After spending the night in a larger town than over the last week, I embarked on my third route and this would turn out to be the biggest adventure of them all.  Flowers, rocks, UNESCO site, a crash, amazing scenery, The North Pole , funky desserts and isolation.  Again I followed the route from Vietnam Coracle.

Vietname Coracle

Here is the route, 320 km to Bao Lac.

I left Ha Giang with the plan to stay the night in Yen Minh (100km) but I ended up pushing on to Dong Van (144km total). Immediately I came across some beautiful scenery and my first lot of roadworks.  We waited for about 30 mins while a dozer cleared the road from a slip so I got chatting to the locals as usual while we waited.

This is what the roads looked like.  I thought I was in the Tour de France.

I mentioned about about the flowers, these were amazing

By now I had entered the Dong Van Karst Plateau Geo Park which is UNESCO Listed.  There were some amazing rock formations along the way.  I had lunch in Tam Son, Bun Cha:).  I stopped for a break in Yen Minh and I bought a red t-shirt with the Vietnamese yellow star on the front.  It is what all the young Vietnamese wear on their pilgrimage to the North Pole, northern most point of Vietnam.  I saw some interesting things on my travels

I stopped at a cultural village which allowed you to go into their houses.  Pretty primitive but very interesting.

What amazed me were the loads that the women (young girls sometimes) would be carrying on their backs.  When driving you would see what you thought was a moving bush but it would be a woman carrying some of these loads.

From here to Dong Van, the scenery was amazing and the rocks were purple and the villages and rice fields nestled into the mountains.

I made it to Dong Van and had a relaxing night exploring the town.

The next day I planned to go to the North Pole and then finish the route so another big day, but Oscar had other plans for me.  I headed back the way I had come and then headed north.  It was an overcast day and as I made my way further north I got into fog.  Made it to the north pole and climbed about a million steps to the top.

You can see why I wanted a red t-shirt, I would have felt left out! Again you could see China.  I then set off back the way I came and off to Bao Lac.  All was going well until I turned a right hand corner and there was mud on the bitumen and Oscar decided to take a rest, no warning.  I skidded on by right with the my right elbow and right side of my face (full face helmet) being the point of impact.  I then lay there, very still and then heard voices, no bright lights and was helped up by the car that was following me.  Thankfully I was OK and so was Oscar.  They picked my bike up and I got back on and drove really slowly.  I think I was doing about 25km/hr and I had all the right gear on so I was lucky.  This is what my clothes looked like, I had a leather jacket on under the fluro.

I got to a cross road and pulled over and then it dawned on me what had happened and I had a few tears and two motorbike riders stopped and checked out Oscar who pulled up magnificently, apparently the rest is just what he needed!  I called Niels, love technology and I amended my plans as I couldn’t actually lift my right arm up.  I knew I hadn’t broken anything but I was very sore.  I limped back to Dong Van (metaphorically) and checked into the same hotel I had checked out of about 2 hours earlier.  I rested the rest of the day hoping my shoulder would improve.

I woke up the next day, a bit stiff but confident that I could drive the 180km.  The views were unreal and I met an Israeli couple who took some photos of me, and also got some Vietnamese to take a photo of Oscar and I.  I had broken my selfie stick.

Along the way, there were a couple of things worth taking a photo of, a couple getting wedding photos taken on their scooter, a boy who was resting on the side of the road and washing day.

And house builders in traditional clothing.  I bought myself one of those jackets so watch out people. 

It was cold at the top where the photos were taken, but once into the valleys it was warm and the road followed the river.  For brunch I had some fried food, not sure what it was but it rocked. The cooks were eating half of the food as well so I knew it must be good.

Along the way I saw women making yarn and this is how they stack their hay.

The road again was pretty windy and I saw four dams being constructed on the river I was following.

I stopped for a drink and another foreigner came along for a drink on his motorbike.  He was German but had lived in Australia.  He was in a bit of a state because he had lost his bag with his passport and cash in it so he was trying to retrace his steps.  He was very interesting and had travelled extensively around Vietnam and around the world.  I asked him a question that I had been trying to work the answer out to.  “Why do women here in Vietnam do most of the work including manual labour?”  The answer was “The men are use to fighting wars and living in jungles so they don’t know what to do when they come back.  This is one of the longest periods that they haven’t been fighting”.  To me this makes sense.  Anyway he went off to find his bag and I went to Bao Lac.  Now to be honest I don’t know if this is where I stayed, I don’t actually know where I stayed as the distances didn’t make sense to me.  Anyway I found accomodation (yes it is very tall) and went for a wander around the town and had some weird looking, good tasting dessert.

