Vang Vieng, Laos

Vang Vieng is a fantastic place for outdoor enthusiasts. It's a small town situated in between beautiful limestone mountains and intersected by the incredibly clean Nam Song river. The river is used by locals for water and bathing and by tourists for kayaking and the famous tubing. There are numerous caves scattered throughout the surrounding area to explore as well. The town is a bit of a party scene due to the draw of tubing and day drinking on the river but there is plenty of quiet, serene nature if that's not your scene. 

We arrived in town about 12:30 PM and checked in at Pan's place. This is a well reviewed hostel that's great for solo travelers or for people looking to mingle and party. The staff is incredibly helpful and they have everything you need. However, a night there we moved across the street to Kamphone hotel as they had $10 rooms with AC. 

After settling in we rented bikes across the street (20,000 kip each) and headed north out of town in search of caves. We reached the caves near Elephant cave, found a required guide (50,000 kip) and marched toward the water cave. This would prove to be one of the highlights of all of our SE Asia trip. We locked up our valuables at a nearby restaurant, grabbed tubes and headlamps and got in the water. After biking almost an hour, this cold water felt like perfection. We pulled on ropes to guide us through the cool shallow cave. Luckily, we had the whole cave to ourselves and it was such a refreshing, eerie and thrilling experience. At one point we turned off our headlamps and were guided by the whistling of our guide. 

We then explored two dry caves on our own which was once again trilling. There were massive ballroom like areas that blew us away. It was so quiet and peaceful to walk through with no sound other than the shuffling of our feet and drops of fallen water. If you are ever in Vang Vieng, put down the beer, get out of the tube and check these caves out. 

The next day we figured we had to try tubing. The way it works is you rent a tube and get in a tuk tuk that takes you upriver. You get in the water and float with the current until you come to a bar where they throw you a line and reel you in. We read that the party has become significantly less crazy since the government cracked down on it some six months ago. There were too many bars, drunk swimmers and deaths. There used to be zip lines and slides used to re-enter the shallow waters but no longer. Now there are only 5 bars open daily and each day they rotate which bars are open. 

We were reeled into the first bar by a cowboy hat wearing local who called Alex sexy. He then called me sexy and himself sexy. In hindsight, that may be the only English word he knew. This bar was all about beer pong and flip cup. The next stop had a basketball hoop, boxing over water, ping pong, bocce and mud volleyball. This was much more my scene. The third bar was nothing special and the last we had to skip to return our tubes by 6 pm so we'd get our full deposit back. All in all, I wish we had taken the tubes the 3 hour ride down the river rather than stopping off at bars at all. Either way it was an experience worth having.

The next day we rented bikes again and tried making it to the blue lagoon. We rode down bumpy dirt roads around cows and stopped at Lusi cave. This was another large cavernous cave with high ceilings and steep drops. We walked until there it was roped off with a danger sign and turned around and exited.

We continued our journey and stopped at yet another cave that had a sign by the road claiming a beautiful swimming hole. It was super hot and we needed to cool off. Plus the roads were terrible and another 5km to the blue lagoon seemed unnecessary. This cave required a guide once again who led us in. We right away left everything behind including our shoes and shirts in anticipation of the swim. It was, however, a 5 minute walk on slick clay to the pool. At one point a 3-4 foot snake slithered slowly past Alex's feet. I kind of freaked out but neither Alex nor the guide saw it. He didn't believe me. We got to the end where there was a ladder leading down into a muddy bathtub about 3 feet wide and 10 feet long. I was pretty freaked out after seeing that snake but Alex jumped right in. She coaxed me in, we dunked and got out. The end farther from the entrance was kinda deep. It was really cool water and an even cooler experience. It revived us from our heat stroke. On the way back out, I stopped and looked where I saw the snake escape to earlier and sure enough it was just sitting there coiled and looking at me. I pointed it out to the guide and he seemed surprised. He told us it wasn't poisonous. Satisfied, we found daylight and rode home. 

The following morning we boarded a minivan for a 3.5 hour ride to Vientiane.

Next stop Vientiane!

