| I'm going to break travel writer ranks and make a | | | | thinking hard, estimated a lone passenger would |
| bold but honest statement: the main beaches at | | | | have to pay at least 2 million VND. |
| Cat Ba island just aren't that marvelous. There. | | | | Hien Hao village, like the better-known Viet Hai, |
| Said it. Shot me, slander me or write indignant | | | | hosts home stays, but unlike most places in |
| letters to my editor, I don't care. | | | | Vietnam it's not an ethnic minority village. Hien Hao |
| Of course, they're not terrible and I'm sure with a | | | | is a very ordinary but very pretty Vietnamese |
| weighty thesaurus and some time (maybe years) | | | | village; houses are the standard vrick and cement, |
| spent buried neck deep in the bleak pebbles of | | | | with patterned tile floors and beds made from |
| England's worst beaches they could be made to | | | | split bamboo. New, communal bathrooms have |
| sound utterly lovely. But compared with the | | | | been put in for the benefit of guests. |
| breathtaking postcards of Central Vietnam's coast | | | | Khan was one of the architects of this project |
| they pale noticeably. And the town in summer | | | | and proundly tells me that every house in the |
| becomes as painfully crowded as the sand. | | | | village is his home, or at least 50%. As we drove |
| But there's an unexplored side to this island that | | | | slowly through lanes overhung with trees and |
| makes it worth the few-hours' trip from Hanoi. | | | | flowers he made a pint of waving to everyone. |
| Cat Ba National Park is a place so replete with | | | | The home stay project, which as of writing had |
| flora that the honey produced with flora that the | | | | hosted approximately five separate groups in |
| honey produced there is touted as some of the | | | | over a year, was dreamt up as a means to keep |
| best in Vietnam. The bees have so much to feed | | | | people from peaking in the national park poaching |
| upon (1561 species of flora belonging to 186 | | | | in the national park by offering a new source of |
| families). | | | | income. |
| Despite this only 10% of Cat Ba's 450 000 annual | | | | The village, whilst enjoying views of neighboring |
| visitors actually make it into the park and fewer | | | | gardens rather than soaring mountains, is |
| than that enjoy any of the hikes on offer, | | | | undoubtedly pretty and very, very peaceful. And |
| whether to the lookout on top of the mountain, | | | | the residents, stocking bia hoi kegs and about 300 |
| to Viet Hai village or to Frog Lake. Yet fewer still | | | | different kinds of fruit are friendly, if a little |
| head off to explore the small fishing and farming | | | | confused at what to do with you. |
| villages that dot this island of only 18000 people. | | | | An interesting excursion within the village is to see |
| For 150 000VND for little over a half-day trip my | | | | the beehives. We visited one honey farm run by |
| guide Khan, who runs a barber shop and a small | | | | Duc, who's been bee-keeping 20 years and claims |
| tourism business with his wife, took me around | | | | he is now totally immune to bee stings. The air |
| the less-explored regions of Cat Ba. | | | | soft with the noise of hives, we squatted to look |
| Like Ha Long or Tam Quoc, Cat Ba is filled with | | | | at honeycombs, honey (250 000VND/ 650ml |
| limestone karsts; they poke out from the land | | | | bottle) and the five litre glass vats of young bee |
| pretty much anywhere the crops don't grow. And | | | | wine he brews using only honeycomb, honey and |
| little Cat Ba seems to grow everything, lychess | | | | bee larvae mixed with rice wine. |
| especially. While driving Khan pointed out oranges, | | | | We had no time to stay the night and pressed on |
| lychees, jackfruit, bananas, longan, arrowroot, | | | | along the intra-island road to the two ports near |
| persimmon, sweet potatoes and beans growing. | | | | Phu Long fishing village in the northwest. The |
| Stopping at Gia Luon village, he told me the best | | | | scenery as you hug the coast leading north, |
| oranges were grown here. | | | | beaches interspersed with mangroves and the |
| Gia Luon is small and there are absolutely no | | | | occasional small stilt restaurant standing in water, |
| tourist attractions to speak of, but as a stop off | | | | is lovely. Not dramatic; there are no waves |
| for a quite and shady beer it's more than | | | | crashing against cliffs, but the peace and inland |
| comfortable. Unlike other villages on the mainland, | | | | views are worth it. If you choose the bus over |
| the local rich bloke hasn't knocked up some | | | | the hydrofoil at Cat Ba town's main port, this is |
| frightenningly huge concrete housethen painted it | | | | the route you'll take but it's best seen from the |
| pink and turquoise. Things are more low-key. | | | | over-air vantage of a motorbike |
| After we drove to a small port connecting Cat Ba | | | | Driving back, we passed though many smaller |
| to the mainland. Picturesque as it was, it's virtually | | | | villages, going by deserted beaches until reaching |
| useless for the tourist looking for another way | | | | the town. Despite the straw cowboy hats, painted |
| back to Hai Phong City and then Ha Noi. Boats | | | | shells and one noisy disco of downtown Cat Ba, |
| only transport tour groups and skipper, after | | | | you're better off inland on this island. |