The Hospital Cave on Cat Ba is a special story. This 3-story hospital was built between 1963 and 1965 with the help from the Chinese in the cave. After 1965, it was used for ten years until 1975 (the end of the Vietnam War). The cave is well hidden from view; therefore, even if you climb the mountain, it is still difficult to see a cave here. You can visit the Hospital Cave today with an interesting guided tour.
Information about the Hospital Cave on Cat Ba
You first buy a ticket at the entrance downstairs. It costs 40,000 dong (€1.60) to visit the Hospital Cave. This includes a guide. The hospital is built in three stories. On the second floor, which is made of concrete, you walk in through a small door. Because of the eerie and gloomy atmosphere inside, the guide must turn on the lights. As you continue down the corridor, the guide explains what each empty room in this hospital was used for. There are 14 rooms on the second floor. Most were used for operating rooms, rooms for wounded soldiers and doctors’ offices.
You can also see the laundry room, kitchen and toilet here. It is very bizarre to think that for 10 years people lived here and recovered from their injuries. After touring the second floor, you walk up the stairs to the second floor of the Hospital Cave. This is a huge space that was used to train and exercise the wounded people to help with recovery. The third floor is no longer passable due to security reasons but here were the secret meeting rooms for the leaders who used the cave as a hideout.
It was really smart of the Vietnamese to open the hospital in the Cat Ba cave. The enemy never realized there was a hospital here and it has not been bombed once in 10 years. The tour of the Hospital Cave is interesting and special to imagine what things were like in Vietnam back then. After about 30 minutes you are back downstairs with a lot of information in your head. Time to explore the other activities of Cat Ba.
