Most sensible people head to Halong Bay either on a tour or at least on a bus-boat-bus ticket from Hanoi. No, I had to be the gung ho independant traveller and head to Haiphong which even Lonely Planet for all its usual enthusiasm says lacks charm. And most people do it after a good nights sleep in a real bed rather than on sleeper train. But not me. I got into Hanoi station at 6am and killed a few hours before heading to the tiny station above the Old Quarter from which the 9.30 local hard seats only train to Haiphong leave. There was something quite nice about seeing early morning Hanoi and I found a cafe to park myself in for breakfast and general time wastage. At least I had a good
book and coffee to keep me company. The train trip itself was fine and got into Haiphong just after midday. At first I thought it was a public holiday or something as the town was really quiet with many of the shops shut. And not many hotel options. But I think thats just Haiphong out of season. I could have caught the 12.30 ferry to Cat Ba - my ulitmate destination for exploring Halong - but I just needed a shower and food. A short-ish wander put me off wanting to explore more of the town so I settled in for a mindless night of telly. I did sort my travel for the next day and it was just as well. The 9am hydrofoil was not running so after phrase book and pen and paper negitioations I booked a boat for 8.15am. Once I looked more closely at the ticket and the map it all made sense but at the time it was this mysterious combination of a half hour ride out to a boat in the middle of an industrial zone, 20 minutes on a fast boat where the only available seats were little plastic stools on the deck and another half hour bus ride from another arse end of nowhere dock to
Cat Ba Town. The town itself is very Surfers Paradise in the highrise hotels everywhere sense but the view of the karst formations in the distance it is as far from Surfers as its possible to be. I got touted straight off the bus and uncharacteristicly for me stayed at that hotel
and booked a day tour through them. But the room was $10 a night with a million dollar view and I was too tired by this point of the trip to spend hours wandering around looking for another place. And as for the tour, they were all selling the same thing which became quite apparent the next day. I spent the afternoon exploring and watched the fishing boats stocking up with ice from the ice factory on the dock where the blocks appeared though a hatch in the wall and slid down a ramp to the boat. Cat Ba is a very small place so I met lots of fellow travellers that night in the various bars many of whom were on the same tour the next day. I say the same tour but we were al
l promised different things - caves, kyaking, Monkey Island - I think even snorkelling but if you've seen how dirty and murky the waters of Halong are you know how mad an offer that is. In the end it was a very plesant day. The islands and rock formations are stunning and quite atmospheric in the overcast conditions. The caves were cool, the monkeys aggressive and the kyaking - well, I opted out of that one. The company was great and we all caught up later for beer and Jenga (yes, the tower of bricks game) at the pub. I've got to say playing Jenga with seven people is lots of fun! The next day I headed back to Hanoi on the more sensible bus-boat-bus ticket which contained the nicest bus I've been on in 3 months of travelling. Go figure. So now its Hanoi - sights and shopping - and then home.
book and coffee to keep me company. The train trip itself was fine and got into Haiphong just after midday. At first I thought it was a public holiday or something as the town was really quiet with many of the shops shut. And not many hotel options. But I think thats just Haiphong out of season. I could have caught the 12.30 ferry to Cat Ba - my ulitmate destination for exploring Halong - but I just needed a shower and food. A short-ish wander put me off wanting to explore more of the town so I settled in for a mindless night of telly. I did sort my travel for the next day and it was just as well. The 9am hydrofoil was not running so after phrase book and pen and paper negitioations I booked a boat for 8.15am. Once I looked more closely at the ticket and the map it all made sense but at the time it was this mysterious combination of a half hour ride out to a boat in the middle of an industrial zone, 20 minutes on a fast boat where the only available seats were little plastic stools on the deck and another half hour bus ride from another arse end of nowhere dock to 
Cat Ba Town. The town itself is very Surfers Paradise in the highrise hotels everywhere sense but the view of the karst formations in the distance it is as far from Surfers as its possible to be. I got touted straight off the bus and uncharacteristicly for me stayed at that hotel and booked a day tour through them. But the room was $10 a night with a million dollar view and I was too tired by this point of the trip to spend hours wandering around looking for another place. And as for the tour, they were all selling the same thing which became quite apparent the next day. I spent the afternoon exploring and watched the fishing boats stocking up with ice from the ice factory on the dock where the blocks appeared though a hatch in the wall and slid down a ramp to the boat. Cat Ba is a very small place so I met lots of fellow travellers that night in the various bars many of whom were on the same tour the next day. I say the same tour but we were al
l promised different things - caves, kyaking, Monkey Island - I think even snorkelling but if you've seen how dirty and murky the waters of Halong are you know how mad an offer that is. In the end it was a very plesant day. The islands and rock formations are stunning and quite atmospheric in the overcast conditions. The caves were cool, the monkeys aggressive and the kyaking - well, I opted out of that one. The company was great and we all caught up later for beer and Jenga (yes, the tower of bricks game) at the pub. I've got to say playing Jenga with seven people is lots of fun! The next day I headed back to Hanoi on the more sensible bus-boat-bus ticket which contained the nicest bus I've been on in 3 months of travelling. Go figure. So now its Hanoi - sights and shopping - and then home.
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