We are up for a sumptous breakfast on our luxury Junk at 07:00 am, followed by a trip on the junk's hand-rowed tender to a nearby lagoon, accessed via a low cave that permits entry inside, where the main attraction is a group of monkeys (baboob-like) that scamper up and down the cliff side or just getting into a tree and "shaking the bejeessus" out of it.
Back to the junk for some last minute downloading of photos from all of the group's photographers and saving to an external hard-drive, an early lunch, then we are tendered back to shore and begin the 4 hour trip back to Ha Noi, stopping off at a pearl factory in Ha Long - no takers it seems!
We arrive in Ha Noi around 4:30 pm at the Thang Long Opera Hotel, where we shower and change prior to the last supper at which Binh had thought to provide two birthday cakes, one each for Janet and Dan who turned 39 and 49 respectively today.
For Jean and Fay, Janet and George it was time to set out for the airport and the trip home - the former via Narita (Tokyo) but for the latter via Incheon (Seoul), and wouldn't you know that was the day the bl---y North Koreans chose to attack the South, so no quick trip into the city, instead a 12 hour lay-over in the lounge, but luckily our plane took off without incident. Now we are back home to a winterland of snow and sub-zero temperatures - a world apart.
INTRODUCTION
In the fall of 2009 the Cross Canada Cycle Touring Society (CCCTS) announced a planned tour of Vietnam for sixteen participants to take place in November 2010, conducted by Pedaltours of Auckland, NZ. The response was overwhelming in that 48 members signed up! Thus there will be three groups touring. This blog is a rendering of the experiences of the first group who will travel between November 1st and 21st, 2010.
Vietnam is a fabulous experience. We stay at mostly 3* and 4* hotels and beachfront resorts and cycle away from the highway.
Our tour starts in Ho Chi Minh city (formerly Saigon) leading on to the beach resort of Nha Trang, historic Hoi An, and the imperial city of Hue. Thereafter we fly north to Hanoi and spend the next ten days exploring the scenic far North, including Dien Bien Phu. The Northwest is "the roof" of Vietnam, where the Hoang Lien Mountains (Tonkinese Alps) soar to over 3,000 metres (9,900 feet) and some of Vietnam's most spectacular scenery is to be found. This is definitely "the road less travelled"! Much of the area is sparsely populated and the mountains are still home to many ethnic minorities; the Montagnard women still favour elaborate costumes of brightly coloured skirts, tops and hats - each ethnic group favouring its own colour variation and design.
Sapa is an atmospheric former hill station with magnificent views of rice terraces and mountains; the temperature can drop to zero in mid-winter (January, when group three will be travelling).
We will travel by train, boat and bike as we follow the rugged Northwest route right to the border with China at Lao Cai; on several days venturing away from the civilised tourist meccas, cycling through traditional villages and staying in small towns with modest lodgings (Oh, Oh!)
So come prepared for the unexpected, for breathtaking scenery and bring a sense of adventure (and toilet paper!)
Thanks to the folks at Pedaltours for the text above and at the start of each days posts - NB There is no knowing at the start just how often we can update this blog since we don't know the availability of Wi-Fi, but by pre-posting the days activities all you armchair travellers will at least have an idea of what we are hopefully up to. Cheers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment