Tam Coc and Cat Ba Island 🇻🇳

These two places have to be up on the top list of beauty spots in Vietnam. Oh and the most tiring! Despite my generally low levels of fitness we still managed to climb all the stairs and hike to some amazing viewpoints.

Tam Coc

We decided to stay in Tam Coc due it’s more countryside feel, as opposed to Ninh Binh which was around 7km away but more like a small city and not a lot of natural beauty surrounding it.

We arrived in Tam Coc at around 4:30am on a sleeper bus from Phong Nha, this bus had to be the smelliest trip I’ve had to date 🤢 but nonetheless we got there safely. When we got off the bus Tash directed us and I sleepily and slowly followed. We found our homestay only to find the gates locked despite the owner saying they wouldn’t be. So at 5am in the morning we scaled the fence, Tash first as I passed our bags over to her. 30 minutes and half a pack of Oreos later the owner awoke and showed us to our room where we could take a much needed sleep.

We spent the rest of the day getting refreshed after 24 hours of activities in Phong Nha and travelling. In the evening we ventured to a restaurant called Chookies which had a fire pit. We returned to be invited into the owners home for some birthday cake as it was his daughters 8th birthday.

The next day we decided we wanted to go on the boat tour of the Trang An grottoes. It didn’t disappoint, the water in places was so still it reflected like a mirror and the whole place was peaceful. We bought our tickets and was directed to a small boat with an older woman rowing us (we did our bit too and got the oars out to row). We chose to see the 9 caves and 2 temples. The caves were small and we had to duck our heads in places to avoid being hit by the limestone stalactites. When we left the mouth of the cave the reflection was amazing from the water. We kept seeing little birds disappearing from the surface to go under water. Despite the weather which was a bit misty but unavoidable at this time of the year it still looked beautiful almost mysterious. Also it means that tourist season is low so we got to explore without the hoards of people.

After this we then drove the 60km to the Phat Diem Cathedral, this was pretty but as it was dusk we didn’t get to soak in the full sight. There was a service on so it was nice to just sit and listen. As much as I do not believe in religion I can respect it and understand other people’s need for it. On the way to the cathedral I spotted one of the many ways to transport a family on a motorbike, look at the little boy hiding on the bike.

The next day we had a busy day and covered 14km and 70 flights of stairs. We first visited the bird valley. A little nature reserve that had caves, bird spotting and a (unimpressive) 1000 year old tree. We first went in the mermaid cave and spent the time walking through it crouching. It was good though as we were the only people there so we were left to explore on our own. After the cave we had a walk around the park and spotted the 1000 year old tree, it looked half dead and it was very small, there was just a man watering all the dead branches.

We then went to a cave on the way back, it was 500 steps up but again deserted so we got there views and cave to ourselves. Which is kind of a good thing as I now resembled a tomato!

We then went to Bích Dong Pagoda, another climb into the mountains to see the pagoda nestled within.

After this we went to Bai Dinh temple, the largest in south east Asia and only built in 2010. I found the temple fascinating, for me it was the rows of stone monks each one different, there was hundreds of them. The temple was in many buildings the main ones containing the huge gold statues of Buddha, the carvings so intricate and beautiful (photos were banned inside the main temples).

The day after was our last day in Tam Coc but probably my favourite. We first went to the Hoa Lu ancient city whilst it was pretty I didn’t see the hype and would have missed it. The next part of the day is my highlight! We went to the Mua cave (we didn’t see the cave but climbed to see the viewpoint and the lying dragon mountain). Tash drove until we got to the off-road bit. Despite my lack of coordination skills I seem to tackle off-road driving pretty well. When we go there it was a 500 step hike to the top but the views just blew me away. I enjoy the feeling of being on top of a mountain. You get a birds eye view.

We then had to leave Tam Coc to get back to reality and head to Hanoi to sort my emergency passport out (this will come in a later blog).

After our ventures in the city (which we will have to return to several times due to passport and visas) we decided to head to Cat Ba island. Another national park, another beautiful place. We had to take a bus then a ferry and another bus. Tash managed to document the true reality of travelling in the below picture 🙄

During our time here on one day we hired bikes (mine making some debatable rattling sounds) and explored the National park. We went to the Hospital Cave which was interesting to see and to think that only 40 years ago it was in use. It was advised to go through the cave with a guide but due to it being low season there were no guides around. The cave was over three floors and was actually very warm in there.

We then drove to a bay then the National park, where we did some more hiking but we were rewarded with some great views.

We also spent the rest of the day driving round the island which was beautiful but incredibly cold. We managed to document what idiots we looked like in order to keep warm!

After a good sleep we had an early start for a boat tour. We were first met by our crazy tour guide called Ryan. Everything was funny to him he sounded like a Hyena. We went to monkey island first which in the name was full of monkeys. We climbed to the top to see the view over monkey island but it took soo long as an older bloke in our group decided to go up in flip flops then got stuck! When we returned the the bottom there was lots of Chinese tourists feeding the monkeys and teasing them. The children were running away from them. One boy who had been teasing a monkey ran away with the monkey chasing him but then ran and fell into the sea fully clothed, backpack and all. It was quite comical.

After this we went on the boat to Lan Ha bay and had the opportunity to go swimming, it was only around 17° but why not! I jumped from the roof of the boat into the water getting salt water up my nose. I then decided to swim to one of the secluded beaches. The scenery was so beautiful.

We then went past pencil island.

Then we went to a quiet part of Ha Long Bay and went kayaking. Before we got in the Kayak Ryan showed us this 80kg fish and was feeding it with his feet…

We then got into the kayaks and kayaked around Ha Long bay. The scenery was beautiful, the currents were a bit more testing. After getting swept away by the current multiple times trying to pass through a cave and a strained relationship we finally got the hang of it. Try kayaking for a team building exercise. Through one cave we were gliding through until someone crashed into us and we managed to get stuck on the rocks. We then reached the part where Ryan showed us the part that James Bond Tomorrow Never Dies was filmed.

We then sailed around the bay and looked at the fishing villages and the part where The new King Kong was filmed. The day was very good!

When we got back we had a drink with the other people on the tour then the 4 of us went to find the sunset. We climbed up and managed to find a great sun, we also got to explore some bunkers from the war too. We ended to night on a few beers (quite a few).

The next day we went to the beach, and to the cannon fort which is quite literally a fort with cannons on. It offers the best views over Cat Ba so we got to watch another sunset.

We now have headed back to Hanoi to sort Visa’s!

Bye for now!x