Cat Ba Island

We stayed at a hotel on the island for our second night.

Much of the island is made of the same steep, rocky cliff mountains, but in the middle there are a few arable valleys.

Mountain Jungle Hike

Way off in the distance, you can see an observation tower on the mountain.  That's what we hiked to.

Another view of the tower.

The stairs were the easy part.

Then it turned into a rocky path.

Until finally we made it to the tower.

Everybody (except Ha, the tour guide) was dripping with sweat.

From the top of the tower, looking back to where we started.

In the distance you can see the road heading north to the beach hotels.

I have since retired this hat.  I think it looks dumb.  Nate wore it when he was in Cambodia, and it looked dumb on him too.

Coming back down.

Down in the valley again.

Day three was more leisurely cruising, back to the main port.

Eldad, Dianne, Henrik.

On the way back, we had a swankier boat with a rear deck area.

The dining room inside the boat

The pilot's sleepy daughter

Johanna and Sarah chillin

Back at the port, we learned that our entire trip had been simulated on IMAX Total Surround screens.

This was the sound stage.