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my most sincere apologies for keeping you in the dark with our latest ventures. much has happened in the past week and with only one week left we going non-stop to cram in every last bit of vietnam (although at 11 o'clock, ollie is still sleeping so obviously not that hard!)
we have travelled over 1000 miles in the last week since we updated the blog. our plans changed again after nha trang (we are very impulsive as i am sure you all know) and we scrapped the laos idea since it was going to be very time consuming getting a 28hr bus to vivienne (laos capital) with potential added time at the boarder crossing, which supposedly can take as long as a day on entry/departure! we threrefore decided to get to hanoi as quickly as possible and try to get to sapa which we have been informed by many a traveller that is is the most idillic scenery in the whole of vietnam.
our next destination, hoi an, was incredible. full of life and activities but despite being o the bus route and being a common tourist destination, it didn't feel that way (apart from an relentless crowd attempting to get you into their shops!). we ended up spending 4 nights here and until now has by far been our favourite destination yet. we may have gone a bit crazy on the shoppin front but it's difficult to say no to someone offering to make you a tailor-made suit made out of the finest material (cashmere-wool with silk lining) + waist coat for under 100 pounds! had many other great buys and subsequently had to buy new holdall to put it all in which has been a massive iconvenience from the start.
ollie has been ill for the last week (don't fret parentals he's back to his same old self again!) and therefore didn't enjoy it is much but still didn't stop him contributing to the massive chunk taken out of our spending money in the few days we were there. we did do some culture watch whilst we were in hoi an and spent one morning doing the walking tour of the old town which is filled with temples, pagodas, craft workshops, museums, assembly halls amongst other things.
so after our slightly extended stay in hoi an we swiftly moved onto hue...very swiftly. we got off the bus around midday, had a quick walk around and looked in the guidebook and decided it now worthwhile staying even for the night so boarded the 6pm bus to hanoi. one positive we did get from hue was an amazing tuna cafe which boasted an incredible tuna burger which i would strongly recommend anyone who has the misfortune to travel there in the future. also, just a note - hue has been by far the worst place for being hassled (and sometimes physically) in veitnam and is quite infamous for it in the guidebooks so watch out should you go there.
so to hanoi... ollie and i have decided hanoi is our favourite city so far. although we thoroughly enjoyed ho chi minh (old sygon), from the start it is apparant that hanoi is very different and you are instantly aware of a very lively and friendly atmosphere your are surrounded by. at this point we had decided that although we had seen a lot of vietnamese culture, we had been following the very touristy 'classic' vietnam route and we felt a bit like lemmings. we knew we wanted to go to sapa but since we still had just under 2 weeks left we wanted to make more than a 3 day trip of it so looked for other means of transport...
we spoke to the receptionist and he said that north vietnam has (in his opinion) the most beautiful scenery in the country. we had seen in the guidebook under roads less travelled that you could do a 7 day round trip to sapa by travelling west of hanoi. it suggested doing this by a bus tour but this didn't appeal after we had spent so much time up to now on buses. after our brilliant experience so far on bikes in mui ne we decided to go for it. although we had some preconceptions and advise about bikes being dangerous we decided to be careful and give it a shot.. (at this point i should apologise for not informing parents beforehand but we did not want you all to worry)
we have both agreed and i can honestly say this was the best thing i have ever done. the scenery is utterly breathtaking and is enhanced by being on a bike on big open roads (when you look at the photos you will understand why it was so magical although i don't think it is possible to catch the moment on camera).
ollie was now back up to full health and was back to his witty, lively self. our first stop was mai chau. we stayed in a small settlement called canh coonh where we stayed at our first homestay of the holiday (ollie's first ever) on raised huts on stilts. we felt very welcomed and we cooked the most incredible banquet-like dinner by the family (easily the best meal so far in vietnam). we were given matresses to sleep on but these really didn't seem to help much but nevertheless we slept like babies after our first day on the bikes trying navigate our way out of hanoi and drving a distance of 150km on winding roads to mai chau.
the next day we drove to son la. the journey was going well (bar the change of fuel ollie's bike needed) and we had covered 120 or our 170km to be covered in the day until ollie got a puncture! impressively, we quickly flagged down a local who changed the tyre in under 20mins. we felt a bit bad since he appeared to be wearing a smart shirt on the way to/from work but he insisted on helping (sums up our experience of vietnamese people really). he didn't even want any money either after ollie managed to pop the tyre in 2 places but we insisted after being so helpful in our severe moment of need.
we wearily stayed in a hotel in son la after the guidebook mentioned that many of the hotels double up as brothels and were pleased to have a very hassle-free transaction with the receptionist with no under-the-table offers. it turns out that this was actually the best hotel room we'd stayed at at cost only $8 for both of us!
the next day (yesteday) was built up from the start to be monumental to say the least. we awoke early and checked out at 6 and started driving. within half an hour of the journey ollie's bike packed up again, this time needing a new spark plug. we were releived that this happened when it did as we were to be in the mountains and literally in the middle of nowhere for the rest of the journey to sapa.
after this slight blip, everything went very smoothly...no punctures, break downs and most importantly..crashes. we followed the main road to than uyen which, although it looks like a motorway on the map and is actually the 'main road', many of the roads were only wide enough for a bike and one part (definately worth seeing pictures and videos for this) was little more than an off-road dirt track with shear drop on one side and involved crossing a rickety bridge over a river! we'r still alive though so we thought it was fun.
since we left so early, we arrived in than uyen by 1. we were shattered as we had driven for 7 hours non-stop (bar photo stops and unavoidable breakdowns on ollie's part) so had lunch at a local eatery. there were some massive language barrier difficulties which were very apparat but thaks to the phase book we had somehow managed to order a very nice luch. although it wasn't the lunch we thought we were ordering, it was very nice indeed (although very pricey considering where we were).
since we were doing so well for time, we decided to go for it and head to sapa. this leg of the journey was fantastic. very very beautiful and the roads were perfect for biking. big, recently surfaced open roads with minimal traffic. there was a brief downpour so we even got to try out our nerw bike waterproofs which we purchased in hanoi. to make the journey even more enjoyable, just as we were approaching sapa a rainbow emerged which really just summarised the whole trip in north vietnam.
once we arrived in sapa, we searched for cat cat view hotel which was strongly recommended by both the guidebook as well as several people we had spoken to about sapa. in hindsight, a very good decision. the room is very nice but the view is incredible. it looks out onto the valley we drove through with an endless view of mountains and rivers...well worth going to. and it only costs $10 a room!
anyway, after our mammoth journey yesterday we were shattered and very sore. we had an amazing full body massage in an open massage parlour on the side of the road which was by far the best we have had so far (an we are now quite the connoseurs!) and had a fairly early night sleep. ollie is still in slumberville and since we made good time on the bikes have decided to have a chill day and maybe cruise around the picturesque town and surrounding scenery on the bikes later.
tomorrow we are off on a 2 day 1 night trek south of sapa including a homestay which we are eagerly anticipating after our last experience a couple of nights ago. then off to ha long bay for the grand finale...3 day cruise on pirate ship...right down our alley.
will post pictures on as soon as we get back to hanoi as don't have the means to do it here as we packed light but will keep blog posted when we are back to civilisation
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