Lâm Bản Giốc

Budistični tempelj s prelepim razgledom na dolino. Imeli smo super timing, ujeli ravno v barvah večera in zahajajočega sonca. Po stopničkah do templjev, spremljal nas je mlad kuža, ki jeRead more
Budistični tempelj s prelepim razgledom na dolino. Imeli smo super timing, ujeli ravno v barvah večera in zahajajočega sonca. Po stopničkah do templjev, spremljal nas je mlad kuža, ki je poskušal grizljat na naših čevljih😅. Res res lep zaključek družabnega dneva, zdaj pa moramo najti še nekaj za pojest in se odločit za en homestay (izbira prevelika). Večerjo najdemo v drugo, imamo tofu, zelenjavo, rižek in onadva eno omleto, potem pa po 5ih minutah vožnje v temi parkiramo pri prenočišču. Odločitev je padla, Hoang Cong homestay, ki je poimenovan po dveh sinovih lastnice. Ta mlajšega srečamo, s kosom lubenice hodi naokoli in se smeji. Lastnica je super prijazna in skupaj malo klepetamo, preden popadamo v postelje😴
Aja, pa ogenj se kuri notri, v 300 let stari leseni hiši. No, če do zdaj ni nič zgorelo, tudi danes ponoči ne bo!Read more
Im äußersten Nordosten sind beeindruckende Wasserfälle, direkt an der chinesischen Grenze. Ich schätze wir standen 100 Meter weg von ihnen. Aber innerhalb 2 Minuten waren wir von der Gischt durchnässt.
Das dürfte der bisher breiteste Wasserfall auf unserer Reise sein. Das Wasser drückt sich einfach überall aus dem grünen Dschungel.
Direkt um die Ecke gibt es auch noch eine Tropfsteinhöhle die über 1 km lang ohne Guide begehbar ist. Die Formen und Größen der Stalaktiten und Stalagmiten ist wirklich einzigartig. Eintritt pro Person übrigens 1,60€.Read more
We stayed one day in Cao Bang and used that for a day trip to the famous Ban Gioc Waterfall. It’s the fourth biggest waterfall at a border and is quite contested between China and Vietnam, currently there is an agreement to share it for touristic purposes. The drive was really fun since we didn’t have our big backpacks with us. We were a little later than the tour buses so it was pretty empty on the Vietnamese side. Entry was less than 2€ per person. The spray from
The waterfalls was pretty refreshing. A highlight was our accidental VIP boat ride to the waterfall since we were the only tourists there (4€). After that we wanted to see whether we could make it to the Chinese side since we were told there was a pilot project to let tourists pass to the opposite side with a visa exemption, the Chinese side is much more developed with viewing platforms. Unfortunately we were not successful as it is only possible for tours, which of course makes sense since they don’t want you to be able to leave the tourist site.
We then made our way to a cave close by. Jeroen had been there with his friends in 2019 when you could just enter alone. When we arrived it was more commercialized entering with a guide, a head lamp and wet shoes. They had extended the route further passing underground rivers which was pretty spectacular. We even took a little raft. Pretty cool what water and minerals can create over millions of years. They had really pretty light installations to illuminate the stalagmites and stalactites. There were also bats on one of the ceilings which we could hear and smell, the pictures didn’t turn out that well because of the height and darkness.
The tour took a bit longer than expected so we didn’t make it home before sunset, but ultimately worth it.Read more
Zanimivo si je kdaj kaksno stvar ogledati dvakrat. Bil je prav malo čuden občutek, po enemu mesecu biti na istem kraju, na istem parkirišču, hodit po isti potki, tako zelo daleč od doma. Ne vem zakaj, vendar je drugače ko si tako daleč, kot turisti si ne moremo vedno privoščiti obiska istega kraja več kot enkrat, sploh v istem izletu. Takšna je nepredvidljivost solo popotovanja in pa slow traveling stila. Nisem mislila, da bom nazaj na meji, mahala Kitajski, z dvema prijateljema ob strani.
Zadnjič sem bila tu 26ga novembra, uf… takrat sem bila zgodnja da bi prehitela gužve, vendar prehitra, saj slap sploh ni imel vode😅to vem zdaj, ker smo mi počakali do 11ih, ko spustijo vodo! Res je razlika (priložen foto dokaz)…
Itak smo naredili 300+ slik na različnih koncih, pod različnimi koti😇
Potem pa vožnja do naslednje postaje, tista gora z luknjo, kjer nas je presenetil beli buffalo! To je ful redkost, jaz sem ga videla prvič in po vsej verjetnosti zadnjič v Vietnamu🐃!
Za večerjo se odločimo da jo skuhamo v hostlu, ustavimo se na tržnici in kupimo sestavine (tofujček, riž, nudle, gobice, koruzo, fižol, solato…) imamo dovolj za 5 ljudi mi smo pa 3je, tako da povabimo še Huong in Chuyena iz hostla, da se nam pridružita. Dobro smo skuhali🥢.Read more
Ko se reka, ki meji dve državi, prelomi v čudovit slap, to postane turistična destinacija! Song Quay Son reka se vije ob skrajnem severu Vietnama, počasi vijuga skozi male vasice in moje včerajšnje prenočišče je bilo čisto ob rekici, po imenu Riverstay Hostel (slikica 8, jutranji razgled).
Danes sem ustala že ob sedmih in se hitro odpeljala do slapa, saj sem želela prehiteti gužve. Je tudi res da posledično zato slap izgleda bolj “švoh”, najbolj se splaca priti med 11-13h, ko voda najbolj naraste inz večjo silo hiti naprej. Meni je bilo še vedno zelo lepo in ujela sem lep jutranji soncek, ki se je kasneje skril med oblake.
