Exploring Cat Ba Island

Aside from climbing in the bay, I also wanted to see some of the sites around Cat Ba Island--mainly Hospital Cave, Fort Cannon, and Cat Ba National Park. The owner of my hotel was convinced that the best way for me to see these things was to rent his motorbike and drive myself around the island. After explaining to him my abundance of skill at getting lost and my absence of skill on a motorbike, he finally agreed to help me hire a local dude to drive me around.

First stop: Hospital Cave. This cave was used as a bomb-proof secret hospital and safe house for Vietcong leaders throughout the war in Vietnam and went undiscovered until it opened up for tourism after the war. It has three levels: a completely man-made lower level containing many rooms used as a hospital, complete with operating rooms, recovery rooms, and even a pharmacy. The second level is inside the natural cavern, but was outfitted with a small swimming pool and a cinema for watching films. On the third level is a room used for secret meetings of Vietcong leaders, which included an adjoining escape hatch (jump down a shaft leading to a pool of water on the second level and out of the cave and into the jungle through a back exit) should they need to make a quick getaway. The guy who gives tours of the cave lives across the street from the entrance, so we just rocketed up to his door and asked for the tour. My driver stayed at the house while me and the tour guide went into the cave. The guide turned out to be a pretty silly guy. Upon entering the cave, he ducked into the first room and scuffled around for a bit. When he turned on the lights, he was wearing a Vietcong officer's cap and holding a plastic toy machine gun, trying to look very intimidating as he barked "Security!" Throughout the tour he kept running ahead and ducking into dark rooms so he could jump out and try to scare me as I passed by him. He got really excited when he found out I was American and pulled out his wallet to show me his US $2 bill. It was obvious he treasured it since he had it in a special protective casing. He was also sure to tell me that I shouldn't worry about being American, because Vietnamese people had "no more bad feelings". After we walked through the cave and got back to the main entrance, he turned out the lights and, leaving me in the dark interior, called back "See you tomorrow!" and shut the door.  I knew he was joking, and when he opened the door after a few seconds with a big silly grin on his face, I pretended to be scared so he could feel like he "got me". Not gonna lie, I got pretty fond of that goofy son of a bitch.

Me at the entrance to Hospital Cave (little door at the bottom left)

Looking out over Cat Ba Island from the entrance of Hospital Cave

The tour guide, pretending to be a scary security guard.

A look down the hall of the hospital wing.

Second stop: Cat Ba National Park. This park covers about 263 square kilometers and is the main habitat for the world's most endangered primate (only ~65 left), the Golden-Headed Langur. It's also home to more than 70 species of birds. My driver dropped me off at the main trail head, and from there I hiked alone for about 1.5 hours, scrambling up rickety bamboo ladders (they're everywhere!) and through the red mud until I reached a viewing tower at the top of the mountain. Pretty spectacular views of the surrounding jungle, though the noises from the little town at the trail head were fairly loud, and were probably the reason why I didn't see any cool animals during my hike. I assume they stick to the more quiet parts of the park, away from people. Ah well.

Hiking up the trail

These were the only non-bamboo ladders on the trail

View from the top

Looking out over the park

The noisy town below that scares away animals

Standing at the top of the very structurally sound viewing tower

At the top!

En route to our final destination, the driver pulled over at a nice viewing point so I could take a couple of pictures:

My sweet ride for the day

Cat Ba Island is full of beautiful vistas such as this

Me and my driver/guide zooming down the highway. It's a really good thing I didn't drop my camera...

Final Stop: Fort Cannon. This hilltop war monument consists of underground tunnels, gun emplacements, and helicopter landing pads, and offers fantastic views of Cat Ba Island and the limestone karsts in the bay. First built by the Japanese in WWII, the area continued to be used by the French and the Vietnamese in later conflicts. It's strategic hilltop location made it especially advantageous for anti-warship and anti-aircraft cannons. On our way up (and back down) the steep hill, our motorbike was chased by an extremely aggressive (and terrifying) dog that kept trying to bite my legs. The driver just laughed and thought it was pretty funny. I kept thinking how happy I was to be vaccinated for rabies...

Big ol' cannon. 

My driver/guide explaining to me what this tunnel was used for. To be perfectly honest, I could barely understand his English, so I can't really tell you what the hell this tunnel was for. Sorry. 

A view from the fort

View of a fishing village from the fort

That concludes my adventures on Cat Ba Island! After another cold musty night in my hotel, I left the next day for a bus/boat/bus ride back to Hanoi. What new fantastic adventures did I encounter there? 

You'll have to wait until the next installment to find out...