Unwind, relax and enjoy the amazing wonders of nature. The north of Vietnam is truly amazing and after our adventures is Sapa and ha giang we enjoyed our time in Cat Ba and Tam Coc.
Everyone that is looking into Vietnam, surely comes across the iconic limestone rocks standing tall out of the blue waters of Halong bay. It is often listed as a must see, and it is definitely gorgeous. However, it is also very very touristic. The romantic boat trip is less so with 30 other boats around. If you want to avoid the crowd, it's better to go to Cat Ba, a small island. From there you can easily book boot tours that take you to the less known Lan ha bay and also part of halong bay. Equally beautiful minus the crowd!
We decided to do a day trip which is much much cheaper (25 dollar) than the overnight boat trips. We went kayaking through caves and hidden bays, we had a great lunch, visited some beaches, went swimming and mostly enjoyed the view!
Besides the limestone formations at sea, cat ba is also beautiful on land. The national park is worth a visit. As you climb through the lush green forest to a view point that looks out over the mountainous island in all directions. The island also has beatiful beaches, but most of them were closed due to constructions when we were there.
From Cat Ba we continued to Tam Coc by bus. This was an amazing and super relaxed town. The living standard here is clearly higher than in the more northern parts of Vietnam. The buildings are made of stone instead of wood, there are more cars, less pollution and the prices are also higher. Where we could stay for about 2-5 euro per night in ha giang, here we paid around 10. But we enjoyed our bit of luxury. If you want a really nice place to stay, we recommend Lys Homestay . Super friendly people that help you with everything and beautiful room in the centre. It funny how small things, like a door in front off the shower, feel like a real luxury! In Vietnam they usually have the shower right next to the toilet. This was really the first place with a normal separated shower, yay!
What to do in Tam Coc
1. Take a boat tour in Tam Coc and /or Trang An. You will be rowed through karst mountains, caves and last temples. We did both. The one in Trang An is more impressive and longer but both are really nice.
2 Cuc Phuong National Park. It's a bit far out, but it's amazing to go there and the ride there (on a scooter) takes you past little villages, mountains, water fields with lotus flowers and smiling locals. We saw a monkey in park, a 1000 year old tree, a cave that was huge (including really huge spiders) and lots of plants and butterflies.
3. Relax, eat and party. Tam coc is full of good restaurants, nice bars and quite spots next to the lake where you can chill out all day and enjoy the good food. If you want to have a fun night out, check out one of the party busses that appear every day Late afternoon. With funky lights, good music and cheap drinks this is a great place to hang out.
4. Drive around and discover the area. Rent a scooter or bike and drive around to find some hidden gems. We accidentally discovered a prime locations for bridal photoshoots. Catch a sunset, visit a pagoda and enjoy nature.
Unfortunately the Vietnam adventure ends here for me.
Things don't always go as planned in reality and unfortunately I had to fly home as my grandmother passed away. This means goodbye Vietnam. Alex will stay and continue the trip. I will meet back up with him in Thailand.
Yvette
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