Early rise this morning since the boat with all the cabins that we were docked next to had to take off. Back on the main boat by 7:30AM but at least we had a solid breakfast of fruit, omlettes, tea and a few other things. Weather was a little cloudy and everyone's head sore so most of us spent the morning lounging around on the top deck watching the harbor go by or taking naps. We got to Catba Island where we went into the National Park for some trekking. About two hours later we reached a rusted viewing stand...this thing seriously looked like it was ready to collapse and the last step didn't exist so it was a long drop down if you fell through. Anyways, hung out around there for a while before we started our trek back. Going downhill when trekking is always less strenuous but its tough going down all the rocks and small paths without slipping.
After the trek we checked into our hotel on the island...really nice place, one of the nices ones yet in Asia. They had a hot tub, pool and a sauna/spa. Unfortunately didnt take advantage of any of it because I crashed all afternoon after watching Rush Hour. Spent some time on the roof deck looking out over the harbor but it was still cloudy so visibilty not that great. That night we all rejoined, everyone was rested up and we headed into the city center for dinner. Catba island is a small place and its the only island in Halong Bay where people live so it had a nice appeal. Dinner was solid and then the group migrated to the Blue Note bar where our guide Paul jumped behind the bar and played bartender all night. Good specials, 3 beers for the price of 2 and it was all on an honor system! More importantly, we had free rice wine all night which really made things interesting. After a few hours we were all done for and on the way back stopped at a street stand for some noodles before hitting the bed..
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