On to the next adventure

Before we plunged into the next adventure in Ha Long Bay, we had to spend the whole day in the car to get from Ba Be to Cat Ba Island.

Surprisingly, we also had to say goodbye to our guide Vang at the ferry. As a small farewell gift, Vang organized a hotel for us on Cat Ba near the beach, and not, as originally planned, near the harbor.

We spent our evening in Cat Ba with our driver Toan, who was visibly excited to suddenly be solely responsible for us. With the last schnapps from the mountains (Toan had brought an extra bottle), we celebrated the farewell.

The next morning, after a first swim in the sea, we finally boarded the boat. Here we noticed that we missed our guide, because we weren't so sure if we would end up on the right ship. But in the end, everything fell into place.

Finally on the boat, our expectations were definitely exceeded. The boat's equipment was incidental in view of the impressive landscape around us.

On the first day, we explored the area with the kayak and also crawled on land to explore the countless caves. The next morning, we visited a village on Cat Ba Island by bike. However, I found the way back too hilly, so Micha and I preferred to take the golf cart, while Henni mastered the way back on the bike with flying colors.

In the afternoon, we went on a guided kayak tour, which led us through tunnels into breathtaking hidden lagoons.

At the end of our tour, we visited one of the famous floating fishing villages. It was a very wobbly affair, and it is thanks to our new Norwegian friend Mona that Henni still has both shoes, because one suddenly found itself in the fish tank with very large fish.

And then it was on to the last long car ride of our vacation and the next destination.