Cuc Phuong National Park

kilometers cycled: 1998.8
Total punctures: 2

We have spent the last two nights and a full day in the Cuc Phuong National Park, which is just over 45km from Ninh Binh. It has been absolutely beautiful, and very peaceful.

The past two mornings, we have awoken in our stilt-house to the sound of a pack of Gibbons whooping near by - sooo lovely, and a refreshing break from traffic and roosters, both of which seem to get going around 5am! The Gibbons were much more considerate and waited 'till 7am before they pleasantly woke us with their chorus.

The first day, we cycled from Ninh Binh to the National Park, and after checking into our lovely stilt-house (kind of like a tree hut), we checked out the Primate Rescue Centre that they have on-site. We were shown around by an informative park ranger, and it really was great to see all the different monkeys (and gibbons) swinging around their (big and comfortable!) cages. The Gibbons especially were an amazing sight when they really got into full flight, the speed at which they zipped around their encolusure with their looong arms was surprising!

Most species were very endangered, and many had been rescued from poachers or smugglers. Lots of the primates had small babies with them, so apparently the breeding programme is working well... The Rescue Centre rehabilitates the primates intensively (in large cages), and then they are released to a protected enclosure, where they receive limited food and human contact, and then some are eventually released into the larger park, where they are self-sufficient. It really is great work.

Yesterday, we cycled into the park centre (20km from the entry gate - a beautiful ride through temperate rainforest) and completed two treks - one to see an enormous "thousand-year-old" tree. We also stopped off along the way into the centre to trek to a "cave of prehistoric man", which, when discovered in the 1960's contained remains of three prehistoric people, suggestive of elaborate burial ritual. The cave itself was quite impressive, and we were grateful to have headlamps to explore it a little better - we even managed to spot a group of small bats on the ceiling!

Cuc Phuong National Park really was beautiful, and a slice of Vietnam that many people don't get to see - it was really great to experience the forest, animals, and other people without the huge amount of pollution and garbage that seems to intrude the rest of the country...

Anyway, we are back in Ninh Binh this afternoon, and will continue on to Thai Binh tomorrow, then Haiphong.

All the best to everyone at home - we love hearing from you.

E & V xoxo

To the coast!

Distance cycled: 1866.6 kms
Punctures: 2.

So this morning we cycled out of Hanoi...hmmm, what can I say? It was a hooting, tooting, smoggy ride for the first 60 kms, then seemed to mellow out as the busses and trucks continued to zoom by, but the countryside started to take over from the city smog and grime. Within 106 kms, and after an incident involving a police officer waving us to stop at the side of the road and then proceeding to sexually proposition us (thank-you wedding ring, you saved me!!), we arrived in Ninh Binh, and a much more sedate pace of life :).

So tomorrow we plan to cycle the 45 - 50 kms to Cuc Phong national park to visit the primate rehab centre they have there and maybe go for a bit of a treck too. Should be quite nice to be in the national park for a day or two; we are both looking forward to it!

Take care everyone,
E & V.

Good morning Vietnam!

Total kilometers: 1760km
Total punctures: 2

We are in Hanoi at the moment, and it is fantastic to be able to communicate with people in English and (especially) order food from an English menu. Ohh, the little things...

Over the past four days, we have crossed over the Lao-Vietnamese border and have been cycling through remote North-Western Vietnam from Dien Bien Phu to Tuan Gio.

Although the mountainous topography (and ensuing mountain passes) have continued, the roads are in far better condtion than in Laos. However, apart from the beautiful H'mong women in their traditional dress, the scenery has been far less attractive, compared to the beautiful temperate jungles and crystal-clear rivers of Laos... I think that I really forgot how polluted and dusty Vietnam is!

Having cycled to Tuan Gio, we decided to sit down and take stock of our travel plans for Vietnam and reconcile those with the amount of time we actually have left... As suspected, we were cutting things really fine, and were not leaving enough time to explore the beautiful coast. So, we hatched a plan to fast-track ourselves (and bikes) to Hanoi and continue from there.

Yesterday, we caught a 5am local bus from Tuan Gio to Hanoi (420km) for only $12 each (!!), and 10 hours later we were in Hanoi. Yes, 10 hours! Lucky we are on holiday and in no real rush ; )

So, after navigating insane Hanoi trafffic from the bus station, we managed to find a lovely little guest-house down a quiet alley-way, and have been enjoying civilisation before we head off to Cuc Phong National Park tomorrow morning. We are hoping to leave early and hopefully beat the horrendeous traffic - heading out on a Sunday morning should help too...

We have had a lovely day walking around the Old Quarter and central lake, stocking up on reading books and groceries, and treating ourselves to a delicious breakfast and pizza and beer for lunch. Yum!

We are having a fab time, and looking forward to squeezing the last out of our holiday and catching up with family and friends when we return.

E & V.

Laos update

Kilometers cycled: 1680.8
Punctures: 2 :(.


I know tht it has been a while between posts people - sorry about that, but we have really been living rural Laos styles for the past wee while!

