Cao Bang

Our accommodation in this beautiful part of the country is a townhouse on the outskirts of the city. The owner is the daughter of a military man and gifted the land by the government after the war. Everything in the area is owned by him and his family, built from nothing.

I was not feeling great yesterday, so I had a rest before our hosts cooked us dinner. Once again, excellent food and speaking to them was a great insight into life in rural Vietnam. Both work for the government and clearly have more than most in the area but nowhere near as much as they should.

They recommended for us to head out early today to make it out to the far eats of the country before the crowds. Our first stop was Tiger Cave. A massive cave system almost on the border with China. We did a tour through the main part and marveled at the sheer size of the caves. At one point there was a little river we could go down on a raft alongside one of the larger rocks. Our route ended at the other end of the cave at a ginormous opening. The contrast of sun shining through into the near black cave created a striking image.

Our next stop was the showstopper of Cao Bang, the waterfall system that acts as a border between Vietnam and China. We first saw it from above, halfway up a hill in an old temple. From about you can see its length but seems a tad underwhelming as its true size was hidden.

Back down the hill and a little further down the road we parked up at the entrance, paid and made our way down to the waterfall from below. From below you can see the true size and scale of the waterfalls. The power from them created a thunderous noise and haze at the base. Dad and I took one of the boats down right to the edge, quite an experience. We were the only vietnamese boat out, every other one was a Chinese one. This place was crowded on there side and sparse on our, clearly not a famous spot in vietnam.

From the waterfall we found somewhere for food then made our way back to town. Just before the city starts we took a right and headed up. After a few wrong turns and a rather bumpy ride, we found what we were looking for. Mountain with hole in it, or angels eye was quite a sight. No clue how it is possible but really quite something we spend a while sitting there looking at it as the sun began to set.

Our final ride back to the house, as the sun set was beautiful. The golden sun shone off the rice fields and trees the entire way turning everything golden and shiny.Read more