If you are in the mood for nature and light exercise, a day at Cat Ba National Park is great! It’s an easy ride on a motorbike, which you can rent for less than $10/day. I don’t feel confident on a motorbike and Grab doesn’t work on Cat Ba, so I walked down to the taxi stand on the main strip and struck a deal with a cab driver to chauffeur me to the park and caves for the day then bring me back. I don’t remember exactly but believe I paid around $40. If you really want a workout you can walk from Cat Ba Town, but it would take around 3 hours.
Right inside the entrance to the park is a really nice homestay with a restaurant, so if you want a coconut coffee to get you going or need to eat lunch, it’s convenient and the food is good. With a 9 or 9:30 start, I was easily able to have a coffee at the homestay, hike the peak, eat a relaxing lunch, visit both Trung Trang and Hospital Caves, and be back in Cat Ba town by late afternoon.
For a nature reserve there’s not much flora or fauna in the park. Despite its World Heritage Site status, security has been lax enough to allow poaching, to the point where endangered species like the Cat Ba langur are on the brink of extinction. However, if you just want to breathe fresh air and hike in nature, the trail to the highest point on the island is really short, taking just an hour or so, and pretty easy too: it’s 90% steps and 10% scrambling when you get to the top. The views are beautiful and it’s high enough to get that vertiginous feeling!
There’s an alternate difficult hike from the park entrance to Viet Hai village nearer the east coast of the island. This hike requires some trekking skill and serious endurance; it takes 8 to 12 hours. It’s not marked on the park map, but can be arranged in advance with a guide.
Trung Trang cave is actually the name for a system of 150 connected caves, where different stalagmites and stalactites grow, and some ancient human remains have been found. Of course, the section tourists can access is much smaller, but still very interesting looking. The entrance is a quick walk down the road from the park entrance.
Hospital cave was built with Chinese aid during the Vietnam war; it’s a three story concrete building with emergency exits, freshwater access, and air shafts, all built within a preexisting cave system. It was in continuous use for around 12 years, serving both as a hospital and safe house for VC leaders. It’s sparsely decorated with mannequins of soldiers, but that wasn’t the strangest thing I saw here . . . It seems they rent out the third floor for parties and events?!
Again, Hospital Cave is just a minute’s walk down the main road. I wouldn’t want to get married there, but I did really enjoy the day!
