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Published: November 19th 2009
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Sapa
View from our window. After a lousy night on a 'sleeper' bus to the China/Vietnam border (although they did let us stay on the bus till border opening time) we were pretty much front of the queue to cross the bridge to Lao Cai in Vietnam.
Apparently still a bit politically unstable since the 17 day invasion by China in 1979, all seemed peaceful with people literally sprinting between the two countries without a worry in the world other than would they sell their wares on the other side. All queue orderly to get in.
Note to anyone who doesn't queue in an orderly fashion to get into Vietnam - in the last 53 years Vietnam have warred with France, Laos, Cambodia, USA and China about their country and its boundaries ... and beaten up on them all!
Talking of beating up, the minibus conductors in Lao Cai quite literally manhandle their 'clients' onto the bus in order to get it filled up quickly. Ours still took 1.5 hours to do this and by the time we left also had a cargo of tiles, tv's and various ironmongery - mercifully though, no pigs or chickens.
The bus journey took us into
beautiful rain forest covered mountains. By the time we reached our 5th floor room (no lift, heavy backpacks) the past 24 hours were forgotten as we opened our window to look out on a sun filled river valley built into glistening rice-terraces with Vietnam's highest peak in the background.
Sapa should be wonderfully tranquil, however the offers of transport and souvenirs is incessant. The Hmong ladies rather direct "you buy from me" approach must be met with a no or you get a chaperon, or several, for any amount of time. One couple we met suggested to an old lady that they would look later. 3.5 hours later she was still in tow not wanting to miss her sale, but it is only because they are industrious here as the woman collecting plastic bottles for recycling proved.
Sapa was our first venture out on a motorbike. It took us to a couple of lovely waterfalls, one of which Paul went skinny dipping in but Nicola bottled out after testing the water temperature. We also managed to run a (tourist only) toll road as the bloke didn't get out of his seat fast enough saving us 40,000 dong. We
The school bus
"Photo one dollar" also met a 6 year old girl 'driving' a buffalo down the road. As soon as she saw our camera she shouted "photo one dollar". As we opened the throttle and sped off we thought our second monetary saving of the day may come back to haunt us in some form of karma.
Having been to Hanoi before, we decided to head straight through to Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay. A mini-bus, train, taxi, bus, another mini-bus, boat and one more bus got us to Cat Ba town 19 hours later. It's only 250 miles!
Cat Ba town has 3 beaches imaginatively called 1, 2 and 3 but running in the order 2, 1, 3 from North to South. All are a little overpowered by the surrounding hotels and restaurants but have lovely sand and warm seas. By the time the first night set in it was clear that the power cut affecting the whole town was going to be a long one (it ended up lasting 30 hours) and our hotel wasn't putting on the generator. We got matches a candle and a cold shower.
The following 2 days were the real reason for going
Making a living
At least they are light! to Cat Ba. 5 of us took a small boat out into the bay. Incredible Karst formations in the sea ... thousands of them. Think 007, The Man with the Golden Gun, limestone pinnacles up to 100m high every way you look. Kayaks off the back of the boat meant at low tides we could access lagoons within these formations via caves and tunnels. We were now starting to think more along the lines of 'The Beach' than James Bond.
Dinner was selected by us at a floating fish farm in the bay. "Crab tonight please."
"Certainly Sir, this one?"
"Perfect, throw it in pot."
Can't get fresher than that!
Next is Ninh Binh, a hell hole of a town, but our gateway to Cuc Phuong National Park. Another motorbike rental gets us to the park, but is nearly out of petrol by the time we reach our accommodation. But being SE Asia we were allowed to fill an empty water bottle at the local petrol station on our trek back to the park.
As we enter the park a multitude of butterflies erupt from the road. Butterflies and other insects are the major wildlife on view
Kayaking
In the lagoon hidden from the rest of the world. for the next 48 hours. Grasshoppers and spiders are our companions for our first 13km trek and Nicola is beginning to doubt the fun in spending 2 nights here. As we return from dinner these doubts are fully justified as we encounter the biggest spider either of us has ever seen - even those behind glass in any zoo we have been to. Sooo big, neither of us is going back with the camera, we just dive under our mosquito nets and lay awake for the night listening for the encroaching bugs.
Next day we trekked 7 hours deeper into the jungle to visit a local Huong village. More bugs. Paul is well impressed to spot a stick insect on the forest floor, but feels a little deflated when our guide says "and here's another", as if to imply, how is it that you didn't see any before now? After 7 hours and 16km thrashing through spiders webs, leeches and overgrown paths we come into a clearing and spot the village only to see a major highway running alongside it. Gutted.
Power-cut number 2 in Vietnam means we eat a good meal by candlelight with our local family,
Dinner
Catching crabs. whilst drinking rice wine. Lots of 42% rice wine. Random photos found on the camera the following morning are testament to just how much rice wine!
Back to Ninh Binh to catch our overnight bus to Vientiane in Laos. The border guards Cau Treo fleece us for a bribe, amidst various curses from the westerners, before giving us a passport stamp that will allow us to leave the country. At least in Nam Phao in Laos it is government sponsored bribery - they advertise the price of the stamp and even the extra cost of doing this at the weekend! It kind of tarnishes a spectacular border crossing. Valleys hanging with mist so that it looks like trees are growing out of the clouds above you.
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Kan Kan
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Spiders....
You are not selling this bit of the trip to me! Although I held a whopper spider last year I would still die if one was outside my bed. The kayaking on the otherhand looks wonderful x I am pondering how to make a nativity costume for the girls so my life is slightly different to yours at the moment. Paul and the girls say 'hi'.