Caves and Parks

in Cat Ba, Vietnam

After getting reamed on the ferry into the island, we were weary of forking over more money for overpriced tours, so our first day we rented a motorbike and explored the island on our own.

Our first stop was the Hospital Cave, a cave which was finished during the "American War" as they call it here in order to serve as a hospital. Why use a cave inside a mountain, you ask? It can't be carpet bombed.

The rooms of the cave were mostly empty, but a few had mannequins set up which was pretty creepy. We walked around and used our imagination to see what it might have been like as a busy wartime hospital.

After seeing the cave we continued up the road to the national park. There were several paths but we chose the path to the peak. After a relatively light hike we reached the top. It was a great reward especially for such a light hike. Stunning view in all directions!