The best way to experience this travel blog is to use the menu on the right, and under the Blog Archive, find the oldest entry under December 2024 called: We Ride Vietnam (and Laos)
Click on that, then you can read and progress forward in chronological order!
Thanks
Chris
Monday, 11/18/2024
Notwithstanding the horrible travel home and the crappy welcoming I got from the cats when I arrived, the trip was an amazing experience.
The motorcycle riding was fantastic, even with the sometimes forced pace we had to keep, and the places we stayed were always decent, and some were wonderful.
The people were always amazing; smiling, kind, and helpful. The food was good, though I did tire some of the repetitive nature of the meals.
I would highly recommend a visit to Vietnam to anyone, and Laos is also amazing. Both countries have several options for tours and with a little effort, both could be travelled on your own without much trouble.
The scenery was fantastic, lots of natural wonders to see, and quite a bit of history from various centuries to be had in many places. And I did not even get to the south part of the country, so still so much more to see.
At no point did I feel unsafe or unwelcome, and while some people were maybe indifferent to my presence, most were happy to talk and some were outright excited to talk to and assist me.
While a few might have done so in hopes of a tip or something, many seemed willing to be of assistance for nothing other than the kindness they wanted to show others.
I look forward to going back someday as plenty of stuff I did not get to see, or did not have time to check out as thoroughly as I would have liked.
Some number from the trip to put it into perspective.
Flights = 16,671 miles (26,829 km)
Motorbike Riding = 1845 miles (2969 km)
Cars/Busses = 489 miles (787 km)
Boats = 74 miles (119 km)
Trains = 493 miles (793 km)
Walking = 130 miles (209 km)
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| Green (Motorbikes), Yellow (Cars/Bus), Orange (Train), Blue (Boat), Red (Plane) |
I hope you enjoyed coming along on the trip with me and appreciate some of the photos that accompany this written account.
I will have a video for each day available on my YouTube channel when I can make myself sit down and edit it together. (I am about 2.5 years behind on editing - Yikes!)
Until then I hope you have the opportunity to get out and explore some of this world yourself! 😀
Chris
Sunday, 11/17/2024
Alarm was blaring at 6:00am, time to get up. Showered, but then sat around for a bit in the fan to totally dry off before getting fully dressed.
Last night before I went to bed I decided to risk washing my socks in the sink. They were mostly dry, but still damp, so I spent 15 minutes with the hair dryer and got them dry enough to wear.
I took my morning meds and then packed up everything into its proper place in the bags. Yes, I am that organized. I then completed getting dressed.
Once everything was packed, I went over the room to make sure I had everything, then took the bags downstairs at 7:00am. I set them aside and had breakfast there in the lobby and then checked out of the room. I sat down to wait for my 8:00am pickup to the airport.
I later walked outside for a bit to get some fresh air; it is usually cooler in the mornings and feels good.
I then went inside, pulled out all the 5000 Dong or less bills I had left, and dropped them into the tip jar at the front desk. It was not much, but the guys had been helpful, and was not worth exchanging or keeping those small bills.
I had 40,000 Dong left, which would be a good tip for the cab driver who would have to wrangle my bags in and out of the trunk and hopefully would get me there on time as well.
I had no need to buy anything at the airport and if I did, I can use the credit card there.
My driver arrived 10 minutes early, always a good thing on airport trips.
I stepped outside with the bags to wait as he walked over to get the car as he had parked down the street to avoid blocking the street in front of the hotel.
He pulled up, loaded my bags in the trunk, then I got in and we left.
We did a U-turn at the next corner and headed back to the main highway that ran nearby. This road gets you out of the old quarter and onto the main road along the river before reaching the freeway, which will take you north toward the airport on the edge of the city.
Traffic was heavy, so a bit slow going at first, but made good time still. The freeway was very open and we zoomed up to the airport in no time.
We arrived at the terminal in about 30 minutes. I got out of the car, got the bags out, tipped the driver, and then went inside.
I had to roam around a bit to find the check in counter for the airline I was flying. Starlux, a Taiwanese airline, only had a small section of counters compared to some of the others.
Once I found the check in counter, they only had a single line for non-first-class passengers and it was full and already spilling out into the main walk way.
After standing for a few minutes I then noticed that there was no one working the counter! That explains why it was so long and not moving, so must be the first flight out for them today.
Finally, after about 15 minutes, the staff started to show up and got ready to start checking people in.
Once they started the line moved forward at a slow but steady pace. I actually got called over to the first-class line as he was not busy as I reached the front of the line.
He verified my online check in, checked my bag, and printed my boarding passes for all the flights to get home. It took about 30 minutes to get checked in from when they started working.
I then went to find a restroom before going through security. I also looked for a recycle bin for my now empty water bottle which found it near the restroom as well.
I checked the flight board to see what departure hall I needed to use, and went to that hallway and got in line at the ID/Boarding pass checkpoint.
Quickly got through that and into line for Immigration to exit the country.
This moved a bit slower and took about 25 minutes.
Then you walk into the security checkpoint lines. This was a very short line as they had a huge number of stations working, so was through security in about 5 minutes. If only US airports could figure that simple solution out!
I stopped outside security to put my shoes back on, and retrieve the things from my carry on that I had put in while going through security. I then walked over to my gate which was currently empty of people.
I found a seat, sorted out a few more things to get ready for getting on the plane, and then read my book for a while. I then did some research online, and wrote up the journal for the morning’s activities.
I spent the final hour reading, playing online, and a last run to the restroom just before boarding would start.
They actually started boarding early (very shocking) and my group was the first economy class called.