Luang Prabang, Laos

After a miserable trip (see previous post) we arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos around 11 PM. We had planned on arriving before 5 PM so we didn't have a guesthouse booked. We intended to shop around. There were only a couple open at that hour and one asked "why so late?" Don't get us started. We opted for LPQ backpackers because the other place was floor mats only. 

The next day we changed guest houses to Suan Keo as it was cheaper, with a more comfortable bed and ensuite bathroom. We then walked around the hot, sleepy town to get our bearings. We climbed up to Wat Phusi which had a great panoramic view of the city and the Mekong River. 

This town is really low key and relaxing with great food, a great night market and fun excursions to take during the day. The sandwiches here were excellent with so many choices from 10-20K kip. We found one stand that we became regulars at for both breakfast and lunch. 

The night market is extensive and a sweet reprieve from the hassling at markets in Vietnam. At the Luang Prabang market, its a relaxed, no pressure atmosphere with interesting and good quality goods for cheap prices. I bought a couple pairs of pajama pants I didn't really need just because it was so comfortable to look around. 

The night market also featured a covered food section running perpendicular to both the market street and the river. This place featured tons of choices but the real find halfway down is the 15,000 Kip ($2) buffet. You can fill up a massive bowl with your choice of rice, noodles, potatoes, spring rolls, fried mushrooms, greens, fruit, tofu, etc. It's definitely the best deal in town but it does get pretty hot under that low, aluminum roof. 

Our second day in town, we hopped in a tuk tuk to the famous Kuang Si waterfalls. There we met a cool group of people including a couple from Israel, Mor and Yarden, and Bart and Manook from the Netherlands. As we approached the waterfalls, I was surprised to see a bear rescue center and many signs about the importance of conservation. 

There were many many waterfalls, all with beautiful turquoise water. A few of the falls had swimming holes. The best and most crowded pool had a tree overhanging it and people were jumping off the tree. My new friends Mor and Bart happened to be the craziest jumpers. There was also one old European guy who had balls but lacked form. 

That night we met up with the waterfall gang at Utopia, a cool bar on the river with music, hookah, thai pillow cushions, a garden and even a sand volleyball court. Afterwards, before the 11:30 PM curfew shut down the bars, we headed to the late night bowling alley for some barefoot bowling. Alex was smashing pins. 

The following day Alex and I rented bicycles, rode along the Mekong, and tried finding another set of waterfalls. We hiked through an overgrown path with trees fallen across it in a big loop to realize that the waterfalls were pretty dried up. We then met a nice couple from England and together we searched out a wading pool and finally settled on the one within eyesight of the entrance (ugh). 

The next morning we left at 8:30 AM on a 3-4 hour mini bus to Vang Vieng. 

Next stop Vang Vieng!  

Sapa to Luang Prabang

The journey from Sapa, Vietnam to Luang Prabang, Laos by bus was an epic one. Let me start by saying if you are making this trip, look into flights. We heard it could take almost 24 hours so we decided to break it up by stopping in Diem Bien Phu near the border of Laos. 

We were picked up at 8:30 in a minivan which we assumed was just a shuttle to our big comfy bus that we had booked. However, the minivan blasted past the bus station. We figure we may change buses in the next town, yet that comfortable transition never occurred. We weaved down and trough the mountains for 7 hours. The roads are bumpy and windy so if you get carsick, this is the place where that will happen. The road was under construction and there was even a point where construction (or a landslide) left the road impassable. A bulldozer was clearing a path by carving into the side of the rubble laden cliff. Traffic (all of 12 cars) was stopped on both sides waiting for a safe path to be completed. 

We arrived at the bus station in DBP, where we were told they do not sell tickets to Luang Prabang. We needed to get back there at 6 AM and hope for the best. We checked into our guesthouse we had reserved and explored the tiny town. We climbed the steps to the monument which commemorated a decisive victory over the French that led to Vietnam's independence. It was the iconic statue where on one side there was a man holding a little girl waving the communist flag and the other side featured a man yielding a massive machine gun. The view up there of the sunset was definitely worth the climb and there was a spacious park to walk around. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me so you'll have to imagine (or look it up). 

