Hoat

After an hours ride through the twisting and snaking mountain roads we make it..... not sure where as Google wants to take us here there and everywhere. We park up next to a giant bhudda, and give Angela's buttocks the massage they so deserve after the long and bumpy ride on the back of a motorbike.

This Bhudda is mighty impressive, we find stairs inside and begin to climb. There is a little peep hole view every now and again, we don't know how far we've climbed but it doesn't seem to end. After around 200 steps we emerge somewhere near the top, and can see the beautiful waterfall in the distance, we feel like the borrowers inside here, everything is soo huge in comparison!

After a tedious decent we go for a closer look of the waterfall, into what looks like an old and abandoned park over all the rusty metal bits and dodgy bridges (if you can call them that) we make our way closer for a photo.

We notice a coffee plantation not far and ride off for a drink. The views are amazing, seeing both the waterfall and bhudda whilst sipping on a salt coffee and blueberry cold brew, lush! We finish up by having a small tour of the plant to cup process, having a few tasters as we go. Did you know Vietnam is the world's 2nd biggest exporter of coffee. We wait out yet another downpour, but with views like this who cares!

The rain stops, time for some lunch and then the long drive back, as I'm checking the map I see an Avocado cafe, surely worth the detour to satisfy Angela's love of the green fruit.

We follow said directions and just as we're about to turn around we see it. Looks very quiet, we then see the sign to see its only opened a few days ago, well Angela saw this bit, I was fixated at 'free cake' on the sign, so in we merrily go.

We were treated like guests of honour, we were most probably the first white people to step foot through these doors. The location is great, sat in an avocado plantation, up on the balcony you can see the fruits hanging from the trees like an apple or any other fruit. Angela goes for a hibiscus tea, refreshing and fruity, and I another coffee, having not already had my caffeine fix.

We head indoors as the heavens open again, we pose for photos with the owner, maybe this will be when the free cake comes as a prize for having our photos taken like celebrities. As we sit down, we are given a giant Avocado smoothie each, I don't know how many avocados were inside it but we'd definitely hit our Omega 3 target (and the rest) for the week!

The sun sets st 18.10 it's currently 17.35, and the rain has just stopped. We say our goodbyes, and make our way to the bike having overdosed on Avocado, and quietly glad no cake came out as we were stuffed. We set off, the sun slowly getting lower and the rain starting to spit heavier and feel like little needles on our skin as time goes on. We race on, overtaking locals on their bikes to beat the sun before it sets and we're deserted in the dark and gloomy mountains. Before you know it, it's dark, it's chucking it down with rain and we have no choice but to keep going through the snaking roads as there is nowhere to stop and no shelter, bugger!

After about 45 minutes of being attacked by rain, we are both shaking and shivering and I physically cannot see anymore as my eyelashes are saturated.......but finally civilisation! We stop at a random homestay and ask to use the facilities and dry off. We communicate through Google Translate and have a ginger tea to warm up. The owners are so friendly and before we know it we're playing pool (losing massively), drinking tea and all smiling together.

We say our goodbyes and make our way back, it's not far now. A hot shower and cup of tea awaits.Read more