Ha Giang in the clouds

Fantastic last few days in Vietnam. I did a three day tour of Ha Giang (pronounced Ha Zhang) province with a local guide, Lam Luân. Ha Giang province offers truly breathtaking scenery (similar to Sa Pa  Province) as it is so mountainous. The countryside is dotted with rice terraces and is particularly green in the rainy season. I was lucky to have very little rain and overall excellent weather conditions. I am still shy about taking pictures of people so have not taken pics of the local population, but it was quite interesting to see people of all ages dressing in their traditional outfits.  We stayed on the first night at a homestead in a black zhu village, where the traditional clothing is black wool with embroidered red bandanas for the women.  The dinner with Mama Eung was very funny, everyone got a little light headed because of the many rounds of "cham phan cham" (100%) and the rather excellent rice based alcohol.  I have perfected evasion techniques since i am not much of a drinker when all is said and done, but it is hard to resist a persuasive Vietnamese dinner party (and you're never entirely sure what is considered rude during Vietnamest dinner parties. I had several comments on the fact that i eat with my mouth closed which is entirely at odds with the local fashion).

Luan was an excellent guide and we made several stops on our journey to take pictures.  Really I just wanted to have a constant video stream going to capture everything around me! We saw mountain goats (being herded by young children) and many buffaloes. I visited the H mong palace which was built by Chinese workers for the hmong "king" who made his money through the sale of marijuana (a crop that is still grown today though often to make hemp clothing.)  Got to try many local dishes including bitter melon stuffed with meat and herbs, goat meat, buffalo meat and spring rolls wrapped in piper lolot leaves.
After my Ha Giang trip I took yet another (my 7th?) overnight bus back to Hanoi and have been enjoying just wandering around the city with my friend E who i met in India.  Hanoi is wonderfully atmospheric, a great mix of Chinese, Vietnamese and French architecture. Not to mention amazing dishes like bun cha and bun bo nam bo.  If you go, definitely take an hour to sit and enjoy the coconut ice cream coffee at Cong Caphe (the one in front of St Joseph cathedral is great).

Love, Mia

Worth a visit
HA GIANG
-Bong hostel in Ha Giang province (they can store your luggage)
-the towns of Dong Van and Meo Vac are quite pretty.
-Ha Giang travel for a guide. Flipside Hostel in Hanoi also arranges four day (three nights) tours which are apparently very social and fun.

HANOI
-Ga Hostel (Chicken hostel) for budget accommodation in Hanoi
-the Old City
-West Lake
-Bun bo Nam Bo
-Cong Caphe
-Walking the train tracks (a hassle free / motorbike free walk in Hanoi!) along Le Duan road
-Crossing Long Bien bridge, which was designed by Gustav Eiffel himself.

Cat Ba island is better when you have A/C

Hello! I am hiding in Highlands Coffee near Hanoi's main Old Quarter plaza, to escape from the relentless humidity and heat. Guess i was wrong to think that Northern Vietnam would be cooler than the south, in June! Its rather the opposite, as the south is more bearable especially just after it rains in the evenings.  In Hanoi the heat is oppressive at the moment, and I can't wait to get to the northern province of Ha Giang (leaving tonight).

Spent two days in Cat Ba island which is part of the Ha Long Bay region; Cat Ba is more commonly frequented by Vietnamese rather than Western tourists.  I first heard about Cat Ba island when I was in Myanmar and met an Aussie couple, Rinne and Ryan, who worked here for 3 months. It was lovely to go kayaking around the bay (again thanks to cousin Jenn for the suggestions) and cool off on the beaches.   Funny moment, I wanted to head to the beach to cool down as soon as I arrived on the island (after 18 hours of travelling from Phong Nha via Hanoi) but realised somewhat to my dismay that it wasn't an original idea. Indeed,  peak time for Vietnamese beach goers is 4pm to 7pm, when the sun is not as strong. (Most Asians avoid sunlight as much as possible! White skin is considered more beautiful than tanned skin;  but probably they are also being smart and avoiding skin cancer!)   There was literally not a square foot of free space on the beach as there were tons of people sitting on plastic stools and jumping in the waves, so I walked around instead, sunset is actually a gorgeous time to take a stroll along the bay.

Je suis egalement allee au "Hospital Caves" qui onto ete occupee pendant 8 ans par les soldats vietnamiens pendant la guerre entre Americains et Vietnamiens.  Une belle petite randonnee à velo, mais la chaleur etait un peu intense donc je me suis ensuite reposée au resto vegetarien "Buddha's Belly" en compagnie d'un charmant couple de Français (qui demenagent cet eté à Montréal!).

Aujourd'hui je prends soin de mes muscles un peu endoloris. :)  un peu de leche-vitrine en attendant le prochain bus!

Mia  xx

Hoi An; Phong Nha

Hello my dears!  The last week has been filled with amazing sights, from old temples to stalactite-filled caves. Vietnam is definitely not a boring country for tourists!

I spent 3 nights in Hoi An which is a small yet lovely UNESCO -approved town close to Da Nang and four hours south of Hue (by car). Hoi An town - which has a number of Chinese temples and an old covered Japanese bridge-  is a wonderful place to cycle , and Is surrounded by rice paddies (with grazing water buffaloes) and beaches. I didnt really 'do' much, no excursions or cultural tours, but went to the beach several times, visited Hoi An by night (at its most magical time when the streets are lit by lanterns) and got fitted for a dress. Paddys Place, my hostel (recommended by cousin Jenn) was really nice and had a pool and an adorably self-possessed dog named Polly.  One can do a couple of day trips around the area such as the My son ruins and the Cham islands.

After a first bus to Hue and second bus to Phong Nha, I arrived at Phong Nha -Ke Bang national park which is famous for its spectacular caves. The area is  home to the biggest caves in the world although access to the biggest cave is strictly controlled and highly priced accordingly. There are nevertheless a few caves that are easily accessible and really worth  the detour. Phong Na town is tiny but surrounded by surreal  little mountains popping up all over the countryside like dandylions in the springtime. I visited three caves over two days (Paradise Cave was the biggest and most interesting one although the Dark and Phong Nha caves were also worth visiting.)  The Paradise and Phong Nha caves are filled with rock formations that look like tiny mushrooms, or like squid tentacles, or like the Moon... and definitely like nowhere where sunlight can reach.  The Dark Caves visit involved ziplining and mud bathing, I got a bit more mud than expected since I executed a near perfect pirouette in the muddy water while showing off how buoyant you can get in 4 feet of mud and water. Not recommended unless you are curious about what mud tastes like. The two Canadian psychologists grads i was travelling with for the day, Anisha and Randall, also got scraped and bruised from 'mud sliding' so the day ended on a rather discordant note although we still enjoyed it. The oldest hostel in town, Easy Tiger, had an open Mic night so it was nice to end a busy day by unwinding to the tune of Backstage Boy and Vance Joy hits.

With  10 days left in Asia.. I hope to fit in more kayaking, sun bathing and lots more eating in northern Vietnam plus two days in Hong Kong.

See you soon!! I am starting to look forward to being home and seeing my people. Six months travelling is wonderful but it's also great to be surrounded by friends and family.

Love  Mia

Dalat, Vietnam countryside tour

Hello! Having recharged my batteries, lucked out on a private room at my friend's place, and gotten my fill of bubble tea in Ho Chi Minh city, I then took an overnight bus to the hilly town of Dalat. I spent two days in Dalat -a popular honeymoon destination and vacation spot for Saigoners seeking to escape the heat of Vietnam's southern metropolis- and another two days touring the countryside around Dalat and Nha Trang on an "easy rider" (motorcycle taxi) tour.

The pictures below don't do justice to the beauty of the Dalat area, which has lots of beautiful mountains, waterfalls and rice paddles plenty.  Highlights of my time in Dalat were: *Mr Rot's Secret Tour*, during which we ate grasshoppers and tried betel nut in a local market, and the Lak Lake (Hô Lak) area west of Dalat. The Lak Lake is out of the way and not so touristy but quite atmospheric. (When I arrived there were elephants relaxing in the shallow section of the lake! Dalat is an area where villagers historically lived and worked with elephants although there are few left now. )

My tour guide and Easy Rider , Mr linh, was a great driver and took me to various spots including a brick making factory and a cashew nut factory.