I had opportunity to have Pho, the typical dish in Vietnam. I knew now why Vietnamese people, especially women have good shape. Their foods always have vegetable as main ingredients. Pho is something like noodle in Thailand but the thing is it is very delicious when you eat it in such environment, in the time we traveled. It is a feeling of getting close to local way of people there.
The Good
I am currently in Cat Ba island in amongst some of the most beautifull landscape i have seen. The limestone cliffs and pinnacles that you have to travel through by boat to get to the island are truly something to behold. Incidentaly as a climber this is a heavenly place to go to as well :-). The trip by boat to get there was relaxing and calm, eagles overhead, big jellyfish and big fish are all around. People compare this area to Krabi in Thailand and if i may add my opinion to this i would say that Halong is much more than Krabi and a place you should visit if you have more than 3 days in Vietnam.
The Bad
Please be aware that the hotels and restaurants etc on Cat Ba island have a monopoly and some tend to abuse this by charging outragious prices
The Uguly
As an indipendent traveler i try to stear away from the organised tours. Unfortunatly this ethic has worked well against me this time.
I found my own way to Halong and from there i planned to catch a one way boat to Cat Ba island. At first glance the $10 was reasonable and after trying to unsuccessfully bargain a better price i took the boat. once on the other side however i was left truly high and dry. The pier is something like 30km from Cat Ba town and there is no public transport of any kind. I asked a few of the tour opperators if i could jump on thier bus but they refused much to my confusion (the reason later). I was approached by a bike taxi and i was told that the only way i would get to town was to pay 150,000 dong. SCREW THAT!!!!! i thought. I walked over to the police and asked if i could use their phone only to be laughed at and told to get a bike.
I managed to get the price down to 100,000 and a very, very, very frustrated traveler was laughed at by each local as i passed them on the way. When i got into Cat Ba i grudgingly paid the driver and as i was walking along the main strip to find a hotel a driver i had approached for help walked upto me and said that he was willing to help but he was threatened if he did. I can only hope there is some credibility in this as he walked away without wanting to sell me something.
The moral of this story, take a tour to Cat Ba and have an open ticket if you want to stay longer. Otherwise i could end up a very expensive trip.
I recently went on a Vietnam holiday and tried Pho. It’s delicious, like all Vietnamese food. I have to say also, in relation to the corruption on Cat Ba - try and stay away from obvious places where you may be a target, and if you are friendly with some reliable locals, that will make your Vietnam holiday much more enjoyable cause they will look out for you and look after you.
Reading story Outstanding make me remember the time when I was a tourguide for backpacking company. There had been many cases like the story and I had experienced few. Due to the fact that there are two main piers in Cat Ba island, one is Ben Beo quite close to center of town and the other is 3ok from main area. Back packing companies take tours to one or the other base on the bugget people want to spent and some time It makes confusion. Better travel in group then extend your day on the island by booking open ticket for boat and bus back to Hanoi
i have just returned home after an 17 day tour with wendy woo tours.never again we had the same set menu every night.if that wasn`t bad enough plates were put on the table to share between four adults example 1 day, half a prawn each & half an olive everything was counted eg prawn crackers 8. 2 each bread 8 small pieces 2 each,the tiniest piece of tommato. 1 small spring roll and a small plate of salad to share between 4 people.we also got either 2 very small pieces of some sort of meat or fish.then came the fruit usually two small pieces of watermelon or pineapple and i mean small.we tried asking for more like oliver twist did. but we were completely ignored by the end of the tour we were eating the food the others didn`t like or buying our own.it`s hard to understand when food is so cheap in vietnam and we paid a good price for the tour.
regards mal
MyBoo
August 28th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I had opportunity to have Pho, the typical dish in Vietnam. I knew now why Vietnamese people, especially women have good shape. Their foods always have vegetable as main ingredients. Pho is something like noodle in Thailand but the thing is it is very delicious when you eat it in such environment, in the time we traveled. It is a feeling of getting close to local way of people there.
Enjoy,
MyBoo
Outstanding
August 28th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Howdy all
Cat Ba island, the good, the bad and the uguly
The Good
I am currently in Cat Ba island in amongst some of the most beautifull landscape i have seen. The limestone cliffs and pinnacles that you have to travel through by boat to get to the island are truly something to behold. Incidentaly as a climber this is a heavenly place to go to as well :-). The trip by boat to get there was relaxing and calm, eagles overhead, big jellyfish and big fish are all around. People compare this area to Krabi in Thailand and if i may add my opinion to this i would say that Halong is much more than Krabi and a place you should visit if you have more than 3 days in Vietnam.
The Bad
Please be aware that the hotels and restaurants etc on Cat Ba island have a monopoly and some tend to abuse this by charging outragious prices
The Uguly
As an indipendent traveler i try to stear away from the organised tours. Unfortunatly this ethic has worked well against me this time.
I found my own way to Halong and from there i planned to catch a one way boat to Cat Ba island. At first glance the $10 was reasonable and after trying to unsuccessfully bargain a better price i took the boat. once on the other side however i was left truly high and dry. The pier is something like 30km from Cat Ba town and there is no public transport of any kind. I asked a few of the tour opperators if i could jump on thier bus but they refused much to my confusion (the reason later). I was approached by a bike taxi and i was told that the only way i would get to town was to pay 150,000 dong. SCREW THAT!!!!! i thought. I walked over to the police and asked if i could use their phone only to be laughed at and told to get a bike.
I managed to get the price down to 100,000 and a very, very, very frustrated traveler was laughed at by each local as i passed them on the way. When i got into Cat Ba i grudgingly paid the driver and as i was walking along the main strip to find a hotel a driver i had approached for help walked upto me and said that he was willing to help but he was threatened if he did. I can only hope there is some credibility in this as he walked away without wanting to sell me something.
The moral of this story, take a tour to Cat Ba and have an open ticket if you want to stay longer. Otherwise i could end up a very expensive trip.
Ian
September 18th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I recently went on a Vietnam holiday and tried Pho. It’s delicious, like all Vietnamese food. I have to say also, in relation to the corruption on Cat Ba - try and stay away from obvious places where you may be a target, and if you are friendly with some reliable locals, that will make your Vietnam holiday much more enjoyable cause they will look out for you and look after you.
Hung Do Chi
September 12th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Reading story Outstanding make me remember the time when I was a tourguide for backpacking company. There had been many cases like the story and I had experienced few. Due to the fact that there are two main piers in Cat Ba island, one is Ben Beo quite close to center of town and the other is 3ok from main area. Back packing companies take tours to one or the other base on the bugget people want to spent and some time It makes confusion. Better travel in group then extend your day on the island by booking open ticket for boat and bus back to Hanoi
mal
November 15th, 2009 at 12:16 am
i have just returned home after an 17 day tour with wendy woo tours.never again we had the same set menu every night.if that wasn`t bad enough plates were put on the table to share between four adults example 1 day, half a prawn each & half an olive everything was counted eg prawn crackers 8. 2 each bread 8 small pieces 2 each,the tiniest piece of tommato. 1 small spring roll and a small plate of salad to share between 4 people.we also got either 2 very small pieces of some sort of meat or fish.then came the fruit usually two small pieces of watermelon or pineapple and i mean small.we tried asking for more like oliver twist did. but we were completely ignored by the end of the tour we were eating the food the others didn`t like or buying our own.it`s hard to understand when food is so cheap in vietnam and we paid a good price for the tour.
regards mal