Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay- doing Halong Bay for half the price and tourists!!

Thursday 20^th August 2015

We didn’t have to wake up early this morning but since I haven’t slept much since I broke my arm I was awake. I got dressed and lingered a little too long over breakfast meaning packing was a rush.

By the time we had all checked out the taxi was waiting for us so we piled in with all our bags and made our way to the bus station. We tried unsuccessfully to sell our extra ticket (but got almost half of the money back from the conductor on the bus!)

The bus ride was ok taking about four hours but we did have to change buses once not that we were told and bags almost ended up returning to Hanoi without their owners! From the bus we got a 30min ferry and then another bus to Cat Ba Town.

In town we had a late lunch and the found a hostel and went to the beach we got there in time for sunset which was pretty beautiful. We returned to the hostel and showered before finding a place to eat I had pizza as I felt like I needed something big and it did the trick. Back at the hostel I pretty much just headed to bed.

sunset!

the beach!

Pizza dinner!

Friday 21^st August 2015

We needed to be up early for our boat trip today but that wasn’t a problem as I no longer seem to sleep. We had breakfast and then at 8am walked to the jetty and got on the boat. It was the prettiest boat on the water, painted white with beautiful furniture which made us happy.

We started off by sailing through Lan Ha Bay which is the smaller less touristy version of Halong Bay but has the same limestone rock formations which are so iconic to Halong Bay. The boat cruised at a steady pace for a few hours before stopping so everyone could kayak through some caves. Of course I couldn’t get off the boat and so I sunbathed and took photos from the top deck.

About an hour later everyone came back and we had lunch on board. The vegetarian selection left a bit to be desired and although ok tasting there just wasn’t enough (except for rice we had enough plain white rice to feed a village)

Once we had eaten we drove again to a swimming spot where a few guys tried snorkelling but the visibility was shit of course I was still stuck on the boat. Thankfully on Monkey Island I could go down on the beach which was beautiful I sat in the water with my arm above my head.

Back on the boat it was home time. We had been on the water since 8am and by 5pm we all felt hot sticky and hungry after showers it was food shortly followed by bed

Saturday 22^nd August 2015

After yet another bad sleep I was up and ready for the day early I had breakfast and we said goodbye to a couple of the group who needed to head back to Hanoi and then sat around all morning relaxing.

In the afternoon we walked to the beach. There are three and we were told the second one was were it’s at so we set up camp there under an umbrella. It was scorching so I sat in the sea a while but the current was knocking me about and it was hard to keep my arm up so I got out.

We hadn’t been sat for long when this terrible music came blaring out from the speakers behind us we couldn’t even talk to each other and it was defiantly ruining the peaceful relaxed vibe we were searching for. Thankfully pouting gets you everywhere and we were moved to the third beach which was music free and was far prettier anyway! We got some food and chilled out for a few hours.

In the evening we walked up to cannon fort to watch the sunset it was cool exploring the fort and the views were pretty stunning.

Back to the land of sand and sea - Nha Trang

Friday 7^th August 2015

I woke up before my alarm went off this morning, although my eyes felt like they were glued shut. I got up and finished packing and then went downstairs we had been told we would be picked up at 7am by the bus so I was keen to eat before then but the dude was taking his sweet time and assured me it would be fine which it was.

We got picked up by a coach which took us to the actual bus which was waiting to go when I got there, the driver was angry and was rushing me but after I got on we still sat about for a while. The drive to Nha Trang was pretty stunning (at least the bits I saw were I did sleep a lot of the journey)

We stopped for 30mins which was far too long and everyone was anxious to get moving again but all the bus drivers were having a merry old time all drinking together. We finally got moving again and only had another hour or so before we reached Nha Trang.

As soon as we arrived I booked my next bus to Hoi An as I’ve heard it books out quite a few days in advance it will be my first sleeper bus in Vietnam which should be interesting. I then walked to the hostel which was just around the corner, they were full there but arranged for me and another couple of guys to go to their new hostel by taxi it was actually just around the corner which was sweet.

I checked in and had to wait about ten minutes or so while the room was cleaned then went up and got changed and headed to the beach getting some food along the way. At the beach I found a nice sunny spot and fell asleep I stayed there most of the afternoon until it looked like it might rain so I walked back to the hostel and had a look at things to do in Nha Trang.

