A false start, brought about by waking up to heavy rain and thunderstorms, we delayed our trip by a day and spent an extra day in Hanoi catching up on blogs, research, booking of flights etc.
Finally we strapped our luggage to the Honda XR150 motorbike and hit the road. The first challenge was to get out of Hanoi safely in the crazy traffic – tick. We even got handed a quarter of a pineapple from the window of a truck at one junction – and it was the juiciest pineapple ever!
Next we made our way to the Ba Be national park area. We stopped off the beaten track for lunch and after asking for rice and fish a lady cooked us up a feast of fish, omelette, rice, vegetables and a pumpkin type broth. Wow! After a bit of haggling we agreed on 150,000 dong (about £5) for the banquet so she was super happy. Eventually our surroundings turned to countryside and we began to see paddy fields and farming plus limestone karsts started to become more frequent. We checked into Ba Be Eco-lodge, via an English translator on the telephone, and headed down to town for the best fried rice for just 25,000 dong each (about 65p).
DAY 2
The next morning we had the best and cheapest Banh Mi yet for breakfast (10,000 dong). Then we paid to enter the park and went for a walk in the jungle followed by a boat trip around the lake. We agreed on a hour boat trip, even though the lad tried afterwards to charge us for two hours (even though we’d only been gone an hour an a half including his stop to get more petrol – and fed him biscuits). Gotta love a tryer!
Then we headed to Bao Lac via the twistiest and turniest road ever! We went through the most rural villages with deep valleys and then terraced fields – it was stunning!
We ran out of drinking water and couldn’t find a shop. We found a garage / shop that had some 20L drums of water so asked could we fill our camelback. After some charades the guy was happy for us to fill it but wouldn’t accept any money. How generous when he didn’t look to have a huge amount himself (see the outside of his shop here).
The road was fab but all the twists and turns made it very slow going meaning the last hour and a half was in the dark – Pete got a lot of moths and glow bugs hitting him.
We found a hotel but it had a big party going on. The lady owner assured us it would all be finished by 9pm, or maybe 10pm. And then the dreaded 1000 decibel karaoke kicked off!!!! We headed down the road in search of tea and too be able to hear ourselves think. At 10.30pm it wrapped up (phew!) and we got a good night’s sleep.
DAY 3
Up early we had a bakery breakfast (something that looked like a pizza and something that possibly resembled a burger) and set off. We stumbled across a local market where many of the village (minority) people come together to trade their wares. This saturday it included cattle.
This hmong couple were really happy with their new cow!
We started to see the odd Westerner on a bike and then suddenly at a stunning view of a valley there was about 10 of us!
We used our first aid kit to patch up a guy who had just crashed and then headed to Don Vang for the night via a lunch stop in Meo Vac and the Ma Pi Leng pass. The pass included SE Asia’s deepest valley and the views were amazing but almost too big for the camera lens.
Don Vang was heaving with tourists (the majority were young Vietnamese who were making the most of a four day weekend with two bank holidays to celebrate Reunification). There was also signing on for a mountain marathon plus a pipe and dance festival!
Lucky we found a home stay in a quiet part of town with a lovely view and the sound of frogs and geese as we went to sleep.
DAY 4
The next morning was a different matter – it was market day and everyone had come to town to buy or sell.
And even though it was 9am on a Sunday morning, people were tasting and drinking rice wine like it was a Friday night!
There was also a pipe and dance competition and also tug of war taking place. What a happening town!
We dragged ourselves away to get on the road to the most Northern point of Vietnam, Lung Cu. Many Vietnamese make the trip to this huge flagpole like a pilgrimage, all wearing their red t-shirts also sporting the Vietnam flag. I guess this pilgrimage was especially popular over this specific holiday.
After heavy rain overnight the dirt road sections were pretty treacherous and we came across a tractor trying to pull a bus out of the mud. There was a huge traffic jam in both directions. A good time to be on a bike with off road tyres.
We made it!!!!
And there is China. …
We made our way back along the 25km to find the bus rescued, the road graded and the traffic jam gone. Brilliant!
We stopped for a random noodles at the roadside for lunch and then went to visit an old Hmong Palace (a gift by the French).
This was followed by a road full of hairpin bends on the way to the homestay we stumbled upon in Yen Minh.
After sharing a family dinner and some rice wine with our hosts, we took an early night.
DAY 5
The challenge today was to make it past Hai Giang and as far towards Ninh Binh as possible to split the long ride over two days.
Our homestay gave us breakfast and said good bye. The first road to Tam Son was twisty and up and down. We stopped to check on one Westerner who crashed on gravel on the outside of a hairpin bend but he insisted he was ok. He was lucky that there was armco at that part to stop him and his bike going over the side of the mountain!
After a quick drink stop, and chat to some Americans who were just setting off; we pushed on. At 6pm we reached the town of Tuyen Quang and found an hotel off the main road for the night.
For tea we we were invited to join a group of locals that were celebrating their school being open for 20 years (gymnastics we think). Google Translate, our photographs and a lot of rice wine helped the conversation flow while we tried to work out what part of an an animal we were being given to eat!
A fun night and and our hosts wouldn’t let us pay anything towards the hot pot meal or drinks. How sweet!
DAY 6
So rather than return to Hanoi on our Northern loop, we have decided to keep the bike for a few more days and go to Ninh Binh (about 3 hours south of Hanoi). Google maps reckoned another 4.5 hours of riding. To save time we had a crisp Banh Mi on the way.
The scenery wasn’t so dramatic now we were out of the mountains and the roads were busy as everyone went back home after the holidays. I think we may have lost a few of our 9 lives but Pete did well to keep us safe.
And then suddenly the limestone karsts started to appear once more.
And as we pulled into Ninh Binh the sky was preparing for a great sunset and our accommodation looked quiet (with a soft bed – something we haven’t seen in a while) – what a great end to the day!
And this happened later – perfect!
