Vietnam: Karst of thousands

A kayak provides a unique perspective on the rocky outcrops around Cat Ba Island, in Vietnam. Photo / Supplied

Halong Bay's famed islands are well explored from a kayak, writes Neda Vanovac.

Searching for a different way to explore Vietnam's famed Halong Bay, I decided to dodge the touts and package tours, and instead headed for Cat Ba Island to its south.

About six hours from Hanoi, a trip requiring two buses, a boat and a minivan, Cat Ba turned out to be the best way to see the bay. Or not quite: it sits on Lan Ha Bay, the southern part of Halong, and is a ruggedly beautiful island in its own right.

The main town has the dilapidated feel of a 1970s pastel beach resort gone to seed, but is still entirely appealing; a string of strangely narrow, disco-look high-rise hotels with mirrored walls of windows jut up in front of Cat Ba's main peak, overlooking a wide promenade and a beautiful bay filled with bobbing fishing boats.

A cliffside path winds out of the small town along the coast, past karst island outcrops. The pathway leads to three small coves with clean white sand and clear water for swimming.

Bright and early the next morning I join a daytrip to sail out into the bay before hopping into twin kayaks.

A gentle rain is falling, lending the bay a misty, otherworldly air out of which loom floating fishing villages. Dogs teeter at the edges of pontoons to bark as we pass, their owners untangling nets and presiding over breakfast fires.

Paddling out towards open water against the current is arduous, before our guide leads us straight at a karst wall.

At the last moment, I lie back in my kayak and drift through a tiny gap, my nose almost scraping the rocks due to the high tide.

And then we're inside a completely circular karst island, lush vegetation cascading down the sheer walls.

We spend the rest of the day circumnavigating the formations. Some give way to deep U-shaped lagoons, with squirrels leaping along stunted trees that cling improbably to the rock walls.

On another island, we pull our kayaks on to a small beach to pay our respects at a tiny temple, before plunging into the water to soothe our aching muscles.

By the afternoon, the clouds have cleared, and we are blinded by the sun, a glowing ball as it silhouettes the floating villages before vanishing.

But Cat Ba offers as much on land as it does from the water, I learn, as a local guide pops me on the back of his motorcycle the following day and whizzes me through drowsy villages up towards the national park, where we hike past houses abandoned during the American war of the 1970s.

We see mouse deer grazing calmly in a clearing, picking our way up steep mossy stone pathways, the walkway intertwined with vines and tree roots.

A sweaty clamber to the top rewards us with spectacular views of the island's rugged interior, layers upon layers of jutting green peaks swathed in the remaining trails of morning mist.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Cathay Pacific offers daily connections to Hanoi via Hong Kong.

- AAP