After a few weeks of work work work we were extremely excited to be back on the road and to explore a part of Vietnam we had not been to before, the north. We also couldn't wait to breathe in some nice clean fresh air.
It was strange being back in a hostel and needless to say we did not get a great nights sleep. To add to the equation it seemed as though Chris had been attacked by bed bugs. But we were up early and raring to hit the road.
It took us (mainly Chris doing and me trying to help!) a little while to arrange and strap the backpack to the back of the bike. With only two bungee cords we didn't have much to work with. But Chris managed to secure the bag and I squeezed myself in between him and the backpack. I don't have a particularly big bum but I was definitely wedged in securely!
As we took the main road out of Hanoi, we dodged some traffic officers who were obviously out on a mission to earn some extra cash for their back pocket. Luckily it wasn't long before we spotted a small shop selling bungees. At a ridiculously low price of just 5,000vnd (£0.15) we bought four just to be on the safe side. Chris rearranged the backpack, providing me with a little more space, and we set off properly. We had a long day ahead with many kilometres to cover....
The first couple of hours wasn't very pleasant as it was along a busy and very dusty road. We found a roadside drink station, i.e some plastic stools with a sheet of tarpaulin to provide some shade, to stop at for a short break. Soon after we reached the beautiful countryside surrounded by limestone karst and yellow harvested rice fields. The roads became much quieter and the riding was much more enjoyable as we were greeted at each small village by locals waving and smiling at us.
We made small stops here and there to regain the feeling back into our bums and to stretch our legs out. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and there was a nice cool breeze when riding.
As always, finding somewhere to eat out in the countryside is always challenging, especially when we are trying to find somewhere that looks popular. However, our patience paid off and we came across a popular pho (noodle soup) eatery in a small village. We ordered pho ga (chicken noodle soup) but I'm pretty sure it was pork, but that didn't matter as it was one of the tastiest noodle soups we had eaten since being back in Vietnam. We were very popular with the local children who were keen to practice some of their basic English skills and would then run off and return with more friends to come and see the foreigners!
Our final few hours of riding was along the small windy country roads through the many farming villages. The fields were scattered with workers harvesting the rice, from chopping the rice and collecting the bundles, to using a machine to separate the rice grains. It was fascinating to see the different stages of the harvest all being carried out. The roads were then lined with the grains laid out to dry in the sunshine. Being on the back of the bike provided me with a lot of thinking time, feeling grateful, as we were riding through all these tiny villages, admiring the workers out in the scorching heat, hard at physical work.
It was a relief to see the edge of a glistening lake after nearly seven hours on the road, and covering 200km. We had arrived at Ba Be Lake, Vietnam's largest natural lake, surrounded by mountains, limestone karst, and green forests. We followed the sign to a Homestay and just as I thanked Chris for a smooth and pleasant trip, he had the motorbike in the wrong gear as we tried to ride up a very short but extremely steep driveway. Of course this ended in us rolling backwards, Chris trying to control the motorbike in reverse, and ultimately it ended with the bike on the floor! Clearly I had spoken too soon!
At an extortionate price we jumped back on the motorbike and meandered our way along the edge of the lake to a small village with plenty of options. Using the trusty TripAdvisor we settled for a very basic room at 'Ba Be Lake view homestay'. It was simply a mattress on the floor of a wooden hut, with a mosquito net and fan, and shared bathroom facilities. But it was all very clean, popular with a few other tourists, and would only cost us £4!
We soon got chatting to a couple from Israel and spent the evening with them, eating, drinking rice wine with our hosts, and learning a popular Israeli card game called 'Yanif'.

Despite wearing a long sleeved shirt and temple trousers yesterday evening, we were both covered in mosquito bites which kept us up a lot of the night. The stack of packaged pancakes with bananas did not go down well at breakfast either. But we managed to arrange a boat trip out on the lake for the day and along with the Israeli couple, we followed our host's husband down to the water. We had to clamber across another boat to reach ours, and very unlike Chris, he missed his footing and managed to get a very wet foot! It was a very rattly noisy boat which ruined the tranquility of the lake. However it was still very pleasant out on the lake with the incredible mountainous scenery surrounding us.
It was a good hour or two before we arrived at 'Dong Puong cave'. A large cave full of noisy bats. We had some time to explore before heading back to the main lake for the boys to take a quick dip.
Our next stop was at a tiny village where we disembarked and walked about a kilometre to find a waterfall. It was a little disappointing as it was more of a rapids, but the walk there was nice. Then we returned to the village for a very expensive lunch, but in this situation there was no other option, and at the end of the day the extra money means more to them. As always the rice wine was flowing and soon enough we were all beginning to feel the effects. Leading us struggling to keep our eyes open as we cruised along the river and back to the lake, despite the noise from the boat!
We made a quick stop to climb some steps up to a temple before returning to the village to try out some bamboo rafting. All four of us were on one long bamboo raft, which surprisingly felt pretty stable. We didn't get far as our oars were simply some small pieces of bamboo. But far enough to take a quick dip and cool off in the lake.
In fact, Chris even managed to snap his oar in half! Back on the land, our driver had seemed to have abandoned us, so we collected our belongings and walked the kilometre back to our Homestay.
For the remainder of the afternoon we chilled out on the balcony of the Homestay with gorgeous views over the lake. The Israeli couple practice acra-yoga, so we watched them perform a routine. It was very impressive and clearly needed a lot of strength and control. Our evening was full of laughter and too much rice wine as our host and her husband (our boat driver) joined the four of us after dinner.

