Getting out of the taxi at the port in Hai Phong, a lady approached us and said that the ferry doesn’t operate but we can take that one bus and some other ferry. It felt a little like a scam but we trusted her and got into a completly empty bus. We googled if we can find information online about the pier and ferry schedule and it turned out, the ferry really stops between September and April. So I feel the chances are good we’ll reach Cat Ba and won’t be kidnapped. ;)

Everything turned out great. Maybe I shouldn’t have posted this post with only the last paragraph in it. I got an instant text from our mum asking if we are alright. Yes, we are!

We arrived at a local port. On the shore there were thousands of sea shells what looked like stones at first. We didn‘t have much time, a quick toilet break and we had to get on a boat. After a 15min journey, there were two busses waiting on the island: one for us and one for the other 30 people. And our drivers always handed over a small yellow carton box to the next driver. I assume there was our money for each part of the journey.

We reached our hostel in the afternoon and explored the area a little bit. Had some instant noodles in the local shop. Tomorrow we are going on a boat tour and we have to pack our warm clothes, it’s a little rainy and cold…20 degrees, so basically winter!