Cat Ba Island 04.01.07

Woke up anchored in the middle of a floating village, mist surrounding the people as they started their day.  Straight after breakfast we transferred to a smaller boat and left the rest of the 2 day tour people, just the two American girls and us. 

It was a little sad to say goodbye – the people on the boat had been great fun, especially Jin, the Malaysian girl who was on her way home from an “Ultimate Frisbee” Tournament.

Sea Kayaking first up, so I changed into shorts, and a positive attitude.  I am not your “sporty” type, and the thought of having to paddle around to look at things, and then risking not having the strength to get back to the boat was a little scary.  But we’d been paddling a few weeks before for Kerry’s birthday, so I knew I wasn’t a complete wuss, and decided to push myself a little bit.  It was worth it.  Being out on the water was a magical experience, and though I pushed myself to exhaustion, and my arms burn when I move, I am so glad I didn’t pike out.  We paddled through a rock archway into a protected inlet that was called the “Light and Dark Cave”.

Back to the beach where the boat was anchored for lunch served on the beach.  Another great meal, with dragonfruit for desert.  Mark went off looking for things to photograph with his underwater camera, and found starfish, crabs, hermit crabs, some kind of sea slug thingy, and possibly a nudibranch.

the starfish tried to eat him.  I’ve never seen the underside of a live starfish before, it is a fascinating little beastie.

The boat then took us to Monkey Island, where we followed the painted rocks up the mountain to find monkeys.  The trail started badly, with jagged rocks tumbling over each other and a rope hanging down for purchase.  The picture doesn’t adequately portray the steep angle, but it was almost vertical at this point.

The guidebook doesn’t mention a treacherous path, so I just assumed that the rest of the trail would be better, and that I’d be fine in my crocs and skirt (shorts got wet in the kayak, so I had changed to a skirt for lunch).  But no.  The trail got scarier, and scarier, and eventually I realised that I had to decide to be brave and press on, because going back was going to be just as scary, but I’d be alone and scared.  My shoes were filled with soft sand, which meant that my foot slid around inside the shoe with each step, and I had to worry about shifting my considerable weight from foot to foot. 

Many of the rocks were not stable, I stood on one rock that was almost the size of a small car, only to feel it roll gently on its axis.  I almost asked Mark to take a little movie of this, but self preservation got the better of me.  Add to this the fact that my skirt kept getting caught on the sharp rocks, and that my arms (that I relied on for climbing) were burning from the adventures of the morning, and I was not a happy camper.  Mark went on ahead looking for monkeys, and I struggled on alone, feeling quite sorry for myself, and more than a little scared that I would injure myself horribly.  I did stumble a few times, but there wasn’t too much blood, and the promise of monkeys kept me going.

After about 30 minutes of this, I reached our destination.  Mark, Katy and Debra were already there, but the monkeys were absent.  Bastards.

I licked some of my wounds, and steeled myself for the return journey.  There were monkeys at the other end, and I was very proud of myself for pushing on.  Through my illness last year, I became a bit of a pansy – shying away from activities that might make me uncomfortable, or cause pain, or be too much effort.  I know that you only get out of life what you put in, and I feel like I really proved that to myself yesterday.  Without the hike, I still would have seen the monkeys, but I wouldn’t have felt the same sense of achievement.  I worked hard for those monkeys.

German was winning at cards against the other tour guides, so we had to hang around on the beach for a while while he fleeced them before getting back on the boat.  Off to Cat Ba Island to check in to a very posh hotel (another motor bike ride, this time in a skirt).  Had a well deserved bath, then up to the rooftop terrace for a cocktail looking over Cat Ba town.  Very romantic, and I wore my dress – felt just like a proper honeymoon, except for the pain in all my limbs.  Dinner was pretty good, and then German took us for “a short walk around the town, and then singing”.  Apparently it is customary for most Vietnamese to take a 2-3km walk each day, either in the morning or the evening, to catch up with friends and take in the air.  A lovely custom, except when you have a very poor level of fitness, an aching shoulder, burning arms, and thighs that are by turns rigid with pain and weak and jelly-like.  And the island is not flat.  Our little walk took us all around the town, up to the heights, and then back down to a karaoke bar which was about 100m from the front door of the hotel.  I could have choked him.

German sang, Mark sang, Katy sang, we drank beer, and a very silly time was had by all.  Bed was very welcome.