Blogs from Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 18

22 mei 2012 Vroeg opgestaan om nog wat dingen te regelen voordat ik begon aan het motor avontuur. Vietnamese Simkaart en helm waren snel geregeld. Toen nog even een powernap voordat ik op de motor sprong! Het avontuur begon! Eerste uitdaging Hanoi doorkomen in dat gekke verkeer daar! Het ging verbazingwekkend goed, al snel reed ik als een echte Vietnamees! (Weet niet of dat zo goed is maar je komt in ieder geval het kruispunt over) Toen herkende ik het punt waar ik de motor had gekocht, dus nog even langs gereden om de stationer wat hoger te zetten. Kreeg meteen lunch aangeboden! Top gratis lunch haha. Na 1 keer flink verkeerd te zijn gereden aangekomen in Yai Bai. Hotel gevonden om de nacht te blijven. Ik had ongeveer 250km die dag gereden. Volgens mij zien ... read more

Thursday May 21,2012 Breakfast of bacon and egg croissant at local bakery. Then walked around town and down steep road towards Cat Cat village but didnt fancy the hike through slippery, muddy fields and paying the entrance fees. Mist rose as we had coffe overlookig the valley. Pumpkin soup for lunch. Natures View restaurant on Cat Cat Rd , great food, service and views. Sring rolls, Grilled chicken in honey sauce, sauted vgetables and tiger Beer. Misty and overcast. Friday June 1, 2012 Woke at 5am and mist cleared enough to see Mt Fanzipan but by 7am it was cloudy again. Walked to lake followed by persistant Red Dao girl. Walked around streets watching police confiscate any motorbikes which were parked on the road. Had sickly sweet Vietnamese coffe with condensed milk. Walked up the hill ... read more

A night train in Vietnam is like anything else in Vietnam: crazy. People rushing, pushing, falling, and screaming to get to a train that could very well possibly leave without them. There are no platform numbers, few train "staff" (even fewer who speak English), and the police in green uniforms hardly offer comfort with their austere, unsmiling faces. I was saved by an equally-overwhelmed British couple and we all safely got out to the train...but didn't know which one was ours. Which mass of people do I follow? That mass of Vietnamese or that one? A girl who sat next to me in the waiting room, who also gave me a pitying face when I hoisted my now-too large bag on my back, came back for me and beckoned me to follow her. Once in my ... read more

We left it a bit late getting train tickets to Sapa, so we had to settle for a sleeper bus. What an experience that was – the sleeping arrangements would be reasonably comfortable if you are built like the average Vietnamese person. For an Aussie bloke who is 180cm tall I am about 20cm longer than then bed was designed to accommodate. As a result I spent the following 12 hours hoping my knees would still work when we arrived. We travelled to Sapa with our friends Chung and John. Lucky they are both the perfect size for the sleeping bus bunks. When I took a look at them in their bunks they looked very comfortable compared to me. Dancing with the Hmong women On arrival in Sapa a group of Hmong women met our bus ... read more

We organised our four night/ three day tour to Sapa from home and are delighted to learn that we are traveling with just one other couple, Anna and Drew from the UK. We'll be a very intimate group for the next few days. On the train however, Hannah and I bunked down with a Vietnamese couple for the duration of our overnighter from Hanoi to Lao Cai. I've included a map of the region, so you can see that Lao Cai is on the border of China and Sapa is another 30 or 40 km up a windy, very misty and mountainous road. Sapa has an altitude of about 1600 m and I was very surprised on the drive up to have my water bottle top pop like a champagne cork when I went to open ... read more