We had a surprisingly good nights sleep - must have been all that rice wine! Our host cooked up some fried noodles for us for breakfast which was much more appetising than the packaged pancakes. Then it was back on the road....
The road around the lake wound its way up the mountain, providing wonderful views with a very peaceful setting. We made short stops for taking pictures, refuelling and hydrating. Just as we approached Cao Bang, nearly 150km from Ba Be Lake, Chris noticed that something was wrong with the clutch. So we pulled over at the first mechanic we spotted. The clutch cable needed changing as it was on the verge of snapping, but it didn't seem as though the mechanic knew what he had to do. Luckily Chris has the knowledge and was able to assist. What should have been a quick job turned into over an hour and we were hungry for lunch and out of water.
In the main town of Cao Bang we stopped at the first sign of available food, a banh mi stand. It would do for now as it was mid afternoon. It also allowed us some time to research into accommodation for a couple of nights. Thankfully one guesthouse in the Rough Guides coincided with TripAdvisor so I went and checked out the room whilst Chris waited with the motorbike and our bags. More than pleasantly surprised and with a little bit a bartering we checked in to 'Hoang Anh'. The room was huge, very spacious, with a balcony overlooking the river and countryside.
We had read that we needed to purchase a permit to allow us access to Ban Gioc falls, where we were heading the following day. This is due to the falls sharing the border with China. So off to the immigration office we went. Unfortunately the officer required both of our passports in order to grant us a permit, however mine was with the motorbike rental as a deposit. As you can imagine we were furious, not at the officer, but at Allan, the motorbike rental, for insuring us that a photocopy of our passports was enough to retrieve the permit. Ban Gioc falls was the main reason for our motorbike trip up north, and it had taken us two days and nearly 400km of riding. But at this point there was nothing we could do so we bought some beers and went to relax on our balcony.
After some frantic Internet research we found many blogs and reviews saying that the permit was no longer required, so we decided that for the sake of another couple of hours riding, we would take the risk tomorrow.
Chris, having found a rated pizzeria on TripAdvisor was keen to try it out for dinner. It was pretty good pizza and we ensured to order too much so that we could take the left overs on our trip tomorrow. Cold pizza is the best!

Up and on the road by 8am, we hoped to find somewhere along the way to stop for breakfast. What we didn't realise or expect was to reach rural tranquillity as soon as we exited Cao Bang. The landscape was absolutely stunning, the villages were authentic, and the women and children were dressed in various traditional tribal clothing. Various animals lined the roads and provided challenging obstacles at times; dogs, chickens, ducks, cows, water buffalo, horses, goats.
Realising we would struggle to find somewhere to eat, we pulled over to munch on some fruit and take pictures of the locals at work in the fields with their water buffalo's.
Further along the windy road we entered Phuc Sen, a forging village, with rows of locals hammering new blades into shape on ancient anvils. We also rode through some fascinating villages with traditional stilt houses.
Luckily, about 20km from Ban Gioc we entered a small town and stopped for noodle soup. Worryingly we were not entirely sure of what the meat was, but it tasted like pork and was nice. With our tummies full the last stretch went very quickly and soon enough we caught a glimpse of a dazzling emerald green river. Of course it was flowing in the same direction as we were riding and eventually it reached the falls.
What a magnificent sight! Even from far away Ban Gioc was incredibly impressive and breathtaking.
We had absolutely no problems purchasing the entrance ticket and soon we were at the foot of the surrounding pool. It was definitely the most impressive waterfall I have seen and well worth the journey to find it. In fact it is the fourth largest waterfall along a national border, after Iguazu falls, Victoria falls, and Niagara falls.
The Chinese side was far more busy than the Vietnamese side. There were a few westerners around but mainly local tourists. We climbed an extremely precarious path to reach the top of the falls and were then enticed to join a large group of local tourists having a picnic...and drinking plenty of beer and incredibly strong rice wine. We accepted the beer, reluctantly shot some rice wine, and were forced to eat various foods. At first it was fun and very entertaining but with the language barrier it slowly started to become a little awkward and all they wanted to do was shot rice wine with us! Of course with Chris riding he couldn't drink much and they are not very good at taking no for an answer. So we quickly drank our beer, thanked them, and said our goodbyes.
On our way back we stopped along the Quay Son river at the waterwheels to take some pictures. The contrast of the rustic waterwheels with enormous limestone karst and emerald green water was picture perfect. We made a final stop along side some roadside orange sellers. The elderly ladies had welcoming characteristic faces and we couldn't not purchase any.
It had been another long day on the motorbike, covering nearly 200km. We found a small restaurant serving BBQ meats and randomly some sushi for dinner. We were pretty shattered so took an early night ready to hit the road again tomorrow.

