Final boat ride and final 50km to 5003km got the 5000..

It was a early-ish wake up and breakfast and then a wait for the bus to arrive to pick us up and take us back to the boat for the trip home, when the bus finally arrived about an hour late, we were packed in like sardines and then off as if we were racing in the Formula 1, speeding through the small villages on skinny roads through the mountainous valleys of Cat Ba island. In no time at all we arrived and were taken down to the boat it was good to see it still had a list to one side. The boat headed out into the bay and we cruised through the majestic islands of Halong, it was a very beautiful ride back, when we finally burst out onto the open area of the bay we joined the armada of boats heading back to Halong City.
Our boat pulled up and we all unloaded and headed to the restaurant for our lunch, I shot off to grab my bike which was still at the hotel where I left it. Once I had my bike and it was back together I headed over for lunch, I was still not feeling great my cold was manifesting itself nicely I was only hoping I could do the ride and today and make it to Hai Phong and then head back to Hanoi the next day. I jumped on the bike and headed away and out of Halong city, the road seemed to disappear beneath me and I had soon cover 20km in less the one hour which with the way I was feeling should not be happening, then I realized the head wind that I had had to fight through on the way to Halong was now a tail wind speeding me along.
I made it to the turn off before any of the tourist buses from Halong had passed me, the road I turned onto was very quiet and was the perfect road of rolling hills. I soon came to the village of Rai Phong were I would catch a boat across the river. The lady at the counter took ages to serve me, I ended up gabbering to her about my day and only then did she sort out my ticket, must have board her. I pulled over and grabbed a coke from one stall and the lady from the stall behind got shirty because the trailer was just in front of her stall, and I mean of the 2 meter front of her stall my trailer took up maybe half a meter so to shut her up I reversed back passed her stall and made it so people trying to get to here stall would now have to walk right around me. With feeling sick and the not so good boat trip I was feeling let down by northern Vietnam, It could have been I now had resided to the fact that I would be heading home soon as well.
The ferry finally came and we all drove on and slowly made our way across the river to the other side, this is the heavy industry of Vietnam, massive ships up on dry dock and others having things replaced or taken apart. Cement factories lined the river bank and a new power station was in the process of being built. The road on the other side was filled with cars, bikes and trucks, I carried on through and after 16km finally made it to the bridge to Hai Phong, thank god. With my predicted milage this should be the 5000km mark, sweet, I had made it, got to that little point, for me this is what the last few weeks had been about hitting the 5000km and I had made it, done, finished I can leave and know that well I had made it, made it made it made it yippy yea baby, right time to find a bus, because I was feeling like crap I just wanted to be somewhere familiar.
I tried waving down a couple of buses but no luck there so had to ride into town to the bus stop, found a buses going to Hanoi and the driver was keen to take me but the conductor was not, he was a right arse would not help me at all, finally someone else took me around to another bus and we loaded the bike into that one. So there was the 3 km the ride to the bus station, I sure I have done a lot more kms then 5000, but it is 5003 map km done in 5 months over 6 countries, I will reflect on this later.
I talked to an American guy on the way back to Hanoi and he said it is not worth staying in Hai Phong at all so it seems my decision to head back to Hanoi was a good one. Managed to find a room for the night and after some dinner passed out for the night and did not get up until after 9am which for me these days is a really good sleep in.