Got into the line, checked through into the jetway and onto the plane where I quickly found my seat, a window seat on this flight as I had not been able to choose my seat.
The plane was boarding at a decent pace, but it was also a full flight, so still took some time to get done.
We took off on time though, and shortly after reaching our cruising altitude they started the meal service as it was now close to lunch time. I then took a short nap.
I got up to use the restroom and then spent some time staring out the window as we flew past the edge of Hong Kong. We had moved south over Hong Kong instead of staying over mainland China which would have been a more direct route, and were now flying over water instead.
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| Hanoi to Taipei route. |
While looking out the window I did notice a huge field of windmills located in the water a few miles off the shore of Hong Kong. Did not know they were building them that far offshore!
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| Windmill farm a few miles out to sea off Hong Kong. |
The clouds moved in shortly before we approached for the landing in Taipei, Taiwan. As we were landing a light rain started up as well.
There were no empty gates, so we had to stop at a remote spot and take shuttles into the main terminal, which always slows down the deplaning process.
Thankfully I have a 5 hour layover here, so not in any rush this time.
Of course, right as we are getting off the plane to walk to the shuttles, the rain just dumps down with high winds blowing it all over as well.
Once at the terminal building, I had to walk through some long hallways to reach the main terminal building. The information board there said my next Starlux flight should be checking in at transfer counter A, which the map indicated was on the other side of the terminal.
The hallways just past here had signs for counter B, but no sign for where to go for counter A, and all the transfer signs were pointing toward B.
I eventually looked up the hall going in the other direction, which would be where counter A should be, and saw transfer signs there as well, but still no mention of counter A.
I took that route anyway as it made logical sense based on the map, and eventually found counter A, where the guy told me I needed to go to counter D instead. My flight is at a D gate, so does make sense, so strange that the board would list A as the place to go.
I went down the hall in the direction of D, but that is in the next terminal over, so had to board a short tram that would take us over there.
I did recall the check in agent in Hanoi telling me something about a tram, but I did not quite catch what he said, so must have been trying to explain what I was experiencing.
The ride over was short, just bit over a minute.
I then followed signs to counter D, which just pointed down a hallway to an All-Gates counter, and this was just a door into a security checkpoint.
I still do not understood this recent thing I have seen in many airports of having to go through security again when moving between flights? Is there some weakness in airport security now that puts things at risk moving from plane to plane in what has always been a secure zone?
Once through the checkpoint, I went upstairs and into the gate area and saw I was already in the D gates thankfully.
I stopped for a restroom break again mainly so I could change my shirt. The humidity in both places, and all the walking, plus the higher temperature on the flight, had me soaked in sweat with my long sleeve shirt I typically wear while flying.
Also, the shirt was just not fitting right today, which is odd since I had lost weight on the trip up to this point. I may need to rethink the clothes I wear on planes going forward. The shirt and pants I usually rely on were not very nice this time around.
I left the restroom, and just outside the door I realized I had left my boarding pass on the shelf in the bathroom stall!!
Thankfully it was still unoccupied when I went back in as it was not that busy here. I grabbed it and left to find where my gate was.
All the gates in the terminal are actually down a small hallway, and then down a flight of stairs. Those were roped off if there was no current flight, so may be they only let people into the gate area in the hour before the flight? I have seen this in other airports a few times.
I then looked for a place to eat as I was hungry, and needed to burn some time as well.
But there were very few food places. There was one section that had a Starbucks, a Chinese restaurant, and a little place that appeared to have breakfast and other western type foods, nothing else.
I walked to the end of the terminal found no other food places.
Oh, but there was a huge pharmacy, like 3 times the size of the food area, a video game area as big as the food place, and a large book/gift shop that did not sell any kind of food or drink.
Overall, not impressed with this airport so far. It was nicely constructed and the décor was nice, plus was clean and mostly modern, but its layout was odd. The signage was confusing, unclear, or just missing, and the place lacked many services I would expect at other airports.
Oh, but they did have a massive Duty-Free section, like that helps me any!
I went back to the food place I had seen earlier and ordered a burger with fries from the one place. The burger came with an egg on it as well, which was nice, and a Coke.
I paid by credit card as I had no local currency, but was only $11.
I sat at one of the tables, thankfully the place was not too busy, and sorted the bag a bit to change the weight, and get all the stuff I had crammed into the back at the security checkpoint back out.
I also swapped the Vietnam SIM card out of my phone and put my regular card back in so it would just work when I arrived in Seattle later that day.
Hopefully the Seattle airport will have the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) service which can speed up going through immigration as I only have 2 hours in Seattle between flights, and will be sitting near the back of the plane on this overseas leg. That will slow me down getting off the plane.
I just hope I do not have another bag mishap like my last trip when the bag was not off the plane in time to carry it through customs. I have never been impressed with US Immigration capabilities at any airport I have flown into as they typically are slow and inefficient.
I got onto the wi-fi to do some updates and check some things out, then wrote up the journal again to get it current while I ate my meal.
I figure I will spend the next 2 hours sitting here ,unless it gets really busy, and maybe even have some more food or drink while I wait.
I did have another Coke as I was working on writing reviews again for several of the places I had visited over last few weeks.
Eventually I decided to get up and return to the restroom before going over to the gate to see if they were letting us down. I am getting tired, so may just put on some music and sleep on this longer flight once onboard.
I used the restroom and then went to the gate.
Each gate has a theme of some type, typically showcasing some attraction, or historical fact about Taiwan. My gate was talking about some nature park somewhere on the island.
They were still not letting us down, but there were a few places to sit in the area.
I sat and read in my book until I saw the staff show up and start letting people down into the gate.
