I was up around 7 and did a few things before the guy downstairs was awake to let me out and I went and bought a kilo of tomatoes for 15k before getting breakfast from the banh my place. An egg sandwich later and I wandered to the railway station to see if there were trains although the internet had said there were none in the morning and also said they cost $10. The entrance was not so easy to find but the ticket office told me there was a train at 9.20 for 70k so I bought a ticket and as it was 8.20 I rushed back to the hostel. I showered and packed up and walked to the train station and got on the train. Someone was in my seat so I sat behind which was fine for the first stop but then I had to move and sit next to him. I read mostly and later on people moved so I got 2 seats but there was no power socket so I got him to swap so I could power up. At Hai phong I got off and walked towards the boat via the museum which was only open mornings and it was past 12 now. I carried on to the boats where people were trying to get me to buy a 180k fast boat ticket but I paid 130k and the boat left at 1pm. It was not a long journey and then we got out and onto buses and drove to the town arriving around 3pm in the centre. I walked to a hostel I had read about and they had a bottom bunk for 55k a night so I took that. I sorted a few things out and asked the man at the desk what to do for a few hours. He recommended the cannon fort and also gave me a paper with their tours on. I was thinking of climbing the hill anyway which was where the fort was so I headed there. It was not far to the road which went uphill and I saw the ticket office and the path to the antennae which I'd read about looked to be restricted access. The ticket to the fort was 40k but I paid and walked up and it was a bit if a climb. Up there the views were good and there were a few things to see like 2 anti warship guns and some ammunition boxes. It wasn't really a historical site and had been built in 1942 but the views were good. I got some pictures, walked all around and went back down to the ticket office where there was a path bext to the restricted one. I thought maybe that would lead up a hill as the wikitravel page seemed to think the view was ok. It led to some motorbikes parked which I thought was a good sign and there were 2 paths so I chose the right one and went that way. The path became narrow with pkants either side and after a few minutes it didn't look like it eas going up a hill and might be going downhill so I went back and too the other path. This one was wider and I went up a small hill but the trees surrounded it so there was no view. I went another way and the path went downhill but maps said it was going to a beach so I followed it and it went to someones house and then to a fishing place where people were working. It was a bit wide of the beach so I walked back a bit and tried a different route but that also ended at a fishing place so the beach was accessible by climbing over rocks or something. I went back and went back down the hill and then climbed another hill which had views of the bay at the front of town. It also had a monument on top which someone told me was for Ho Chi Minh. I went back down and added the place to maps.me and then stopped at the hostel to book a boat tour for the next day for 390k and then walked along the front but I couldn't find a bike shop or food. I carried on round to a viewpoint and it was nice, I was really enjoying Cat Ba after Hanoi, especially as it wasn't raining. The road carried on to a beach which looked like it was part of a hotel and there was an Asian tour group there. I carried on as there was a path which went up and round to another beach and then there was a road back to the front. I turned right this time and walked along and bought a b un from a bakery for 15k. The road carried on and I got some cakes in a shop and further on came to an internet place where I updated my blog a bit. I logged into my email and it wasn't working, had someone changed my password. I used my phone to access it and change my password, but I later realised that the Vietnamese computers change letters around when typing so that had messed up my password. I walked to the sea front and there were some floating restraurants there. After that I headed back stopping at a banh my place and got a 20k kebab and egg sandwich. Back at the hostel and there were 3 Spanish girls on the top bunks in my room. I read for a while before going to sleep.
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