Flat Out To The End Of The Day

We had no time to reflect on our mountain escapades before Bing had quickly packed us aboard the minibus in double quick time.

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We managed to fit in a visit to a limestone cave, a fantastic lunch, an electric vehicle transfer, and another trek along the cliffs of Cat Ba Island before swimming in the amazing sea off a golden sand beach by 5pm.
 

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Playing in the water, we delighted in discussing the places we had seen and how we felt with others in our small group. It seemed we all shared the same feeling—overwhelmed by it all. The group was becoming tighter; the ice was broken. Vietnam surprises us every single day! And what long days they are—we still had a trip by tender boat, swimming and diving from the top deck, and, believe it or not, a barbecue on board followed by karaoke. But don’t forget: up at 6am we were going sunrise cycling on the other side of Cat Ba!

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EARLY START

“I don’t want to go” I protested “It’s not even light, and I have this lovely room”

“Stop winging and get up” Wendy said as she gave me a look of despair.

Like a grufalow I proceeded down to breakfast to find some greedy buggers had ate it all and the hot water for tea was not hot. We rushed from the breakfast room to the tender boat clearly late until I was informed by Wendy “No one is here because they are asleep, my phone has gone forward to Hong Kong time”

“So no one has eaten all the food it isn’t out yet!” Now I really was a grufalow! 

CYCLING CAN BE FUN!

We rode along the water’s edge for ten minutes before heading inland through a rock tunnel into a long green valley. Bing, in typical style, said “Follow me,” and before we knew it we were off-road through the wet fields! He doesn’t do things by half, and once again we were on an adventure.

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I stopped for a photo opportunity in a valley that resembled heaven. But what to photograph? The butterflies? The line of hawks perched on an electric cable? The baby buffalo a few feet away? Or the majestic walls of the mountain under a brilliant blue sky? Everywhere I looked was stunning—no photograph could ever do it justice. It was quiet too, until just a few meters ahead a loud scream rippled through the valley. Jackie had caught a wheel and ridden straight into a muddy, smelly water buffalo ditch. It was unkind to laugh, but even her husband was thrilled to have caught it on video! The poor girl was sprayed down with a hose in a local village, much to everyone’s delight.

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The little village was truly rural, having only recently gained electricity, but it was a special stop at a makeshift café-home. Out front, a dog lay in the early morning sun, and my new little friend wanted to show me him. She was about three or four years old, with the cutest smile, and she thought the guy with white hair doing an impression of a one-legged chicken was hilarious.

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Bing wasn’t going to let us off lightly—he had one last piece of tortuous steep road for us to climb on a fixed-wheel bike. Of course, it was worth it. He never lets you down, and the view was out of this world.

We arrived back at the dockside to see other groups picking up their bikes and heading into the valley. They had enjoyed a lie-in and a hearty breakfast, no doubt. But honestly, I wouldn’t have swapped our early morning jaunt for the world. It was truly wonderful having the whole route to ourselves, surrounded only by nature. “Not so grumpy now, hey?” Wendy smiled.

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We did however have a leisurely cruise for three hours through the karst channels back to the docks for the end of our two night cruise. It was good value and amazing but without Bing we would have missed so much! We went with a company called Vega Travel and I couldn’t fault a thing. Wonderful.

Of on a coach to Tam Coc now surely it can’t match this?

A selection of pictures of the two days below:

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