Cat Ba Island

On October 24th We then took the bus🚌 from Hanoi to Cat Ba in Halong Bay.

The bus took about 2.5 hours to Hai Phong Habour, then 5 minutes by speedboat🚤 and another 30 minutes by bus to our homestay in Cat Ba Town.

Cat Ba is the largest island🏝️ in Halong Bay and is also known as the Green Island.

Cat Ba is not particularly big, but from here you can take wonderful tours to Halong Bay and especially to Lan-Ha Bay, which is less touristy and has recently been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But from the beginning!☺️ Our nice guide Fyn told us shortly before arrival that they couldn't drop us off directly at the homestay. When we arrived we understood why: a small, super narrow street steeply uphill!😅 But Tam and Quyen (the owners) were already waiting for us at the bottom of the street and helped.

Tam and Quyen, a young couple with a son named An (7 years old). They had just finished their house🏠 this year and the homestay for about half a year. The house is so lovingly furnished, everything is sparkling clean. I would almost say that this accommodation was the cleanest and the bed🛏️ was the most comfortable of our entire trip so far! They even had toys ready for the big one and the little one. All three could speak English very well and the older one immediately became friends with An.

In the morning, Tam always cooked us a typical Vietnamese breakfast. It was great to be able to try so many different things... prepared so freshly and deliciously🤤. She organized extra apples and cheese toast for the older one.☺️

On the first day we took a trip with Quyen to a great viewpoint.

Quyen is a professional tour guide. Luckily, he earns relatively well, so Tam can stay at home and “just” look after the guests at the homestay. Not a given in Vietnam. We quickly started talking and realized that we were on the same wavelength.

The two of them took great care of us. We were asked every day what we wanted to do, given tips, and organized tours or taxis.

One evening Tam came to us and told us that she couldn't cook for us the next morning because she had to go to Hanoi very early with Quyen and An because her father was dying. Her mom (parents separated at a very early age) would look after us and cook for us. Oh God! Of course no problem at all! We chatted late into the night, helped with questions about lung cancer and were shocked by the medical care the locals received.😨 Since there is no insurance like health insurance, patients sometimes have to sell all their belongings in order to get treatment. They probably told Tam's father to go home and "relax." Despite severe pain. Unbelievable!😳

Although the three of them really had other things to worry about, they looked after us from a distance.

We took a really nice boat trip to Lan-Ha Bay and met our guide Fyn from the first day again.

☺️ David and the big one even went kayaking🛶 through narrow rock formations.🪨

Another day we took a trip to the caves and Butterfly Valley and hiked a bit through the jungle.

The caves were used as a hospital and hiding place during the war.

Almost 80 years of continuous war (first the French, then the Americans) has left its mark on a country.

On our last evening we cooked with Tam and her mother.

So many delicious things!🤤 Spring rolls, banana flower salad, and much more.

Soooo much!😍 Of course Tam, Tam's mother and An had to help us. Apparently it was quite unusual that we asked them if they would like to eat with us.

But all the more, all the more beautiful!🥰 And then came the questions, all questions: do you like oysters?🦪 Um no! Fresh ones taste like harbor basins way down there.🤢 Huge laughter and Tam explaining that you don't eat them fresh either. Ok… then how? Fried with lots of garlic and spices. We dared and have to admit that it was really tasty 😳! And who really enjoyed the oysters?

The little one whistled several times.😂 In the end we all sat around the table full of food.

Such a warm place! And it was understandable that tears flowed from the older one because he didn't want to say goodbye to An and the family. He would have preferred to stay. So we left on October 31st. with a laughing and a crying eye on to Hoi An.