Vietnam here we come - Hanoi and Ninh Binh

 

Cycle route from Hanoi airport to Ninh Binh

We returned to Vientiane (only second class train tickets from Luang Prabang this time 😮) to collect the bike and spend one final night in Laos. On arriving back at Vientiane train station we decided to catch the bus back into town (the train station being several miles outside of town). As we sat down on the bus a cloud of dust appeared which unfortunately turned out to be hundreds of mosquitos and soon we were swatting them away in a constant battle the whole journey back 😫. Max had cleverly smothered himself in deet so was safe but without any similar protection I was savaged!! Luckily I don't tend to react to mosquito bites so even though I had quite a few (mainly around my ankles) they quickly disappeared 😅. 

Back at the Champa hotel in Vientiane they seemed very pleased to see us and Max was equally pleased to see the bike still safe and sound 😀. There was time for one last swim in the hotel pool and one last chance to visit two of our favourite restaurants in Vientiane - curry for dinner and galettes for brunch the next day 😋.

The mountain views of Laos from the train

Stunning landscape of Luang Prabang, Laos

Galettes for brunch back in Vientiane 😋

Our favourite creperie in Vientiane 👍

We left for the airport the next afternoon in plenty of time for our evening flight to Hanoi. Unusually we'd opted for business class - it wasn't too pricey and Max had figured it was a good way of trying to ensure that there were no issues getting the bike on board and no additional charges for it either. We'd also get access to the business lounge with priority checking in and boarding 👍. It all went very smoothly indeed and the bike was checked in without any fuss and without us even having to open the box - a huge contrast to all the palava we'd experienced at Heathrow. However, just as we were starting to get quite excited thinking about how to maximise our time in the business class lounge, and having just reached the front of the immigration queue, we were called aside by one of the attendants as they'd found a battery in the bike box which apparently we needed to go all the way back to the check in desk to remove 😂. It didn't take very long though and soon after we'd made it to the rather plush business class lounge.  There was plenty of nice food options, including some good gluten free choices for Max and I even had a glass of wine 🍷 . All in all we enjoyed the whole experience - we got priority boarding, comfy and spacious seats on the plane and priority transfer to the airport on landing at Hanoi (on a rather posh bus 😉). The bike was even waiting for us on the other side 👍.

It was about 9.30pm at this point and once we'd got through customs Max got straight to work assembling the bike so that we could cycle the few miles to where we were staying for the night. I was in charge of sim cards and cash and I quickly managed to negotiate a pretty good deal on a monthly sim card with the best provider which would see us through to the end of the trip - we've become quite practised at this now 👍. Max managed to assemble the bike in about an hour - it had survived the trip relatively unscathed - just one part slightly damaged en route which Max managed to fix with brute force! I popped outside for a quick traffic check and like most airports it looked fairly hectic 🫣🫣. I wasn't sure if the dark made it better or worse, only time would tell. The weather definitely felt much cooler and we donned our rain jackets for the first time before setting off. Once we'd got out of the airport onto the main road it wasn't too bad. Yes there was traffic but nothing too scary - I suspect it was much tougher for Max though as he had to navigate but he never complains. We arrived at the hotel shortly before midnight. It was abit rough round the edges but perfectly fine for one night's stay and the owner seemed very friendly and helpful. At £18 for an overnight stay right near the hotel it seemed pretty good value.

Enjoying the business class lounge

Hanoi airport - bring on the next challenge 😀

Given the late night and relatively inclement weather we decided not to set off too early the next morning. From the bedroom window we could see it was raining and all the motorcyclists were wearing long rain ponchos. We hoped that the rain might ease off if we delayed our start until late morning. We were heading for a town called Phu Ly, which was en route as part of a round trip we were making to Ninh Binh. Again Max had rearranged this bit of the trip to allow for the fact that we'd cut out the mountain cycle ride from Luang Prabang into Vietnam. It still meant that we'd have to cycle through the centre of Hanoi though which, given what everyone had told us, I was feeling slightly apprehensive about. We set off just before midday, it was raining lightly and thankfully after about 20 mins it stopped 🙏🙏. After about an hour we reached the outskirts of Hanoi city and then the real fun began! To say there were motorcycles everywhere with no apparent rules in terms of rights of way is an absolute understatement! We've since been told "the only rule is - there are no rules" and "green light means you can go, amber light means go and red light means go but faster" and it's absolutely true. Also, the bigger the vehicle the greater priority you seem to have! Max simply viewed it as a battle of nerves and ploughed right through it all utterly fearless and navigated every street brilliantly. It took us an hour to cross from one end to the other and some streets were unbelievably narrow yet still managed two way traffic ! You have to see it to believe it and I still haven't managed to capture it on camera in a way that does it full justice. If you've been to Hanoi though you'll know exactly what I mean 😉. 

