*Phew!* Our you enjoying my fast-forward through our Vietnam adventures? I have been so behind on updates I am just trying to get us up to real time. (Though I don’t truly want to since it means this adventure is coming to an end. *sigh*)
Anyway – our next stop was Cat Ba Island via Hanoi. The bad news is that we saw more rain. The good news is that it was so beautiful there that we did not care! We spent 3 days in Cat Ba and all of them were spent climbing, kayaking or both. And when the sun did finally come out, it just made those moments better.
We got lucky finding a group called Asia Outdoors who were able to help us with all our adventuring needs in Cat Ba. We booked an overnight tour with them that started with a morning of climbing. We keep discovering as we climb that route gradings can be misleading, and vary from place to place. There was one great route that had was overall a 5B or 5C (aka a range I am comfortable in) with a small face that was a 6A (a bit of a challenge for me). I was the first to try to tackle it. It included a few very particular steps to make it happen, but I got it on the first try!! It was the face above it – the part meant to be easier – that gave me a challenge. Brandon also mastered this one, but we were the only ones to do it in the group. (woot!)
After lunch, we went for a kayak and explored some hidden lagoons and beautiful scenery. This was also one of the first trips where I managed to not paddle us in circles. (another woot!) The next morning was also spent exploring on a kayak, and we got a bit of sun which was awesome!
The next day, we wanted to rock climb. I started the day by falling down the stairs which seemed like a great predictor of the day.
Luckily it was not an omen. But Asia Outdoors is one of the few places that actually did a skills check before letting us run wild on the rocks. We definitely passed, but probably not with flying colors in the eyes of the employee. Don’t get me wrong – we hit every box on the checklist. But things may not have been as pretty as he would have liked. There was definitely a moment where another employee asked him, “Are they gonna kill themselves?” Spoiler alert: we didn’t. But we did spend a day tackling some awesome and tough routes! We were wiped by the end of the day with just a few more bruises added the one I started the day with.
We also met a couple of awesome couples while we were there. Niki (whose iPhone theft story you may have read before this one) and her boyfriend Zamir were tackling a multi-pitch climb which looked AWESOME! However we needed to learn to repel before we could try it.
All in all, Cat Ba was a definite highlight of our time in Vietnam.
TIP: If you plan to visit Halong Bay or Cat Ba, we recommend doing it on your own like we did. If you buy a prepackaged cruise/tour from Hanoi, you will never know what you are really getting. Some are just booze cruises, some get oversold and you have to share beds with strangers or get off the boat (yes, we met someone that happened to), or who knows what else!
After that was our last night in Vietnam. We went back to Hanoi, did a bit of shopping, and took in a water puppet show. It was recommended to be by a friend before we left, and though it was a bit strange, I truly enjoyed every minute of it. It was a very unique theater experience.
For dinner, we hit the streets. We selected a place where you can order a small grill for your table and a plate load of meat and veggies. We had this twice in Hanoi, and both times a waitress took over our grill when we were apparently doing it wrong. But the funniest part that evening was when suddenly everyone was running around frantically shouting “The police are coming!” We did not know WHAT was going on. But a waiter came to us, picked up our table and took it away without another word, but with all our food! We were left with Brandon holding a pair of green chopsticks and me a bottle of water. Needless to say, we were just a little confused.
We quickly found out though that they are not allowed to take over the street with tables the way they had, so they wanted to clear up space before they got into trouble. Our table – and food – was just moved to another side of the building where we were able to sit and eat. (This was also good because it started raining a bit, and our new location was under an awning. And the food was good! If you are ever in that area and want to try it, it is that place on the street, up the alley. You’ll know the one. (JK)
Time to go back to Thailand!
Brandon & Devon (BaD) Journey 