Ha Giang Loop

The sleeper bus was a fun way to travel.  Most of us managed to sleep for a few hours and at 2.30am we are woken and tumble out into the hostel in Ha Giang.  We are allocated rooms and fall asleep until 7am.


A good breakfast to start the day and then we meet our drivers.  We are also given a helmet and safety pads for our knees and elbows.  It’s a bit misty when we start so we are decked out in plastic pants, boots and ponchos.

There are a couple of groups and once we all kitted out we head off in a flurry.  James tells me that Emma’s driver left with the first group!  Luckily we do stop after 45 mins and we are able to have her and her driver join our group. 

The views are spectacular and we stop often to take pictures.


The roads are winding and steep.  We are very close to the Chinese border and are invited to roam on the Chinese network. 


But no matter how high we go there are colourful women working the land, old and young often with babies.  Every spare piece of land is cropped.


We visit a silver making centre where local villagers make rings from old Indochina silver coins.  Holly buys a ring and we continue on to our final stop in Dong Van where we enjoy dinner with happy water and Holly and James stay out with some of the other tour members.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Good Morning Vietnam

Image
 It’s hot and humid when we land.  An hour in the queue at customs then a quick ride to the apartment.  We spend 20 mins trying to get the keycard to work and resort to having to WhatsApp the manger. Ah there is a 4 digit code we need to use! We head to the streets to explore, passing Notre Dame (under scaffold..)  and the Presidential palace.  It’s 50 years since Liberation Day (30 April) and they are already set up for functions in front of the palace and lining the street leading up to it with stands. Lunch stop for the first Bahn mi and beer of the trip. Delicious and only $6NZD James made friends with a coconut seller and got to carry his basket and then the inevitable shakedown for some cash.  We bartered him down from his outrageous first offer of $10NZD..   The War Remnants Museum was interesting.  Loads of American hardware and some grim pictures.  All told from the Vietnamese viewpoint and quite a contrasting perspective from the we...
Read more

Loop Day 2

Image
We set off at 8 this morning looking out a misty mountain range.  The views are stunning and seeing them from the back of a bike is something special. Our drivers are so attentive, making sure we are well looked after on the ride, serving us our meals and ensuring we are having a good time.  Most don’t speak much English but they are very kind. We stop wvery hour which is welcome as we are all feeling a little saddle sore.  It’s getting harder to throw our leg over the bike as we mount and dismount. Emma is the most comfortable of all and looks positively laid back when travelling! This afternoon we stop at a swimming hole.  We are transported by bamboo boat to the mouth of a cave where we can swim out of the sun and jump of rocks.  It’s a lot of fun and welcome after being hot, sweaty and gritty on the back of the bikes. We are staying in home stay  tonight. It’s by a river and out the back are paddy fields.  We love it.  It’s party night tonight...
Read more

French Quarter

Image
Our first stop is to the Note Cafe where Izzy left a message for Holly when she was here in December.  It’s a riot of sticky notes over four floors so we enjoy a salt coffee and smoothies and leave several notes of our own.  We then make our way through the French Quarter past St Joseph’s Cathedral which is packed as today is Easter Sunday. Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton) is a grim visit. Over half the space is dedicated to details of the French who built the prison and incarcerated Vietnamese revolutionaries.  It details their poor treatment, poor rations, lack of space, corporal and capital punishment. The remainder talks of the American War and the prison was used to hold the pilots who were shot down whilst bombing Hanoi.  The exhibits say how the Americans were pleasantly surprised by their treatment here and show them playing volleyball, celebrating Christmas and receiving medical treatment.  From here we walk through the remainder of the Quarter to the old O...
Read more