Halong Bay and the last leg of cycling

Hanoi to Vinh via Ha Long Bay

We set off from Hanoi for the final cycle leg of the trip. Seven consecutive days of cycling with one particularly challenging ride - well 70 miles which I for one was going to find difficult - midway through. We'd booked an overnight cruise around Halong Bay  (a tactical distraction from Max to stop me complaining about the amount of cycling we were doing 😉) which I was really looking forward to - and we were keeping our fingers crossed that the weather would perk up a little for that🤞.

The hotel staff were very keen to help us with all our luggage as we loaded up the bike outside the hotel - this process always takes quite a while as we battle to squeeze everything in! Max never misses the opportunity to point out we're carrying too much, he means me of course although he's had to relent a little on that score as my bag slots into the pannier so much easier than his 😉. This particular morning we seemed to attract even more attention than usual and by the time they all waved us off I felt I'd made a friend for life with the Hotel Manager who really couldn't get over the bike and our trip generally and took loads of selfies with us 😂

Our journey to Halong Bay was spread over two days and so on day one we were heading for Haiphong - another non tourist town where we were staying in an apartment hotel, the main appeal of which was having our own washing machine/drier to use 👍. After navigating out of Hanoi (which was starting to feel like second nature to us 😂😂) the first part of the ride was quite pleasant. We passed through several villages and cycled alongside some rice fields too. The last 25 miles was a bit grim though as we were back on the main road with huge lorries and motorcycles everywhere - all honking, hooting and tooting all the way 😫. We were quite relieved to reach Haiphong around 1pm and very much hoping that we'd be allowed to check in early. Our luck was in because not only were we able to check in right away but we were also given a free upgrade - to a one bedroomed apartment! We were still most excited about the washer/drier though 😂

Once we'd sorted our washing and showered we set out to explore the town. Like most of the non tourist towns we've visited so far in Vietnam, as we approached the outskirts we got the initial impression of it being fairly traditional - full of roadside markets and small holdings - but as we reached the centre it soon turned into a pretty modern metropolis. We instantly liked the feel of Haiphong - lively enough to keep you entertained but smaller and less hectic than Hanoi. All the locals we spoke to commented on the pace of life suiting them and seemed to much prefer living here than either Hanoi or HCM City. There were some elegant gardens in the town centre - again with beautiful flower displays and fountains all lit up at night with changing colours 😍

We found another really nice Indian vegetarian restaurant to eat out at - it was attached to a yoga studio and we toyed with the idea of doing a class in a couple of days time when we'd be returning to Haiphong for another night after the cruise. Today though we were just looking to eat and we certainly came up trumps. The man who owned the restaurant (also the yoga teacher) was really pleased to see us - I think the restaurant had only just opened for the day and was also new to the area. The food was pitched as healthy - no alcohol available which threw me a little - and it was absolutely delicious! So much so we went back again when we returned to Haiphong two days later 👍.

At breakfast the next morning we had great fun chatting with the waiter working in the hotel. As with so many people we've met he was really interested in hearing about us and our trip and couldn't believe how far we were travelling with the tandem. He was a really engaging chap with a great sense of humour and we really enjoyed our conversation with him. This continued on our return - he recognised us instantly and gave us a very warm welcome when we walked in for breakfast. We talked about all manner of things, life in Vietnam and Haiphong and all about the many ways, customs and traditions. When we came to leave he thanked us and said what a great conversation we'd had and how much he'd enjoyed it 😍. 

Outside the Grand Hotel du Lac in Hanoi

This lady kindly got us safely across the busiest road I think we've faced yet 🙏🙏

More colourful roadside stalls

Beautiful gardens and fountains in Haiphong

So after our initial stay in Haiphong we set off for Halong Bay and the overnight cruise that awaited us. The weather was looking good which gave us great cause for optimism and just the boost we needed to spur us on. We needed to reach the cruise ship by 11am and it was about a 40 mile cycle ride away. In theory easily doable provided we didn't meet any unforseen obstacles 🤞🤞. It turned out to be a really pleasant ride - the sun came out for us and although we did a fair bit of cycling on the main roads we also passed through a number of interesting towns and bustling markets - a mixture of traditional and more modern. Lots of Têt preparations were in flight - those kumquat and blossom trees are being transported on the back of scooters everywhere we go! I keep thinking that at some point they're going to run out but they're on sale wherever we go so supply is keeping up with demand atm 😂.