We awoke to the cold and rain, not ideal for a long days riding. After a banh mi for Chris and beef noodle soup for me, we wrapped the bag with a poncho, strapped it on the back of the motorbike and put our ponchos on as well. Our journey had changed direction as after hearing from other travellers that the Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark was well worth a visit we decided we could fit it into our trip. On the downside it meant a lot more kilometres to cover and the next three days would be long days on the road.
After an hour or so on the road we had to stop to layer up. The road was slowly climbing higher and higher and the temperature was dropping. Along with the rain and wind from being on the motorbike neither of us were enjoying the cold and wet journey. I decided to listen to some music to help distract and entertain myself. Although there was some nice scenery, everything tends to look better in the sun.
Chris spotted a busy eatery in the town of Bao Lac for us to stop at for lunch. Next thing we knew we were ushered over to a table with four locals and not surprisingly handed shots of rice wine. It seemed that our food became their food and vice versa. They were well on their way and again could not understand why Chris could not drink. They were extremely persistent with refilling my glass with rice wine. The guy next to me also kept putting pieces of various animal insides into my bowl which I was not impressed by. As soon we finished most of our food we legged it out of there. We didn't even want to ask where the toilet was and instead rode a few kilometres down the road to find somewhere to go.
The roads starting turning into tracks and in some parts Chris said it was like riding on slush but muddy slush. Chris 'couldn't help' but flick our feet and legs with mud from the tyres, but at least that was all. We saw a few locals that had clearly fallen off of their mopeds into the slushy mud and were wiping themselves down.
Several short stops later and covering just over 200km of mountainous roads, we finally made it Meo Vac, a dusty town in the Geopark. We searched around a little bit for somewhere to stay and eventually settled at 'Linh Anh homestay', in a room with three double beds, its own bathroom with hot water and flat screen tv, all for just £6. The hot water was essential as the temperature had dropped as we arrived early evening into the mountain town.
We found a local eatery for dinner which soon filled out with locals and local tourists. We had a hearty beef fried rice and a celebratory beer as today it had been a year since we left home.

Today's journey would take us through the Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark, the first Geopark in Vietnam, and the second in SEA. It is 80% limestone with many majestic rock gardens.
We set off early and thankfully the sun was out and the air was cool. It wasn't long before we were both in awe of the views. It was truly amazing.
The mountainous road has been cut into the side of a cliff and at times was heart stopping with the lack of barriers. As far as the eye could see was rippling hills tumbling down to the Nho Que river. In some instances the terrain was scattered with sharp pointy rocks of all shapes and sizes. We made plenty of stops to take pictures and absorb our surroundings.
It was a shame about the amount of lorries and minibus loads full of local tourists, equating to busy mountainous roads. But the groups of young local tourists on mopeds with their Vietnamese flags and t-shirts was great to see.
The road between Meo Vac and Dong Van had by far the most spectacular views and exciting road. From Dong Van we headed to Sa Phin and then onto Yen Minh which was still incredible but more about interacting with the local tribes. The Geopark is home to 17 ethnic groups creating a rich cultural heritage. Some tribes were more happy to see us than others, but generally the children were extremely friendly and were the first to wave.
From Yen Minh it was onto Tam Son where eventually we found somewhere for lunch. Another beef and fried rice dish but it did the job. From here it was a windy decent down the valley which eventually led us out of the Geopark and to flat land. Ha Giang is a popular place for tourists to stop over at but we spotted a hotel on TripAdvisor about 15km out of town which was cheap and had good reviews.
'Huang Tra' and its rooms were way overdue a revamp. They were tired and old, but after riding all day and covering over 200km again, we were not going to ride back on ourselves. So we settled here since it would just be for one night.
Chris went to get the oil changed on the motorbike by a recommended local mechanic, however the mechanic was not around. His wife happily showed Chris where some tools were though, so he changed the oil himself. We went for a wander and it soon became clear that we were going to struggle to find anything to eat for dinner, so after sharing a beer, as the place we stopped at only had one cold beer, we resorted to dinner at the hotel.
It was such a bizarre deserted old place but thankfully two staff members cooked us up some fried noodles with chicken. We made a visit to the shop over the road and bought some 'Choco Pies' to fill us up.

