Typhoon Mulan means soggy everything, Karst islands everywhere, "Yummy" food

To go an island on the coast during a typhoon or not: that was the main question of the day. So, despite my parents request to get to higher ground and stay there, we ended up going to Cat Ba Island.

Dinner at Yummy 1. The whole meal, including fruit smoothies was about $3 each.

When we arrived in Hanoi on the sleeper bus, the rain from the typhoon was torrential. The puddles forming were massive. Walking through them was pretty yucky. Life goes on in this country rain or shine. It was business as usual in Hanoi. Motorbikes are still practical in the rain - ponchos are an excellent solution.

The location of our sleeper bus in Hanoi during the typhoon.

Some cats at the bus station. They were hanging out next to a box with peeping chicks.

The Hanoi bus station 

Vietnamese people are not deterred by torrential rain.

Typhoons with tons of rain and huge puddles don't stop people from loading up their motorbikes.

All of the ferries near the typhoon we're shut down by the government and our transport to Cat Ba Island said there was a chance we could leave Hanoi at 10:45, but then said they wouldn't know if we could go until after 2. At 10:15, they texted and said they we could leave at 10:45, so we scrambled to get some food before we left for the 3.5-4 hr transport to Cat Ba Island.

We grabbed 2 banh my's before getting on the bus.

Staying out of the rain in the Vietnamese equivalent to Starbucks. Everything was soggy.

Our bus from Hanoi to the ferry

Clearly a great day to head out to an island on the coast.

A wet day in Hanoi, but people are still selling things on the street.

Big puddles 

A local fishing boat 

The waves were crashing over the pier because of the storm.

Our ferry to Cat Ba Island 

There were not very many life jackets for the number of people on the ferry. Safety does not seem to be the number one priority in this country.

Hai Phong is a major shipping port for VietNam - so many shipping containers.

We were pleasantly surprised by Cat Ba Island as we had heard mixed reviews. And, despite there being a typhoon, it was not even raining when we arrived, but it was hot. We dropped our stuff off to go check out the board walk and ended up going for a nice cliff walk and getting ice cream.

Our hotel room on Cat Ba - it was about $12 per night 

Our hotel on Cat Ba. Buildings are tall and skinny because land is expensive.

A prayer offering happening on the street 

Yes! It was so hot and we found ice cream. You had to eat it fast though.

A sign explaining the "code of conduct for civilized tourism"

Futbol is the world's sport

There are several main beaches in the tourist area of Cat Ba - this one, but it is small because of the storm.

Cool karst islands and fishing boats everywhere 

Waves crashed up over the wall during the storm

Taking a cliff walk along the sea

Another beach near the tourist area of Cat Ba 

Waves we're crashing up the stairs 

So many restaurants have fish tanks so you can pick out your dinner while it is still swimming.

A dance/aerobics group on the boardwalk 

Delicious veggie dinner 

So, we started out the day in a typhoon Hanoi and soaking wet and ended up the day on a really nice island with the sun poking through the clouds. Success.