From Da Nang we fly north for about 90 minutes into the port of Haiphong, another city of about 1 million. It is drab and lifeless, even on a Saturday afternoon and evening. The buildings are grey, water stained and faded, and like a lot of Vietnam, there seems little regard for anything resembling aesthetics in the realm of architecture. We check into a hotel called the Monaco, which to confuse the issue further, is decorated like an Egyptian tomb and echoes the deathly quiet of one. With some difficulty we find dinner, and manage to get the hotel to scrape up boat tickets to our real destination, Cat Ba Island, which is flanked by famed Ha Long Bay, and the less visited Lan Ha Bay.
The next morning the speed boat takes about 45 minutes to reach Cat Ba City, leaving behind the horror that is the port of Haiphong. Cat Ba is yet another town mushrooming into an eyesore, with an endless succession of the typical skinny 4-5 story hotels, rimming the otherwise pretty harbor. Despite an emailed confirmation for the place we’ve booked a couple of days before, we arrive to find there is no room, and certainly not with the harbor view that we requested. Fortunately there really is no shortage of places to stay, although none is much to write home about. But for $10, it’s best not to expect too much, and almost every hotel falls into this price range. We head down the main drag to check out what’s available in the way of seeing the wonders of the bay, and on the recommendation of the Lonely Planet crew end up talking to the really professional and helpful young guys at Asia Adventures, who after showing us all the possibilities, sign us up for two days of cruising around the bay on the boat and in kayaks, as well as spending the night on one of the few(so far) little hotels on the islands. This outfit focuses its tours on Lan Ha Bay, which is technically an arm of Ha Long Bay, one less travelled than greater Ha Long Bay because the limestone karsts are closer together, and thus cannot accommodate the larger tourist boats.
Our plans in place, we rent a motorbike to tour the island itself, which is comprised of a bit of developed area along the coast, but also a large National Park. The scenery is lush, and some of the coastal area is still lovely, but everywhere are signs of encroaching roads, construction and development. All over the island development is rampant and clearly unchecked, despite all the officious looking police and word that the party officials have everything under control. The most northern area of the island is empty, and tides were low as we rode by. Closer to town, the harbor’s various side bays are chock full of fishing boats, decked with bright red Vietnamese flags, and daily activity is frenetic, with little boats moving between the larger ones with all manner of groceries and goods, and little craft bringing people to shore and shuttling them back out to their boats. Along the main drag in town, the noise of construction is everywhere, but traffic is minimal—an outright blessing.
We leave early the next morning and we’re lucky with the weather—not outright sunny, but not rainy or misty either. We leave from a small adjacent harbor on a larger boat with an enclosed area downstairs, and an open deck on the roof. We weave around the different islands and the many floating villages where people mostly farm fish and mussels and oysters, and enjoy a couple of days of just kicking back, looking out over the water, and doing some exploring in an area that is really beautiful, although hardly untouched. The formations are stunning, but it is the composite of any given horizon that is most stunning, hence the number of panoramic photographs. Disappointing is the amount of floating debris and rubbish, except for in the most remote areas of the bay. Our overnight stay is in a small bamboo hut, perched over a small crescent beach, looking out over a horizon of jutting karsts, and the next morning we’re picked up in a small basket boat to rejoin the larger boat for a different version of the first day.
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