After a while I took a shower and then walked to the beach and along the beach front as well as checking out a night market. About 7pm I was feeling hungry so had a huge dinner and then a huge ice-cream and walked back to the hostel and crashed! So much sleeping all day made me sleepy!

Saturday 8^th August 2015

Since there are no windows in my room it was hard to tell what time it was when I woke up when finally I managed to pull myself awake it was around 8.30am which I thought was a good time to be up and about. I got dressed and then headed up to the roof for breakfast.

After eating I sat about for a bit and then headed to the beach via the Nha Trang market which was a heap of crap. All I wanted was a cheap book I could read on the beach but all the market sold was tacky tourist tat, pretty much every stall sold stuffed alligators who buys those? 

I got to the beach and sat for a bit in the shade then moved into the sun. I did this a few times as it was really scorching in the sun and even just putting my feet on my sarong I could feel the heat coming up from the sand.

After a few hours of being a beached whale I went for a walk along the length of the beach which was absolutely filthy. Among the garbage strewn all along the break line was a dead rat, a dead bird loads of dead fish and crabs, a used needle, several bloody tampons, several condoms (I’m assuming used), plastic bottles Styrofoam cups and food containers, millions of banana peels, pineapple cores, mango stones, and a whole bunch of other disgusting waste which was a real shame.

 

I walked back to where I had been sitting all morning and no sooner had I laid down my sarong then the rain started it seemed light but the guys renting out the sunbeds were rushing everyone off the beach so I thought it was going to get heavier so I went back to the hostel for a bit.

It was good because I could use the bathroom and refill my water bottle. The rain didn’t last long so I headed back via the supermarket to get a few snacks. On the beach I promptly fell asleep and woke up only when the sun was going down and it was cold.

Back at the hostel I showered and then found a hostel for Hoi An once that was done I went to dinner and then walked back to the hostel the long way along the beach. By the time I got back it was about 9.30pm and I chilled in bed reading for a while.

Sunday 9^th August 2015

Today was my last day in Nha Trang. I got up and got ready for the day then checked out and left my bag in the luggage area and headed out to explore I started out at about 9.30am first heading Nha Tho Nui which is a church. As far as churches go it wasn’t anything special the most amusing part was the bride taking photos out front.

Next stop was the Long Son Pagoda which took about 15minutes to walk to from the church from the front it’s pretty plain but inside is pretty beautiful and around the back there are two Buddha’s. One is a reclining Buddha the other is seated which you can go inside. While I was on my way up the 150 steps to the seated Buddha a man stopped me for a blessing in which I sat inside a huge bell and he banged on it. He spoke no English but I understood enough to know that he wanted extortionate amount for me to sit in a bell.

I think this is some sort of Vietnamese Wheel of life - if you can read Vietnamese please tell me!!

inside the Pagoda

Feet of the reclining Buddha

The seated Buddha and I

inside the seated Buddha where i met two amazingly cute old dudes who loved my Ganesh tattoo

The last place I walked to was the Cham Towers which are ancient temple ruins it took about 45minutes to walk. They were pretty small but the view from the top was pretty nice and you could go inside a few of the temples and there was also a small museum although all of the information was in Vietnamese so I’m not sure what it was about.

I walked back to town along the beach and spent a few hours sunbathing before going to get some dinner before the night bus. I ate a huge pizza and felt pretty full. At the hostel I was able to take a shower and get all my things together before being picked up at 6.30pm.

The mini bus dropped us at the bus stop and we checked in and all piled onto the weirdest night bus with almost fully reclining seats. I was on a top bunk in the middle but it was actually surprisingly comfortable and I slept for most of the journey. 

feeling a bit nervous about bunk beds on a bus...

Beachlife!!!

Sunday 2^nd August 2015 

I woke up this morning at 5.57am just three minutes before my alarm was about to go off! I had to be up early to get the bus to Mui Ne the first stop on my journey north through Vietnam. I checked out and headed across the road to where the bus was leaving from. I had to be there at 6.45am for a 7.15am start but the bus was late and we didn’t leave until about 7.45am which was a pain as I would have enjoyed the extra sleep but it didn’t matter too much as I slept on the bus.