Grumpy and a sight to behold

Grumpy was in even a worse mood as he had gotten drunk last night on the boat next door, great how much fun would he make the day now, we were off to Cat ba island and a hike up a hill with a beautiful view. Had not had that great a sleep the night before our cabin was musty and damp which did not help and I had a rattle by my head, I did manage to stop this with the fake plant that was in the room.
Breakfast was served as the boat left it’s mooring and headed away, the day was overcased and was threatening to rain, so a bush walk would be a great way to spend the afternoon, we left Ralf on another boat as he was only on a two day trip not the three. When we arrived at Cat ba the wharf was in disarray it had started raining and was not looking so good, now my enthusiasm was really picking up, not. After a bit of a wait around we loaded up on the bus and headed inland for a bit. By the time we arrived at the trekking spot it had stopped raining so we all jumped out and headed into the hills, for a start it was just a cement walking track up a hill then the real bush walking started. Mud was the order of the day and soon entertainment was all around with people falling over everywhere, have to say here I did not really think it was that bad but a lot of people were walking in flip flops, dumb arses.
One girl was having trouble so I offered to put her coat in my bag so she could use both hands, it was only later that she told me it had all her money and everything in, bugger could have had some spending money for Thailand. The walk up eventuated in a bit of a climb which lots of people struggled with, I bounded up like a mountain goat, jumping from one rock to the other it was a bit of fun. When we finally broke through the trees it was to be greeted by cloud covered hills, spikes of rock tearing up out of the ground, it was a majestic view that was well worth the climb and the hundred thousand or so mosquitoes that hounded our progress throughout the climb.
There was a tower at the top which I scaled, 5 people max and when I got to the top there were about 10 and a few going up and down, the stairs up wound be enough to put a shiver up most peoples spines, not that there hard to climb it all the rust that is around every joint and the wooden boards up on the viewing platform at the top was just as bad. I took some photo’s and headed back down to the safety of terraferma. The walk down was about as exciting as a root canal, I was stuck in the slowest group ever with no way of getting past without pushing people off the track. At the bottom we washed all the mud off in a fresh water spring and waiting for the French again we headed back to the bus for the next part of our trip.
The Hotel, well it was not your 3 star hotel that I had paid for but it was passable, I managed to get some washing done after I had had some lunch. Then headed off towards the beach and the sea. Cat ba has 3 beaches that you can go to all within walking distance from the town center, I had heard beach two was the one to go to so headed there. I had meet a couple of pommie lads at lunch and they wandered down not to long after I had arrived and was out in the water. We chatted most of the afternoon while enjoying the water, I headed out when my fingers started to look old and then headed back to the hotel for a shower and some food. Ate with the pommie guys then headed out with them to a club around the corner for a few drinks. Meet up with the girl who’s jacket I had carried up the hill and a few of her friends. It was a pretty good place we got loads of free shots and at about 11pm I decided it was time for me to go as I still had a ride to do the next day.
The walk home was nice enough until I wondered past the local Knock shop (prostitutes) were I was leapt on by one of the local girls, she was fairly insistent and would not let me walk away and kept trying to drag me back to the Knock shop, I said no and tried to break free, tried really hard, then when she would still not let me go I picked her up and carried her off down the road to which she finally decide to let me carry on my way. When I arrived back at the hotel one of our guides(not Grumpy) was drinking out the front with some of the guys from the hotel, I was invited to stop and have a drink with them, rice wine yummy. I only had a couple of very small sips and chatted with them for a while then finally about 1am went to bed.

Yippy Halong Bay here I come finally

Had breakfast, chilled out had some time to kill before I headed to the restaurant again and hopefully the boat this time, 12pm came and started to go, and I started getting a bit antsy, had the tour guides number so sent him a text to say I am at the restaurant and wait all I got back was OK, no I’ll be there in 15 minutes or anything like that just Ok, so I waited and waited and then sent another text it was now 12:20 and I was a little agitated waiting around, I sent a text to ask to if they would be here soon and all I got back was Yes, but how #@$%$#$ long will you be you stupid $%^^$% .
So I just sat there, waiting finally got the call that he was wondering where I was, I’m sitting in the restaurant you arse, so finally meet up with him and headed to the boat. We had another guide who was in charge and he was a right gumpy shit, my god what a arse. At least I was going to get on the boat, we went through the formalities and finally made it to the boat and sat down for lunch which was not half bad at all, so things were looking up.
After lunch we headed out onto the bay and finally after waiting two days I would get my chance to see Halong bay and all the islands that make it so fantastic. Our boat moved off with an armada of other boats. The islands stood before me, it was grand, on a grand scale, A true wonder of the world. The islands sprout from the water shooting up towards the heavens it is a sight to behold, even with the 600 or so other boats out there it was still stunning. As we worked our way across the harbor towards these sentinels of the sea the air cooled and you could feel that rain was coming. I was on top of the and watched as the wall of water made it’s way across the bay towards us finally hitting with a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. I escaped down stairs and watched as the islands disappeared behind the wall of water.
Luckily it only rained for an hour and then cleared as we arrived at our first stop some kayaking around these majestic giants. Grumpy my new name for our guide herded us towards the boats, ours were the worst there, could tell we were getting the short end of the stick, some of them looked like there could be a possibility that they might sink, we all had to read the agreement that said we would pay 12 times the amount that there worth if they sink, it would not be our fault but we would have to pay.
I was teamed up with a French guy who at paddling was as useless as tits on a bull, how can someone be that uncoordinated, yep worse then you curly, it fact he would make you look like a ball room dancer. Paddle paddle stop paddle stop paddle by the end I wanted to smack him over the head with the paddle and do it myself. We made it back to the boat without sinking or losing the paddles and then had to wait for 3 other guys to come back who had gone somewhere completely different to the rest of us, I think they wanted to get away from grumpy who by now because we had to wait for them was in a right mood.
After the little exploration on the Kayaks we moved the boat to it’s mooring for the night and were able to go for a swim in the milky green waters of Halong bay, the water was nice and it was good to go for a swim. Dinner was served later and was as good as lunch, the French were all talking frenchy so me a Rulf the german guy headed to the roof, next door karaoke had started and we had great fears this would go on all night. I was not really in the mood to join them as most of our crew did. It was a peaceful night besides the karaoke and it was quite pretty with all the boats on the bay with their lights on.

Waiting waiting what they left me behind the @$%#^#&^@%

Got up all excited about my Halong Bay trip, looking forward to the nice room and boat trip and look around at what makes Halong bay a world heritage site. Went to my little restaurant and had another most excellent meal. If your ever in Halong City turn right onto Halong road and it’s about the 46th shop down on your right, you’ll see it they have the cookers outside and it run by a couple of young fella’s. Anyway had a lazy morning just packing up and everything was dry and smelling fresh again. I have given up trying to get the stains out of my cloths as long as they smell clean that is fine with me.
Headed off to the restaurant at 11am wanted to get there early and be waiting, had my book ready to read and everything, very lucky I had my book ready to read I would have a lot of time for reading. Time ticked by as it does, the world moved on and so did all the tourist around me, it got to 12.15 and I tried to get hold of Jimmy the guy I had booked it through. Could not get hold of him so called the hotel asked them were he was, they did not know, well that’s annoying. So asked them if he had another number I could call, they gave me one so tried that too, phoned it and it did not even go to answer phone just cut off. So I am getting a little pissed off, just a little there was still tourists around.
Tried again and finally got through to Jimmy he said he was not sure what had happened but would give me a call back, have to say he was pretty quick getting back to me, said they had gone and I would have to go tomorrow which was a little annoying, just messed with my time line a little. It’s alright if this sort of thing happens at the start of a trip but very annoying when it happens at the end and you only have a few days left. So this would mean a day less in Hanoi. Ok I can handle this.
So jimmy would pay for a night in Halong and I was booked in the next day, he was also going to call me with the name and number of the tour guide the next morning so I would not miss him. Ok so I thought I would head into Halong city and have a look around and maybe get a hotel there. Headed in and found one after some looking the hotels are overpriced and in need of repair but I managed to find one in the end. So had a place to stay and then went looking for lunch, Lunch was good and had a little look around Halong but could not really be bothered.
The rest of the day did nothing much, read my book got on the internet that sort of thing it was pretty boring really just waiting around, chilling out.

