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Amelia WilkinsonAmelia Wilkinson
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Travelling for the fun times and plot lines. Here till the money isnt. Read more Brighton, United Kingdom
  • TravelerThis side of things
    1
    Day 389

    Flying back

    October 18, 2023 in England

    Check into our flight was a little sticky for me. I thought I had lost my portable charger during the trip. Turns out, I did not. It was in the bottom of my bag, and I got pulled into security to find it. But I got there eventually and ended up getting through security easy enough.

    Before the flight, I was feeling a little hungry, so I bought some food before we hopped on board. The first flight was ok. I watched a movie while we got food, then fell asleep.

    Once landed in Doha, we had a 20-minute bus ride to the terminal. Then we had to go through security again, and I got my drink taken from me. Then, we went through another security check-in and got stopped once more. I was a random check, apparently, but it's just so annoying. Had another rest before the second flight and then slept a lot of that flight, too.

    Landing into Gatwick was nice and simple. Caught a bit of the pretty sunrise as we made our way from the terminal to the train station. Mum picked us up from the train station, and I headed home for the first time in a year and a bit.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 388

    A day in Hanoi

    October 17, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Our final day in Vietnam and our only proper day in Hanoi. We began with a coffee and history tour of the French sector. Dad finally found a coffee that he liked, why it was egg coffee, I have no clue. The tour was a lot of fun and we learnt a lot about the history of the city and the architecture of the French Quarter.

    After wandering around the city a little, we got on one of the hop on hop off buses and spent an hour or so driving around the city looking at it all. The audio was patchy at times, but it was fun to see the city from another way.

    Once off the bus, we made our final trip down to our hotel. We had about an hour to have a shower and get ourselves together before the flight.

    Our driver was nice but ended up being yet another person who asked if dad and I her a couple. Which is just uncomfortable. And unfortunately, it's not been uncommon.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 387

    Final evening

    October 16, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Our final evening was spent on the bus on the way back to Hanoi. Dad and I were in the front seats, so we got an insane view of the sun setting over the city.

    We hopped off the bus earlier than we were supposed to because we were only a block away from our hotel. Checking in, we made our way up to have a drink on the roof with the tail end of the sun set.

    We found somewhere for Banh Mi for finner and I went for another massage to end my day.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 385–387

    Ha Long Bay

    October 14, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Our mini bus arrived nice and early at 7,30am, and we headed off towards Ha Long Bay. We had to wake up at 6 for breakfast up in the bar so we could eat before we left.

    The bus took quite a while, and we ended up arriving in the harbour at 11 a.m., after going for quite a while. Our boat was at 12, so we had to wait for a little bit. We thought the harbour would have some snacks, but they had very little available, so that was a pain.

    The accommodation is insane. A floating collecting of buildings in the middle of nowhere. Practically silent, the place is a perfect end to our trip. 2 days of relaxation in the sun.

    On the first evening, a load of us took a swim in the dark. The water was full of bioluminesence, making it seem like we were swimming through the stars. It was so much fun. The food was pretty similar but still nice. We took a journey in one of the kayaks around the island next to us.

    We didn't actually do nuch, but it was good. A nice final few days.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 384–385

    Back in Hanoi

    October 13, 2023 in Vietnam

    After travelling from Cao Bang to Thac Ba Lake, we stayed the night on the lake side. The journey was fine until the final 40 minutes, which was currently under construction road. That part was unnerving and painful, Dad was having a great time, and I was not.

    The lake was nice but our accommodation was not as we had thought when booked. There was no view of the lake and overpriced for the dinner and breakfast.

    And then, our final day of riding was upon us. One long journey south from the lake towards Hanoi. Thankfully, Hanoi was large enough that there were signs almost the entire way, making the ride nice and easy. The roads were all large and accommodating, making for a long but ok ride.

    The final hour as we reached the outskirts of Hanoi was rough. Traffic plus the pure size and chaos of the city was tiring. I ended up feeling very uncomfortable when we were back in the city, probably due to what happened the last time, and was very thankful for our eventual arrival at Style.

    Dropping off the bikes was bitter sweet. I was pleased because the trip has been so exhausting but sad because it has also been incredible.

    We made our way by grab from Style to our hotel, had a drink during sunset on the roof top bar, headed to a very nice vegetarian place for dinner and then had a massage in the hotel.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 382–384

    Cao Bang

    October 11, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    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

  • TravelerThis side of things
    1
    Day 380

    Highlands of Vietnam

    October 9, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    The next day, we made our way from Dong Van to Bao Lac. It's another long ride but a nice one.

    The first part was gorgeous. The Ma Pi Leng Pass, famous for its views and impressively built by hand by the locals to aid travel amongst the remote communities among the hills. We made our way down one of the hill sides to the river below. Taking a boat, we went down through the gorge with the hills rising on both sides. It was a bit of a treacherous journey down but worth it for the views.

    The rest of the day was around 3 hrs of twists and turns, through the hills east towards Bao Lac.

    Bao Lac is not the biggest of towns. It feels a bit like how Long Son will be in about 3 years' time. There were a handful of restaurants and sat on the convergence of two rivers. A nice little area, if a little military focused.

    The next day was much the same as before. Twisting through beautiful landscapes down towards Cao Bang.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 379

    Northernmost point

    October 8, 2023 in Vietnam

    Today, Dad and I made our way up to the moth northern part of Vietnam.

    We set off from Yen Min and made our way towards Dong Van. Being the most northern town in Vietnam, it was a little run down, but on the Ha Giang loop, it was also quite touristy. We arrived there about midday, today's ride only being a couple of hours.

    Once there, we checked in, grabbed some food, and set off again. This time, I rode pillion and navigated as we wound our way up through the mountains once more to Lung Cu, the flagpole overlooking China.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 378

    Views of Ha Giang

    October 7, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Our first day up on the Ha Giang loop!

    We set off in a bit of 5, thankfully cleared up quickly. All the way up the mountain was twists and turns but easy enough to do. About halfway up, we had to weave around some cars that were stopped due to two trucks that were passing. But the road was crumbling beneath one of them, so it had stopped directly in the middle of the road, stopping all traffic.

    Up near the top, we stopped at a recommended spot for a coffee and a look out across the hills. It made for a nice break on our way towards Yen Min, where we are staying the night.

    The roads were fine but unfortunately there was one point that was not so safe. A large stretch of the road was unsealed again, and some of the corners were not great. I ended up coming off on one of the corners. Injured my palms, but thankfully, that was all. Not what I wanted, but we kept on going.

    That evening we ate another meal cooked by the accommodation with a load of people doing a joint tour. There were probably 20 people on this tour, and we had a nice evening with them. One of them had an injured hand from riding as well, so I felt less dumb with my injury.    Read more

  • TravelerThis side of things
    Day 377

    Ha Giang

    October 6, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Finally, up into the mountains.

    I am very sad to leave this idyllic place, we left early again in an attempt to get to Ha Giang without being rained on. The first 1.5 hours was once again on unsealed roads as we made our way around the lake and then headed out north east towards Ha Giang.

    The roads, for the most part, were good, but the quality of buses with crazy drivers was not fun. There is a lot more traffic up here. Perhaps we were just more remote the last week, but it. Is certainly busier.

    Our accommodation in Ha Giang is a little underwhelming. The room I am in has no air con. I will be fine because it isn't that warm, but there is also no view which we paid for, so that sucks. But there we go.

    The place also cooked us dinner, and we had a convo with a young couple here hiking around the mountains. They gave us some tips for the rest of the journey.    Read more

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