I then went back to restroom just in case they did not have one below, I have seen that before, and then went into the gate area to find a seat. Thankfully they do have restrooms down here in case I need one again, I drank too much Coke.
Boarding time arrived and again I had one of the earlier economy boarding groups. Got onto the plane, had an aisle seat this time, but near the back of the plane, so a long walk to get there and lots of pausing while people tried to stow bags in the overhead.
A young couple came up right after I sat down and had the two seats next to me, so I got up again to let them get seated.
I then spent some time talking with them while waiting for the plane to finish boarding. They were from Utah and had been visiting his family in the Philippines.
I mostly talked with him as she fell asleep almost immediately.
Shortly after we got airborne, the girl woke and started messing around with her phone, seeming frustrated, and the guy broke off our conversation to assist her.
Turns out she was having issues getting her insulin pump to work which was controlled by the phone.
The app was not working and she could not call the support line as we were in the air.
I said she should alert the cabin crew who might have an airphone they could use as this was a medical issue that could be serious, or they might even have insulin on board that she could administer directly, or maybe some glucose tablets to help her until later.
But she refused to do any of that and the guy was not going to force it unless she actually passed out!
I eventually put on my headphones and watched the movie Deadpool vs Wolverine. I have to say this one was a bit of a disappointment.
I then started to watch a documentary called Catdaddies, about male cat owners, but the turbulence got so bad I was going to get sick if I kept trying to watch anything. I stopped the film and closed my eyes to try and calm my myself from the motion.
Later I was able to finish the film, and then just listened to my music for the rest of the trip, dozing in and out during that.
The plane landed on time in Seattle which was nice as I have that short connection time and was hoping things would go smooth.
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| Taipei to Seattle route. |
Nope. Things went sideways right away.
First the plane stopped on the taxi way and just sat there for 20 minutes because there were no available gates for us at the terminal. Something must have happened earlier in the day and snowballed down the line.
Now have 1 hour and 40 minutes, and technically, since they close the doors 10-15 minutes before the flight leaves, I really only have 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Once we did reach the gate, we all got up like normal and ready to depart, then we just stood there and waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing was moving.
I knew the jetway had moved up as I heard it hit the plane earlier. The curtain up to the economy plus section was still closed, so I could not see what was going on toward the front, and I think the 1st and business class have a separate entrance on this plane, but not sure.
After we waited for about 15 minutes, they finally opened the curtain and started to let us off the plane, and it took me 15 minutes to get off since I was near the back. Appears like they had let all the 1st, business and economy plus people leave the plane before they even opened the curtain.
Now 1 hour left.
The walk through the halls had to be at least 1 km (2/3 mile) to reach the escalator heading downstairs to the baggage claim area. We would be required to claim bags and walk them through Customs and then drop them off again on the other side.
The bags were already filling the belt as it has been going for some time with the delays in getting off the plane, but nope, my bag was not there yet. It was another 5 minutes at least until it showed up.
Now 50 minutes left to reach my plane.
Immigration was next. I had already filled out and prepared the MPC submission while waiting on the plane, and had the phone ready to go. However, the lines were actually not busy as it appears we are only plane coming in right now.
I got into the MPC line anyway, but they did not have any staff dedicated to it, so still had to wait for next available line and was not even being shown priority MPC was supposed to have. Basically was a waste of effort. It might have saved a minute or two as some of the information they would ask me was already in the computer now.
I got sent to the next window that opened after only waiting about a minute, it took a few minutes at the window to get virtually stamped, so was roughly 5 minutes for immigration.
45 minutes left now.
Down the hall was the Customs section which I just walked through as usual and then dropped my bag onto the conveyor to be checked back onto the next plane.
43 minutes left.
Then of course another security checkpoint!
The lady working there was being asked by more than a few about this, and we were told that since TSA did not check our bags in Vietnam or Taiwan, it did not count, so they had to check them here! FFS.
Probably same reason the other places do it as well, no one wants to trust anyone else’s security, which just points out how inconsistent and mostly for show it all is.
Thankfully this security checkpoint is only serving the immigration entry hall, so was not busy since we were the only plane going through, but still slow as we had to remove shoes and all the usual stuff. Then the group of people in front of me seemed to be having issues figuring out what to do and holding up the line. But still only took about 5 minutes to get through.
38 minutes left.
Finally in the airport, but yeah, the annoyances continued.
I am in Terminal A, and my flight leaves from Terminal N. I check the map and yep, other side of the airport, could not go any farther away and still be inside the airport.
I walked down a few hallways following signs and then guess what?
Yeah, need to board a train.
Oh, and just missed the train by 2 seconds as I walked up.
By time I get on the next train, 8 minutes are gone.
30 minutes left.
Once on train I check and guess what, this train only goes to Terminal B, then will need to change trains? WTF!
At next stop the other train is just across the hall and just barely made it, I actually stopped the door from closing while I got onto it.
Only a 1-minute ride, so now 29 minutes left.
Once in Terminal N, I check the sign and my Alaska Airlines flight is at Gate N10, not N11 like my boarding pass says, so something changed. Always check the signs!
N10 is the first gate to my right. So, the walk over uses up a minute, so at gate with 28 minutes to go.
This was enough time to use restroom before the plane starts to board, and relax and cool off from all the speed walking with my heavy bags.
When boarding time arrives, we all just sit there.
Plane does not start boarding for 25 minutes, which means we are now about 15 minutes behind schedule. Guess they were still cleaning the plane.
We finally start to board and they start with 1st class as usual, and then will call Zones A – F.
I look at my pass and is says Zone G - WTF?
