Cat Ba Island - Vietnam

Cat Ba Island was part of the Ha Long Bay cruise. We spent 1 night on the junk and 1 night on Cat Ba Island. We stayed at the Holiday View Hotel and the photo below shows the view from our window. The bay had floating seafood restaurants along the foreshore.

The next photo is of the sunset from the foreshore.







After the Halong Bay Cruise we stayed at Ha Long City. The highlight of this time was sitting on recliners on the beachfront under umbrellas enjoying a coffee. We spent several hours on both days doing just this, watching the passing parade of junks, container ships and cruise boats.

We rode bikes in the Cat Ba national park and visited a cave used by the North Vietnamese soldiers during the war. The cave was used as a hospital and provided cover from the air attack. Our guide was a good teller of the story and set the scene well.

This photo shows Patricia cayaking through a cave while Robert sits back and takes photos.

Sapa Northern Vietnam - mountainous area

We arrived in Sapa on Saturday 23rd April on the overnight train from Hanoi. It was a 9 hour trip. We arrived at the Summitt Hotel at 6am for breakfast. We left on a tour of the local Cat Cat Village where the Black Hmong people live. It was a walking tour with a local guide from the village. The villagers dress in traditional clothes which are very colourful and they make themselves. We saw how they weave, dye and embroider their clothes.

These pictures show the tribal women waiting outside our hotel ready for the walking tour. Many carried babies in pouches on their backs. And of course the ineviteable basket on their backs which held the handicrafts they wished to sell to us.

The next photo shows a main street in Sapa. The local girl in the forefront of the photo is Em our guide. This was the route we took on Day 2 to visit the Muog Hoa Valley, a 12 km walk along some very interesting terrain (photos to follow). We visited 3 villages, Ylinhho Village (Black Hmong tribe), Lao Chai village and finally the Ta Van village. We had lunch at Em's village, a lunch cooked by the local village women.

The 2 village women on the right helped Patricia through some very rough terrain. They were so lovely and amazingly their english was limited but we managed to communicate.

These photos show the very muddy terrain that we walked through. Thank goodness for the gumboots we hired from the hotel. They were lifesavers. One lady lost her shoe in the mud and they had to dig it out. It gave us an idea of what it must be like to work in a rice paddy.




See the basket on the village lady's back.

This shows the terraced rice paddies which covered this area, taken from a high vantage point.

This was a waterfall we visited. The bamboo in the forefront is characteristic of the area. Robert got to munch on some sugar cane as we walked.

A view of the valley from our walk on Day 2.







The view from the balcony of our hotel - The Starlight. Wow, it was fantastic. Started with cloud and mist covering the mountains on Day 1 but by the last day we had sunshine and perfect views. It was awesome!!

Halong bay

Below is a picture of the Imperial Junk we went on. Our room had a window and a small balcony and an ensuite bathroom. It was lovely.

What a most beautiful place. It has to be up there in one of the wonders of the world. Well we thought it deserved that title.

Hope some of these photos capture the magic for you.

We toured with 4 italian couples who had adopted Vietnamese babies. We felt very priveleged to share part of their bonding with their new babies. Of course, Robert had to have a cuddle. Isn't Sophia just so cute. We cant remember her Vietnamese name.

Nim Binh - Hoa Lu and Tam Coc

We took a day tour to visit this area. Hoa Lu is the old capital of Vietnam. The king of this area united all districts together and defeated the chinese that had occupied the area. After this the capital changed to Hanoi.

We rode bikes from the temple through villages to Tam Coc (12kms) where we had a huge lunch. We then went on boats rowed by villagers along a river through rice paddies and limestone tunnels. It was beautiful, just spoilt by the hard sell on the way back. Hmmm!!! but that is Asia.

This photo depicts a villager rowing a boat with 2 tourists. His very long beard was interesting.

Itinerary Asia 2011

Itinerary

• Luxury Hotel Hanoi 13-16 April






• Halong Bay cruise - Imperial Junk 17 April






• Halong Holiday View Hotel on Catba Island 18 April






• Sunrise Halong Hotel 19-20 April
  






• Luxury Hotel Hanoi 21 April
  






• Train to Sapa 22 April
  






• Summitt Hotel, Sapa 23 April







• Starlight Hotel Sapa 24-25April
  






• Train Sapa to Hanoi = overnight 26 April







• Luxury Hotel, Hanoi 27-28 April







• Open bus Hanoi to Vientiane Laos - 29 April - 16 hour trip







• Aroon Residence, Vientiane Laos - 30 April to 4 May Ph +856 21263023







• Vientiane to Luang Prabang by bus on Thursday 5 May







• Sokthavy Inn, Luang Prabang 5 - 11 May Ph 856 71213057







• 12 May - leave by slow long boat to travel across the border to Thailand - 2 day trip by long boat approx. 8-9 hours each day







• Overnight in Pakbeng Village - 12 May







• Overnight in Huay Xai - 13 May - the boat arrived at 5.45pm at Huay Xai which was too late to cross the border which closed at 6pm






• 14 May - Crossed border at 9am and were on a bus by 9.30am to Chiang Rai






• Chat House - Chiang Rai 14-16 May






• Mandala House - Chiang Mai 17 - 23 May (we may need to do a border run on 23 May to renew our Thailand visa) The Thai visa was only issued for 15 days as we came via a border crossing and not via an airport.





• Decided not to do the visa run. Travelling to Bangkok on the night train on Tuesday 24 May. Will be staying with Kak and Eh in Bangkok 25-26 May and then a night in Bangkok on Friday 27 May.




• Sawasdee Khaosan Inn Bangkok - Friday 27 May. Near Kaosan Road in the backpackers district.





• As our visas expire today, we travel by bus to the Cambodia border (Poipet) and then onto Siem Reap Cambodia





• Dream Villa, Siem Reap. Sunday 28 May to Saturday 11 June and we may stay longer. Will be volunteering at the Acoda Orphanage from Monday 29 May which is right next door to the hotel.



• Coolabah Hotel, Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Tuesday 14th June


• Indochine II Hotel, Phom Phen, Cambodia -


• Thanh Thuy Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam


• Sleeper bus Ho Chi Minh to Hoi An - 22 June (Hahn Cafe company)


• Huy Hoang River Hotel - Hoi An, Vietnam - 23 June

Asia Travel 2011

Robert and Patricia are off to Asia again to start where we left in 2010. We fly into Hanoi Vietnam on Wednesday 13th April after a 1 night stopover in Kuala Lumpur at the Concorde Inn Airport Hotel(compliments of Malaysia Airlines). On the flight to KL the pilot announced that we would be flying over Ayres Rock and the Olgas and that he would fly around at an angle so that all could view them and he did. It was a fantastic surprise which we enjoyed. We fly into Hanoi and are booked into the Luxury Hotel for 2 nights.