Day 74

Cao Bang Loop Day 2

I'm about a week behind writing these so my recollection may not be all there.

After a terrible night sleep from being woken up by the roosters (which I didn't mind) then being kept awake by the rattling of footsteps through the thinly constructed walls and floor (which I did mind) I mustered myself out of bed not super ready to attack the day. Although, being able to open the shutters in my room and look out at the fields was quite nice. I had a quick breakfast of pancakes and fruit then checked out and headed towards the cave.

The cave was right by the waterfall but I had to kill some time before the dam at the waterfall opened at 11. The cave was okay. It was pretty decently sized but honestly I've been in quite a few caves now and I'm a little bit over them. After a brief run through I headed towards the waterfall, stopping at the Stone Village where all the houses felt very small European village. After a quick drink and a walk around I finally headed to the Ban Gioc waterfalls.

I parked up at a considerably more busy carpark than yesterday, paid for my entry and wandered in. Apparently it's the 4th biggest waterfall on an international border which is a very specific but nonetheless cool fact. It was also a big tourist hot spot as the waterfall is only "good" between 11 and 2 so everyone comes in those times. People were selling pictures riding horses whilst wearing cowboy hats. Definitely not my vibe but when I got to the waterfall I found a bench and sat for a while, watching the boats do circles in the water. When the dam opened it revealed even more to the waterfall around to the side too. Eventually I felt I had taken in the waterfall and got ready to do a bit of walking around when I saw a half fenced off pathway leading up towards the waterfall, and then a minute later I see a couple people making their way down. I asked them what's up there and they say that after about 15 minutes and a bit of a climb there's a nice little view away from the people and the boats. Perfect.

I made my way around the fence and in about 5 minutes I reached a bit of a dead end with not a super view and not the walk through the field that the couple said there was. A bit confused I turned around and found my way onto the path they were talking about. They warned me to remember my way back which was good advice as the path was pretty feint and quite diverging. Eventually I got to where I assume they were talking about and scurried a bit too close to the massive drop and waterfall below me but got a nice view out of it. Not wanting to forget the way I came (plus very hungry) I made my way back only getting a little lost and headed out.

I got some Pho across the road from the entrance and followed it with some ice cream before getting on my way as I had some kilometers to cover and it was well past lunch time. Something about the roads on the loop is that generally they were in really good condition but there were so many animals in the road. Whether that was dogs, chickens, buffalo, cows, or goats something was always laying in the street or ready to jump out and it made it quite a challenge to dodge anything with a death wish. Luckily there isn't much traffic except for the fairly frequent farmer walking a small herd of buffalo down the road (which I honestly couldn't tell you why).

After a while I made my way to a walking track that was meant to give a good view at the top. I parked up and had to walk behind this dudes house in this tiny village but then I got to the path that lead up. Feeling springy I jogged up this one till I got to a nice rock with a perfect seat for the view down the valley. Thinking that was it, I sat for a bit admiring the view before realising that the path continued and I was curious where it took me as I thought I was already at the "spot". Have you ever heard the phrase "Curiosity killed the cat"? Well I certainly felt like the cat. As I wandered up the path it was becoming clearer and clearer that this was becoming less and less trodden (but still fairly obvious) as people assumedly turned back. Unfortunately, my curiosity wouldn't let me stop going and I just *HAD* to see where the path lead. I kept venturing for maybe 30 minutes deeper into the jungle, with seemingly no end to this path. I then realised I had no phone signal and no one knew where I was if something were to happen, so being quite sweaty and dirty from battling through the jungle I turned back and followed the path back. Unfortunately, the path had split in 2 directions and I wasn't super sure the way I came as most things looked like trees and there wasn't many markers. Knowing I wasn't lost but just a bit confused, I made my way up one of the tracks to see if it led to anywhere recognisable. I ran into a disappearing track and small herd of cattle blocking the way so I decided to head back the other route. Eventually it led back to where I recognised and even though I was never off the track, I still got a bit panicked I'd end up lost so you can say I learnt my lesson. I got back down completely sweaty and headed out.

After no more official stops, I made it to where my homestay would be that night. I had to ride down this bumpy dirt and gravel track which required some good evasive techniques but eventually I ended up at 1 last stop a minute from my homestay. The stunning "Angel Eye Mountain" is a limestone karst with a cave going all the way through meaning you can see the sky through it. Plus it stands tall in a wonderful lush green plains below it. I got there just at sunset as well which meant 2 great sunsets 2 days in a row, lucky lucky me!

I checked in to a relatively expensive but super nice homestay and got ready to chill for the evening. They had about 5 or 6 dogs that were very excitable and great to play with, running around like crazy. It wasn't until I met a small curly hair little dude that my heart melted as all he wanted was to cuddle up to me. Turns out his name was Sam! It was really meant to be. I had some dinner, with little Sam sleeping on my lap then went for a shower before cuddling up to Sam again whilst I watched some Netflix (Castaway is a pretty good movie). Overall it was a really nice evening except for the stupidly low wooden beam in the bedroom which I hit my head against not once but twice, sending me to the floor on the 2nd time and leaving behind a bump right on top of my head.Read more