As we approached Halong Bay the scenery really opened up and it was lovely and sunny too. We passed through some lovely little villages and cycled down a few very narrow roads - not too narrow for a few scooters to shoot past us in both directions though 🫣

We arrived at the cruise ship with plenty of time to spare and we were checked in and on board in no time at all. The staff all seemed really welcoming and good fun and first impressions of the ship were that it seemed very luxurious indeed👌. On being shown to our cabin we were completely bowled over - we'd been given a corner room at the front of the ship so we had not one but two balconies. It was so luxurious - even nicer than some of the luxury hotels we've stayed in 🤩.  We unpacked and made ourselves at home and headed back to the dining room for a really tasty lunch 😋. There was a pretty full itinerary all included within the (very reasonable) price of the cruise. You could do as much or as little as you wanted to but we'd pretty much decided we'd embrace everything that was on offer. So first we went by small boat a very short drive away to a beach within the bay where we both went for a quick swim - the water was pretty chilly but we enjoyed it all the same! After about an hour we were taken back to the ship for a short while (just enough time to change out of our wet swimming gear) before the next mini excursion - a trip on a traditional bamboo boat through some caves around the bay. The scenery was stunning and at one point we were entertained by a very lively troupe of monkeys - including some very cute babies 😍. The turquoise waters of Halong Bay are totally mesmerising and the limestone karsts (similar to those we'd seen in Ninh Binh) are spectacular. It's very easy to understand the Unesco heritage status of this area as it's simply stunning, notwithstanding of course the multitude of other cruise ships you have to share it with 😉. 

Back at the ship it was time for the next activity - a cooking class on how to make vietnamese spring rolls 😋. By this time we were getting to know the team and their sense of humour. One particularly delightful host was a young lady called Minh Thu and she explained the 4 simple steps to making them, being:

- chop, chop, chop

- mix, mix, mix

- roll, roll, roll 

- fry, fry, fry 

Then came the fifth, most important step - eat, eat, eat 😂😂.

It didn't take much to persuade Max to get stuck in and join the chefs to have a go and he was awarded a certificate for his efforts from the head chef later that evening 👍👏👏.

After that we returned to our cabin and scrubbed up for dinner as best we could before sitting down for a delicious three course meal - I even had a glass of wine to add to the sense of occasion 😉. For the duration of the trip we had an allocated table for two in the dining room (with a nice view out onto the deck) and a dedicated waiter to look after us. He was tiny and very charming indeed - he worked really hard and looked after us so well and imagine our surprise when we rocked up on the top deck of the boat for Tai Chi at 6.30 am the next morning only to find he was also our instructor 🤣. 

After dinner we went up onto the top deck to see the bay, all lit up with the distant lights from the other cruise ships in the area - it was quite magical. We stayed there for a while and chatted to a few of the other guests before retiring to our cabin. We'd both hit the wall and I think our heads barely hit the pillow before we were out for the count 😴. I think I had the best night's sleep ever that night 😂

The next morning after Tai Chi at 6.30am we went on another trip to visit the largest caves in Halong Bay. We were accompanied by Minh Thu the lovely lady who had hosted the spring roll cooking class. She was a brilliant host and guide - a really lovely person with a warm heart and a great personality. She gave us all the background and history of the caves - we learned about how Halong Bay got it's name because it means where the dragon landed. Inside the caves are the most amazing displays of stalagmites and stalagtites and Minh Thu pointed out for us all the different shapes, characters and animals (wolves, dragons, a mother and child, some young lovers, Simbar the Lion King) that can be seen if you look closely enough 😍. She really did look after us and totally brought the whole experience to life.

We returned to the ship one last time for a great breakfast to send us on our way and then it was time to pack up and say our goodbyes. As we cycled away from the ship it was hard to believe we'd only spent 24 hours on board!! What a fabulous experience - it exceeded all our expectations and was incredible value for money too. I didn't hesitate to give them a 5 star 🌟 review before we'd even left the ship 👍👍

On our way to Halong Bay - ominous clouds

As we approached the bay the sun came out

Our cruise ship awaits us 😃

Our cabin delights us 😊

A beach with some sun at last 😃

It didn’t take Max long to get in!

Ominous clouds but no rain appeared

I finally took the plunge - it was chilly!

