• Looking for 42
  • Looking for 42

Vietnam 2017

Een 17-daags avontuur van Looking for 42 Meer informatie
  • Het begin van de reis
    19 juni 2017
  • Ho Chi Minh City

    21 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    HCMC is as hectic as we'd been told. The city was noisy and busy. Scooters and cars cloggef the streets. Tourists raced around to the sites during the day and drank themselves stupid on pub street at night. The afternoon we arrived it rained, turning the streets to rivers within half an hour. We took a massage at Rocky Spa to wait out the rain. It was so good we returned the next day for another. The War Remnants Museum was thought provoking. We saw Wonder Woman at the Galaxy Cinema. The movie was fantastic and the quality of the cinema great.Meer informatie

  • Ho Chi Minh City to Buon Ma Thuot

    23 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We caught the bus from HCMC to Buon Ma Thuot. The city took a long time to let us go. For over two hours we crawled through the clogged streets of HCMC. It was such a relief when we finally left the city. The bus was moderately comfortable with beds as seats. We had the last two seats on the bus right at the back. We were the only foreigners on the bus. The pancakes and noodles at the bus stops - yum.Meer informatie

  • Thác Dray Nur

    24 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We rented motorbikes for two days and rode from Buon Ma Thuot to Dray Nur Waterfall. The heavens opened as we arrived at the waterfall so we took shelter in the restaurant for half an hour before walking the short distance to the waterfall. A man was fascinated by Paul and plucked up the courage to ask for a photo. This was Paul's first motorbike ride since childhood.Meer informatie

  • Buon Ma Thuot

    24 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We spent three awesome nights in Buon Ma Thuot. We stayed at Lys Hotel about 3.5km north of town. The town had a cinema where we watched the terrible Transformers movie but it was still awesome to have the cinema to ourselves. The morning markets were bright and smelled amazing. At night the citt was lit up like a festival. We ate street food, including BBQ your own meat. The rain made the streets muddy but it was so local it rocked.

    There's a market not far from our hotel. It's alive and thumping. Neat piles of brightly coloured fruit is sold by weighing on old fashioned scaled.  Live fish swim in round plastic tubs of all sizes. Larger fish the size of small sharks are chopped in two: head and body. Pork seems to be the meat of choice, butchered with precision. For chicken meat the preferencd appears to be live birds. I just wish I had smellogram because the scent of crushed onions, garlic, chilli and spices is amazing.

    I take a short walk around the muddy streets. It rained last night so the dust is now a slippery mess, even to walk on. The area around the market is the worst. It's the same rich red soil that makes this region so fertile. Everywhere plants are growing. Herbs grow in pots, vegetables in crevices and coffee grows outside the city.
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  • Hõ Ea Kao

    25 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Lake Ea Kao is only 12km from Buon Ma Thuot. We started by riding along the dam wall. The refections across the lake were amazing. Rice fields and tumble down shacks dot the landscape here. On the far side of the lake we found a park with picnic tables under cool shady trees. It was a brilliant place to relax.Meer informatie

  • Pleiku / Gia Lai

    28 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We spent three nights in Pleiku, which is known locally as Gia Lai. The town only has a population of about 250,000. There's so much delicious and cheap street food. We bought a kite to fly one afternoon. The lady who sold us the kite was determined to help us fly it but there wasn't enough wind.Meer informatie

  • Chůr Đăng crater

    29 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We rode motorbikes from Pleiku to Kon Tum via Chůr Đăng volcanic crater. We rode down local roads until nearly the end when two local men pointed us down a red dirt track to a path up the crater. The views from the top were superlative. The soil must be rich because vegetables grow in abundance.Meer informatie

  • Kon Kotu

    30 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Our host at the homestay took us to Kon Kotu hill village. We rode along dirt roads through the mountains past rice fields. The height of the village hall determines the power of the village. This one is a tall building. The river here is unique because it flows west to Cambodia, not east to the sea.Meer informatie

  • Kon Tum

    30 juni 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We spent two nights at the Viet Nam Phuot Homestay in Kon Tum. The family were incredible. They fed us delicious food straight from their garden. The daughter took us out to see the sights of Kon Tum, including the Wooden Church. We bought ice cream from a guy with a cart who has been making and selling ice cream for 35 years. It was an absolutely wonderful experience.Meer informatie

  • Kon Tum to Pleiku

    1 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    The ride down QL14 (aka AH17) was fast. After just one hour of riding through the mountains we returned to Pleiku from where we will catch a bus to Da Nang. For the most part, the ride was easy. But, as with any riding in South East Asia, there were some moments where we wondered what on earth other road users were doing.Meer informatie

  • Pleiku to Da Nang

    2 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The bus company collected us from our hotel at 7pm. The 16 seater mini bus is full and yet more people are being picked up. A sign of things to come. At the bis station there were about 10 buses with coloured lights at the ready. All heading to Da Nang covering three different companies. Our four buses are lined up. The number plate was pointed out to us: this would be important at the midnight stop.