I head up to the counter, wait about 5 minutes for other people in front of me, and then ask them when I should board. They of course have no clue what Zone G means, but she looks up and prints my pass again and now it says Zone E.
Since that is the next zone to be called, I just wait by the entrance instead of going back to my seat.
Boarding goes smoothly after that and I have another aisle seat in the middle of the plane.
Two random people take the seats next to me and do the usual put on the headphones right away, so definitely not a social flight this leg. But that’s fine, I am still a bit queasy from last flight, I have never had a more turbulent flight in my life, so closing my eyes and ignoring people sounds like a good idea!
Flight itself is uneventful; nothing happens other than a few bumps getting out of the weather in Seattle.
We arrive in Phoenix around 8:00pm. Got off the plane fairly quickly and then hit the baggage claim area after a bit of a hike.
My bag is out in about 5 minutes this time.
I gather the bag and then head over to the chairs along the wall to order myself an Uber pickup.
App says they will arrive in 8 minutes and just by luck I am standing at the door I need to go out to find the Uber pickup zone. I go out and cross to the center island and wait in the designated area.
The guy arrives on time, loads my bags and off we go. Quiet ride, not a talkative driver.
I arrive home about 9:00pm.
I get inside, and the cats start going nuts and the place is a mess!
My cookbooks on the table are all scattered on the floor, though this had happened a few times as the cat sitter had mentioned it too and cleaned them up more than once.
All the water bowls are dirty and nearly dry, food is gone of course, and the litterboxes are ready to clean but not horrible. It has only been 2.5 days since the sitter was there!
And the house just reeks of cat piss!
I start looking around and find piss spots on the tile floor by the trash can, then find more on the kitchen counter on both sides of the stove. On the one side it is all over the small caddy holding my medications and lots of napkins, all now covered in dried piss.
I find another spot on one of my rugs along some plastic tubs, this one appears to have been peed on multiple times it is so crusted up. Another several spots on the tile over by the sliding door and few on my DVDs on the shelf as well.
I continue into other rooms; piss in the empty cabinet in the hall bathroom, all over the bottom drawer of the dresser in the bedroom, and the floor of the master closet is just covered, including one of my shirts which has been knocked on the floor. It was stiff from so much dried piss, so I just tossed it in the trash.
It took me an hour to clean up everything and lay out the DVDs to air them out as several were hit bad enough to soak into the paper of the covers.
I then put my laundry in and unpacked a few things, will do the rest tomorrow.
I then found a few cat-poop nuggets, that had fallen off the long hair cat most likely, on the floor, and then found poop on the closet floor under my shoe table as well. It was crushed up onto my bicycle shoes. Then found poop on one of the cat stands.
Once done cleaning all that up, I use the restroom in the master bathroom, and when I flush the toilet it floods the floor, leaking out of the seal between tank and the bowl. FFS.
So, I clean all that up, and turn off the water to the toilet. Guess it is time to buy a new toilet as it has a few other minor issues as well.
It is amazing how a wonderful 4 weeks of relaxation and calm can be sucked away by horrible flights and airports, and random crap when I arrive home.
Now I feel just as wiped out as before I left!
I am going to bed!
Saturday, 11/16/2024
Woke up to my alarm at 6:00am. Showered, dressed, and got my stuff ready for the days trip. Just the camera bag, selfie stick, and phone to carry today.
Went down for breakfast, then back up to the room to start packing other stuff up so there would be less I have to do tonight.
Went down to the lobby at 7:15am for my 7:30am pickup. Waited and as 7:30 arrived and passed I was wondering if they were going to be late today as well.
At 7:45am the hotel clerk had called and he told me they were running behind due to traffic. About 7:50am a guy shows up and is there for me.
Grabbed my camera bag and went outside and he is getting on a scooter!?!
I assume that they are going to take me to the bus instead of having it come up into this even more crowded area. I hop on the scooter and he moves me through traffic for about 2 km (1.2 miles) until we arrive at another hotel where the bus is waiting. He alerts them and they get me on the bus which is almost full at this point.
We drove a short distance to pick up another couple at a different hotel and now the bus is full. This is a small bus holding about 25 people.
We worked our way over to a main road, drove past the train station, and headed south along the tracks to get out of town. Once we reached the main freeway, things cleared up and we made good time heading south, other than a few construction spots that slowed things down a bit.
The drive today should take about 2 hours, maybe bit less depending on traffic.
We eventually pull off the freeway onto smaller highways. Along here we stopped at another rest pavilion similar to what I had seen the other day, though this one was a bit larger, and had slightly more parking. We also entered on one side and exited on the other, the busses would move around the building to wait.
Here I grabbed a small can of Lay's Stax chips to eat as I was a bit hungry. Spicy Lobster flavor!
Not sure they tasted much like lobster. I finished them off while standing next to the bus outside as the inside was too crowded and did not have space for people to sit, just more shelves of crap to buy.
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| Not quite sure they tasted like lobster. 😁 |
I also drank the bottle of water I was given on the bus when I first boarded.
Back on the bus we headed south again on the smaller highways and eventually reached a small village where we pulled over at a place and got out. Here we would have the choice of getting a bicycle and riding about 1km (2/3 mile) to the next stop, or we could stay on the bus and take it over.
I decided to go for the bicycle, might as well get the full experience.
Our first stop is the site of Hoa Lu, the first capital of Vietnam in the 10th century which lasted till the 14th century.
We rode the bicycles over to the main entrance and then stood alongside the edge of the bridge over the river while we waited for the bus to arrive. About half the people rode, the rest took the bus.
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| Our bikes (mine has green rims) on bridge over river. |
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| Looking down river from the bridge. |
Eventually everyone arrived except possibly one person?
