Our Big Explore: Nice Northern Nam

Wednesday 23^rd Oct.

We slept in, today was a resting day to collect new energy. We visited the beach and worked on our blog, at a beach bar, most day and afternoon. At sunset we walked back to town to have dinner, had a good solid burger at the town's most popular place, "The Good Bar". We arranged a half day of rock climbing the following day, considering our budget, it was quiet expensive, but we had to try it. We heard that this would be the perfect spot for beginners, and that Asia Outdoors staff was well educated, and had international guides, so we would be safe. We learned, through our food poison in China, that it’s never a good idea to pay tours in advance, so we only booked the climbing, with an agreement that we would pay the next morning.

At night, "Rose bar" were offering the first drink for free, so we went there, and had a few games of pool, before we headed home in our comfortable hostel beds.

A so called "working day"

One of the 3 beaches in Cat Ba Town

Thursday 24^th Oct.

Breakfast was yoghurt from a supermarked, very synthetic, but better than nothing. We left Asia Outdoor on motorbike taxis to a near by harbour, together with two staff members, a girl from the Netherlands & a guy (Danny) from everywhere, as he told us when we asked. He had been traveling for the last 18 years. Both were really friendly, and down to earth. We got in a speed boat, that should take us to a bigger boat, out in the bay, and there we should enjoy lunch, with a bunch of other people. We had time to jump of the boat and swim first. Erik dared me to jump from the roof, which was 3 m. I know it isn’t high, but for my fear of heights it was really challenging. I faced my fear for the first time that day, and jumped several times. And I survived.. Yeah.

Lunch was fantastic, and one of the best we have had so far. We got transported into Tiger beach where the climbing would take place. We were 5 climbers (us, 2 german girls and Sarah from Paris).

Our guides were Danny, and a viet guy (Woo). Woo was a crazy climber, unbelievable flexiable and could climb vertical, just like spiders would do it. We were fascinated of how fast he climbed up, and made the robe safe, and before we blinked he was done (of cause he did it without security) .

I was trying to avoid to be the first climber, but I already took the harness on to be ready, so I was the first anyway. Facing my fears for the second time that day, I felt the adrenalin pumping in all my veines, my body was shaking, and I was scared. After a few meters I wanted to try the safety, before I got higher up, so I leaned back, and hang in the harness, this made me feel safe, so I finished my climb, where I almost reached the top. I was so proud of myself, and loved the feeling of the adrenalin pumping.

Erik was like a monkey climbing, not compared to Woo, but he was really fast and very quickly found his grip and moved smoothly. Actually Danny & Woo didn’t believe, that it was his first time climbing ever. We both enjoyed it a lot, Erik climbed 5 different climbs, while I did 4 of them.

It’s really tough work, and takes a lot of effort to get to the top. You use every little muscle in your body, it was absolutely hard exercise. In the afternoon we were exhausted, also because of all the adrenalin, pumping through our bodies all the time. It was such a cool and interesting experience, and we definitely want to try that again another place. Concerning the money - it was all worth it.

We had dinner, together with Sarah, at Mr. Zoom’s - a local restaurant just a block away, from all the expensive tourists traps on the main street.

The climbing area

My own little monkey!

Some of our climbing videos

Friday 25^th Oct.

Got up at 5am to watch the sunrise from a cannon fort, only 2 km away, we put on our jogging clothes and ran/walked up there. It was basically uphill all the way, so after 2 month of almost no exercise, it was a hard beginning.

We got there just in time to see the sunrise, the fort wasn’t anything special, except for the excellent view over the sea and limestones. For some reason it’s much easier to run downhill, so we ran back to the hostel, without having our breath taken away.

The day before, we found a great hotel closer to town, with seaview, and it was even cheaper than the hostel, so we wanted to have our own room, instead of sharing with 6 other people. After checking in at the hotel, we both passed out in our bed and slept till noon.

Slipped out for a swim on the beach in the afternoon, and when we got back to the hotel, the most strange thing happened.

We recognized a couple (Diana & Marco, Italy) that we met back in Beijing (on the great wall tour), they were together with a guy (Lluis) that I talked to in a bank in Sapa (north Vietnam). They just checked in at the same hotel. We didn’t believe our eyes, and they looked just as shocked as we felt. Such a weird coincidence. The world seemed so small at that point. Sarah from the day before, was with them as well, so we all arranged to go out for dinner together.