Down poor, and yes Halong City

I had a later start then normal and got out on the road, could have been a bad move as the clouds were looking thick over Ho’s mothers. The day started with a head wind and that was pretty much it for the rest of the day, head wind and then rain, then heavy rain with lightning and thunder and more rain, great, why not throw in a bit more rain on top of the rain, so from this you can tell it rained. Or can you.
But I battled on into the rain and then thought I had found a nice busy eating spot to stop in at, little did I realize till I had pulled up what a dive it was. Decided that I needed food and this will have to do so sat down pointed at something and got some food. I have eaten dodgy meals but this one takes the cake, most of the meat I could not identify, the taste, well uuummmm hhhmmmmm, just get some dirt from outside, by a load of different parts of more than one animal, throw it in a pot with some noodles and maybe add a little bit of salt, no forget the salt, add some intestinal juice and that was my breakfast. As you can imagine I picked out the bits I could identify and eat them paid and left most of it there. So with the rain and a crap breakfast my day was looking up. NOT.
As I cycled in the pouring rain I got a view of some of the pinnacles of rock that were land locked, like sentinels they rose up out of the green of the rice fields looking out over the land, the only problem was because of industry and the want of consumerism some were being taken to pieces like tooth decay industry was scrapping away at their very soul and smashing towards the core. I am not sure what they use the rock for but it ruins the landscape. Never mind there is a whole bay of these sentinels waiting for me.
I finally made it to Halong city well the edge of it and found out where I would meet the boat tomorrow, sweet, looking forward to the Halong trip, the lady running the hotel where I was staying was really nice even though she could not speak English and she was even trying to carry my big bag up the stairs, she ended up washing the outer bag for me.
Because I had arrived early I had time to do the fun things like washing and set up a line in my room to dry everything. I had lunch of fresh Shrimp, and I mean straight out of the water into the pan which were really nice it worked out very expensive though. Later that night I did manage to find a little place that did beef soup which was one of the best beef noodle soups I have had in Vietnam. It’s looking good. I ended up going back the next day for breakfast too.

Back on the road again, and meeting Denny

It was a 170km ride from Hanoi to Halong I was going to break it up into two days but would just ride as far as I felt on the first day. It was a easy escape from Hanoi, I did have to wake the guy up down stairs to let me out and then I thought he was going to try and keep me in as he only open the roller door about a foot off the ground, after I said I had paid and was leaving early he finally opened the door and let me out. It was really quite on the streets in the old quarter and it was even easier to get on the right rode out of town, so before I knew it I was on the open road and away.
Stopped for a really good breakfast, now what I have found so far is that there is a lot of noodle soup eaten in Vietnam for breakfast and although I don’t mind it I have become a bit sick of having it every morning when I am riding, but this morning I managed to find the best noodle soup so far in Vietnam.
They BBQ the chicken so it is kinda crispy, then they have their big bowl of soup water, I am not sure what this place did but the combination of the BBQ chicken and the soup with its amazing flavors it was fantastic and very filling. So if your ever heading north east out of Hanoi and you see someone BBQing chicken pieces on the side of the road with a big pot of soup and noodles sitting by, stop it. I hope that’s enough description for you as I can’t remember the name of the place. O at the speed I was riding it was about 20km out of Hanoi. You’ll know it when you see it.
After the amazing breakfast I was back out in the traffic which seemed to have got a lot busier while I was enjoying my soup, I was soon shredding the distance off my total I even had passing thoughts of riding all the way to halong in one day, but I didn’t. I stopped a couple more time for refreshments and food and by lunch time I had arrived in Quing li my stop for the night. After some more food I went and found a hotel, the room was nice but I got the feeling that the lady was going to be difficult. We managed to settle on a room price and then I went and got settled in.
A bit later in the afternoon I was just about to head out for some dinner when Zhou turned up, now I can hear your minds working who is Zhou, well he is a guy that can speak English and has worked in New Zealand, the son in law of the place I was staying. We ended up chatting for a bit then he took me down the road to find some food, it helps when you have local knowledge, found a buffet type place, 15000dong for rice, pork x2 types plus veges and it was all really taste. Today was turning out to be a gastromic delight. I like these days.
Zhou said he would pick me up later and we would go have a drink at his bar, I had a few hours to kill so read my book and nearly fell asleep. Lucky for me there was a big electrical storm so that gave me something to watch for a while. Zhou came back later on and we headed out, we discussed everything, he really loves the fishing in NZ but from the sounds of it has not really made it out of Auckland, it was a pleasant evening but by 9:30pm I was fading fast and headed back for sleep and the 40km I had left to ride the next day.