One of the Korean tourists with the group somehow missed getting on the bus and was still back at the bike pickup place if I understood what I was hearing between the guide and another of the Korean group. The guy wanted to wait till they arrive or something, was never able to find out what exactly was going on.
We eventually went into the site after the guide bought our tickets. He then talked for a bit about the history and what we were seeing. Then we rode the bikes over to a spot where we could park them while we visited the site.
We walked over to the side of the main path for more backstory on the site.
It was mostly a huge area of open fields with a large temple on one side.
The fields were the site of the capital buildings back in the day, but nothing was left, it had all been destroyed or removed over the years, only the slight signs in the ground where a building may have once stood.
The temple however had been built in the 16th century and we could visit it.
First, we had to stop so the women in shorts and skirts could pick up a covering for their legs as Buddhist temples do not let women with exposed legs in. Historically they would not be allowed at all, but some have started to allow them as tourists on days when ceremonies are not being held.
The temple is still an active site, though only for special ceremonies, the rest of the time it is open for tourists.
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| Main temple gate. |
We then went in through the gate and almost immediately got separated. The guide was moving so fast, and crowds were so thick, it was hard to keep up. I had stopped briefly for a photo of the large Koi Pond and never saw most of the group again.
I moved over toward the main temple with 2 others from the group who were also taking photos, but when we arrived there was still no sign of anyone from the group.
I got in line to enter the temple, but line was not moving at all, and then I saw the signs that photos were not permitted and decided to just skip it. I had seen inside a few other temples on the trip and most were not that impressive anyway.
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| Entry to main temple plaza. |
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| The main temple. |
I wandered over to use the restroom, but they were charging to use them! While the cost was quite minimal, it just annoyed me that they would do that, so decided I could wait.
I decided that was enough, and went to leave the temple grounds. I bumped into the guide on the way out and he said he would try to find the others. I told him I would wait outside the gate near the small bridge over the canal next to the temple.
I then watched some people feeding the Koi in the pond that were going crazy in the water before heading out the main gate.
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| Koi feeding frenzy! |
After a bit the guide came out, but had not found any of the others yet, so he asked me to wait there and went back inside.
About this time a guy approached me on his bike. I had seen him earlier taking photos of most of us as we rode in to the site and guessed he would now try to sell me the photo. Bingo!
He had a print of the photo of me all laminated and with the site name on it ready to go. As it was only $2, I went ahead and bought it since I had no other photo of me on the bicycle.
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| Riding into the capital site. |
He then went to chase down another person he recognized. I wonder how many people he actually finds on the grounds to even offer them the photo?
I sat there in the hot sun for about 20 minutes, wandered a bit for some photos, and then decided to hell with it and moved over to other side of the pond where the bikes were parked, at least it was in the shade.
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| Water lilies in pond next to temple. |
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| View around the pond next to temple. |
A few minutes later the group all showed up and we got back on the bikes and rode down a small road behind the temple. This path went through a small village and among some large rocks and ponds till we reached the main road.
While the bike riding was fun, the actual site was a complete waste of time and I would not really recommend it unless you had a deep interest in Buddhism, or want to stand on the spot where something was or something occurred.
After about 2km (1.2 miles) we arrived back at the place we started from and dropped off the bikes.
Turns out this is also where we will have lunch. We went inside the main doors, guarded by two sleeping dogs, and through a large dining hall restaurant.
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| Well protected by guard dogs! |
We went up to 2nd floor to the tables set aside for our group and had the buffet. Seems the 1st floor was menu ordering, the 2nd was the buffet. Was a bit crowded still, but food was plentiful and mostly good.
While eating I spent some time talking with other group members sitting at my table.
One guy and his dad were from Italy. Another guy was with what I think was his mother. He lived in Germany, she lived somewhere else, but I missed that as we were talking. There was a couple from Sweden as well.
At the other table were a group of 7 from South Korea, a girl from Turkey, and another girl and her mother from Germany, and a couple from Vietnam.
Once done with lunch, we boarded the bus to go to the next stop that day. It was only a 10 minute drive down the road to Trang An. This location was a river that we would be rowed in small boats on the river while it traveled through several caves.
The guide picked up our tickets and we took a long walk under the main road, over a bridge, and into the main center. We went down a few halls, got our tickets checked, and then moved to the dock to wait for a boat.
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| View from the bridge of the docks where we will get onto the boats. |
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| Hanging in one of the halls we walked down. |
Each boat held 4 people and the rower. They were putting people on the boats in groups, and I ended up with the 3 Korean men while the 4 women in their group took another boat.
So not much conversation as they did not speak much English.
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| Heading down the river. |
We went down the river a bit, then crossed into a cave that really did not look natural, very definite signs of being man made. I am pretty sure it was made to create the loop that allowed us to circle around without back tracking, though it may have used some natural caves in its construction.
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| Entering the first cave (that I think was at least partially man made) |
We then continued on the river a bit to a large shrine built in the middle of wide section of the river.
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| River beyond the cave. |
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| Small shrine in the middle of water. |
Then we moved into the second cave through the mountain, this one was natural.
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| Entering the 2nd cave. |
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| Small river section between caves. |
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| The main temple at this complex. |
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| Our row boat. |
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| The replica of old village. |
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| Amazing views from the water. |
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| The bridges over the water near the main entrance. |
We then walked along several hallways and open spaces to get back to the tunnel under the road and back to the buses.
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| Lanterns in one of the hallways. |
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| More lanterns in an open space near the end of the hallway. |
Once on board, we left to head down the road for about 10 minutes to reach our next stop.
This was the hike up the Lying Dragon Hill.
