Vietnam Day 15: Panoramic Views

Our last day in Cat Ba was Easter Sunday. We decided to do a short morning hike, then surprise the kids with an afternoon Easter celebration. 

Adventure Girl's jellyfish sting was still pretty sore so she and Craig stayed home. Erin joined b.e.a.n. travels for the 3km hike straight up the mountainside. It was really hot and humid so despite the hike being short, it was tiring! The air quality here is also really terrible. There are nightly burnings of garbage and cleared trees and leaves. We hardly saw the sun or the sky the entire time we were here. The pollution added an extra challenge to our lungs while hiking. 

The path has carved stairs out of stone and switchbacks through the jungle towards the peak. Once you reach the top, the views are incredible! It's a true panorama with tree covered karst hills all around you. 

Back at our place, the kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt to find a bag of Easter treats. They also made some decorations and surprised Craig, Alex, and Beth with a "fancy" table for all seven of us. We each did a phone call home, too. It can be hard travelling long term (over a month for us and 6 months for b.e.a.n. travels) so little things like this can help everyone, especially the kids, have a taste of home. 

The dairy free chocolate Erin found!
We did a taste test of the cacao beans 
grown in 6 different regions around Vietnam

To cap off our time in Cat Ba, here's a picture of a random, crazy-looking bug!