It was then time for dinner so I found a place close to my “tall” hotel and sat down, I was the only customer.  The lady asked me what I wanted and I thought I said chicken and rice (in Vietnamese).  Anyway I waited, then all of a sudden, a woman sits at my table and starts talking in English asking what I would like to eat.  This is the cooks’ sister.  She is an English Teacher at the local school and had to come and assist as translator.  She sat while I ate and we talked and I also met some of her students.  I found out the hotel I was staying in is owned by her cousin, a family affair!

This was a wonderful trip except for Oscar taking an unexpected rest but it is all part of it.

Dates: 11th October 2016 to 13th October 2016

So, Sa Pa was ticked off, now I was ready for the real stuff, more off the beaten track, more isolated and definitely more fun:).

This trip would take me from Sa Pa to Ha Giang, northern most province of Vietnam, awesome mountains, bad roads, yummy food and an array of different ethnic communities. Total distance would be around 485km.

Again, I was following the route from the Vietnam Coracle Blog.

Vietnam Coracle

So for the first day I left Sa Pa to Muong Khuong, 85km and went through Lao Cai where I had got off on the train.  On the way there I was lucky enough to witness rice being harvested the old fashion way, back breaking stuff. 

Lao Cai is also a border crossing with China so I cruised around and watched the goings on.  I crossed the Red River and drove into pineapple country.

I also came across some interesting signs and I am not sure what I was eating here.  A favourite and I think very appropriate saying I said a lot to myself and others was; “what could go wrong, this is Vietnam!”.

If you can’t read what the sign says, top line is in Vietnamese, then Chinese and then in English “Frontiea”.  I am assuming it is to let you know that you are in the last frontier country.  I arrived in Muong Khuong after some spectacular scenery and after a good climb.  I had a bit of a rest and then found the local market and camped out at the drink stand and watched the world go by.

Next day I went from Muong Khuong to Bac Ha, only 90km.  This day was unreal, it was the best scenery I had had so far and because it was Saturday I was lucky to be able to visit some markets which happen on the main road, not main street.  You can tell you are getting close by the number of bikes parked up.   Now again not sure what this is but they were loving it. I also saw up close and personal how they transport pigs on motorbikes and the pigs do not like it.

The road in these places is where everything happens and I managed to see a family moving their cows along.

The highlight of the day was the Buffalo Sale.  This is the sight that greeted me

The small blue tents just above the herd is where I sat for over 2 hours and watched the negotiations, money changing hands, and stock.

They would be tied up to a rock so you can imagine how well that worked so there was quite a bit of roaming going on and mating. The guy smoking the pipe is a very common sight in the North.  Apparently you get a bigger hit than from a cigarette and all cafes have these pipes to use, all communal and no washing between customers.

And I saw an albino buffalo

To get to the Buffalo Sale I had to go though the market so I acquired my own sales person.  We started off at 250,000 VND and I got it for 150,000 VND ($8.90 AUD) for the bag however the process was not that simple.  She followed me around for about 15 minutes.  Anyway it worked out for both of us as I actually needed a new bag for the front of Oscar.

From the market I had great scenery again and followed a valley with China on the other side, to the right in the photo and also Oscar got in amongst it with the locals.

Made it to Bac Ha and had a look at some of the sights then camped out at the hotel bar and had dinner.

The town is famous for the Sunday market and had timed it perfectly completely by luck.  They also have a night market with local performances and also games for the kids which was fun to watch.

They also have a great way to tie up their transport:).

The next day I woke up early and went to the market and ate with the locals and saw the fruit and veggies for sale.

It was another great day in the saddle, scenery was awesome and the rain stayed away.

The trip took a lot longer because I was always getting off and taking photos.  I did a couple of detours (planned) to find a water fall but I haven’t found it yet, I found another one, but I saw some pretty cool signs!

