Vietnam
Cat Ba Island
Start the day with a challenging hike to a beautiful viewpoint, and explore some caves.
Hike to Ngu Lam Peak
Start your day with an exhilarating (and exhausting) hike to Ngu Lam Peak. Ngu Lam Peak, located in Cat Ba National Park, is THE best place to admire panoramic views of Cat Ba Island. The adventure begins near the main road, where parking for motorcycles or bicycles is readily available. Once you bought your ticket, it is time to start the hike through the lush Kim Giao Forest. The uphill hike is a moderate challenge over rocky terrain. The views along the way are not spectacular at all, but wait until you reach the top. After approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour you will reach the summit of Ngu Lam Peak, and that’s when you know that all that hard work was so worth it. You will be rewarded with awe-inspiring views of the green mountains on Cat Ba Island.
It's just a 2-minute ride or 15-minute walk to the next stop of the day.
Explore Trung Trang Cave
Another fascinating wonder on Cat Ba Island is Trung Trang Cave, one of the largest and most beautiful caves in the Cat Ba archipelago. Trung Trang Cave is a world of natural splendor with amazing limestone formations and hidden chambers. There are tons of stalactites and stalagmites on the cave walls, you won’t know where to look first! Fun fact: Trung Trang Cave holds traces of ancient Vietnamese settlements dating back around 6000 years, how cool is that!
It is just a 5-minute ride to the next destination of the day.
Visit Hospital Cave
Step back in time at Hospital Cave, a remarkable relic of the Vietnam-American War. You can find it just down the road from Trung Trang Cave, perfect for a quick history-lesson. This hidden sanctuary served as a hospital and safe house for the North Vietnamese army during the conflict. Concealed from both ground and aerial view, Hospital Cave's ingenious design includes three levels. The first level features man-made concrete rooms for patients and doctor offices, while the second level incorporates natural rock formations. What we found surprising is that there’s a small swimming pool inside, and even a natural cavern repurposed as a cinema. The third level houses a tiny safe house for communist leaders, although the lower levels were more exciting for us. It was a really cool way to learn more about the Vietnam-American War, especially in such a unique location as this one!
Drive 12 minutes to your next destination.
Dinner time at Banh Mi Hoi An 1991
Dinner time! For this we take you to a place that's definitely in our top 3 when it comes to banh mi in all of Vietnam: Banh Mi Hoi An 1991. This local restaurant is an absolute gem. We went here 4 times during our time on Cat Ba island, so that should tell you how much we liked it! They have a couple of banh mi's here, and we tried them all. Our favorite is probably the shredded chicken with cheese banh mi, although our (customized) version of a vegetarian banh mi came as a close second. Do know that the menu is in all-Vietnamese, but they do have some sort of translation on their packing paper that you can use as guidance!