Spectacular limestone karsts

A fabulous three course dinner

How romantic is that 😍

Max gets his certificate from head chef 👏👏

Up on deck after dinner

The bay all lit up - it was magical

Waiting for Tai Chi at 6.30am

Exploring the caves

Another great photo opportunity 👍

With the cruise behind us it was back to earth with a resounding bump! Five more consecutive days of cycling - with a tough one thrown in just for good measure! As I've already mentioned, we returned to Haiphong for one more night and the next morning after that we set off for Thai Binh - a 40 mile ride which we took at a fairly leisurely pace saving our legs for the following day and the much tougher ride we were going to face (I keep mentioning that don't I 😉). Again we had some nice scenery - pleasant rural stretches through traditional villages. We met lots of friendly locals waving and smiling at us along the way so it was all very pleasant. That said and although it was only 40 miles, we both found it pretty tough going and were very relieved to arrive at our hotel for the night at around 3pm. The centre of Thai Binh is again quite modern and although pleasant enough we didn't warm to it in quite the same way as Haiphong. We popped out for dinner and a wander and then an early night ready for the big ride which lay ahead of us (yes, another plug!). I was sure I'd feel much better once that was under my belt 😃.

Impressive allotments are common place

Some friendly locals 👋

More kumquat trees for Têt

Beautiful flowers everywhere too

We set off bright and early the next morning after a decent enough breakfast and a quick chat with a German cyclist also touring around Vietnam. 

The ride wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared and we had lots of nice scenery which was a very pleasant distraction. Just over halfway into the ride we turned into a small side road - I was instantly suspicious but it was still a proper road and there were some motorbikes around so a little reassured we continued. The scenery was lovely, we were surrounded again by limestone karsts and fields and the road was fairly quiet too. It wasn't long though before we hit the biggest challenge of the day as the road narrowed and became more of a dirt track and we could see that a bit of climbing lay ahead. Max was confident we'd manage it so we ploughed on and for a while it looked like he was right. The path did get pretty steep though and at one point we had no choice but to get off and push. I suspect if Max had Glen on the back he might have made it - he was certainly very reluctant to give in. 

Luckily the ascent didn't last too long and we soon emerged to find a beautiful pagoda tucked away at the top. After a brief rest we emerged out on the other side and descended back to the main road. It was a great little diversion though and gave us some of the nicest scenery of the trip so all good 👍.  We eventually arrived in Thanh Hoa and checked in to a very regal looking room indeed 😉. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the number one restaurant in town that night - a rooftop restaurant boasting fabulous views. It was certainly a very chic place but the weather still wasn't great meaning, despite a great table by the window, we could barely see anything at all!! Still, although the view was a little lacking the overall dining experience more than made up for it. It reminded us of the place we'd dined at in Roi Et on Christmas Eve 🎄

The road out of Thai Binh

Off road - lovely views opened up ahead

Looking back at the hill we'd climbed

The infamous durian fruit tree I think!

Beautiful flowers on sale in Thanh Hoa

A rather regal looking bed

His 'n' hers thrones? 😂

A little rest at the top of the hill

A good photo opportunity too 👍

A lovely pagoda - not very accessible though!

A quick pitstop

We set off again the next morning for our penultimate cycle ride. 56 miles so not as tough as the day before but still not what I'd call easy. It was light rain for most of the way but still fairly warm so made for quite pleasant conditions. The scenery really opened up as we got closer to our destination. We'd chosen a hotel near a beach hoping that by now the weather would have improved. Sadly not but we did still enjoy the scenery as we cycled the last few miles along the coast. We went for a lovely stroll along the beach late afternoon once we'd reached our hotel and settled in, done our washing etc etc. It was a very small resort - it actually seemed more like a fishing village than a tourist destination but when we spoke to the owner of our hotel later that evening he explained that in high season the whole area gets much busier. All the locals we met as we strolled along were exceptionally friendly and welcoming although we couldn't really chat as they didn't speak much English and our Vietnamese is entirely non existent 😂. 

