While in Venice we had one more thing to look forward too. We had plans of meeting our Italian friends Mauro and Diane whom we had befriended in Istanbul last year. We had plans of having dinner together. Now we had come back from Lido island. Only two things were left..The famous Rialto Bridge and of course reunion with our Italian friends. We had decided to meet at the Rialto Bridge at eight in the evening. So finally we climbed the famous Ponte di Rialto.

Rialto Bridge is crazily crowded throughout the day. I did not know why till I myself went up there. It had recently undergone restoration. Built in the 16 th century, it had been subjected to too much tourist load and adverse weather conditions.

We always prefer to stay in the city centre wherever we travel too. I know, far flung places feel and sound idyllic and relaxing but there are disadvantages too. We are social animals who have a family and has to be constantly in contact with our family. As much as we would like to cut off from the world for a few days, it won't be practically possible. We need public transport, markets and other amenities within an arm's reach. The last time we took a resort away from the madness was in Mauritius. It was in Belle Mare, South Mauritius, away from the hustle bustle of the city. That was our honeymoon and it was the only trip when we cut off from the entire world.

When we were hunting for hotels in Dalhousie, we found many which were gorgeous but bit farther than the centre. We ultimately took one in the heart of Dalhousie, Subhash Chowk and every thing was a stone's throw away.

To start with all the good restaurants were in the vicinity. Then there was this gorgeous cathedral which caught my fancy right from the beginning. There are many stone churches in Dalhousie since it was a British colony. I always have had fascination for stone architectures.

Cruising on the Ha long Bay or the Lan Ha Bay is one of the biggest highlights of any Vietnam trip. I mean you may or may not explore the other quaint parts like Hoi An or Sa Pa, but this cruise is something that no one wants to miss. Having said that, the cruises are really expensive. I mean the barest minimum of one night on the Ha Long Bay is 170 USD onwards per person, which of course you wouldn't like. We were a 6 family members travelling so it would have cost a bomb, just paying 1200 USD for a single night on the water. So we started looking for more feasible options.

That's our sweet guide in the backdrop

After a ton of research, we decided to not to do Ha Long Bay and go to Lan Ha Bay instead. Now Lan ha Bay is in Hai phong district, and the journey is through the Cat Ba island, which is impossible to cover in a single day (to and fro). So we based our trip in Cat Ba island and did our cruise from there.

Can you spot the little one nesting beneath her Granny's dupatta?

Now I wanted the big boat with the traditional Vietnamese sails, so we went for Serenity Cruises, which were the only ones to have those sails. However since the boat bigger, we had to take a smaller boat from the dock to reach the main cruise ship. And my my, it was so beautiful!

A typical day cruise involves a pick and drop from the resort, welcome drinks, lunch and evening snacks. The boat keeps sailing throughout the day, passing around 300 limestone karsts; the main attraction of this region. The Lan Ha Bay also has a historical fishing village, which is 7000 years old. The village is still very much thriving, with a ship assigned to pick and drop the kids for school on the Cat Ba island. Those who opt for Ha Long Bay cruise, they sail upto here to see this fishing village.

Overlooking the fishing village

7000 years old fishing village

Then they take us to the Gulf of Tonkin, where we are given kayaks, and we row through the Dark caves and light caves and swim in the middle of the South China Sea. In short, it's an adrenaline packed day.

Since this is a day cruise, the ship is small. The top deck has loungers to relax and plants for decoration. The lower cabin has couches, television and a book shelf. And the lowest level is the dining hall with a big bar (useless for us) and washrooms.

Thankfully it did not rain that day and was neither too sunny. So we spent our whole time on the top deck. The limestone karsts are something that one can never bored of; they are so freaking mesmerising! My mom stayed back with the little one whenever we jumped in to the sea or disappeared for hours kayaking through the limestone caves.

We love connecting with fellow travellers while on trips

The cruise culminated with a sunset party. We were served fresh fruits and lemonade, while we all witnessed the sun dip behind those limestone karsts. It was one hell of an unforgettable day! So while we did not spend the night on the cruise, it surely was the biggest highlight of our trip!

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 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. 

 The name of the beach may sound pretty weird if you have read it carefully. Actually Cat Co 1 beach is a part of the Cat Co Cove. It's a range of limestone cliffs that has the South China Sea insinuating in it. From the moment we set foot on the Cat Ba island, to the window/balcony views of room, we could constantly gaze at the limestone cliffs and the green sea, but there wasn't any place where we could actually touch the water. For that we had to walk to the beach, even though the sea was right in front of us. Dipping the toes in the salty water is not equivalent to gazing at the sea; although both things have their own therapeutic value.

Thankfully we could complete our excursion before anyone could come after us; we had visited early in the morning. The resort reminded me of the Genting Highlands in Malaysia; the First World Hotel. The reception was too big to fathom. We did not take any pictures for obvious reasons, but the staff was really well behaved.

Actually a very funny thing happened on that morning. An island can get rains at any time of the day. So while the sky was clear when we reached the beach, it became overcast all of a sudden and started pouring. I was worried because our younger one was just recovering from fever (in that very trip) and I did not want her to get drenched at any cost. I literally pestered my husband to run for cover with her. So while they waited for the volume of rain to get lighter in the shade of the Flamingo property, I explored a bit. The waterfall, pool and the sea combo turned out to be my favourite spot.

 And then while the rain turned into a drizzle, we started walking back to our resort. Since we weren't carrying anything, I made the husband take out his tee to cover our little one. So there he was, walking out of that 5 star property, bare chested and carrying a wrapped toddler and me and Mohi were following behind. Sometimes I just could not control my laughter; especially when the hotel staff passing by were greeting him. I mean that's the fun of being abroad, where no one knows you. You don't need to have any shame or anything! This is literally living like a free bird!

Can you see the topless man with a toddler? And I had covered Mohi's head with a carry bag 😂

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023