This area was very hilly with large nearly vertical mountain rocks sticking up from the surrounding terrain that are common in the region.
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| The Lying Dragon Hill. |
We parked at the edge of the village and then walked into the park, and down a long avenue with a few shops and cafes, and there were several small waterfalls, fountains, and sculptures along the walk.
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| Cool horse display along a creek built as part of a waterfall fountain. |
We then came to the bottom of the stairs that would take us up the hill.
There are two viewpoints, one a bit lower that only sees one side of the ridge, the other at the top can view both sides. The hike is about about 1000 steps to reach the top.
The higher point also has the large dragon statue, which is probably 30 meters (100 feet) long, built along the ridge at the top.
I headed up to the higher point when I reached the split in the trail after a short rest to catch my breath, one of many I took.
Another hellish hike in humid conditions that had me just drenched in sweat when I reached the top.
At the top there was a small covered space and the views where just incredible!
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| Small covered rest area at the top of the main trail. |
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| View on one side, showing the town beyond, and the lower viewpoint. |
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| View from the other side showing the river and more hills. |
I tried to get up next to the dragon statue, but it was a very treacherous climb up there. There was no actual trail, just a few chains to hang onto along the rocks.
Many people were going out there, then were freaking out and moving way too slow. The few people that were up there did not care that 20 more were waiting and were doing 50 selfies and posed shots.
I did get a few shots from the ledge just below the top, but gave up trying to get up there as people would not move.
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| The large dragon statue at the very top of ridge. |
I then took a difficult route down to avoid having to backtrack through all the people still trying to get up.
This route would be almost impossible to climb up, I had thought about trying it earlier, but I was just able to make my way down the steep drop to the rocks below.
I tried a few more photos of the dragon from below, and the guy from Germany had me take photos of him at the top from my position just below him. He had lucked out and made all the way up.
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| From the lower ledge in the crack that I had climbed down on other side of the dragon. |
I then went back down the stairs to reach the bottom. Took me several minutes to do so and my legs were killing me, and the blister on my foot was not happy either.
I did get a few more photos on the way down of the surrounding area and the bottom of the stairs which were carved into large dragons as well.
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| View of the cliff walls on the walk down (not from from the bottom) |
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| Bottom of the main stairs up the hill. |
At the bottom I was completely soaked; hardly a dry piece of clothing.
I actually had climbed down without my glasses as the sweat had been dripping into them so badly I could not see anything with them on. Thankfully my distance vision is not too bad without them.
I bought a cold drink at the bottom, put away the cameras, and then walked back toward the bus.
I stopped to use the restroom that was built over by another waterfall.
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| Waterfall behind the buildings. |
I then came across the Italian guy and his dad, and the girl from Turkey, sitting at a table along the path. I stopped and sat with them for a few minutes.
We then moved on to the bus which was nearly full by now and we were the last to arrive. Back onboard we headed out to return to Hanoi. Or at least that was what I thought we would do.
We first headed south, and I saw on the map that the main highway was close by to the south, so that made sense.
But then we kept going south and turned off toward some other tourist spot on the map. When we got there, one of the guys, that had been with us as the guides helper, got off the bus and pulled his bag from below. We then turned around and went back toward the main road. Guess that guy was staying here.
Once back to the main road we started heading north and soon were back on the same back highways we had brought down. We stopped at the freeway entrance at a line of shops to use the restroom and buy any last-minute drinks if we wanted them. I did both, and then we boarded the bus and headed onto the freeway towards Hanoi.
During the stop I also sent the photos I took of the guy from Germany to him via WhatsApp since we both had that application on our phones.
The ride back was uneventful, but traffic in Hanoi after leaving the freeway was insane. We soon reached the part of town where we started to drop people off. Some at hotels, and others that wanted off to go eat or do things nearby.
Eventually I was the last one on the bus, but the guide told me they would not be able to get to my hotel easily due to the road closures this time of night. They would need to drive a long loop around the old quarter to get to the other side.
I looked at the map and then asked them if they could get me to the north end of the lake which was not far away, then I could walk from there as I knew the area.
I then had them drop me at another intersection a bit later as I saw we were actually a few blocks north of the lake, so would be shorter walk from there and save them the time of having to navigate the big bus farther into the narrow lanes of traffic.
I walked the final 1 kilometer (2/3 mile) to the hotel and checked to see if my laundry was back, but it was not ready yet.
I went up to the room to pull off the still damp clothes and then started to pack up the rest of my stuff for the morning.
I then took a shower as I was still sweaty even after I cooled off. I then used the hair dryer to try drying off some of the clothes so I could wear them to dinner and avoid getting something else dirty.
After I finished that, I finished the packing, and then checked into my flights online when I saw an email waiting from earlier in the day.
I then got dressed again and went downstairs to check on the laundry, which was ready now. Paid my bill and took the stuff back up to the room and packed it.
I then went out for dinner.
I was not sure what I wanted, was thinking pizza again, so I walked up the road to a place I had seen earlier, but it was only pizza by the slice. I wanted bit more than that, so walked around till I found another little pizza place that looked nice and stopped there.
I had just enough Dong left to pay for dinner and leave me with some money to tip the driver in the morning. I had a nice pizza, some bruschetta and a Coke.
The food was very good, and I wrote up the journal while I ate.
Then I returned to the hotel and will stay in the rest of the night and just read till ready for bed, I have had enough for the day!
Goodnight!
Friday, 11/15/2024
Woke up at 6:00am with my alarm, but also some kind of noise had woke me just prior to the alarm going off as I was awake when it went off.
