Travel Blogging Archives - Page 10 of 40

Paradise caving day

Posted on February 14, 2014February 14, 2014

Today I gave the bike a rest after its 356 mile ride from Hanoi, although for myself I ended ascending 560 feet and walking over 5 miles plus a couple of 100+ metre swims in the caves.

The Phang Na Homestay offers many excursions to the local national park I chose the Farmstay National Park Tour for 1.2 million dong (£34) which included all the transport, entrance fees, lunch, kayaks & several rounds of brandy at the end. The transport is in their own modern minibuses and our guide was the excellent local guy Hung.

About 20 of us started in the rain (of course) through the beautiful karst jungly mountains, past the rice fields still showing some bomb craters (this was one of the most bombed areas) and to The Highway 20 memorial to 8 young people who were trapped in a cave when a bomb sealed it shut. 🙁

We then went on the electric golf buggies (a first for me) to the bottom of the long ramp that you walk up to the cave opening. You then descent down a wooden staircase into The Paradise Cave which is a very apt name. It’s truly awesome, check out the photos & even more amazing to me is how brilliantly illuminated it is with white LED flood lamps. The cave is truly cavernous 🙂 we walked for several km on staging, the ceiling soaring higher than any cathedral. The stalactites and stalagmites have eroded into the most weird shapes some reminding me of the intricate carvings you get in Hindu temples. A spectacular visit followed by an excellent lunch!

We then moved onto the get really wet & muddy part of the day. We stripped off to our cossies, donned lifejackets & helmets then went two at a time in inflatable kayaks down the river for 200 metres (bringing my near drowning experience in The Trisuli to the fore 🙁 ) The cave is totally unlit but with our head torches we navigated through narrow muddy passageways having great fun. After our mud bath we walked back to a lake and swam to the far end (50 metres) then swam back and returned to the kayaks. Which proved very difficult to steer in the current going back up the river.

Hot soup & brandy were then served to warm us all up.

An unbeatable day out with a good mix of fun, adventure & sightseeing. Full marks to Hung for his humour 🙂

The pics are here

Halong Bay Tour

Posted on February 6, 2014May 28, 2019

Whilst in Hanoi I decided to go on a package tour to Halong Bay after all the rave reviews from various folks I’ve met. Plus the shops were closed for Tet (Lunar new year).

The HanoiMoment2 hotel arranged the trip:

Overnight trip on the Aclass Opera Cruise with 01 deluxe cabin @ USD 149.00 per person x 2 = USD 209.00 in total, inclusive round trip transfers by shuttle bus. Please see tour program at:http://www.aclassoperacruise.com/opera/itinerany/heritage-discovery-2-days-1-night-of-aclass-opera-cruise.htm

In fact for whatever reason the price dropped to $199, which still seemed a bit steep given the low cost of everything here, plus I had seen tours advertised for $60. So I set off a bit wary as to what to expect, this was heightened when the guide Peter called for me and we drove to the backpackers hostel to pick up some young kids, who eventually turned up with enormous cases, much to his dismay!

So we eventually set off on the 3½ hour bumpy ride to the coast with a brief stop at the disabled folks workshop . This had the most amazing selection of stone carvings & other craft stuff. hen we arrived, the boat terminal was rammed full with over 4 million visitors a year this is one big attraction.

The boat itself proved to be excellent with a deluxe cabin, excellent shower & big windows, not that you spend any time in it as it is an action packed itinerary.

The scenery is breath takingly beautiful and to be honest the other ships add to the experience, the weather was an ethereal cloudy which just added to the beauty. In the afternoon we fitted in kayaking, climbing one of the peaks & swimming in the bay plus wonderful meals all exquisitely cooked & served followed by an evening of trying to catch squid amidst the floating plastic bags ugh

First thing today at 6am it was straight onto the top deck and into T’ai chi, my first experience and very good it was too. After a hearty breakfast it was of to the spectacular caves which truly live up to their name, the queue up was a bit of a pain but soon forgotten once you are inside it’s vastness. Then back to the boat for a cooking lesson which I skipped as the views & tranquility were truly amazing. After lunch it was back to shore and the long ride back to Hanoi.

A great 30 hours meeting interesting people & seeing spectacular scenery my table of 6 had a couple from New York and a couple from Kent with their lad. The tour operator had put us veggies together and even cooked special meals. So pretty impressive. However, Jenny & Marilyn I can firmly say that one or two days on a boat is enough for me 🙂 so no mega cruises for me , yet 🙂

Thoroughly to be recommended….

Loads of pics here and here apologies to everyone, except them, for the vast number featuring The Kentish folks 🙂

For Emily and her class here is the route we took (clicking on it takes you to Everytrail)

Arrival in Vietnam & first day in Hanoi

Posted on February 4, 2014November 21, 2019

I arrived at the Hanoi Moment2 Hotel just after midnight (5pm UK time) today after leaving Cambridge at 2.20pm on Sunday, so a pretty exhausting day, I didn’t get much sleep even though I had 3 seats on the 787 to myself. China Southern Airways was OK although they do fret about Lithium batteries in your hold baggage, fortunately I only had hand baggage, since I’m only away for a couple of months. 🙂 another interesting thing was that the roads were deserted in Hanoi at that time, they obviously like their sleep here.

The hotel is excellent and I’m finding the Vietnamese exceptionally friendly, although their English understanding is not too hot, but eh tons better than my Vietnamese 🙂

Today’s weather was excellent warm with some sun. Unfortunately, I’ve arrived in their main annual holiday, The New Year. So all the banks and most of the shops are closed. However, I managed to get a few million dong from the cash machine and even better The Hanoi Bicycle Collective was open, although a bit of a trek, especially as I kept getting stuck on peninsulars in the lake, must learn to blow the maps up more on the iPhone.

I chose a vintage Schwinn Woodlands bike for 5,500,000 dong (£163) they assured it me it has all Japanese components & new tyres, chain etc so should be good for the distance, it certainly handled very well on my test ride around the lake. The only change I’m making is to get a set of butterfly handlebars fitted like on my Dawes. alsoI’m a bit sad I forgot to bring my Brookes saddle with me. 🙁

They recommend me to give Ho Chi Minh City a miss (sorry Ian) and he was lauding the virtues of going through Laos (The Red route on my map) with all its very tough hills. It certainly is a lot shorter that way to Singapore. Apparently the Thai elections went well so hopefully the country should have quietened down by the time I get there.

Tomorrow is an R&R day on the bus & boat to Halong Bay. I’m back here again on Thursday so may be starting my bike ride on Friday 🙂 🙂 They say there is WiFi on the boat, I hope so as no mobile shops were open today to get a SIM card & I refuse to pay £6 a megabyte that 3 want!

My little ride today is on Strava. and you should find today’s pictures here

The next adventure

Posted on February 3, 2014February 3, 2014

Tonight I’m at Heathrow awaiting my night flight to Guangzhou and then onto Hanoi a total travelling time of about 24 hours.

Tuesday should find me exploring Hanoi in search of a local SIM card and a bike.

Yep
I’m about to try and bike from Hanoi to Singapore in the 9 weeks I’ve given myself. The direct way is 2000miles but to take in Ho Chi Minh and Angor Wat it’s over 3000 miles. However, with the ongoing unrest in Thailand I might find myself doing a flyover from Cambodia to Malaysia.
Here is an outline of the routes made with Bikemap