10.11. Over slippery ladders and slippery paths

Today was our last day on Cat Ba, but we were able to use the day until 4 p.m. because our bus didn't depart until this time. So Andra and I rented a scooter again and drove to the national park, which covers the majority of the island.
First, we passed a 'Hospital Cave' and took a look inside. During the Vietnamese War, it was used as a secret and protected hospital. Inside, there were several corridors and rooms built with concrete, and a local guide showed us the different rooms of the facility, which once had 15 doctors and 10 nurses and could accommodate up to 200 patients. A truly large number, considering the cave wasn't very big.

After visiting this rather special hospital - I hope mine looks different later on - we continued to a place from where we could hike a little in the national park. From there, we walked to a viewpoint on a mountain, from which we could see the special mountain ranges that we love and that have accompanied us since Phong Nha, maybe for the last time.

As it was drizzling a bit, the way back was a bit slippery, but at least this time we didn't wear flip flops like on Monkey Island and made it down safely. After that, we still had enough time to drive further up the road through the park to the other end of the island. Once we arrived there, we climbed up to a viewpoint. And it was only with an incredibly long ladder! I have to admit that I am not entirely without fear of heights, especially when there isn't much under me. However, the ladder was quite long and was only interrupted twice by a small platform, which made the return trip especially uncomfortable for me, especially because it started drizzling again and the rungs became slippery. Fortunately, the view from the top of the mountain was worth it, and the bays with the rocks made up for the effort. When we reached the bottom of the ladder, a tiny little problem revealed itself. The ladder was generally surrounded by a metal tunnel, and at the bottom, this tunnel was suddenly blocked by a gate. So we sat there for a few minutes until someone took pity on us and removed the lock.

After this little adventure, we drove back towards the city and stopped briefly at a small but very beautiful stalactite cave, where we admired sparkling stones and crawled through low cave passages - a nice conclusion to our time on Cat Ba.

What didn't go so well was the way back from the cave to the hostel, because there was a downpour and we were glad to have a short time in the hostel to change clothes, otherwise we would have had to sit in the bus wet and cold. However, I don't remember ever having so much water in my shoes...

Now we have arrived in Hanoi and already booked the bus and tour to Sapa. We are curious to see what awaits us there, because either the people we met who were in Sapa loved this place, or they couldn't wait to continue their journey. We will make our own judgment when we go up to the cold north tomorrow night on the sleeper bus.