One of the great things I love about Vietnam, is the willingness of people to speak to you and practise their English or laugh at my Vietnamese.  I meet these two girls where I stopped for a coke.

The scenery was so good as you can see above that my eyes may have stayed on it a fraction too long and I was on gravel with boulders and I did a slow unchoreographed crash onto the gravel at about 10km/hr.  I had jumped so I was ok, however Oscar had a bit of a bent under carriage so it made changing down gears hard.  We survived and made it to Xin Man and a garage and with only sign language I explained what needed to be done and the mechanic got his big hammer out and started banging away.

The last leg of this trip was 140km to Ha Giang.  The weather was not good and on the two passes that I had to make, it rained the most which was a shame because the scenery would have been spectacular.  However, I still managed to do some shopping and bought some tea which the region is famous for.

However, all was not lost, Bun Cha for lunch, yum and then I hit decent road for the first time on the trip and let it rip.  I saw the first cops of the whole trip and as a foreigner you have to get a permit.  Not sure why but you just cough up the money, 300,000 VND for a piece of paper

Ha Giang is a biggish town so it was interesting looking around.  I also had Oscar’s oil changed and lubed up at Honda Head.

This was a great trip with a few adventures thrown in:).

Dates: 7th October to 10th October 2016

So my journey of over 2000km begins in Sa Pa.  This place is very touristy but beautiful.  Oscar here is all ready for the journey ahead of him, me, not so sure.  I was lucky enough to have Spot, a satellite transmitter that Niels and Trang used to track me real time.

So my first trip was a loop, 325km.

The routes I used were from a blog of a guy living in Ho Chi Minh and they were fantastic.

Vietnam Coracle – Sa Pa Sin Ho

So off I set at 11:30am because it took me about an hour to find the right road, very few sign posts here and to fuel up at the one and only petrol station.  Lesson learnt, always fill up the night before.

My first stop was Lai Chau, approximately 75km where I passed waterfalls and Tram Ton Pass, Vietnam’s highest mountain, 1,900m and I saw Mount Fansipan.

I saw many women on the road, sewing, and selling fruit and vegetables with umbrellas, both for the rain and sun.

I saw rice being harvested and the Lakes at Lai Chau were beautiful and I had pancakes for dinner. I also had a massage, and it was as good as the one Wendy got in Nha Trang:).

The next day was from Lai Chau to Sin Ho, 120km.  I did a little detour, planned, to check out the mountains and it was beautiful.

I then found some Caves.  Now, please look at the sign and see if you can see a looped route on the map.  This is important for later…

So off I ventured into the underworld.  They were amazing and no one was around, so I explored and there were amazing butterflys.  I came across another group and I was like a film star, I had my picture taken with the group.  I would hate to see those pictures as it was hot and humid.  Anyway off I went, I then came to the end of the line as on the map and decided to turn around and beat the loud group.  I got to the cave entrance and it was completely dark, tried my phone, the light was useless and there was no signal.  Anyway, who was I going to call, ghostbusters?

So I back tracked and the other group had vanished without a sound.  I then found another track and climbed that, no, dead end. I heard voices so yelled out “help”.  That wasn’t very helpful, English, couldn’t remember the Vietnamese word for it.  This went on for about an hour and I had no water.  I then found another path and off I went, and guess what, it was a loop back to the motorbike park, who would have thought.  Anyway, was I glad to see Oscar, second day out!  No one speaks English so who do I tell about their misleading map!

Anyway I saddled up and took off into the distance and didn’t look back.  I then went over a small pass and then onto an amazing valley with a river and rice fields on the hills.

I found a little village beside the river and I could definitely spend time here in the future.  I got my tyres pumped up for free too.

After the valley I then had a 38km up hill drive which reminded me of Hotham in Victoria, Australia.  I filled up with petrol before the hill and off I went.  The road got a little rough, but the view was worth it.

I made it to Sin Ho, just on dusk and watched a bit of football and checked into my hotel with a view of the square, $10 AUD.

I didn’t need my alarm, a bus had it’s horn going at 6am.  Now these are not your normal horns, more are like a fog horn!  The next day was back to Sa Pa, 135km, which started off with a 60km descent and then back to Lai Chau and home the same way.  It was misty to start with and there was about 20km of gravel.

