We arrived in Cat Ba after a 5 hour multi-step process, starting with our shuttle bus pick-up from our hostel where we were introduced to the man who would be explaining the trip to us as well as apologizing for getting to drunk the night before and showing up with only one ticket for the 12 of us. Therefore, we picked a "leader" to follow for each leg of trip who would be responsible for our ticket. He was Russell Brant's doppelgänger and stood,out in a crowd. From here we boarded a bus to Haiphong (2.5 hours), bus to Haiphong port (.5 hours), high speed boat to Cat Ba (45 minutes), and lastly a bus to the center (.5 hours), which conveniently dropped us off across the street from our guesthouse. (We decided to book ahead as we were aware that this was the last night of Independence Day holiday and were told all vacation hotspots would be packed).
During the 5 part trip to Cat Ba, we made some foreigner friends who informed us that not only were we arriving for the last day off the Vietnamese holiday, but it was also the last night of the first ever full moon party on Cat Ba island. While the likes of us don't often seek out these types of parties, we figured "when in Rome" and began preparations for the inevitably long night ahead.
Mr. Khan, the owner of our guesthouse, recommended a "good and cheap" vegetarian restaurant nearby for dinner. Those words were music to our ears and we immediately began the short walk up the hill to Buddha's Belly. This became our go-to eatery which we frequented twice a day for the duration of our stay on Cat Ba. It was owned by the coolest monk you'll ever meet and the food is as fresh and healthy as it gets while filling your belly with massive portions. We opted for set meal, which is different everyday but always includes rice, vegetables, some form of vegan protein and a soup for 30K VND (about $1.50).
After loading up on sustaining ingredients, we grabbed red bulls and hopped on the free shuttle to the full moon party. We immediately felt the anticipatory energy in the packed bus, where we grabbed the last two seats. There were young backpackers toting their newly purchased Vietnamese water pipes (intended for tobacco), as well as Vietnamese vacationers looking to have a good time. We sat next to a young, red faced, Vietnamese man who proudly announced to us that he was police and showed us his picture in uniform. He was quick to clarify that he was not going under official business, which was obvious enough by his slurred speech.
Upon arriving we were happy to realize that entrance was free because not that many people had shown us as expected for this first annual festival. we entered a beautiful cove surrounded by steep cliffs secluded from any residential area. There was a massive stage on the beach with DJs and dancers facing the sea. First we checked out the bar where we ran into our friends from the bus, Martyn and Olga. We then spent most of the evening dancing by the water. All in all, it was a great experience and we were relieved it was as tame as it was. We were happy to spend time with older, like-minded travelers and made plans with Martyn (Scotland) and Olga (Spain) the next day. We took moto taxis home around 2 am and slept off the 2 for 1 vodka drinks.
After a late wake-up, we rented s $4 motorbike and headed to the national park. We climbed to the top and sweated gallons. On the way back we stopped in a creepy bat infested cave. I wasn't sure about walking under them to the end but Alex encouraged me to face my fears of getting pooped on by a bat (again). Bats were flying close to our face and we ducked to avoid both them and the low ceiling. We ended the day by meeting Martyn at the beach and catching some waves.
Our last day we booked a private boat with Martyn to kayak in Lan Ha bay and explore monkey island. The bay was full of breathtaking, limestone mountains emerging out of the blue water for as far as the eye could see. That night we met Olga and Martyn for dinner and 25 cent Bia Hoi (draft beer).We ended the night at our favorite place enjoying smoothies and complimentary traditional snacks served by the monk.
The next afternoon we did the reverse trip back to Hanoi to then catch the night train to Sapa.
Next stop, Sapa.
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