There was just one stop along the way during the five hour journey which was good as I just wanted to get there. The bus was supposed to drop me off outside my hotel but missed it. I was glad I looked at the map on my phone when I did otherwise I might have ended up in the next town over! As it was I just had to walk 3km back to the hotel and I tried to think about it as good exercise.

Once I got there and checked in I went through my bag quickly to sort out my laundry which I took to the wash shop and then hit the beach. I spent the next three hours enjoying the sunshine moving every time the shade of the coconut trees caught up with me until the sun went behind some clouds.

I sat a while longer before walking the length of the beach and back taking in all the huge resorts with their deck chairs on the sand. By the time I got back to the hostel it was pushing on for 6pm and I was feeling pretty hungry but I needed to sort out my bus ticket for my onward journey in a few days. I was lucky to get a cheap motorbike taxi there and back as I couldn’t be bothered walking.

Once that was sorted I could relax so went for some dinner and then a walk along the shops to see what is about before returning to the hostel to wash the sand off and head to bed.

Monday 3^rd August 2015

Last night was a butt ache of a sleep it seems everyone in the dorm forgot to behave like decent people first off there were three girls talking loudly until late, next two guys arrived back at 3am talking and switching on the light and finally the same three girls got up at 4am to watch the sunrise and were talking and put the light on and then a guy who wasn’t even in our room came and yelled at a girl to get up as their bus was leaving. The sunrise girls came back at 7am to pack for their bus and were making so much noise that it was game over.

I got up and went for a run along the beach. I only got a short distance before I had to stop obviously I need to get back into running! I stopped and did some yoga for about an hour before walking back along the beach. I had a shower as I was covered in sand and then picked up my laundry and then got some breakfast by the pool.

I was going to have a swim and lounge there for a while but it was super busy so I just headed to the beach. I forgot my book so read the news and slept all day. Around 3.30pm when it had clouded over I headed back to the pool to get some guacamole and have a swim but it seemed the universe didn’t want me in the pool as it started to rain pretty heavily. I took shelter and when it eased off went and had a shower and got rid of all the sand in my ears.

the view from my prime sun worshiping position

I chilled out for a bit putting my laundry away and sorting out my bag before going to dinner at an Indian restaurant. The food wasn’t terrible but it also wasn’t great. I left feeling pretty heavy so took a long walk along the shop fronts and found an organic soap shop where the sales assistant followed me around I never intended to buy anything and her sticking to me like glue made me even more reluctant to buy. She was clearly disappointed when I left.

Back at the hostel there was no one else in the room which was nice I could relax and upload some pictures and what not before getting an early night

Tuesday 4^th August 2015

This morning was my last little stint on the beach for a while I got up around 8am and went for a run along the beach I ran the same distance as yesterday but where yesterday was a struggle today was a dream. Muscle memory is an amazing thing! After running I did a bit of yoga and then walked back along the beach where I sat and enjoyed the sunshine for a good wee while.

Around 10.30am I headed back to the hostel to shower and pack up annoyingly there was no power and no generator so I had to shower in the dark and then try and find all my stuff mostly using the light coming from the door which was a pain.

I checked out and then went to eat by the pool annoyingly most of the options were unavailable due to the power outage (although the pool bit had a generator so what’s that about???) I ate and then headed to the end of the little lane to wait for the bus to Da Lat.

breakfast views

It was a bit of a wait and when the bus came the guy only had room numbers rather than names but was only picking up four people but we all came out of the dorm room which was a hassle. I knew I was meant to be on that bus as I knew what company was travelling with but others weren’t so sure and it took a few minutes to work out.

Once we got on the road I tuned out to the world and watched the countryside flash past the windows there were quite a few awesome photo ops but I missed them all or power lines got in the way. The road was pretty decent with construction going on here and there but for the most part although it was winding up the mountains it was pretty chilled out and our driver was good and drove sensibly not like some of the other idiots who flew past us.

We pulled into Da Lat and it was about a ten minute walk to the hostel where I was staying. The place is really quiet and chilled out and at the moment pretty empty which made a nice change from the packed dorm rooms at the last few places. The hostel staff put on a “family dinner” for all the guests which was really tasty and it was eat as much as you want which we all did.

After eating we sat about talking and organised a day trip for tomorrow before heading to bed.