After breakfast a group of six of us, consisting of two mid twenty year old Dutch girls, a young Chinese-Canadian couple and our guide, left for the Pu Luong Nature Reserve and our destination for the day about 50 km away. Just before lunch we stopped and parked our scooters under a house and started a trek along the road out of the village which soon after turned into narrow mountain track crossing a river via a rickety bamboo bridge.
We continued until we came to near the top of a mountain ridge overlooking a valley with rice filled terraces cascading down into the valley below. Some local villagers came out to meet us. It was obvious that this was a less frequented track we had been walking along as even a buffalo panicked when he saw us and jumped from the track into the water of a rice paddy destroying some young plants in its wake. We headed back to where we had come from and enjoyed a great lunch after which we got back on the scooters and continued along a twisting mountain road cutting through a heavy jungle and passing many villages with fluffy dogs sleeping on the side of the road.

After a 35 minute ride we arrived at the resort which "Getup&GoVietnam" had booked for me. Located on the side of a mountain, it offered stunning views over the valley below. As well as the excellent standard of accommodation, the resort offered a breathtaking view from the swimming pool area. Again dinner was great, as was breakfast the next morning which was followed by another two hour trek through the valley.

(continued next entry)