Extreme Northern Loop
Hello! Bryn here.
Well, I have received the hard job (or honour) of writing our last blog of Vietnam, including one of the most amazing things we have done on this trip, if not in our lives. Prepare for a long one.
Before I try and describe this adventure, I will start with where we left you last, in Hue...
It was Reunification Day and Labour Day in the same weekend, and a large festival was occurring in the city. Translation: we couldn’t leave the night we wanted to as all trains were booked. Not normally a problem, however, this also meant there were no hotel rooms left. Mitchell went up and down the streets looking for accommodation, and finally came across a “homestay” with a room. I would like to think I have become less of a princess on this trip, but my goodness this place was horrible. We were led to a room upstairs in a family’s restaurant/home, with two rock hard bunk beds, no window, and a fan that worked about as well as waving a soggy Walmart flyer in your face. Nothing a little gravol and a glass of wine won’t fix, I guess. “But wait, where’s the bathroom??” It was a communal bathroom at the back of the kitchen for all customers, family, dead chickens, and lucky guests. It’s ok, I’ll just dehydrate myself, quickly brush my teeth with a water bottle and then leave ASAP in the morning. And then... I dropped my toothbrush. F*ck.
I survived, clearly, and we were able to catch a train the next evening to Nihn Bihn. First class, because we needed to sleep, and it wasn’t much more expensive. We boarded the train, excited to catch some shut eye and wake up in our next beautiful destination. We squeezed through the tiny hallway to our four (small single) bed cabin and opened the door... to find a Vietnamese family of five, grandma included. I think I will always remember the look on Mitchell’s face, and the panic we both felt. The train employee spoke very little English, and Grandma was getting a great kick out of our predicament. Luckily, she went next door after about 10 minutes and the kids squeezed in the beds with their parents so we were left with our own beds on the top.
Upon arrival to Nihn Bihn/ Tam Coc, we were able to chuckle about our night, and settled into our homestay nestled between huge limestone karsts and bright green rice paddies. This is a small city in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam, and sometimes referred to as “Halong Bay on land.” We biked, scootered, hiked, and ran throughout the area. We definitely recommend checking it out if in Vietnam.
From Nihn Bihn we continued on to the capital city of Hanoi by local bus. [One particular passenger was very excited to get some help with English homonyms he was learning, and to watch a hockey game Mitch was streaming]. During this first stint in Hanoi, we walked the streets of the Old Quarter, played Human Frogger, aka crossed the streets, visited the Prison Museum, and prepared for the COOLEST ROADTRIP EVER.
Finally the exciting part! Krysta, Brian, and a few blogs we read inspired us to do what is referred to as the “Extreme Northern Motorbike Loop” in the Ha Giang province. The ‘extreme’ referred less to the speed you could go, as 50km/h was a fast pace, but more to the majestic landscape: huge conical limestone peaks, steep cliffs, and deep crater-like valleys. We arrived at the city of Ha Giang on a night bus at 4:30am, took a quick nap at a hostel, and set out to rent our Suzuki HJ 125. We doubled as I do not have my motorcycle license (not that they care), and did not feel comfortable enough to drive. I was happy with this decision as I was able to fully experience the most amazing people watching I’ve ever been able to do.
Along this route there are many local communities that continue to live in a traditional manner. Hmong people represent 70% of the population in the area, and they do not discriminate on where they work or live. No matter what the terrain, they use every single inch of land for rice fields and terraced crops. Corn is the main source of income for the communities, and what you mostly see women carrying over the hills on their backs. Even elderly women carry loads for miles that I probably wouldn’t even be able to pick up. It was interesting to us, as the women appeared to do most of the more physical jobs, some even with small babies on their backs. Men were often seen plowing the fields with buffalo, or playing pool on an old table at the side of the road. Young girls accompanied their mothers, with a ‘smaller’ load of crops (that I still probably wouldn’t be able to lift), or cared for their younger siblings. The boys were commonly hearding cattle or goats, or playing with rocks while their sisters worked (seen on a couple of occasions). This is of course from my own observation only, but it appeared to be the women that got things done. While it was hard to see children as young as my nieces working so hard, it was also outrageously adorable to see their cute smiles when you drove by them. They would often stop whatever they were doing and run towards you to yell “Hellloooooo” and reach out for a high five. They would giggle with such excitement if they made contact. The colours of the traditional clothing include bright pink, green, and yellow and were stunning next to the green landscape. Everything was so authentically beautiful.
