Hanoi

April 10 - 13

Our very last stop..!

To be honest, we didn't really do anything particularly noteworthy with our last few days! We did a walking tour, a bit of shopping and lots of eating.

We learnt that trutles are considered a god-like animal in Vietnam..up there with dragons, tigers and phoenix. Despite this, they still eat turtles - because apparently they're just that delicious..! Bit sad.

We discovered a cool little area where the bars and restaurants spill out onto the street, kind of like a chaotic version of Melbourne's Degraves St. Very cool vibe. 

It was Phoebe's birthday on our second last day, so we went out and had a rather large night. This of course meant that our last day was filled with laziness and excessive amounts of food (pizza, ice cream, noodles, bahn mi...alllll the food!) 

Cat Ba Island (Ha Long Bay)

April 8 - 10

We were told our bus would arrive in Ha Long at 5am and that the first boat to Cat Ba would be at 7am, giving us time to watch the sunrise and have breakfast and arriving in Cat Ba late morning. But of course, this was a lie. We arrived in to Ha Long at 2am and got a cheap hotel room for the remainder of the night. Later that day, we took the 'scenic boat' to Cat Ba. It took us through the islands of Ha Long Bay. 

Beautiful, even if it was incredibly overcast. 

We didn't end up arriving to our hostel until around 6pm, at which point we roamed around the tiny (very touristy) town, had dinner and called it a night.

We spent the next day cruising around the island on a motor bike. It was a beautiful drive, winding through the limestone mountains. 

Our first stop was the Hospital Cave, a partly natural, mostly man-made three-storey cave with multiple rooms used as a hospital and military base during the war. From the entrance we got a decent little view.

We hopped back on the bike and found ourselves at the national park. A one-hour up hill hike led us to two view points. 

The first had a little platform to look out from.

The second was just slightly higher and gave panoramic views of the island, covered in mountains.

Our last stop for the day was at Trang Trung cave, just down the road from the national park. This was a natural cave that wound like a little maze through the mountain, occasionally opening up, but mostly full of narrow paths. 

We cruised back to town along the coast...how romantic!

With a good forecast for our last day, we had planned to climb up to another viewpoint (overlooking the bay) and then lie on the beach. But we awoke to discover it was super foggy. We changed our bus so that we could leave a little earlier and I filled the morning with a walk to a couple of the beaches - would have been stunning if it wasn't so foggy. 

Sapa

April 4 - 7

Sapa is a small town in the mountains of north-west of Vietnam. The town itself is really nothing special. It's incredibly touristy. We were constantly being harassed by locals wanting to sell us something. 

We spent our first day seeking out hiking possibilities and wandering around the town. Some beautiful views of the mountains! And clear blue skies..!

Our hostel room had a little balcony where we sat to watch the sun set behind the mountains.

The next day we set off for an overnight hike! Unfortunately the skies were covered in cloud and fog. We started off by walking down some very steep hills on uneven ground. Many locals accompanied us, and gave us a hand going down the tricky parts. 

The trails got significantly easier after the first hour or two. We walked all day through mountains and rice fields. We saw lots of buffalo, pigs and one little goat who seemed to be rather enjoying the view!

We discovered at lunch time that the local ladies walking with us were only there to sell us their crafts! Phoebe and I both got sucked in and bought bracelets. Lovely bracelets - and less than $2 each.

We walked through some local villages and learnt about traditional medicines and crafts. 

Our 'homestay' in the evening was (once again) not really a homestay. It was more of a little hostel in the middle of nowhere. But, still beautiful! And nice to be somewhere remote. 

We spent the afternoon climbing over rocks along the nearby river, then chilled out in the evening, chatting and playing cards. 

Day two didn't really involve much hiking, more of a slow two-hour stroll. But stunning, none the less.

We had some questionable terrain - including walking along the edge of rice fields and trudging through a muddy, slippery bamboo forest. 

We sat for a while at the top of a waterfall, admiring the rice fields that surrounded us. 

Our last day in Sapa we walked a couple of kilometers out of town, until we reached Cat Cat Village. The walk was all downhill and offered constant spectacular views - the skies were clear and the sun was out again!

After walking by many fairly-identical market stalls, we found ourselves on the top of a little hill, where we sat, chatted and admired the surrounding mountains. 

We wandered a little further and found a waterfall. 

At that point Phoebe and I rushed back to Sapa, to make sure we had plenty of time to shower and eat before our overnight bus. To speed up the process, we got a motorbike taxi back up the hill. 

Ninh Binh & Hanoi

April 2 - 4

Our journey from Phong Nha to Ninh Binh was somewhat ridiculous... A bus arrived. We were told it was our bus. Then we were told to wait, because it might not be our bus. Then we were told to get on the bus. We got comfy. Then we were told to get off the bus, to wait for the next one. Then we were told to get on the bus again!! Somehow, eventually, we made it! At 4am. THEN... Our taxi got horrendously lost and took many phone calls to locate the hostel. We made ourselves comfortable (cold, but comfortable) on the outdoor chairs and slept for an hour or two. We awoke to find out that we had been conned. The phone number for the hostel (which we got from google maps and used to make our booking) belongs to a crazy man who no longer works for the hostel, but likes to take fake bookings for it. So we didn't actually have a reservation... Luckily the man running the hostel was an absolute gem and squeezed us in.

What a journey! 

And all this to discover that our only day in Ninh Binh would be cold and rainy. But, after all that effort we were determined to make the most of it. We spent the morning roaming around the incredibly beautiful hostel grounds. Cute little bungalows in the middle of nowhere. Love it.

Then we walked into town, through rice fields surrounded by limestone mountains.

After lunch and browse of the town, we hopped on a boat to take us down the river, through several caves, with constant stunning views. All the boat rowers use their feet to paddle! Something a bit different..! 

Towards the end it started raining and turned very cold. 

So we lazed away the afternoon, in the comfort of our bungalow.

A lovely 'family dinner' at the hostel filled us up before an early night.

We had initially planned to go to Cat Ba (an island of Ha Long Bay) the next day, but the forecast had us rethinking our plans. So we headed to Hanoi so that we could get to Sapa the next day.

I was quite sick, so spent most of the morning in Hanoi lying on the couch. When I mustered up some energy, we walked to the women's museum. Outside the museum there was a display of comics on the theme of 'gender equality' depicting how women are often disadvantaged in Vietnam.

We learnt about wedding and marriage traditions in different parts of Vietnam, as well as women's fashion and important women in Vietnam's history. On the top floor there was an exhibition about Autism in different parts of the world (completely unrelated to the rest of the museum) that I found fascinating.

We also stopped by the night market to buy some warm clothes, as everyone kept telling us how freezing it would be in Sapa... (We soon found out how wrong they were! Totally unnecessary purchases!)