Boat Cruise and National Park

On 18th September, we went on a boat cruise to Cat Ba Island. It was absolutely stunning! Soon, I will have to try and upload some pictures becuase my descriptions will not do justice to some of the sights I've seen - neither will the photos, but they will help.
We had lunch lunch on the boat, which was more like a feast. How can Vietnamese people eat so much and still be so small? Being an awkward vegetarian, I get lots of my of dishes, and end up with even more food than anyone else!
We saw floating fish farms and houses on the water, which were fascinating. It seems to be a fairly laid back way of earning a living, compared to some other jobs here. We went kayaking which was great becauase it meant we could be even closer to the life on the water. We stopped off on a mini island to have a rest. The exercise showed how unfit I still am!
The next day we went to a national park which was an amazing experience. We trekked through jungle territory and were advised to put on insect repellant, and a bloody good thing too as the place was swarming. We still got bitten but not too badly. I brought a zapper contraction with me which relieves the itching from bites by puncturing the skin with static electricity. It's very effective but I overdid it that day and couldn't move my ankle properly as I slightly paralysed it with too many zaps...
We trekked up and up and up, sometimes negotiating very chalenging terrain which felt almost vertical - but rock climbers would probably tell me what we did was nothing. But I'm no rock climber.
There were rare birds and monkies there but unfortunately we didn't see any.
We stopped off afterwards to see a hospital used by soldiers during the war - it was a concrete block hidden high up.
Then we jumped on a ferry for a couple of hours and I managed to sleep, which was really refreshing as I have hardly had a decent night's sleep since I arrived in Vietnam thanks to one of the side effects of my malaria tablets. They can give you bad dreams - and they certainly do - I've had everything from bizarre and surreal to quite harrowing! The heat and noise don't help either.
When we arrived on land there were lots of men offering lifts on motorbikes - the primary way of getting around in Vietnam. Soon, helmets will be compulsory everywhere, but I wonder whether this will apply to babies and youg children who sometimes squeeze on the vehicles three, four at time wiht their parents. And it's common to see a very young child/toddler supporting itself with just its hands or feet on the front, resting in the legs of the driver. But the only accident I've seen so far has involved a goat - more on that later.
Then we got a night train to Sapa. We played cards with some of the group before trying to sleep It was really fun - we learnt a version of 'Shithead' from our tour leader, Hoang.