The trip was four days and three nights, two of which we spent in Dong Van, and one in Du Gia. We decided to do a longer travel day the first day, partly because we were in such awe, and also so we could spend more time around this section to do day trips. We drove the Mai Pi Leng Pass twice, as the first time was cloudy, and it was the most breathtaking stretch of the journey. We also went further north from Dong Van to Lung Cu, the most Northern point of Vietnam, to catch a glimpse of China. This stretch was also done twice, as the first time we couldn’t make it all the way due to a rock slide from the rain. Mitchell, in all his wonderfully adventurous (and stubborn) glory, got us there the next day, having to push the bike in some sections.
While in the area, we were lucky to be able to experience a traditional Sunday Market. At first look, it didn’t seem too intimidating, until you really entered the depths of the action. It was very much for the locals, no one tried to sell us anything. Maybe that was because they were selling things like tools, traditional clothing, oh and livestock. Pigs, cows, and chickens were lined up for the picking. Most people didn’t notice us and just kept pushing through us as they do, with the exception of two people. One man grabbed my arm with a very big smile on his face and seemed very excited to see me. Another lady seemed significantly less excited when she passed by me, grabbed my shoulder, and yelled something that scared the daylights out of me. I’m still curious what she said...
After this we hopped back on the bike, and watched as people walked for miles with their new purchases from the market. One pig only made it a short distance up the road before it was um.. ‘prepared’ for its new home. Bleck. One young girl, probably about 14, was carrying a huge bag of rice on her back that had to have been three times her size (Mitchell guessed about 50kg)!!
Our final night was spent at a homestay in Du Gia, where we had a traditional meal with a local family, and met some really cool fellow bikers. The meal included Grandmas homemade corn wine (tastes more like whisky and you shoot it), which magically allowed Mitchell to remember French to converse with the French Canadians! It was incredible. It also allowed us to fall asleep a little easier on our mattress on the floor.
To cure the hangover the next morning, we drove to two waterfalls with our new friends. The local children showed us the spots to jump off of, and we were greeted by many looks of awe and shock. It clearly wasn’t a very touristy area.
The Go Pro makes it look so small. In reality, it was scary.
We finished the tour with a group of people we met, stopping a lot to take in the last of the views. While our butts were ready to be done, we were sad it was over.
This was hands down one of the most amazing experiences we’ve ever had. I would recommend it to anyone; just don’t tell your friends as it’s still relatively untouched and has not yet seen the effects of mass tourism.
Another night bus brought us back to Hanoi, where we stayed for our last three nights in South East Asia. We caught up on sleep, got some pampering, and ate our last bowls of Pho. We spent one day getting a check up and teeth cleaning (from an Australian run dental clinic, and yes everything was sterile), a facial and pedicure (me), and an hour massage (Mitchell), all for a grand total of $53 Canadian... In case you needed another reason to visit Vietnam.
Phew, I think I did it. If my words didn’t do this experience justice, I hope the pictures did. We loved Vietnam so much, we decided to skip Laos, which may leave us with a reason to come back.
So here we are, with another continent behind us. It seems to be going so quickly, yet we have done so much. We are on our flight to the next destination of... Athens, Greece! We are trading in the small plastic stools and rice noodles for white houses, brilliant sunsets and Greek salad, mmmm.
Thanks for reading, and Tam Biet (Goodbye)!
Amazing photos!! Thanks for sharing!!
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