After I went on deck later, I found out that was probably the anchor going down as the ship had already moved early in the morning from our overnight anchorage to the bay outside the cave.
I showered and dressed and went up for a morning tea. The meditation class did not look that interesting and I would probably just fall asleep anyway, so took some early morning sunrise photos and relaxed on the deck for a bit.
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| Sunrise at anchor in the bay next to cave entrance. |
The sun coming up made the surrounding hills look amazing and the boats sometimes reflected the light nicely off the mostly white paint schemes.
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| Golden light reflecting off the ships. |
A few women were rowing around all the cruise ships in small boats stacked with merchandise.
They would lift items up in a net on a long pole to people on the boats if they bought something. Did not see too many buying anything and they mostly just sat along side the boats and called up now and then. Interesting job though.
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| One of a few vendors visiting the ships. |
You could also see much of the cave opening in the cliff from the boat as well.
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| Cliff face cave entrance. |
At 7:30am we boarded the tender to go over to the island dock for the cave. We were not the only boat though, a few had gotten in before us and many more were coming it behind us, going to be a crowded visit.
There are two docks, one for arrivals, and one for departures to keep the boat traffic more organized.
The cave, Sung Sot cave, also known as Surprise Cave, is a large cavern in the limestone rock that forms the islands around here. It is roughly 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet) in area and about 1km (2/3 mile) in length. It is located far up in the cliff side, so will be a good hike up, and back down.
The cave was first noted and possibly discovered, though locals likely knew about it beforehand, in 1901 by the French when one guy slipped into a small crack to check it out and was surprised to find the large cavern, hence the name.
Today the cave entrance is much larger, likely enlarged to allow tourist traffic at some point in the past.
We docked at the island and got off the boat. We gathered into a group and then stood in line for a bit.
Finally, we were allowed up the stairs heading to the entrance, along with 200+ other people.
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| Doggy sleeping on rocks near the stairs heading up. |
It is very busy this early in the morning. Not sure if it gets slower as the day goes on, perhaps later in the day when most of the cruise boats have left, and just the boats for the cave only tours might still be arriving.
Was a slow hike up with all those people, but once we reached the main entrance there was a wide level space where many were stopping to take selfies or group photos.
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| View from cave entrance platform looking over departure dock. |
Within the cave there are 3 main chambers.
The 1st chamber is small, and not very impressive. A narrow passage will then take you to chamber 2.
The 2nd chamber is larger, has some good formations, and opens up partially to the edge of the 3rd chamber near the exit, but still a bit weak. Another narrow passage leads to chamber 3. Was starting to think this cave would be a bust.
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| Some of the formations in 2nd chamber (and can see into edge of 3rd chamber and the exit) |
The 3rd chamber is massive. I mean huge!
The formations are also large and quite complex. This was worth the trip. Took a large number of photos and a few videos along the walk.
At the end of the walk, near the exit, there is the booth selling the photos that they take of you inside the cave near a large formation. This is of course optional and I did not do it.
I was looking at the large cavern behind this area when I heard a kitten meowing. Looked around and saw a small kitten, and probably its mother, in a crate behind the photo booth. Not sure what they were there for, but had food and water, just a small crate. Poor kitty wanted attention though.
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| Kitten and mother. |
Next you hike up some stairs to reach the exit area. This cave is a loop, so you do not back track.
Outside you can look back into the cave from the platform, and then start down the cliff on the stairs. Midway down there is a small area selling drinks, food, and souvenirs.
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| View back into the cave from exit area. |
Here I found another cat to buy, a plastic statue, covered in small sea shells to make the details. Hopefully it will fit in the luggage, but was too cool not to buy and I need to start using up my local currency so I can avoid the hassle of changing it back.
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| Shell kitty. |
Down at the bottom of the stairs we walked along an elevated path hanging off the cliff, or raised out of the water, till we reached the other dock where the tenders were waiting. There were more vendors along this route as well, but selling same stuff.
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| The walkway from the base of cliff over to the departure dock. |
We found our tender and got on board and waited for others to arrive as our group had gotten split up some inside. I had actually moved on ahead of the group as I did not care to listen to people talk about the cave and was able to stay in a gap between groups and be less crowded.
We arrived back at the boat and went to the cabin to drop off stuff, use the restroom and dry off some as I was again soaked in sweat from the humidity levels inside the cave.
I then packed up my bags, checked the room for stuff, and then went to check out of the room, which we had to do by 9:30am. Also paid my bar tab at this time as well.
Went to brunch next and enjoyed a good meal. I ate quite a bit, but will not eat again till dinner as we will be on the road during the lunch timeframe.
I then went up to the top deck and claimed a chair to sit in while we cruised back to the port. Pretty much where everyone ended up.
The trip back took about 90 minutes, and I did several more photos along the way.
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| The small rock in the middle is a famous landmark appearing on back of the 200,000 Dong note. |
Once we docked, we all got off the boat and I headed for the building to use the restroom. My driver was already waiting and saw me, and wanted to get going. He told me I could use a restroom in a few minutes at the next stop.
We got in the van and to my surprise he also had my charging cable and returned it to me.
We drove down the road a bit where he stopped to unload some supplies for another cruise line, and there I was able to use the restroom while he did that.
Back in the van we then went over to another cruise port and picked up the same group of Chinese people that had driven over with me the day before.
We got back onto the road and repeated our route back to Hanoi, stopping again at that same rest point as I figured we would.
This time I did buy a box of chocolates and a drink, but nothing else interested me.
On the way into Hanoi I noticed the old railroad bridge over the river I had seen photos of around the area and tried to get a picture of it while we were on the highway bridge.