So we DID get the boat to Nong Kwai from Luang Prabang, a tiny little 10 person long boat to be precise. The boat itself was a real laugh, but thankfully water tight, and perched upon our tiny wooden seats we got the most amazing picture-postcard scenic trip up the Nam Ou river. The trip took ~7 hours all up, so definately not a speedy trip, but it really was a brilliant way to travel.
In Nong Kwai we had a brilliant evening drinking Beer Lao with our new French and German friends, and spending the night in a little bungalow by the river. Next morning we went over to see about getting a boat up to Muang Khua, near the border crossing to Vietnam we wanted to use. Hmm, as it turned out there may or may not be a boat going that way at 11am depending on how many passengers show up... Instead of sitting around waiting 'till 11am we just decided to cycle it to Muang Khua over 2 days. After studying our Laos map and it sounded reasonable so we set off...

Well, we knew they would be big days, and indeed they were!

The first day we cycled just over 100km to Oudomxay. Which doesn't sound too bad, except that in covering that dstance we had to conquer two massive mountain passes on very dodgy rutted roads.... Cycling up the mountain passes themselves are not so much the issue, but it is the time that it takes to climb so high and also the fact that that time is not regained on the downhill because we had to take it slow due to the dodgy road... So toward the end of the day Vanessa's rear tyre suffered a puncture, but we eventually got to a guesthouse just outside of Oudomxay as the sun was fading. Whew! The guesthouse was pretty fun - little school-camp-like cabins out the back of a familiy's house, and over a bamboo bridge -very rural and tranqil.

We were given some random tentacle soup (spicy!) with sticky rice and beer Lao for dinner, which was actually pretty good! Electricity for lighting only between 6:30pm and 10pm.

Next day was much the sameness although a bit easier with less big hills but the same dodgy roads, but we made the 110kms to Muang Khua just fine. The scenery was breathtaking, so a very good distraction from those thigh-burning hills ; ) Again only limited power from 6:30pm and 10pm.

Next day we going to be a big one with the border crossing into Vietnam. So we set of early at 7am, cycled down the hill to the bridge to cross the river...but there was no bridge. OK no problem, we waited for the small longboat that we ferrying people accross, and got us and our bikes to the otherside to continue along the road to Vietnam.

After setting off on he other side of the river, the "road" soon deteriorated into what could be described as an ox-cart style track, composed of silt, mud and sharp big rocks.... hmm, this couldn't be the major road linking noth Laos with Vienam, could it?? We asked several people "Vietnam?" and they all pointed up the ox track and confirmed "Vietnam". So this and the fact that it really was the only road out of Muang Khua confirmed that yes, indeed this was the road to Vietnam.... So over 5 1/2 hours we forded 2 rivers (photographic evidence comming soon), crossed 2 dodgy little bamboo bridges, climbed one large mountain pass (they don't seen to come in "small" in north Laos!) and covered 45 bone shaking kms along this "road" before it got to mid afternoon and was becoming patently obvious that we would NEVER get to the remote border crosing in time. We both decided that the best option was to try and hitch a lift to the cossing, which was probably going to be easier said than done as we had only had 2 vehicles pass in our direction all day!

But afer about 30 minutes a dump truck came along... A dump truck is probably not the most obvious choice for a lift, but really we were not picky and were certainly going to give it a try! Good thing we did; Our bikes and bags were nestled atop the load of road gravel in the back, and the two of us were nestled in the cab with the 3 Loa truckies :). We had a good time with them all laughing at each others Vietnamese, and pretty soon we had covered the 30kms to the Lao border. No problems there, then another 10 kms of hell-road to the Vietnamese border control where we were hit-on by one of the border guards (very sweet), and then cycled the remaining 45 kms on beautiful sealed Vienamese roads to Dien Bien Phu, arriving just as the sun set.....

So pretty crazy last days in the far north of Laos. We have definately had the whole "rural experience", and have well and truly gotten quite literally "off he beaten track"!! Brilliant.

Hope you are all keeping well,
E & V.

Luang Prabang

Yesterday we left Vang Vieng for Kasi, with the intention of cycling onwards and upwards to Luang Prabang over the following four days. However, we got to Kasi with plenty of energy left and hatched a plan to make better use of our remaining holiday time...

We decided to get a sawngthaew (little open-air truck with bench seats along each side) from Kasi to LP to give us a bit more time to cycle around Vietnam rather than cycling all the way to LP. So after cycling 60 very hilly kms from Vang Vieng to Kasi we wheeled our bikes to the market and tracked down one which was heading north... jumped on the sawnghthaew full of locals and had a bone-shaking 4 1/2 hour ride to cover the 160kms to Luang Prabang. Very fun I have to say, and we didn't miss any of the scenery seeing as it is all completely open air! Would highly recommend.

