Hello!
It's 5:09pm and I'm currently chilling in a hammock in The Pub with Cold Beer! We are in a place called Phong Nha and have been on the Buffalo Run Tour for 3 days.
On our return to Hanoi we were shattered after a great few days on Castaway Island but the party continued. We enjoyed a day of resting, catching up with people we had met previously and also chatting to friends and family at home. We both had a hair cut and also tried to visit the body of Ho Chi Minh on one of the mornings, but when we got there it was shut!
The hostel continued to be a great laugh and we had 2 good nights out with our friends from Castaways. On one of the nights we spent ages trying to find a Karaoke bar but failed miserably, again!
On Monday we started the Buffalo Run and together with our leader 'Jonny' we have been traveling south with 2 Dutch girls, 1 Swiss girl and an American. Jonny is actually called Huynh and is Vietnamese. On day 1 Martin and I were completely shattered as we had only had around 45 mins of sleep each the previous night and the 6am start didn't suit us at all!! The 20km bike ride really wasn't what we wanted either, especially at 1pm in the afternoon through the jungle! After about 5km we were dying and a walk to a cave signalled the end of our bike ride! We refused to ride any more and took the mini van to the middle of the jungle instead! Here we played cards and waited for the group to arrive :) Cuc Phuong National Park was a beautiful place and covered in wildlife! I have never seen so many butterflies! We were shown around the Monkey Sanctuary and also the Turtle Sanctuary, these were ok but at the end of the day the animals were still trapped!
That evening Martin and I cashed really early on and slept really well in our mosquito nets. We woke up yesterday feeling much better and ready to explore properly!
We started the day with a 5km hike through the jungle to the 1000 Year Old Tree. The track was tough and it was boiling hot! Every part of my body was sweating and my clothes were wet through!! The tree itself wasn't that impressive but it was pretty big! It was only really a stump as the top of the tree had died and fallen down! I found a neighbouring tree much more impressive!
After the tree we drove to Halong Bay on land, actually called Trang An. This place was gorgeous! After a great lunch we got on a little boat with a Vietnamese woman and she paddled us around the waters, through caves and out the other side! It really was impressive and I really enjoyed sailing through the caves as they were were only 1 or 2 meters above the level of the water! The boat trip lasted around 2 hours and towards the end we decided to help paddle! All was good until I snapped the paddle...oops!
Late afternoon signalled the end of our boat ride and a drive into the town. We had a shower, meal and a rest in a hotel before getting the night bus at around 8:30pm! The night bus was brilliant and definitely the best bus I have ever been on! We each had our own little pod that let us more of less lie down so we could sleep! After chatting to Tara on wifi for a little bit I managed to get lots of sleep whilst we travelled south. At around 3:30am we arrive in Phong Nha and checked into the Gecko Hostel. I really enjoyed the bus to be honest and it wasn't a bad experience at all! We got our heads down for a few hours before waking up to continue exploring this beautiful part of the world!
Today we woke up feeling fresh and enjoyed a free fry up! It was just short of a few beans though...
First stop today was a drive along the Ho Chi Minh Pass. This was a pivotal road in the Vietnam war and the 'Elbow bend' was very heavily bombed by the USA. We visited the 'Cave of 8', named after 8 people who worked and died there after becoming trapped inside after an air raid! Our guide gave us lots of information here and it was interesting to learn about the harsh history of this now beautiful place.
It was then onto Paradise Cave which was incredible!! I've never been anywhere like it and it was certainly worth walking up the many steps to the entrance!
Inside the sights were amazing! We walked in huge caverns under the rock with amazing limestone formations all around us. It was huge inside and we walked for around 1.5km! The boardwalk was really well built and meant we could enjoy taking pictures and really take in the amazing sights around us!
Our penultimate stop today was the Mooc Spring. We had lunch and then jumped into the natural spring which was freezing cold! It was so refreshing and we all enjoyed chilling, swimming, kayaking and even jumping in off the rope swings. It was a great way to spend the afternoon!
Our final destination for the day brought us to the place I am in now, The Pub with Cold Beer! It really is cold too! When we arrived here it was great to bump into Scott, a lad that we had spent 3 days with on the Castaway trip! He's a great lad and it was good to catch up. We have just played volleyball, played with the children and as I type Martin is singing Happy Birthday on request to a little Vietnamese girl! Earlier on I had to patch up an English girl who fell of her motorbike setting off from the bar! She was only 19 and just couldn't ride it! There are so many people here with cuts and scrapes, it really does justify why I'm doing the tour!
Tonight we're going back to Gecko hostel before heading out for dinner. I'm looking forward to another day of exploring tomorrow and just wish my bites would stop itching!!!
Bye for now :) x