We continue south

11/14/2023 - 11/22/2023

Cheers to the weather forecasts, which are sometimes right. Moored in Ha Long Bay, it started to rain. It was rainy weather for two whole days and it was simply uncomfortable. This town was already a ghost town as we travel through Vietnam in the off-season. Now it was definitely completely extinct. We enjoyed these days in our hostel. We played cards and billiards with the other travelers all day, exchanged activities and hostel recommendations and braved the rain together.

The next bus took us to Tam Coc after a four-hour journey. A tourist village from which you can take wonderful nature tours. One restaurant next to the next and countless massage, manicure and pedicure salons. We climbed Hang Mua, a beautiful viewpoint with a kite on top. This morning it was so windy that it tore the summit flag away, comfortable is different, but the view over the fields below was great and we enjoyed the wind around our ears. On the way back we looked at a small Hindu temple, where Tine spontaneously got music lessons from the temple musician in “Dan Bau”. This is a traditional Vietnamese plucked instrument. It sounded absolutely scary and Flo asked to spare his ears :-)

Of course, we also took a boat tour through natural waters in Trang An. Since we had a somewhat overweight tourist in the boat, we helped our boat captain and rowed along. The first cave left us in awe. For over a kilometer, the water flowed through the karst mountain and created a breathtaking interior in the form of countless, beautifully glittering stalactites. More than once we had to put our heads on our laps to avoid the stalactites.

In the hostel we met, among others, many Germans traveling alone. We spent two days with Riccardo. We drove together to Van Long, a nature reserve that can be explored in small rowing boats. The water is lined with water lilies and sea lilies and leads through meter-high reeds. Flo got his money's worth photographing little grebes. We were able to really enjoy the boat tour this time because we were alone in the boat, the rower stopped for every photo so that Flo had time to adjust his camera and there were very few tourists there apart from us. Not yet fully developed for tourism, this trip also cost significantly less than the ones we had taken before. Afterwards we decided to visit the oldest Vietnamese national park. Suddenly it got cold because the huge palm trees and other ancient trees provided so much shade that no light reached through the treetops. We visited the “cave of prehistoric man” there. A few offerings at the cave entrance for the deities living there (or the cave insects) didn't deter us and so, armed with a flashlight (or rather a cell phone flashlight), we went fearlessly into the completely unlit cave. Here and there we squeezed through narrow passageways and ended up in complete darkness. What a strange experience that was. Just pitch black without a flashlight. Not a speck of light for orientation from above or below. An oppressive feeling.

A day later, the long scooter ride from the previous day took its toll on Tine's shoulders. Yes, you're getting older. So off to the next massage. It was a dream and the subsequent 14 hour bus ride was no problem. Overnight we continued to Hoi An. This town is known for its colorful mix of architectural eras. Japan, France and China had a hand in Hoi An's history. This city of 152,000 inhabitants is also known for its tailoring and some locals try to sell you a tailor-made suit here. It would be great, but not so useful on a trip around the world. And whether we will still fit in in a year is another question.

The most beautiful thing Hoi An has to offer, however, are the lanterns when it gets dark and everything starts to glow. You can even attend workshops here to learn the craft of making lanterns. Traditionally silk, but usually cheaper fabric, is pulled over bamboo sticks. These lanterns come in a variety of shapes and colors. They hang in front of houses, on trees and line entire streets in Hoi An's old town, the only old town in Vietnam that was spared during the Vietnam War. Especially after dark, visitors gather in wooden boats decorated with lanterns that sail on the Thu Bon. A great spectacle to watch with a cold drink in hand or to take long exposure photos.

Since we didn't drive the Ha Giang Loop, like everyone we had met so far does/did, we drove the more leisurely Hoi Van Pass on our own. To our right was untouched jungle, separated from the turquoise sea by a sandy beach, and to the left came one serpentine after another. Since we set off in unsettled weather, there were very few other two-wheelers approaching us. Once over the edge of the mountain and back down over there. Past beautiful viewpoints down to the sea, but also past great waterfalls that we passed. All in all, a great trip on two wheels, but after 130 kilometers on the scooter, my bottom was feeling a little pinched.