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At the Green Mango in Hanoi
Some Bands playing rock'n roll The more I am discovering this country, the more I am curious, the more i'm learning, the more i'm loving it!
We went on a motorbike trekking for 4 days.
Itinerary: Hanoi to Tam Dao, Tam Dao to Mai Chau via Hanoi, Mai Chau to Cuc Phuong and Cuc Phuong back to Hanoi on Tuesday.
The stops: 3
Hours on the road: approximatly 15 hours,
Kilometres approximatly 400km
We left Hanoi on saturday at 9am for our first destination, Tam Dao, 80 km up to the Northeast of Hanoi. Manu and I on a motorbike and Adelaide on the other. and a guy called Nicky, an english lad, who plays with the Roots on a third motorbike.
There was a football game between the local team (Tam Dao team I suppose) and an expat team called The Roots, named after the bar in Hanoi! Yes, I came all the way to Vietnam to see some white expats playing football! 😊
We arrived in Tam Dao around 12. Le temps etait pluvieux et brumeux, ca faisait tellement de bien, pas d'humidite aaaah, pas de sauna naturel, pas de peau qui colle!
Alors pour les info sur Tam
Dao, pls refer to:http://www.activetravelvietnam.com/nationalparks/north_eastern/Tam_Dao_National_Park.html
I think its a better reference than I. From my personal point of view, I think the small town was a breath of fresh air! 😊
So we had lunch, with the other 20 something people (players and fans) and it was time to play, donc on s'est dirigee vers le stade!! alors ils ont eu droit a une premier mi-temps de 35 minutes, et puis ATTENTION, la deuxieme est montee a 60 minutes... l'arbitre n'ayant pas la notion du temps a siffler apres 60 minutes de jeu! ILS SONT FOUS CES VIETS... bon, Les Roots ont gagne! It was time for celebrations 😊
We had dinner at the hotel, and a couple of drinks! it was fun as always.
Then in the morning, on a pris nos affaires et les motos! Direction south, vers Hanoi pour reprendre l'autoroute pour Mai Chau, 135km au Sud Est de Hanoi
Et mich ma3oul a quels paysages de malade on a eu le droit!
je ne savais plus ou regarder! on a fait ce jour la environ 4 a 5h de routes. Biensur avec des petites pauses de 30 min entre autres pour se reposer et
se nourrir! et relaxer le popotin :p
Then from the top of the Cun Mountain, you can admire the superb panorama of Mai Chau. It is surrounded by a green valley and stilt houses. Many minorities, including the Thai ethnic group, live there.
You don't sleep in Mai Chau, but just outside there is this little villages ou les Thai sont installes.
We slept in one of the guesthouses owned by one Thai family. 😊
The houses are quite large, sur 2 etages. the roof is made of palm leaf and the floors from bamboo. The kitchen is located in the center of the house; it was weird yet interesting finding out that the cooking as well as the making of the colorful clothes take place in the kitchen. Each house also has a pond, ou ils elevent des poissons, qu'ils finissent par assaisoner et manger plus tard.
On a eu beaucoup de chance, on devait etre les seules touristes dans le village. Donc pour le coup l'attraction des habitants du village!
Nous somme arrives a Mai Chau vers 18h. We went to visit the family of Manu's friend! he works is Hanoi, but his family lives
in the countryside, and everytime Manu comes to this part of the country he always has diner with them!
And what an experience! first of all pour manger frais tu manges frais! le gars est alle ramener un poulet de chez le voisin, pour que sa femme le tue, le deplume et le transforme en petit plat comestible!
Ensuite, les hommes de la familles avec l'aide d'un filet ont plonge dans leur petit lac pour pecher sur le vif des poissons qui allaient etre roti le meme soir!
Et comme si ca ne suffisait pas, le fils est arrive avec 4 litres d'alcool de riz! Alcool local, assez fort, inodore, incolore, mais alors c'est la dechirure assuree!!!
On a mange, on a bu a la sante de pratiquement TOUT, Khaaan Khaaaan (which means cheers) sur les femmes, les hommes, les relations femmes hommes, la vie, la vie sexuelle, la femme de la maison, l'homme de la maison, le fils du voisin, la poule du voisin, la lune, les dents de la voisine, lol bref toutes les raisons sont bonnes pour boire. Ils ont verse environ 20 ou 25 shots!
In the morning we were quite smashed (as
you can imagine), but not willing to loose one day in this paradise because of some rice alcohol! So petit dejeuner et puis on a ete faire un tour dans le village, ou l'on a marche a travers les interminables rizieres! 😊
White monkeys as we are, on s'est retrouve enfoncer dans la boue, on en est sorti crasseux, plein de boue partout! and ONE free mud massage, ONE!!!
Then it was time to continue our little escapade, so back on the bikes, but this time we were heading west to the national park of Cuc Phuong, 120km.
It is the oldest national Park in Vietnam, home to Asia rarest species.
Here you go: http://www.cucphuongtourism.com/
We unfortunatly arrived there around 7pm, it was already dark! But but but it was still possible to get into the forest and follow a small and not so dangerous trail! And we got to see a wonderful sunset!
We however decided to have diner first, as the electricity goes down at 10pm, and then take the little hike inside the jungle! oouuuh
We met Nev, an english professional bird watcher (yes, he wakes up at 5am to watch the birds). Nev
On the playground
it was raining for hours just before the game so you can image how wet was the grass has more than 3000 different kinds of bird sounds in his ipod. He is from Yorkshire, and he usually travels to watch birds! This is Nev story!
After some rice and vegetables and some beers, we, Nev and our two torches went into the forest! Picture the Blair witch project documentary! I though it was scary at first, but then you just realized that you are in the middle of nowhere with thousands and thousands of different species making weird sounds all around you, and feeling the nature on your skin, aaah how many times do you have the chance to get lost in a Rain Forest (this is how they called Cuc Phuong).
ET le comble, c'est que l'on a dormi au milieu de tout ca!! L'hotel se situe au milieu de la jungle!! 😊 it's like having your private secret "garden".
In the morning the scenery was no different! beautiful and soothing. The sun was shining, we woke up to the sound of the jungle! Another secret creation of the world...
Finally and for the last time this week, sacs sur le dos, casques sur la tete, et hop c'est reparti.
On a quitter Cuc
Phuong a 8h du matin, juste le temps de prendre un cafe et on etait deja sur la route, en direction de Hanoi (120km) or 3 hours and somethings.
I'm at work now! I still have 3 days to go and then on saturday night i'm taking a night bus to Hue! And now the real trip starts 😊
Have a wonderful day Beirut
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carine
non-member comment
im so proud of you! you are living something extraordinary! ruth says hi!