I did the pass again, and it was foggy, wet and very cold (for someone use to 35 C).  You can see it start to set in, in the photo.

 It was a great trip and a good one to start me off as it was going to get harder and far more isolated.  I drove 325km in 3 days and spent 75,000 VND on fuel ($4.40 AUD).

I made it back to Sa Pa and some friends had just arrived as they were going to climb a mountain so we had a great dinner.

Dates: 4th October to 6th October 2016

I know you have been eagerly awaiting my next installment, well wait no longer.  I spent 15 days in Northern Vietnam, north of Hanoi driving around on my motorbike.  I did four separate routes, part 1-4, but first is getting from HCMC to Sa Pa

So the journey started in HCM with Oscar taking a ride on the train to Hanoi.  It took 10 days and I flew up to Hanoi to meet him.  I landed at 4:40pm and was in a taxi by 5pm and made it to the train station by 5:55pm. That is pretty good going for Hanoi.  Now as I have found, somethings are not as simple as you would think they should be.  Luckily I had someone to help me from Tigit Motorbikes to help me navigate through the Vietnam Railway system.  So we found my bike all wrapped up, we unwrapped it and siphoned petrol from one bike to the other so I could drive it to the other side of the tracks for my journey to Sapa.

I bought my ticket and then had to wait till 8pm to check my bike in. I came back at 8pm and they said, come back at 9pm!  We finally boarded and left at 10pm.

Now because I wasn’t sure if I could get my motorbike on the same train as me, I only bought a ticket that night so I was not in a sleeper car.  I went how the locals travel so that was fun.  We arrived at Lao Cai about 6am and I had hooked up with a motorbike tour group so we had breakfast together and they gave me some fuel to get to the petrol station.

We filled up and I said goodbye to them and set off.  Now, I don’t know what it is but the hardest part about navigating in Vietnam is getting out of the town.  It took me 3 goes to find the right direction to Sa Pa.  I also noticed that my speedo wasn’t working so I found a Honda Head and got that fixed before I left. This is me at the petrol station ready to go.

It is only about 35km to Sa Pa, once you find the right way, so off I headed.  The road is pretty windy and there are lots of buses, so it was exciting.  I made it to Sa Pa, found a hotel and slept.

I did a bit of exploring; local market and had Bun Cha, City Centre and got  duped into buying a bracelet from a 1 year old.

I had a great meal and view, planned for my first trip and went to bed.

 

 

My last week being a resident of HCM was as you can imagine, busy, sad, and fun all at the same time.  I was lucky enough to have a visitor from Australia, Craig so we explored HCM.  His flight arrived on time, however we had just had one of our massive storms that dumps rain and then the roads flood.  I somehow managed to avoid it all, no delays in getting an Uber and arrived at the airport in good time however the roads were flooded.

In Vietnam the notion of queuing is foreign so we had some fun at the taxi stand and ended up sharing with a Vietnamese girl who had been ordered out of her previous taxi by a white male.

The next day we started bright and early on Tuesday and I picked up Craig on Oscar.  We had some noodles for breakfast and a bit a congealed blood is always a good way to start.

Craig is the fourth person I have taken on the “Julie’s Personalised Tour of The Ho”.  We had views of the city, went on a ferry, saw rice fields, had Vietnamese Coffee, drove over a massive bridge and had dry Pho for lunch with some of my work friends.

The next day was my farewell party at work.  I have been learning Vietnamese for about 10 months, so I wrote the below speech and presented this.

I got many lovely gifts as well from the team at work:

Craig wanted to go to the Chu Chi Tunnels and I hadn’t been since 2012 so off we went.

The traps that they made were deadly and the way they lived, amazing.  Vietnamese who killed Americans were called The American Killer Hero and we watched an entire documentary about this.

We crawled through the tunnels and fired a few weapons.  As you can see I didn’t really enjoy it, but Craig looked like a professional with the AK47.

You can’t spend time in HCM without going to one of the many roof top bars

I had my final lunch with the Habitat team and of course it was Bun Cha

Craig headed to Angkor Wat, Cambodia and I had to pack, see the before and after shots. I am not sure how it happened but I accumulated at least 20kg more.

My last night as a resident was spent having a seafood dinner, cruising around on the motorbikes and having coffee, very typical and I will miss it.