The next morning we got to the bus station at 6:10 AM and were told there was no bus. The bus left at 6. We missed it. We had to take a mini bus at 6:30 to some other city and then change buses for Luang Prabang. It was the same price as the big comfortable bus ($25) except significantly less comfortable and slower with many more stops picking up and delivering goods to various venders. No one spoke English so we just hoped for the best. An hour and a half later we crossed the border. We paid $41.50 each with all of the added "fees" and were expecting it to be $35 so we were running low on cash. We didn't have enough for our bus. We told the driver we needed an ATM and he stopped at 4 different locations before we had success accessing our money. That was close. 

At 1:30 PM we switched buses and had to wait an hour and a half until it departed. This minibus was older and more cramped than the first one. At 3 PM when we finally left, it was packed with people, produce and various goods. The seats were all taken and the isle was stacked with burlap sacks. There was no AC and the bus was in poor condition. We had to stop occasionally so the driver could pour water on the engine to cool it down. The driver once pulled over by a creek and was literally splashing water up to the engine. What a mess. We were told that this bus would be 4 hours to Luang Prabang but it wasn't almost 11 PM, 8 hours later that we arrived at our destination. 

In short, we overpaid for potentially the worst day of travel of our lives. The only thing that compares is when we went from Cuzco, Peru to Huanchaco, Peru on two back to back buses totaling 34 hours. Except with that, we at least had comfortable seats and space. 

Sapa, Vietnam

Our overnight train to Sapa from Hanoi was expensive and mediocre. It cost $30 and took almost 9 hours. We were in a small cabin/room with two bunkbeds that we shared with a nice French couple.  The AC wasn't working well and the beds were too small but it was better than a bus through the mountains.

At 5 AM, an hour before we arrived, they began blasting traditional Sapa music along with what sounded like communist propaganda. They came by and woke us up to the tune of "morning coffee" which sounded great, until they asked for 20,000 VND for the instant coffee they handed us. That price would be expensive anywhere in Vietnam for fresh drip coffee. Again, not impressed. 

We exited the train and found a man holding a sign with my name on it. Each hotel would pay for and coordinate a pick up for their patrons. The train station was in a town called Lao Kai near the Chinese border and it was almost an hour from Sapa by minivan. We arrived around 7 AM at our fantastic and cheap hotel, Sapa Stunning View. We were greeted by the incredibly nice Mr. Kuan who we loved from the start. He was so accommodating, helpful and gave such great information without being pushy to book a tour through him or irritated at our slew of questioning. He really did everything he could to help us enjoy our stay and he went well above and beyond. He gave us an upgrade to a room on the top floor, and yes, the view of the mountains across the valley was absolutely stunning. 

After dropping off our bags we set out for the market to get breakfast, explore the town and look for a guide for the following day. When booking a guide through a hotel, the hotel gets a majority of the money as a booking fee. We wanted the money to go directly to the guide (as well as to save some money). There were dozens of indigenous women walking the streets and hassling people to buy something and asking if people needed guides. As we exited our hotel, we met one of these such women named Mu. She seemed very nice and offered us a two day, 1 night trip where we would hike for 5 hours and stay in her home in her village. We liked what we heard and asked for her number. We said we would call her if we were interested in going with her. We continued our quest through the town, past the church and around the lake to the market. 

The market was new and less than half full as it was recently relocated. Alex bought a beautiful necklace and I was tempted by all of the machetes. The food was slim pickings and we even walked past a dog carcass at a butchers stand. Gross. We found some bahn mi and headed back.

On our walk back we found another friendly indigenous woman, Suzie, who offered us a similar trek and homestay for $20 less. We confirmed the trek with her the following morning. That night we ate a delicious authentic Vietnamese dinner and upon returning to our hotel, found the staff playing guitar and singing on the porch. They invited us to join them and we immediately sat down and participated in singing the English songs they knew. I tried to play guitar and they seemed to appreciate our effort. The day ended on a very positive note, in which we were able to cross cultural barriers, as well as the proprietor vs. patron threshold.

