Vietnam - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 850

INTO CHINA: MONG CAI
Buses from Hanoi (8hr; 230,000VND) arrive at Mong Cai bus station, 500m west of the centre.
The blue, space-age building northwest of the roundabout identifies Mong Cai's focal point,
the covered market. The Chinese border is 1km away: walk north along Tran Phu and turn
left at the end of the road to reach the border gate (daily 7am-7pm; visas must be arranged in
advance). Once in Dongxing on the Chinese side, take a xe om to the bus station, from where
regular buses depart for Nanning and Guilin.
For somewhere to stay in Mong Cai, try Truong Minh , 36 Trieu Duong ( T 033 3883368), or
Thanh Tam down the street at no. 71 ( T 033 3770181); both have clean, pleasant rooms for
around 300,000VND. Streets near the market turn into open-air food stalls in the evening.
Vietcombank has a branch with a 24hr ATM north of the market, on Van Don.
For those arriving in Mong Cai , there are numerous buses to Hai Phong (every 2 hours; 4hr);
Hanoi (at least hourly; 8hr) and Ha Long City (2 hourly; 4hr).

CAT BA ISLAND
Dragon-back mountain ranges loom on
the horizon 20km out of Hai Phong as
boats approach Cat Ba Island , the largest
member of an archipelago sitting to the
west of Ha Long Bay.

11

connections to and from Hai Phong,
there's little reason to linger en route
either to Hanoi or the south.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By plane Cat Bi airport is 6km southeast of the city,
around 130,000VND by taxi.
Destinations Da Nang (3 daily; 1hr 20min); HCMC (5 daily;
2hr).
By boat Ben Binh harbour is on the Cua Cam River, a short
walk from the Lac Long bus station. A fast boat runs from
Ben Binh to Cat Ba's Cai Vieng harbour at 7am and 10am,
with a bus connection waiting in Cat Ba to take you to Cat
Ba Town; return buses leave Cat Ba Town at 2pm and 4pm
(1hr 30min one-way). Another option is to take a bus from
Haiphong's Ben Binh harbour to Dinh Vu port to catch
another hydrofoil to Cat Ba's Cai Vieng harbour, as
departures from Dinh Vu are more frequent (6 daily; 2hr).
Destinations

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
he island's main settlement is Cat Ba
Tow n , an old fishing village, but the main
strip along the waterfront is now lined
with countless budget hotels, restaurants,
and massage parlours. Eight hundred
metres to the east across a small headland
is the main ferry pier, Ben Ca, where
floating seafood restaurants bob around
just offshore. A fifteen-minute walk along
a steep road just east of the waterfront
leads to a small, sandy beach , Cat Co 1 ;
from here, a ten-minute walk north leads
you to a second, quieter and more
secluded beach, Cat Co 2 , where it is also
possible to stay overnight (see p.856).
From Cat Co 2, follow a scenic,
cliff-hugging boardwalk south to reach a
third beach, Cat Co 3 . Overlooking the
Cat Co 1 and Cat Co 2 beaches is Fort
Cannon , (sunrise-sunset; 20,000VND),
its guns and underground tunnels first
used by the Japanese in World War II,
and later by the French and the
Vietnamese. he sunsets from this spot
are fantastic and the entrance is a steep
ten-minute walk from Cat Ba Town. A
tourist train (40,000VND) saves you
twenty minutes' legwork if you don't
want to trudge uphill from the gate.
Almost half the island and adjacent
waters are part of Cat Ba National Park

Cat Ba Island (hydrofoils 8 daily;

45min-1hr).
By bus Buses serving the south and west operate from
Niem Nghia bus station, 3km from the centre on Tran
Nguyen Han. Some Hanoi services use Tam Bac bus station,
near the west end of Tam Bac Lake, though Hanoi-bound
minibuses also hang around the Ben Binh harbour and can
be flagged down on the riverfront south of Dien Bien Phu.
The Hoang Long bus-boat-bus combo from Hanoi to Cat Ba
Town (see below) connects in Haiphong with Hoang Long
sleeper buses from the south at around 10am and
12.30pm; if you're heading south from Cat Ba Town, you
can take the return bus to Hanoi at 9.15am and 1.15pm
and change to a south-bound sleeper bus in Haiphong;
these head all the way to HCMC via Hanoi, Vinh, Hue, Da
Nang and Nha Trang.
Destinations Da Nang (15hr); Hanoi (2hr 30min); HCMC

(38hr); Hue (14hr); Nha Trang (10hr); Ninh Binh (3hr).
By train Hai Phong train station is on the southeast side
of town on Luong Khanh Thien.
Destinations Hanoi (2 daily; 2hr 30min).