I’m living on an island again in the South China Sea.
More precisely, on an island in the sea.
Cat Ba is the island where I live now.
And Cat Ba is the city too. As if they didn’t want to overcomplicate it.
On an island again
I started on an island in Asia. As if I had a little nostalgia!?
I looked at the map because I was curious how big this piece of land was from a bird’s eye view. It’s not very big. But still, it’s about a quarter bigger than Koh Samui.
Out of curiosity, I marked on a map the main areas where I had already been in Asia. I did all this in one picture.
Then I thought I’d stop for a moment. After all, I’m just an IT professional, or what!
So on Sunday evening I did something that I could have done before.
Until now, I had a map on this site. I suddenly made two more today. All three are available in the menu, but I’ll show you here how they look now.
- My Map: This map shows where I have been with pictures and markers.
- My Way: On this map, dots connected by straight lines show my journey since I arrived in Asia
- My Globe: On this page, I show what is shown on the first map on a 3D globe that can be rotated as you like.
Just for fun and journaling. LOL.
My trip to the island
When I woke up on my last day in Hai Phong, I wasn’t 100 percent sure whether I would leave that day or not.
By the time I brushed my teeth, the next decision was made. Heading to Cat Ba Island!
I really like that these decisions can be made in minutes at this stage of life. Obviously, the fact that I finish packing all my things in 3-4 minutes makes the decision easy. In other words, 10 minutes after waking up, I closed the room door behind me.
I was on the road again. In full gear.
I didn’t have to walk much, I was at the city bus station within two kilometers.
Miraculously, I quickly managed to find out when, where and which bus leaves in the direction I need to go.
A local bus left 20 minutes later. From there, I traveled for an hour to a port for 15,000 VND (172 HUF, 0.5 USD).
From there, a ferry for 13,000 VND (150 HUF, 0.48 USD) took me to a seemingly imposing island. The boat departed 10 minutes after I arrived.
I really liked that the island, which is about two kilometers away, showed me its beauty right from the boat. I saw majestic mountains and lots of green forests in front of me.
This trip went so smoothly without any planning.
On the island, I immediately got a taxi offer to take me to the city. They asked for 100,000 VND (1,149 HUF, 4 USD). I thanked them for the offer and said that the bus was cheaper than that, so I would take it.
As I got around the bus (the driver was sleeping in the back seat), the same offer came. Both taxi drivers said that the price was 300,000, but now it will be 100,000. Well, of course!
Then two tourists came up to me. They explained more clearly that they needed me. Because the taxi really is 300,000, but if I join them, it will only be 100,000 per person. From the price, I guessed that the distance would not be small, and maybe I would do better not to wait until the driver wakes up, but to immediately head to the city.
So I accepted the offer. And with that, I practically got from my room to Cat Ba city as smoothly as possible.
First glances at the city
I immediately saw that it was a very bustling, very touristy town.
The past few days have shown that it is at once a backpacker base, a seaside resort with a seaside atmosphere, and a slightly chaotic Vietnamese town.
In my own story, I would say that it is a city of aquariums and neon lights.
The backpacker character is given by the fact that there are a lot of young tourists and a few older holidaymakers bustling in the streets.
The seaside resort atmosphere is also reinforced by the places. Before I came to Asia, my daughters and I went on holiday in Croatia. For some reason, that holiday always comes to mind. I feel a bit like I did there. I have been thinking for days about living my everyday life in a perfect seaside resort.
There are a lot of minibuses cruising the streets. The main road and 4-5 streets in the area are packed with hotels, hostels, fishmongers, restaurants, small shops, travel agencies. And cafes. I especially enjoy this now.
The restaurants and fishmongers are packed with aquariums. These are set out in rows, rows of several meters long, on the street.
So, walking the streets in recent days, I see lobsters, crabs, horseshoe crabs, moray eels and all kinds of exotic sea fish everywhere. I love looking at them. It’s like being a participant in a permanent exhibition.
However, my favorites are the neon lights. There are lots of string lights strung on trees. The lights are stretched in dense rows above the streets. The buildings and shops, from the basement to the attic, are bathed in light as darkness approaches. Wherever I look, a riot of colors delights my eyes. For some reason I can’t get enough of it!
When I arrived, it was still early afternoon. I caught myself and – for the first time – looked for accommodation by stopping by a few hotels. I asked if there was any. There was one everywhere, even though they suggested that the options were running out.
The price was 450,000 VND (5,200 HUF, 16 USD) per night. I told them everywhere that this was a lot for me. At one place they asked how much I thought. I said we could agree on 300,000. They just told me to look around. And good luck.
After 3-4 hotels, I saw that it was pointless to try, that was the offer everywhere.
So I came to a hostel. I took a bed for myself in a 12-bed shared room. The price is 160,000 VND (1,800 HUF, 5.75 USD) per night and I even get breakfast.
I will write about these shared rooms soon.
The cofes
I planned to stay here for 4 nights, so I’m writing this post on the fifth.
And I’ll definitely stay for two more.
It just so happened that… (Here – at 2:43 am – the cute cat introduced in yesterday’s post looked at what I was writing. At the same time, she walked across my keyboard and wrote a letter u here. The letter doesn’t remain in the writing, but I wanted to capture the cat’s footprint.)
It just so happened that I had a lot of work in the past few days. So I couldn’t do the planned sea cruise, jungle walk and possible motorbike exploration of the area. But I don’t want to leave here until I’ve seen a little more.
Oh, and by the way, there’s a national park nearby.
That’s why I stayed here.
I haven’t yet explored the experiences around the city, but I’ve explored the coffee houses more thoroughly. I spent the last few days in 4-5 different coffee shops.
I really enjoy being greeted as a returning regular for the second or third time. It’s not for nothing that I sit in each place for several hours.
Good wifi, and even better drinks.
There are two special Vietnamese coffees that I wanted to try in Haiphong, but I had to wait until I got to the city.
I can’t say which one is my favorite. They are so delicious that I wish everyone could taste them.
One is egg coffee. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like. Then I found out that they beat egg yolks with sugar until they are very frothy and put it on top of the coffee. In Hungary, we make cookies with this solution. Here, they froth the coffee. It’s a divine orgy of flavors. I don’t think I can get enough of it.
The other specialty is salty coffee. They whip cream until it’s as light as a cloud, and then add sugar and salt to the foam. Despite its strangeness, it’s a very special experience.
But I’ve had matcha tea with corn syrup (and corn kernels). Blueberry yogurt smoothie. I had to try the banana coconut smoothie twice today. The fruit drinks are fresh. For breakfast, I get coffee so flavored that I could drink 3 buckets of it every morning.
And they also have my favorite fried rice.
I’m in the perfect place.
Maybe I shouldn’t leave?
I’m kidding. Who knows? The usual easy last day will come soon.
But before that, I still have 2-3 days on this wonderful island.
PS: I’ve been to a massage before.
I gave in to the call tonight at 10:15 PM.
It was really good.
They folded me up again, but in ways that made me just stare. The older lady knelt on my back the and literally pounded me into the bed a few times.
When we were done, one of the beautiful girls had the store manager translate that she thought I was handsome.
Unfortunately, she didn’t speak a word of English, so our relationship ended that night.
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
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Short introduction