An evening in Cat Ba island, Vietnam

by - September 02, 2023

I believe that any place completely changes its face as soon as the sun goes down. If it's a big city. then twinkling lights take over. And if it's a small town, then it becomes sleepy as the people scurry to wrap up their work and go to sleep. I always make an effort to explore the place after evening so as to absorb this 180 degree shift from the hustle bustle of the day to winding down.

Cat Ba may be a big, rocky island area wise, but is a very small town with just 16,000 population. However it receives around 2,5 million tourists every year, which means that the outsiders outweigh the locals by leaps and bounds! During our 4 days on this island, we hardly came across any Indian travellers. The thing is that majority of Indians prefer going to more known places like the Ha Long Bay. We, on the other hand, always try taking the lesser known path.

There was no scope for any decent vegetarian food (barring steamed bok choi and fries) for my culinary challenged family. So I had planned to have a solo dinner myself, that involved fresh sea food. After swimming in the sea at the Cat Co beach and witnessing the sun go down, we decided to take a ride around the island. Very soon we realised that it had gotten quite dark and was getting eerie. So we decided to stick to the town centre only. There was a small lake and there were numerous eateries dotting along its border.

The exciting part about this island was that peppy Vietnamese music was blasting from everywhere. I mean the government had installed speakers everywhere on the sidewalks, in the parks and gardens and restaurants of course were playing from their own sound systems. The local music had really good beats and we were jiving all the time. 



I ordered a shrimp and squid noodles for myself. While we waited for our order, I strolled around the restaurant to inspect the variety of sea animals that were swimming in the tanks, ready to get butchered. There many species that I had never seen before. Like the Mantis Shrimp (a famous Vietnamese delicacy), Chesapeake Blue crab and many other crustaceans, whom I was photographing and researching about them.

As I slurped my noodles, my elder one and husband kept staring at me; how I could devour those tiny shrimps and squids. After that we again took a ride around the lake and headed back to our resort. It was now my parents' turn to explore the night. Our little one was sick, so we had to take turns to babysit her at the resort.

My parents went to the pier and the ferry terminal. That was the most bustling part of the town; unlike the lakeside where I had dinner. The place was beautifully lit up, too sad I couldn't be there to watch it myself.

The shops shut down pretty early as per Delhi standards. I mean we people expect food at any time of the day. But what else can you expect on an island, they wake up early and sleep early. 

That day had gone haywire because of the little one's fever. But still somehow we managed to utilize the day. We had booked the Lan Hay Bay cruise for the next day, the most exciting part of this trip. So we too retired early and called it a day. 


This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023 

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.

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22 comments

  1. How did blue crab and shrimp taste? Island life is calm like a sea. I love to been Island. I think once in a year we should have one gateway to Island.

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  2. I loved the pictures. Islands are relaxing, good to see so many pancakes on the menu for your parents. At least, they got something to eat. You are so right, evenings turn the city or town into another new city/town. It's fun to see the nightlife.

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  3. I totally agree. Things look completely different after sundown. Sometimes it feels like you are in a different place. I love how you explore little know places and share them with us.

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  4. As always, lovely pictures and beautiful and detailed description of your trip. This is a go to blog for people visiting Vietnam.

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  5. Just 3 days ago I watched A tourists guide to Love on Netflix and it was shot in Vietnam. Your post makes me more interested for a trip, soon

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  6. Exploring not so crowded or less explored destinations are always a better choice as per me.It gives you the opportunity to know the place better and very closely. To be honest you get the chance to share what you discovered there will many others who are unknown about the beauty and interesting facts of the place. To me exploring lesser explored destination is an opportunity. How the Shrimp tasted? I am a big fan of Shrimp and will love to try if you recommend when I go there.

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  7. I love reading and going tru the photos, I know wen ur lil one on a trip isn't well the trip is like half done. However you still managed to capture as much possible to share with us.

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  8. I enjoyed seeing the pictures, especially with all those pancakes on the menu for your parents. It's a relief they found something to eat. Evenings do transform a city or town into a whole new world, and experiencing the nightlife can be a lot of fun. I agree that exploring less crowded, off-the-beaten-path destinations allows you to truly connect with a place and get to know it intimately. I must say that all your travel posts are making me want to start planning my own adventures 😆

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  9. I was of the impression that in the world outside India the night life is rife. I am surprised to see another place outside India where the shops close early. Got to know a lot before exploring Vietnam

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  10. Lovely pics as always, Mandira. Completely agree about the place doing a 180 degrees when the sun goes down. Even generally speaking, our own city takes on a different hue after dark.

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  11. Exploring lesser-known places is a wonderful approach to travel. It often leads to more authentic experiences and a deeper connection with the culture and surroundings.

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  12. Love the pics as usual. Your vivid description of an evening in Cat Ba Island, Vietnam, transported me there momentarily. Your storytelling painted a beautiful picture, and I felt like I was dreaming again!

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  13. Your travel stories are so interesting. Each spot you visit makes us live that experience.

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  14. Your vietnam travel post brought so many happy memories I made over there!

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  16. A friend of mine is in Vietnam for vacation and insists it's too beautiful and dreamy. Loved the pictures!

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  17. It's really nice that you folks didn't allow your little one's fever to dampen the holiday spirit Mandira. It's so nice that you took turns to go out and explore the place in the night... Loved the idea. In yiur place, I m sure most of us would have just hovered around the kid all the time. But you are a seasoned traveler and that's the difference. I hope yiur daughter felt better the next day n you had a good day on the cruise.
    P.S: loved the pics n love how you take time to dress up🙌
    ...Kaveri

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  18. Wow! what a lovely place. As usual wonderful pics too.

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  19. I think people living in small places have a better schedule of starting and finishing the day. May be that is why they have peace and happiness. Beautiful pics as always.

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  20. Vietnam is one of the countries we long to visit. Knowing how near it is to Singapore yet not having the time and resources (on a tight budget now) for now but would surely go for a good trip like how we did when we visit Thailand mid this year. - MommyWithAGoal

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  21. You look marvelous.... And really wish to have a trip to Vietnam

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  22. Glad to see you make the most of a difficult situation and enjoy yourself.
    Noor

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