We set our alarms for 6.30am to ensure we were on the road nice and early. We had nearly 300km to travel in order to reach Hanoi, and we were determined to do so, to avoid paying an extra days rental!
Luckily it wasn't long before we found a noodle soup eatery for breakfast. Then it was full speed ahead to try to clock through the kilometres. It was a decent road, in good condition, fast moving, not so many animals or people walking out, and little traffic. But on the other hand there was plenty to look at to enjoy the ride. At one point we were pulled over by a traffic officer, but as soon as he realised we were Western, he ushered us along on our way! Phew!
We made small stops every hour or so to allow myself to gain the feeling back into my bottom, and by 1pm we had reached Vinh Yen, a city just 50km from Hanoi! Chris had made it in extremely good time, so when he spotted a Bia Hoi eatery it seemed only fair to stop. The food was actually pretty good and the glass of fresh cold beer went down a treat.
Soon enough we were back in Hanoi but welcomed in by the rain. Unfortunately it took us much longer than we expected to find a room for the night, either the price was extortionate or there was no room available. After two hours of riding around we ended up settling at 'Hanoi Asia Cozy Hotel' and paying more than we would normally. It is part of the same chain as Kangaroo where we had spent our first week living back in September.
Bags collected, motorbike dropped back, showered, nice clean clothes on, we decided to make use of our free Indian meal that Chris had won in a Facebook competition. Embarrassingly 'Little India' knew nothing about this competition but after a few phone calls they were kind enough to honour our voucher and we ate a delicious meal.

Just our luck there was no room for us to stay another two nights, so we went on the hunt for another room. After a short search and realising there was not much choice again, we agreed on a room at 'Camellia'. It was clean but very run down, although it had a balcony which enabled us to let in a lot of fresh air and light.
We hired a Honda Cub for the day, choosing looks over practicality, but massively regretting this decision as we drove off! The gears were difficult to engage, and I felt as though I would bounce off the back. Anyway, it did arrive us safely to AMA to collect our wages and as a treat we went to the cinema to watch 'The Mockingjay Part II'.
On our way back to the city we went via the book store to sell some books and for me to pick out a new one. Luckily we missed the massive downpour by doing so. We had a couple hours rest before catching up with some old friends of mine, Amy and Sarah. Two sisters I have known since I was four years old but haven't seen for at least ten years.
Of course we took them to Bia Hoi corner and drank a fair few fresh beers, before introducing them to bun cha for dinner. We later returned to Bia Hoi corner and drank and chatted the night away.

It seemed only right to start our final day in Vietnam with pho ga (chicken noodle soup) on the streets. We were up fairly early due to being awake and on the rode early for the past couple of mornings. It was quite pleasant walking through the Old Quarter early in the morning, even before most of the souvenir shops had set up. We visited the post office to send some Christmas cards home then made a visit to a gold shop to exchange our VND to USD. The 'black market' as such was the only way we could exchange our wages, and USD would be useful for our next adventure.
We made one final visit to 'Cong Caphe' after lunch, our favourite coffee shop, for their coconut coffee. We visited a different branch from usual which was perfect for people watching. We watched the street sellers below and it allowed us time to reflect on our time living in Hanoi.
One final thing we had been meaning to achieve whilst living in Hanoi was to take a time lapse of a really busy junction in the Old Quarter. We set ourselves up high on the balcony of 'Highlands Coffee' and slowly sipped away at our drinks. Amy and Sarah joined us later and we took them for bun bo nam bo for dinner (beef noodles with a little sweet broth). We all needed to pack and sort things out for early starts tomorrow so we said our goodbyes and called it an early night.
Our time in Vietnam had come to an end. We were definitely sad to be leaving as both of us have fallen in love with the country. However we were both more than ready to get back on the road and travel again. Our next adventure would take us to Myanmar....