So LP is just the most amazingly beautiful city! It is very much aimed at the "older traveller" euphamism for 'people with money and style', but we are staying in a slightly run-down little guesthouse in the best area (score!), and mostly eating at local little restaurants. Thanks to our many days spent cycling through the rural parts of the countries we have visited we are now just fine to order a variety of basic food in Lao, Thai, Khmer and Vietnamese so we can cope without the western translations, comfort dining and accompanying price... Really it sounds like I am learning the languages, but in reality it is more the insane driving need to eat after many hours cycling that has forced me to memorise such gems as "fried rice" "noodles" "soup" and several meats in a variety of SE Asian languages :).

So tomorrow, we are going to be at the boat ticket office bright and early to purchase our tickets for the boat trip to Nong Kiaw and then get another boat up to Muong Khoua. From there we will hightail it to the Loas-Vietnam border crossing and cross over the Dien Bien Phu on the Vietnam side. So that is the plan.... fingers crossed that the boat trips all work out!!

Take care,
E&V.

Loving Laos (and Lao)

Total kilometres: 1315.8
Punctures: 1

Over the past two days, we have cycled from Vientiane to Vang Vien, with an overnight in Thalat. The cycling has been very much up and down (we are in the mountains now) and the scenery absolutely spectacular! Yesterday we cycled through lush, thick jungle, along-side stunningly beautiful and crystal-clear rivers, and past fantastic karst peaks. We couldn't ask for anything more!

Cycling to Thalat, we had a bit of a sleepy start, thanks to a late-ish night (for us anyway) at a martini bar the night before. We had a great night chatting to a couple of guys (Chris and John), who were based in Bangkok but on a brief holiday in Laos. We met them at the Thai-Lao border crossing and kept bumping into them in town - Vieniane really is a small but perfectly formed little city. Nice guys with some exciting and crazy plans up their sleeves!

Not to worry because following a healthy breakfast, and a bit of traffic exiting Vientane, we were able to enjoy a quiet side-road all the way. Lovely rural scenes and really kind people riding along side us on their motorbikes asking "where you go?" "where you from" "you very strong (!)". Almost every kid we cycle past screechjes "sabadee" at us, and we always give a wave back. The kids are sooo cute!

Thalat is near a hydroelectric dam (the Lao sell most of the power to Chinese and it seems to be doing their country very well, economically), and about 10km out of the town, we came across a fabulous river (downstream from the dam). It was like the rivers around Huka falls - lots of rapids and absolutely clear and pure. It was just beautiful to be able to cycle along the rushing water and banana tree lined road on our way into town ; )

It was a long but beautiful cycle from Thalat to Vang Vien. We met two couples cycle touring in the opposite direction - one Belgium and the other Australian. Both were much older than us (midlate fifties) but were good to talk to and ask about their holiday so far.

We were sure glad to get to Vang Vien and get some lunch into us around 2:30pm ; ) We had a roam about the town, and went out to dinner - it sure is a strange little place with lots of the restaurants\bars converting their seats to lounge-style seats, that all face a couple of TVs, which either play Friends or Family Guy. A bit strange to me, but popular with the other backpackers, apparently. It really is a purpose-built tourist town in the middle of some of the most spectacular natural scenery!

There is rafting, kayaking, and (of course) tubing on offer, and a lot of people walking and hobbling around with slings and bandages - there are bars all along the river, and people just hop from one to the next while bobbing down the river. Needless to say, there have been a few deaths, but mostly just stupid injuries.

The local hospital seems to be doing quite well out of the madness, though - They just got a new x-ray machine and I suspect that they fleece insurance companies for all they can, and pour the money back into good health care for the local Lao. Smart!

We are off to Kasi tomorrow, then another stop-over before arriving in Luang Prabang, so will be out of touch for the next few days.

E & V xoxoxox

Lovely Laos

Total km: 1106
Punctures: 1

We crossed over to Laos yesterday (21 Nov), on the popular "thai-lao friendship bridge". The crossing was busy, but a lot faster with bicycles, so we didn't have to wait for a bus to fill up before being taken across the bridge. Excellent.

We managed to find our way into Vientiene, despite a patent lack of signage "follow-that-VIP-bus" seems to work pretty well ; ). We immediately cycled to the replica "arc de triumphe" in the middle of town, called Patuxai, and got a few photos of us with loaded bikes.

We have found a really nice guesthouse, right in the action, but up on the fourth floor, so pretty quiet at night ; ). The nigh markets are, as with Thailand, THE place to go for cheap-eats in the evening, and we enjoyed a great meal on plastic chairs along the river front last night. Elisha got a 860ml bottle of Bia Lao (very good local larger) for under $1US. Brilliant!

We also sampled banana paratha on the way home, and they are HIGHLY recommended! Basically, they are thinly stretched pastry sheets, filled with bananas, folded, and grilled with lots of butter. Then, they cut the cooked parcel into bite-sized pieces, and douse the lot with condensed milk. Mmmmmmmm! Addictively good!

We are off on the road to Luang Parabang tomorrow (via Vang Vieng), so should be able to update in 2-3 days.

Thanks for all your lovely comments, and updated on goings-on at home. Love E & V. xoxox