on earth. We each had our first "oh crap what did we get ourselves into" moments of the trip, but these were luckily assuaged when we started seeing our first signs of the coast. We finally rolled up to the ferry, bought our 30,000VND ticket (~$1.50) and scooted up to wait with the rest of the passengers. Turned out we were just in time. It also turned out that the ferry took us to Cat Hai island, and then required a 15 minute ride to another ferry port to get on the boat that actually took us to Cat Ba, but at this point, we were just happy to know we were on the right path and honestly a bit proud to be the only non-Vietnamese people taking this route. It also turned out that Cat Hai was a wonderfully charming, relatively undeveloped island with quiet streets full of kids playing soccer, free roaming ponies and quiet seaside lakes. The second ferry was a short ride and gave us a small preview of the scenery to come.

Now I've been on some scenic drives before, and maybe it was the incredible contrast from escaping the industrial wasteland and maybe it was being on the bike in the open air, but I had never driven along a road this breathtaking. Twisting and climbing along sheer drop offs to the Pacific, surrounded by the dramatic foliage covered limestone peaks that are emblematic of Cat Ba and Ha Long Bay, dotted with amusing signs that casually animate cars falling off cliffs - all as the day is slowly winding down towards twilight. We'll try to get better pictures/video on the way out tomorrow, these don't begin to justify it. The only interruption to the beautiful final kilometers of the day was a stop along a local road to try to track down gas - the needle had been pointing dangerously towards empty for some time, and signs promised another 20km full of steep climbs before our destination. For only 5,000 VND, a smiling local guy trotted to a neighbors house to fill an empty 1L aquafina bottle full of fuel for us, topped us off, shaked our hands and sent us on our way.

We finally rolled into Cat Ba town, our eyes pealed for the Duc Tuan hotel, which many tripadvisor reviews promised to be a great deal. We met the charismatic owner, Tuan, and were told that he had one last room, that is normally rented at a higher rate for 4+ people. After taking one look at the enormous, top floor, harbor view suite (and talking him down to $14/night) we settled in - fully content, a little proud, and feeling like we're well on our way.