Burning brakes and a train ride and bed bugs again

I had been attached yet again in the night by bed bugs, I smelt the bed and it all smelt clean, not very impressed, they don’t seem to etch much which is good, was on the bike and ready for the downhill. I was really looking forward to this, it was a 1km uphill then a big long downhill. The road that we had taken hours to ride up was passing very quickly, it was flying by and the trailer after the latest fix was rolling really well behind the bike. I tried to keep away from the potholes to hopefully keep the back tire safe.
As the km disappeared I was soon passing buses and motorbikes on the way down, I stopped about half way down to do some photos as the day was a lot nicer then when I rode up and with the morning sun it was a stunning view. My brakes were fairly hot but still working well so after the photos I was back racing down the hill trying to catch the buses and bikes that had passed me at my photo stop. Which meant more speed, trying to keep the flow, running the apex of the corners so I was not braking too much. I was soon passing the buses again and the motorbikes it was easy to keep the speed as the road was pretty steep.
I zig zagged down the hill the ride was fantastic, it you every get the chance to head to Sapa I recommend riding down the hill to Lao Cai, you hardly have to peddle very much at all, just make sure you have a bike with good brakes. Well worth it. I was soon riding into Lao Cai and making my way towards the train station, the ride from Sapa had only taken 35minutes to do 38 km so I was doing a average of 55km/h O yea baby, should have gone back up just to come down again it was that good.
I managed to get a soft seat for the train back to Hanoi so it was looking up from the hard seat I thought I was going to have to take. I did have to wait around for a bit but this gave me time to have breakfast. I also wanted to arrange for my bike to be loaded but I had to wait till an hour before to sort this out. Once the bike had been loaded I could relax, I had snacks for the trip and had had breakfast. Believe it or not but the train left on time. My carriage was fairly empty to start with but this would not last.
The train follows the Song Hong river most of the way back to Hanoi, it was a fairly pleasant journey, much more preferred then a bus ride. For a couple of hours the carriage filled right up till there were people sitting in the centre aisle, which the aircon could not handle so it got pretty warm in the carriage, saying that it was still cooler then the air outside. I slept on and off throughout the ride, waking myself up once when I started snoring, had a look around no one was watching so that was alright, mostly just read my book and tried to speak Vietnamese to the kids sitting in front of me. I must have been pronouncing the words just about right because there mum could understand me. At the start the kids were a bit shy but by the end of the trip they were answering my questions.
We trundled into Hanoi on time at 8:30pm, not bad Vietnam rail, I managed to find my bike and trailer and put it back together then it was off to find a hotel, the only problem was I was not sure where I was, well I knew I was at the train station but was not sure what road I was on and could not find anyone to help, great, no speaka the English. Fished out the lonely bible and took a compass bearing and was off north east, managed to find the road I needed and headed towards touristville. Found it but because I was so late in, had to ride around town a bit to find a hotel. Ended up getting a nice room with Wifi and large tv with the smallest bathroom I had ever come across. The room was really nice but no way could you swing a cat in the bathroom, in fact I don’t even think you could swing a gerbil in there. The best thing about it was the water pressure was fantastic.
So I ended up staying two nights as by the time I found the hotel and got sorted it was about 11pm and I needed sleep. The next day I did not really do too much, booked my Halong bay trip, after I had to explain to the guy twice that I would be riding my bike out here and riding it back this may have been a mistake.