Once we'd emerged on the other side I breathed a huge sigh of relief - huge respect for Max that I wasn't in bits and I actually felt I'd actually coped with it all rather well 😂. The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful - we followed the main road using the cycle lane which was also parallel to an old railway track for large parts of the journey. There was alot of traffic on the road and at times the constant din of horns blaring was a little overwhelming. We were already noticing a huge difference in the road etiquette here in Vietnam, pretty much as we'd been warned. A tooting horn basically means "I'm coming up behind you so stay out of my way"! Continuous tooting implies "you're in my way, move!!" 😂😂

We arrived at our hotel in Phu Ly early afternoon. We'd cycled about 55 miles and were feeling tired, cold and hungry. We recieved a warm and efficient welcome, first impressions were that the hotel seemed very nice and the staff couldn't do enough for us. We were given a lovely large room and after a nice hot shower we were already feeling much better. We opted for the hotel restaurant rather than venture outside - dinner was OK but nothing special but we were happy just to watch some TV and have an early night. 

The next morning we set off for Ninh Binh - we would be staying in a lovely boutique hotel with the most beautiful mountain backdrop.  Another chilly start - it was about 13 degrees when we set off and it was forecast to stay like this for the foreseeable. Nevertheless we were still looking forward to the trip and determined to make the most of it. In preparation we'd bought some cheap North Face (imitation) puffer jackets and I was pleased that the two rab jackets I'd been lugging around would finally come in very handy 😀. As long as the rain held off we'd be fine - the main attractions in this area were outdoor based and so rain would be the one thing that could put quite a dampner on our plans 🤞🤞

After a ride to Ninh Binh we arrived at the resort quite early. Our first impressions of the resort and surrounding area were positive. The hotel resort was a short bike ride out of town and very picturesque. With warmer weather it would be absolutely idyllic. The town itself was quite lively, plenty of tourists but still quite small and a nice chilled vibe. On the first night we found a fab Indian restaurant, in fact we liked it so much we went back again twice. Even the owner was a little surprised, albeit still delighted to see us again 😂

There were a few things we wanted to do while in this area. The first was a boat ride to explore the Trang An landscape. This is a spectacular display of limestone karst peaks punctuated by a huge network of caverns and caves. The scenery is truly stunning, full of flora and fauna so hardly surprising it's another Unesco world heritage site. The boat tour is in a small 4 man kayak and we shared our boat with a couple from Madrid. Unfortunately they bagged the front seat so managed to get much better photos than we did! Nonetheless it was awesome - we travelled through four caves in total, one of while was a kilometre in length and at times we had to duck right down in the boat! I was really impressed with our driver - he navigated us safely through some pretty narrow passages and managed to make it look easy! Along the way we made a few stops to explore a number of temple sites within the area. Getting on and off the boat was quite challenging but we all managed it without incident 😂

A great view from our hotel room in Phu Ly

A nice park in Phu Ly - rather chilly though

The Lalita Resort Tam Coc - a stunning backdrop but way too cold for swimming!

We made use of the free hotel bikes for a couple of other trips. First we went to the Mua Caves - not to visit the cave but to climb the Mua Cave mountain for the most amazing viewpoint of the whole area. It's a climb of around 500 steps which seemed to get progressively steeper 😅. It was doable though and definitely worth it for the view from the top. Afterwards we wandered around the site below - admiring all the pretty lanterns which I was quickly realising is something the Vietnamese do so well 😍. On the cycle home we stopped at a lovely little local cafe for some delicious noodle soup 🍜 - it warmed us up nicely too 👍

The entrance to Trang An

Lunch at a lovely little cafe near Mua cave

Exploring Trang An

The view from the top of Mua Cave mountain

Those steps were pretty steep!

Tam Coc at night - with the tandem 😂

On our last day we ventured out to a local bird park just a short bike ride from our resort. At breakfast the day before we'd chatted to a couple of guys from Helsinki who'd recommended it so we decided to give it a go. I'm so pleased we did because there was so much to explore, so many different areas, lots of beautiful plants and flowers on display and again lots of lovely lanterns too. I came away feeling very inspired to crack on with cultivating my garden when I get home. 

Beautiful lanterns in Thung Nham birdpark

More lanterns tastefully displayed

I did get a bit obsessed with them 😂

It was the most beautiful park 😍

Very Christmassy too 🤩

Yes, more lanterns 😂

We really enjoyed our stay at the Lalita Tam Coc resort despite the cold weather. I had a hot stone massage on the last day - the hotel were recommending this treatment in particular as a way of warming up 😂. It was lovely and it did the trick 👍. Max went for the usual hardcore pummelling which he also "enjoyed". 

Now it was time to head back to Hanoi for our next experience. Max has booked us into the Grand Hotel du Lac right in the centre of the old quarter. It looks very luxurious so I'm quite excited about that 😃. We're really looking forward to exploring Hanoi, our first impressions from cycling through is that there's lots to see and do and it's got a great vibe. First though we'll have to navigate the streets of Hanoi again to get there 😅