We arranged to go on a boat trip, combined with kayaking, caves and swimming, next day.

Late at night when we were sipping drinks, at Oasis Bar all of sudden the power was cut off, I was in the ladies room at that time, so I had a hard time finding my way back. There was literally no light in the whole town. It seemed like it was normal, because the waiters didn’t panic or anything. We finished out drinks and found our way home, with help from the light in Eriks watch. At this place we met a very interesting older guy from New Zealand, that actually invited us to join him in the jungle in Fiji, where his family has a big plantage, that we can work on… It’s early next year, and it’s only gonna be him (maybe us) and the jungle, no power, no toilet and what you kill is what you eat. So we’re considering the offer.

Sunrise at the Cannon Fort

When Erik does a pushup, he's not pushing himself up, he's pushing the Earth down!

Saturday 26^th Oct.

Got on the boat around 8.30am. A really old wooden boat, that probably wouldn’t be legal to sail in Denmark, everything was falling apart.

We had a 2 hour boattrip, through Lan Ha Bay and Halong Bay (a World Heritage site since 1994), these two areas consists, of more than 2000 islands rising above the water, often compared to Guilin in China (that we also experienced). It’s spectacular because of its many caves, only accessible by kayak/canoe, and very small idyllic sandy beaches.

Very early on the trip, everyone found out who Joey was. A very loud speaking, and self-centred Italian guy, that loved hearing himself. We quickly got annoyed of hearing his voice all the time, and almost forgot to enjoy the beautiful trip.

The first stop, was at a little kayak shop on the water, where we all got our kayaks, and paddled around the bay and caves. It was very peaceful and quite, and luckily we couldn’t hear Joeys voice, only the splashing from our own paddles.

We found a great spot to park the kayak and jump into the water. Back on the boat we were waiting for lunch to be served, when we started chatting with 3 Australians (Jack, Sarah & Alice), who happened to like beers, and drink a lot of them. Jack actually didn’t drink them, he only shoot them. This became the start of a pretty messy day, incl. swimming, shooting beers, cave visit and going out at night (the video will tell the rest).

The kayak shop in the middle of nowhere

Sailing through the cave

Another stunning view

Our crazy boattrip friends

Nam warriors (with small brain injuries), and ready to party.

A video from the boattrip

Sunday 27^th Oct.

We were suppose to leave to Hanoi, but after a big night out, we couldn’t get out of bed, to make it in time to the bus. We didn’t bother, since we had enough time, the only thing that we cared about, was to leave Vietnam before our visa expired. We still had 5 days left. We were lazy and hangovered, and had a day of 100% relaxation. In the hotel reception, we found a little “goodbye” note from Sarah that left the day before, she wrote that we would always be welcome at her place in Paris. Every traveler we meet is, with almost no exception, unbelievable friendly, open minded and easy going. That’s what makes it all worth it.

Dangerous hangovers!!

Erik is not satisfied with my choice of beach towels..

Monday 28^th Oct.

We got picked up from our hotel at 8am, we had to take a bus-boat-bus trip to get to Hanoi. And this was this first time, in Vietnam, that we experienced the timetable and the waiting time, was what we were told. Everything was perfect on this trip, finally we have had a great experience with transportation.

We booked a night on a hostel in the Old Quarter, in Hanoi. This is the most popular area in the city, and we quickly understood why. It’s surprising how good the athosmophire is here, and you can find everything in the small narrow and hidden lanes, from cool and classy decoration and jewellery stores, to water puppy theatre, silk shops and Buddhist altars and statues. A truly impressing area, and it’s booming of life, scooters, tuk-tuks, tourists and lots of food stalls.

We saw the Hoa Lo Prison Museum (we got in as students, using our Danish driver licenses – we’re trying every day to scam the viets, like they scam us, so when it succeeds, we can live on it for several days). It intended to house around 450 inmates, during the french war, but records indicate that there were close to 2000 inmates. So Hoa Lo was never a successful prison, and hundreds of people escaped from there.

During the American War, U.S. prisoners were treated almost like kings, which is why they nicknamed it Hanoi Hilton. Exciting out break from the citys pumping traffic.

