13th March: Cat Ba, Vietnam

Today was another lovely chilled day. We spent the morning sat in the garden watching giant black and white butterflies, which hovered on the bougainvillea in a manner akin to hummingbirds. Dozens of dragonflies flitted around between the trees and big dark birds rode the thermals overhead. From time to time the sun momentarily broke through the cloud layer, adding sudden warmth to an otherwise mild day.

After a relaxed and productive morning writing and researching, we went out for a little wander in the afternoon. Unfortunately, there isn’t really anywhere to go near to the hotel as the former coastline is barricaded off even 5km from Cat Ba town. So, instead, we went to play with the cats at the other hostel. Muoi was hiding from a sudden bit of drizzle under the table but came out to say hello. We ordered some lovely peach, lime, and lemongrass teas and retreated inside to play pool. It’s so quiet here out of season and seems to be just us and the staff whenever we pop around. And the cats, of course!

We saw 8 cats there altogether today, including 3 very cute kittens who kept working up the courage to sneak inside before running away at hyper speed to hide again! Muoi watched on from his perch on the karaoke machine as various others came and went. Apparently, there are 11 cats altogether and they were all kittens from the same mother at different points!

We shared the same vegan burger and curry combination as the other day for dinner before wandering back to chill some more in the beautiful garden. The sun poked through just before it set and lit up the hillsides and the pink flowers in the garden. As light faded, bats swooped and frogs hopped by, joining in the chorus led by geckos and cicadas.