    I'd heard horror stories of overnight bus trips in Vietnam. Statistics are online about crashes and crazy drivers. I doubt these take into account the sheer number of buses driving here. At the midnight stop four buses from the same company are stopped en route to Pleiku. Four more red buses pass in each direction north and south. And that's just in the space of 30 minutes. There must be hundreds of buses cross crossing the country every night and then hundreds more during the day.

    Our trip is comfortable. The bus sways. We watch movies and listen to music on our phones, and sleep. There's bumps and twists but the driver rarely uses his horn and keeps the speed low.
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  • Arriving in Danang

    2 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    It's 4.30am when we arrive in Da Nang. We're still asleep on the bus and no one wakes us (nor the other sleeping passengers). Bleery eyed we face the throng of taxi and moto drivers. We have no idea where we need to go and the wifi on the bus didn't work. So I use some roaming data.

    Danang Bikes is right near the beach. As we stepped out of the taxi we are greeted by the most amazing sunrise. Hundreds of people were already swimming and round basket boats ply the waters. Groups of people in matching sports outfits dance, We had a long wait. It got hot. Time eventually passed and we could pick up the bikes for the next leg of our adventure.
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  • Dragon Bridge fire show

    2 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 31 °C

    We learn that the Dragon Bridge in Da Nang breaths fire at 9pm every weekend. It's Sunday and the only weekend night that we will be in the area so we ride the 45 minutes to Da Nang to see the spectacle. And what fun it is. There are thousands of people milling around taking photos, chatting and waiting for the show. We eat Baskin Robbins ice creams to cool ourselves from the heat while wathing the people. It's so much fun to be at a festival.

    At 9pm the dragon breaths fire. Balls of flame shoot from it's mouth. The people standing on the bridge must feel the heat. Oohs and aahs rise from the crowded bridge and riverbank, proving once again that we humans are more alike than different. After breathing fire the dragon sprays water. The crowd and cars on the bridge get soaked. We can hear the squeals of delight from our vantage point.
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  • Hoi An

    3 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    After being out in the mountains, Hoi An is a shock to the system. When we arrive the ancient town is wall to wall tourists. A tiny cup of iced coffee costs as much as at home and the dual pricing system is alive.

    Early mornings in Hoi An is gorgeous. A chance to explore the yellow-walled town in peace. Mid-morning we take a massage at Lemongrass Spa where the service is wonderful and the price just $12/hour. As the day heats up we escspe Hoi An with a ride to Da Nang for a movie.

    Evening and night is when Hoi Am comes into it's own. Our guesthouse has a deck on which we sit to watch sunset over the rice fields before heading into town. Lanterns light the steeets, a souvenir market allows us to practice our bargaining skills and boats bob on the river.
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  • Hoi An to Prao

    4 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Leaving Hoi an we wriggle our way west through dusty townships. Quiet mountain roads beckon but first we must battle roadworks and road users who scored highly on the "drive without looking" exam. It's slow going for an hour but, eventually, the towns disappear into our memories.

    QL14 is a great mountain road. It winds effortlessly upwards into and through jungle-clad mountains. The bikes handle the 10% gradients with ease, making for a pleasurable cruise. Natural lookouts provide epic views. The river provides some contrast below. We stop at a pineapple stand and shelter from the midday heat devouring three sweet fruits.

    Prao is a tiny town. We pre booked our roon at a guesthouse through Sammy from the Light Villa in Hoi An. His recommendation is comfortable with air conditioning and wifi.
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  • Prao to Hué

    5 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Neither words not photos can do justice to the bends, views and road quality of the ride from Prao to Hué. For the first hour we follow a river that cuts a swath through the mountains. Wide at first, it becomes gradually smaller as we ride ever higher. We enter the Vietnam-Laos border region. The road is now deserted but for a handful of village people using scooters to transport tree fronds, wood and banana trees. Tiny ladies carry heavy loads of cut wood on their backs while girls carry similar basket backpacks filled with leaves of some sort. There are no towns for the first 100km of our ride; only tiny traditional villages hidden in the jungle. Even after that, the few towns we pass through are blink and you'll miss it size. Just an amazing day on an incredible road.Meer informatie

  • Hué

    5 juli 2017, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Hué is another of Vietnam's main tourist towns. Menus in the main tourist area are published in English and Korean depending on the target market. Prices are reasonable given the quality of the food.

    The Imperial Palace is lit up quite beautifully at night. We missed entry by 5 minutes. But even just the outside is stunning.
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    Het einde van de reis
    5 juli 2017