We found a great place with western food (thanks to Lonely Planet), and had a big and solid burger/pizza there, while we were researching on the laptop and through books. Hanoi is a really nice city, and we actually wanted to stay longer, but regarding our visa, we weren’t able to stay. Too sad, particularly when we ran into Jack, Sarah, Alice and a bunch of other people, that already were having a party. Unfortunately we couldn’t join them, cause we had to leave early next morning. One thing is for sure, you don’t wanna have hangovers, when you’re travelling in busses.

Hoa Lo prison cell, notice the social toilets up the stairs.

Prison hall

Newly made walls in the prison yard.

Hanoi Traffic Video

So the next morning our 3 days of nightmare began. We took a sleeping bus to Vinh, arrived 8pm and stayed there one night. Next morning, a sleeping bus from Vinh to Phonsavan, in Laos. One night in Phonsavan, and then a minibus to Luang Prabang. Oh my god, if I had known it would be such a nightmare, I would have taken a flight and payed triple the price.

First of all, I don’t like the sleeping busses (specially not in the middle of the day), but there is no other choice, I assume every viet prefer sleeping busses, also during the day. I got sick and tired of not being able, to either sit up or lay down properly.

Second of all, I hate how they yell when they speak to each other, how dirty they, are and how rude and curious they can be.

On the sleeping bus to Phonsavan, we had a break where everybody, except for us, had free lunch included. We payed double price for our tickets, because there’s always a local price (which is like half the price we pay), and a tourist price, and I’m pretty sure, that we definitely payed for that lunch as well, but the bus lady was yelling at us, and told us we should pay for the food, it was so humiliating that she treated us like that.

We got pissed off, specially Erik, but no way we were gonna pay for the food twice. We ended up leaving the restaurant, and ate some of our crackers (rigtige Marie kiks) for lunch. I can’t believe how bad they treat tourists, it’s shocking.

When all the others were done eating, two different girls from the bus came to us, the one offered us her bread, and the other was telling us, that the bus lady was loco in the coco. So that confirmed us, that we DID pay for the food, but the bus lady wanted to rip us off - Again.. Aarggh!

It’s really frustrating, that you always have to be alert, of not getting scammed or ripped off, it takes so much energy. That bustrip really made me re-consider, if it was worth the effort. Damn those monkey people can piss me off.

The trip from Phonsavan was very bumpy with sharp curves, and it was impossible to have a rest or just sit normally, we got thrown in all directions, because the road system is in very bad conditions. One older Lao guy in the bus, was throwing up half of the trip.

Well, finally we reached Luang Prabang, and was thrilled that the journey was over. It took us 27h. and 40 min. to travel 896 km!

But we weren’t totally done with our problems, we found a tuk-tuk that brought us to our hostel, that we booked in advance, we got dropped off near the hostel and walked around in circles for almost an hour, we asked a lot of people for directions, but every time we got different informations. When we finally found the hostel, it was closed, and the signs had been removed, no wonder it’s hard to find it then… Meanwhile walking frustrated around, me and Erik were getting in a lot of big arguments, so when we realized that the hostel, which we already paid for, were closed, and the people there just laughed at us, that’s when we got really angry.. They said some name that we didn’t understand, this should be a temporary guesthouse, so we told them to walk us there, but again they just laughed at us. I was freaking out, but eventually we walked away from there, without even knowing the real name of the guesthouse, we found a tuk-tuk again and tried to pronounce the name for him. He drove us around the city for 40-45 min. (for 15000Kip = 12kr), and yet we didn’t find the place. We got tired of it, and he dropped us off a random place in the town, we asked at a restaurant if they could call the hostel, and ask for their temporary guesthouse. Then we finally had some luck, and the place was just around the corner, the manager apologized for the inconvenience, it turned out that the people that had laughed at us, wasn't his staff, but the new owners of the building. Anyway he showed us to our room, it was massive, with big wooden furnishings, and the decoration was charming, inviting and worth the effort, concerning the money it was only 49kr (danish kroner).

We couldn’t believe that it was so cheap, and wanted to book more nights there immediately, but sadly they were fully booked already.

Shortly after we discovered, that the room we got, was normally around 1100 kr per night. But we were really lucky, to only pay the amount we already payed through the internet. We wanted to enjoy our luxury room, so we only had dinner out, and then used the rest of the night in the room. We were unbelievable lucky, and lived as kings and queens for a night. Amazing!