The next day, on our way to meet Suzie, we ran into Mu. She was furious we didn't choose her for our guide and followed us 500 meters to our meeting place hassling us the whole way. She laid on a heavy guilt trip and we told her we were very clear that we would call if we were interested and we didn't call her.. She insisted we promised and called us liars. She even went as far as threatening to call her husband and have him come find us. When we got to Suzie, Mu began fighting with her as well. We tried to start our trek and repeatedly asked nicely for her to leave us alone. She was adamant so we apologized to Suzie and left the scene. We wouldn't be doing a guided trek to a homestay. It was very upsetting. Mu isn't necessarily a bad or mean person, but she is a product of what is happening in Sapa. It's way too touristy and the indigenous people are not getting their fair cut of the revenue. We now know why people advise not to get involved the way we did. 

Back at our hotel, Mr. Kuan was very concerned about our experience and settled us down. We wanted to leave Sapa at this point and he was so helpful in changing our plans. He booked our bus the next day and found us a place to stay that night as his place was full.

At this point, things started turning around for us. A very kind French couple, Lora and Armand, who had overheard our difficulties, introduced themselves and invited us to join them on an independent hike through the valleys, which they had already mapped out and planned on leaving for shortly. We accepted their invitation and commenced a truly hot and grueling trek set on spectacular scenery. We weaved down through rice paddies to the river, where we crossed jumping from stone to stone. On our way up a hill we saw a bunch of boys swimming in a swimming hole in the river below. We turned around and found our way to a well timed break cooling off in the river. 

In addition, Lora and Armand engaged us in great Spanish conversation, since they had been living in Barcelona for the past 16 years. Upon our return to the hotel, we decided to meet up with them again for dinner at a tasty and affordable restaurant, "Little Sapa" after we had changed rooms and taken a short siesta. It was a bad morning turned great day, and with that success it was time to leave Vietnam.

Next stop Laos!

Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay

We arrived in Cat Ba after a 5 hour multi-step process, starting with our shuttle bus pick-up from our hostel where we were introduced to the man who would be explaining the trip to us as well as apologizing for getting to drunk the night before and showing up with only one ticket for the 12 of us. Therefore, we picked a "leader" to follow for each leg of trip who would be responsible for our ticket. He was Russell Brant's doppelgänger and stood,out in a crowd. From here we boarded a bus to Haiphong (2.5 hours), bus to Haiphong port (.5 hours), high speed boat to Cat Ba (45 minutes), and lastly a bus to the center (.5 hours), which conveniently dropped us off across the street from our guesthouse. (We decided to book ahead as we were aware that this was the last night of Independence Day holiday and were told all vacation hotspots would be packed). 

During the 5 part trip to Cat Ba, we made some foreigner friends who informed us that not only were we arriving for the last day off the Vietnamese holiday, but it was also the last night of the first ever full moon party on Cat Ba island. While the likes of us don't often seek out these types of parties, we figured "when in Rome" and began preparations for the inevitably long night ahead. 

Mr. Khan, the owner of our guesthouse, recommended a "good and cheap" vegetarian restaurant nearby for dinner. Those words were music to our ears and we immediately began the short walk up the hill to Buddha's Belly. This became our go-to eatery which we frequented twice a day for the duration of our stay on Cat Ba. It was owned by the coolest monk you'll ever meet and the food is as fresh and healthy as it gets while filling your belly with massive portions. We opted for set meal, which is different everyday but always includes rice, vegetables, some form of vegan protein and a soup for 30K VND (about $1.50). 

After loading up on sustaining ingredients, we grabbed red bulls and hopped on the free shuttle to the full moon party. We immediately felt the anticipatory energy in the packed bus, where we grabbed the last two seats. There were young backpackers toting their newly purchased Vietnamese water pipes (intended for tobacco), as well as Vietnamese vacationers looking to have a good time. We sat next to a young, red faced, Vietnamese man who proudly announced to us that he was police and showed us his picture in uniform. He was quick to clarify that he was not going under official business, which was obvious enough by his slurred speech. 

