Cat Ba Island » Traverse Earth

Viet Cong Military Hospital on Cat Ba Island – Part 2

Apr 262017

So, the lights came on inside the military hospital I started telling you about yesterday, and we went from being in a creepy dark hallway to standing in the middle of a horror movie. At this point you become very aware of the fact that you’re deep underground, inside a mountain, surrounded by nothing but bare concrete and a knowledge that the rooms coming off it were filled with wounded Viet Cong soldiers.

This wasn’t helped by the fact that my travel companion was a nurse, who casually took guesses at what each room was used for. This started as the lights came on when she decided that the two rooms in front of us were likely used for triage. This reached a peek when we entered a room with stone counters and drainage that she guessed was probably the morgue. The last room was a large hall, with bare cave walls and roof that led to a heavy locked metal door. I never found out what was on the other side…

Viet Cong Military Hospital on Cat Ba Island

Asia, Travel, Vietnam 9 Responses »

Apr 252017

Getting to this rather creepy door was an adventure in itself. I’ve told you about the 8 hour boat ride, with no food, we were tricked into to reach the island. To get to this spot, we needed to rent a motorbike. It wasn’t long before we realized that our singular mode of transport was running on fumes, but we’d been assured that there was a gas station on the way out of town. We set off, focused on the right side of the road where the gas station was promised. This resulted in a traumatic moment for my pillion passenger who suddenly gasped. She’d had just laid eyes on a dog being butchered, at the market, by the side of the road. Taken aback by this discovery, our concentration on fuel diminished and soon signs of civilization were beginning to die out.

At this point, we decided we’d be better off running out of gas in the town than in the jungle so we turned back. At this point, we found the gas station quickly, on the opposite side of the street from where we were told it would be. Once we were fueled up, we set off into the wilderness and before we knew it, we had spotted the entrance to the cave that housed the Vietnam War era military hospital used by the Viet Cong.

Across the street was an attentive attendant prepared to charge us for using their parking lot. He was a short stout older man, wearing an old military style jacket. After experience visiting the Mausoleums outside Hue, we were expecting an aggressive pushy greeting. Instead, we were greeted with a smile and a laugh as he asked if we were going to visit the cave. We said yes and he told us we could either pay for parking or come in for a coffee and park for free. This was perfect as I had already spotted the opportunity for delicious Vietnamese Coffee and was going to sit down anyway. We drank our coffee and the same man came over to say we should go up to the cave as a tour-guide was going up and they would turn on the lights. He wanted us to get the chance to see it in the dark, and then get to see it with the lights on.

So, there we were, standing at this creepy metal door, peering into the darkness. We stepped in and waited for a moment for our eyes to adjust. They didn’t, but we pressed on anyway. Soon enough the lights came on, but it was still a pretty creepy place. If you come back tomorrow you can see what it looks like on the inside.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Asia, Travel, Vietnam 2 Responses »

Apr 152017

I’ve mentioned before that when we visited Ha Long Bay we actually stayed on Cat Ba island and explored the surrounding area by kayak. There was all sorts of activity on the water from small fishing boats to floating villages.

I think I actually took this photo from the tour boat that transported us to the island, but I’m not sure.

Vietnamese Fisherman, Cat Ba Island

Asia, People, Travel, Vietnam No Responses »

Mar 022017

Before I was able to take this photo, my friend Shannon and I, following a decision to rent a kayak, had navigated through rough waters and squeezed ourselves through a narrow gap in the rocks to find safe harbor. Following that drama, we got to glide past the floating villages that surround Cat Ba Island.

We came across this fisherman towards the end of our trip and I asked if I could take a photo. He was kind enough to slow down as he pulled his nets to pose!

Lan Ha Bay, Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

Asia, Travel, Vietnam No Responses »

Jan 162017

Typically, the idea of eating seafood at a street food stall would not even be up for consideration for me. However, Cat Ba island is known for its super fresh seafood. So, we stood looking at the array of street kitchens that line the harbour you can see below. Eventually, a German family of four gestured us over and told us that the clams they had just eaten were incredible. With that unsolicited review, we decided that would be the spot. Sure enough, the clams were incredible.

I took this photo the next morning, as we prepared to ship out back to Hanoi.

We weren’t supposed to be here… Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

Asia, Travel, Vietnam 1 Response »

Jan 092017

Watching this sunset from this spot was not part of the agenda. While still in Hanoi, we had booked a ferry/bus combo from Ha Long Bay out to Cat Ba island. We had decided to bi-pass Ha Long Bay for the less trafficked but similar Cat Ba island.

I’m normally pretty good at avoiding getting ripped off when travelling, but this time we fell into a bit of a trap. We were promised a direct boat trip to the island, as we wanted to get there and be able to explore at our own pace. Instead, after getting to the port we discovered that we were being bundled onto a tour boat, which made numerous stops. The hour long trip was going to take us a whopping 8 hours!

We weren’t the only people to fall into this trap as there were about 6 others who were also stuck on this boat unintentionally. The worst part was, as we’d paid for a transport and not a tour, when they gathered everyone together to tell them what the plan was, we discovered that there was going to be food served, but there was none for us. As we thought we were on a 1 hour boat ride, we had no food with us at all, and we were already hungry!

So, when I look at this beautiful sunset I can’t help but feel a little bitter about the fact that I was starving, captive, and miserable.

It got worse though, once we got to the island we needed a bus to take us to the main area. Our bus arrived, we boarded it and it promptly broke down. Cue another hour wait for another bus to arrive!