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| RR bridge in the distance going over river channel. |
The driver let me off first, just down from the hotel again. I walked back and arrived at the hotel about 2:00pm.
The hotel manager that had booked the trips for me, and been helpful in many other ways, saw me and inquired about the trip. I spent a short time telling him how much I enjoyed it and looked forward to the next excursion tomorrow. I then went up to my room.
Sorted the bags a bit to put some stuff away and get out things for tomorrow. Tomorrow is just a day trip, so will not be needing to take anything other than cameras.
I also gathered up more laundry to drop off in the morning and will pick it up when I return. This will mean nearly all my clothes will be clean on the flight home.
The new pair of shorts I bought in Hoi An ended up being too small and not comfortable, so definitely need to buy 1 size larger here. This meant I could not put my main shorts in the laundry as I had nothing else to wear.
I then updated the journal to get it to present time while sitting in the room to cool off since it was very warm today.
I also ate all my chocolate while doing that.
I will probably read for a bit and then in an hour go find food and buy a few drinks for tonight. No plans to go anywhere tonight either as will be another early pickup in the morning at 7:30am.
I played around online for a bit, then took a 30 minute nap.
After getting up, I decided to go back to the banh mi shop I ate at before and have another sandwich. The food was good and was cheap since my money was dwindling and I needed to have enough to get through tomorrow.
I stopped again for a few drinks on the way back to the hotel and then did some research on night clubs in the area just to see if there was anything to do later tonight.
I ended up finding an interesting looking place about a 1 km (2/3 mile) away, on the other side of the main highway nearby.
They had a roof top bar that I figured would be nice to sit and relax at for a while then perhaps hang out for some music before heading back to the hotel.
I figured the place would not get going till at least 7:00pm, as night life tends to start late here. The only other place I found was closer, but did not open at all till 9:00pm. It was also right in the middle of the main beer street, so would likely be more crowded and probably cost more as well. But will keep that option open.
I read my book for about an hour and then walked over to the club. Was a bit of a challenge as there was no way to cross the highway near the hotel. I had to walk about 3 blocks up the road to find a pedestrian bridge over the highway, then back down to where the club was, which probably doubled my walk distance.
It was an interesting walk though as the pedestrian bridge had this underwater theme with all these large ocean creature models hanging from the ceiling, and wild underwater murals on the walls.
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| Unique decoration of pedestrian bridge. |
Once on the other side, I went down till I could move in away from the highway and find the street the club was on. It was less touristy on this side, definitely more local use of the shops and restaurants along the way, but did see a few hotels, so I was not totally out of place walking there.
I walked down the road and kept watching the GPS, as I had read it was not well signed, but I did not see anything and found myself way past the map marker.
I had to look up the actual address of the building and then find it that way, and only then did I notice the very small neon size with just the club logo, no name, hanging from the awning of the building. It was right in front of a parking garage entrance.
When I looked inside the garage I saw a larger sign way at the back. This was the sign I had seen pictures of online.
I walked to the back of the garage to the podium with the sign, which was not staffed currently. I then saw the name on the door on the back wall and there I found the dark, creepy staircase heading up, which I had seen photos of online.
I went up 4 floors and then saw a door, but it was closed, so went up another flight as I could hear some music from there, and found the roof top bar which was split into two levels. Some light, techno style music was playing here.
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| View of the bar area from 2nd level and city beyond (main highway bridge over river in center) |
I looked around a bit and then went to the bar to order a drink.
This was the most I spent on a drink on the entire trip, but it was a non-alcoholic cocktail, so guess that should not shock me. I paid for the drink and then waited up on the 2nd level to find a table and wait for them to make it and bring it over.
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| Better view of the city beyond from the rooftop lounge. |
I was the only person here other than the staff. But was nice and quiet with some great views of the city and river beyond, though a bit hazy, so the photos did not turn out that great.
At one point I saw one of the guys setting up a telescope. There was a full moon that night and appeared he was trying to get it in view.
I went down and talked a bit with him and ended up talking with several of the staff about the place. A few other people had shown up, but after a quick drink, all left again.
I did learn that the floor below at the closed door was the actual dance club, and that they had an event going on that night with several local DJs. I decided to wait till that started at 10:00pm to see what it was like.
I ordered another drink, just a Coke this time, and sat back upstairs and played online till the time came. Lots of people coming and going, but from what I could tell, this was mostly the DJs and their friends, not customers.
I could hear when the music started up, and feel it trough the floor.
About 10:30pm I headed down stairs and into the club.
It was somewhat dark, with lots of fog machines going, and red laser light. They seemed to really like red, only a few times did other colors come across the room.
The space was not huge, but big enough to have a few tables on one side, a bar on the other, the DJ booth along the wall and room for people to dance in the middle. The ceiling was pretty low as well, but it had a great sound system.
The 2 women up on the DJ stand were trading off with the songs, so I stood along the opposite wall and enjoyed the music. A few people were here, along with some of the other DJs and their friends I had seen upstairs earlier.
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| Seeing red! (Horrible photo, but bad lighting for photography) |
The music was good and I enjoyed my time. I actually stayed much later than I planned, but finally left just after midnight when only about 20 people were there.
They had told me earlier the event went on till 4:00am, so guessing the later DJs were the bigger names and things would pick up then. But I had to be up early, so could not stay any longer.
I walked back to the hotel, put the phone on to charge as it was getting low, and then updated the journal.
It was probably about 1:00am when I finished, so time to get some sleep so I can be ready for my day around Nimh Binh tomorrow.
Maybe I will go back to the club tomorrow night, but I have to leave early for my ride to the airport the next day, so might not be a good idea.
I will see what I feel like tomorrow.
Goodnight!