Upon arriving we were happy to realize that entrance was free because not that many people had shown us as expected for this first annual festival. we entered a beautiful cove surrounded by steep cliffs secluded from any residential area. There was a massive stage on the beach with DJs and dancers facing the sea. First we checked out the bar where we ran into our friends from the bus, Martyn and Olga. We then spent most of the evening dancing by the water. All in all, it was a great experience and we were relieved it was as tame as it was. We were happy to spend time with older, like-minded travelers and made plans with Martyn (Scotland) and Olga (Spain) the next day. We took moto taxis home around 2 am and slept off the 2 for 1 vodka drinks. 

 

After a late wake-up, we rented s $4 motorbike and headed to the national park. We climbed to the top and sweated gallons. On the way back we stopped in a creepy bat infested cave. I wasn't sure about walking under them to the end but Alex encouraged me to face my fears of getting pooped on by a bat (again). Bats were flying close to our face and we ducked to avoid both them and the low ceiling.  We ended the day by meeting Martyn at the beach and catching some waves.

Our last day we booked a private boat with Martyn to kayak in Lan Ha bay and explore monkey island. The bay was full of breathtaking, limestone mountains emerging out of the blue water for as far as the eye could see. That night we met Olga and Martyn for dinner and 25 cent Bia Hoi (draft beer).We ended the night at our favorite place enjoying smoothies and complimentary traditional snacks served by the monk.

The next afternoon we did the reverse trip back to Hanoi to then catch the night train to Sapa. 

Next stop, Sapa. 

Hanoi

After an 18 hour bus ride from Hoi An I finally arrived in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. I immediately noticed less homocidal motorbike traffic than Saigon and decided to walk to the hotel where I was to meet up with Alex, Little Hanoi Diamond. This well staffed sister hotel of Little Hanoi hostel was in a great location in the old quarter near many must-eat local restaurants, as suggested by lonely planet. They also had an incredible and free buffet breakfast that made it worth paying a little extra for the nice private room.

It had been a week and a half since I saw Alex and it was so great to see her and catch up on our solo adventures while walking the city. We didn't have much of a plan so we ended up walking the streets in search of great food and the best deal on North Fake jackets. We ended up finding both. 

We tracked down a couple places from our guidebook that were supposedly the cheap local hotspots. We had both Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) and Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) and we recommend the Pho Bo because it's less fatty. We also had Bun Cha which is BBQ pork with doughy rice noodles. These are often served with crab spring rolls which are decent. Our last night we tried the Bun Bo Nam Bo in a packed restaurant. This was beef, noodles and greens topped with fried garlic bits and crushed peanuts in a sweet sauce. For dessert we had Sua Chua which we think is frozen condensed milk. It was super refreshing and cheap. 

Another traditional dessert, which Alex enjoyed, is Che. This is the Vietnamese version of "bing su (Korean) a shaved ice dessert found in most Asian countries. In Vietnam it's topped with your choice of sticky rice balls, jellies, and various fruits and covered with, you guessed it, condensed milk.  

Finally, we drank Bia Hoi (draft beer) with the locals on street corners and watched the motorbikes go by. The beers were less than fifty cents and hit or miss. The good ones were cold. Regardless, it was a fun experience sitting on plastic stools on the sidewalk, attracting stares and trying to make friends with the locals. 

You'd think it may be weird to camp out on a sidewalk but in Vietnam sidewalks are hardly ever used for walking. They are always full of stools, vendors and parked motorbikes. On old, narrow roads, the Vietnamese treat sidewalks the way we'd treat a lawn, driveway or even porch. It's an extension of the building behind it and pedestrians are forced to dodge the traffic in the street.

We weaved around motorbikes for blocks on end looking into almost two dozen North Face "outlets" and decided on the one with the best selection and perceived quality. It was called the Outdoor Shop Original located at 5B Ly Quoc Su Street. Mr. Tuan was the owner and he told me he wouldn't bullshit me. I told him if I am cold in NYC next winter I'll call him and he encouraged me to do so. We both ended up with a down jacket which, real or not, seemed like good quality at a fraction of the price we'd pay in the States. We are preparing very early for another Northeast winter.

Feeling like we properly ate, drank and purchased our way through Hanoi, we set out for Cat Ba island in Ha Long Bay where we booked a room in a guesthouse for three nights.

Next stop, Cat Ba Island.