There were quite a few seafood restaurants along the beach front but we weren't feeling brave enough to try them. We're not really very adventurous on that score and we agreed we'd have probably felt more inclined if Kerry or Jane (or both) had been there to help us experiment with the delicacies on offer 🫣. Instead we accepted the hotel owner's offer to cook for us and tried to play it safe by explaining we're not hugely into seafood. It turned out to be a nice enough meal (nothing amazing but certainly edible) but the nicest thing was chatting to the owner while we ate. Again another really friendly and interesting character - he explained this was his home area and having gone away to study and gain work experience in Hanoi he'd returned to his roots to be with his family and set up his dream hotel. We chatted about lots of different things and he gave us a few travel recommendations. Above all he was thrilled that we'd be in Vietnam for Têt, assuring us we'd have a very special time in Hoi An where we were heading. I was getting quite excited about that - Hoi An had been high on my list of places to visit in Vietnam and that was even before I realised we'd be there for one of the biggest festivals of the year 🥳 🥳.  

The next morning he waved us off but only after a mini photo shoot outside the hotel 😃. Today was a relatively easy ride, just 40 miles to Vinh where we'd be dropping the bike off at the train station to be transported separately to Ho Chi Minh City and in the evening we were booked on the overnight sleeper train to Da Nang - from there we'd take a taxi to Hoi An for the penultimate stage of our trip. 

The route soon took us away from the coast through a series of raised roads alongside rice paddies and allotments. We passed through a number of villages and bustling markets and after about an hour made a quick stop to grab something to eat - since breakfast hadn't been on offer at the hotel so by now we were quite hungry! I settled on a Banh Mi from a small roadside bakery shop - which was really delicious and Max found a supermarket to get some rice crackers and a yoghurt drink. He's struggled with breakfast throughout this trip as gluten free options seem fairly limited. Still, it was enough to keep hunger at bay for now. At this point we were at an intersection in the road and near a bridge over the river. Surrounded by roadside market stalls once again and scooters shooting past us in all directions the hustle and bustle seemed more amplified as we were stationery. We moved across the road to the side of the bridge and as we walked past a lovely flower stall a really friendly young girl waved at us. I waved back and she handed me a few small tangerines 🍊 - a simple but lovely gesture. I asked if it was OK to take her picture and she was happy to oblige 🥰. Her friends on the next stall were equally friendly as were so many people who were passing on their scooters waving and smiling. I don't know if it was because Têt was fast approaching but everyone we met this day seemed in exceptionally high spirits and all the many exchanges we had really made our last day of cycling very special indeed. 

A little further on we met a fellow UK cyclist, Greg from Leicester. He was travelling in the opposite direction and surrounded by a group of local lads when we saw him. We stopped to chat for a while and he told us that, having just graduated from Uni he was taking a year out to cycle round the world 🌎.  He was almost at the halfway point and showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever. It sounded awesome and suddenly made our trip seem rather tame by comparison 😂. We've linked up with him on Strava and it'll be great to follow the rest of his trip. As I'm writing this he's now crossed the border into China 🇨🇳.  

At one point we were heading across some more raised roads surrounding rice fields when I became aware of a scooter riding behind us. I thought it would overtake us but instead it continued behind. Eventually I turned round and it was a young girl at the helm - at this point she pulled alongside us asking us our names and where we were from etc. She then asked us if we'd like to join us for lunch with her family 🥰. We thanked her profusely but declined thinking we needed to press on and get to Vinh. With hindsight I think we should have accepted - next time we will 😉

When we arrived at Vinh we met another fellow cyclist who, like Greg, was midway through a world bike trip. He was much closer in age to us and looked pretty rugged - a look that was further accentuated by the fact that he was very muddy and dishevelled! By his own admission both he and his 40 year old bike were very much in need of a good clean up! I couldn't help but smile because the hotel he'd checked into had the smallest of bath towels we'd seen all trip. They'd barely pass as hand towels tbh. He was going to struggle slightly with that but I'm sure it wouldn't bother him too much 😂

All in all it was a really memorable last day and all that remained was for us to put the bike safely on the train to HCM City. It took a little negotiating when they saw the size of it but patience is a virtue and we were rewarded after only a relatively short wait 😄

Our sleeper train was due to leave at 9pm so we headed into town to get something to eat - hoping that this meant once on the train we'd sleep through 😉. I'll let you know how we got on in the next, penultimate episode 😂

Our first glimpse of the beach

A happy cow 😄

Perfect place for a hammock

Very traditional looking fishing boats

A pleasant stroll along the beach, too cold to swim though!

Our friendly host

More rice plantations

A very bustling market

The lovely girl who gave me some tangerines

Everyone was so happy to see us

Another coastal view

Vinh at night