Hecno tudi, da se mi je ura spremenila še za eno uro naprej, ko sem prišla tako blizu Kitajski! Drugače se vidi množične turiste na kitajski strani, kako fotkajo in veseli na ladjicah občudujejo tale mejni ‘prehod’. Seveda nihče ne sme čez, kopanje in droni hudo prepovedani!
🇨🇳🇻🇳Read more
Today squeezed in a near 200km motorbike loop into 13 hours. After being fed at the hostel, I met my driver and fellow traveller and her driver, who was also our tour guide. My driver was called Uncle (as he's older, out of respect older people are called auntie or uncle even when you're unrelated). I missed the second part of his name, so we just called him uncle all day 😅
We set off just after 8, zooming out of Cao Bang in no time, we were quickly surrounded by beautiful Vietnamese countryside. Along the way up to the waterfall, we stopped in two villages, the first of which was an incense village. Reeds used as the core of incense sticks were laid neatly in rows by the curbside. As we walked through the tiny village, there were people taking on different jobs within the process, and it seemed like it was a very communal effort. There were water buffalo chilling in sheds, (they're used to work the farms), chickens running around and sleeping dogs laid across walkways and curled up in corners. Our tour guide explained the incense making process, and that most of the finished products are either sold to temples or at local markets.
The next village was only 10 minutes down the road, with a similar laid back atmosphere, but was known for it's blacksmithery. There were maybe half a dozen workshops with one of two people in, either melting soldering metal, hammering or shaping all sorts of objects, from knives to farming ploughs.
Apart from one person in the first village, we were the only tourists in both places, so it didn't feel crowded or invasive, and it was nice to wander through and observe seemingly traditional life for these people.
Around midday day we pulled up at Ban Gioc waterfalls, which are the largest in North Vietnam but more impressively straddle the border between Vietnam and China!
There were two main falls, the wider falls cascaded into the river, which act as the border, and the second falls were to the left, stood at 30m.
We approached the edge of the river and hopped on a raft which took us up closer to the main waterfall. Was quite funny as there were also boats/rafts leaving from the Chinese side of the waterfall too. Don't know why being able to see another country is exciting, but it was!
We walked around the second waterfall which I found more impressive, and climbed up little paths which took us really close to the water and was a lot quieter.
Just a 2 minute drive from the waterfall, we then wandered round a temple on a mountain. The temple itself wasn't particularly impressive, however the view from it was! We could see the waterfalls, the river they stem from, as well as a huge mountain range and the Chinese and Vietnamese countryside merging into one.
After a much needed lunch, uncle had a nap on his motorbike while our tour guide took us two into Dong Nguom Ngao caves. They had some pretty spectacular alien looking rock formations and pillars inside, as well a huge rock which looked like an upside down lotus flower (looked much cooler than it sounds!).
The next hour of driving after of the caves was my favourite of the whole day, any videos I took didn't really capture the beauty of it, but we just drove through really gorgeous rural countryside. Through such vivid green rice fields with the sun shining down, paddocks with water buffalo, small villages with kids running about. I was worried we might run over an animal as so many dogs and chickens ran across the road seemingly emerging from nowhere! The best thing was that the roads were so quiet, we rarely passed any other bikes, and practically no cars.
We had a little coffee stop and met one of the cutest dogs I've seen.
Feeling refuelled, we took a turn down some smaller roads and up a very bumpy hill and emerged a the top of this random path. When we hopped off the bikes and walked a few metres we were met with a row of gorgeous green mountains, the middle of which had a hole in the top, called Angel's eye, which stood in front of a small lake with the setting sunset showering a golden glow on the water. It looked like a postcard.
We drove back as the sun was stopping, and got back to the hostel in time for a beer, some food and a shower before getting whisked away on another night bus, back down to Hanoi!Read more
S brought us to a very unique cafe for coffee. A quaint garden and courtyard decorated for the upcoming new years festivities. A noticed they had fruit in the fridge, and ordered a plater to enjoy with our coffees, while S procured breakfast sandwiches at a nearby vendor.
Our destination was rough roughly 50km away near the Chinese boarder to view the spectacular Ban Gioc Waterfalls. We headed north and east following the main road. Eventually we left the main road, and crisscrossed the Quay Son river along country roads, passing through multiple little villages. Finally arriving at the falls, where the river drops 30m, and separates Vietnam and China. S was adventurous and decided pictures with a horse would be fun. We enjoyed almost 45 minutes leisurely waking.
Shortly after leaving the falls S veered off the main road through rural farmland trails. Our path eventually lead to a creek bed that we crisscrossed a few times till the path took us through fields and pastures. We realized we were doing a backtrack loop when we stopped for lunch in a town we’d passed through earlier. We continued heading south and west, passing the hotel we’d stayed at the night before, completing the roughly 100km loop to the falls.
We noticed a number of stalls along the road selling various types and styles of knives. Later we passed through a village with all types of smithy's that produced the knives. See the video!
The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly on side roads with the occasional rocky dirt path hugging a stream, including more water crossings; should have put the rain pants on today… One crossing was quiet difficult, up a sloped rocky area with water flowing, so we let S take our bikes over too. We've learned a lot in a short time, but no sense in trying it all too quickly. The boots are supposed to be waterproof, but didn’t feel like testing them out again!
Late afternoon found us at our accommodation in Cao Bang. A wasn't feeling 100%, likely from that breakfast sandwich, so he enjoyed resting before dinner.
A hunt for a local dinner place was "interesting." We veto'd the street BBQ (no refrigeration in 25C heat), and the second restaurant displaying pre-cooked dishes without food safe storage 🫣. The third place was cooking it on the front step! We opted for veggie fried noodles. The meat options were also just hanging out on a table 🙃...
After dinner was a short walk to enjoy the new years lights.
Today's ride
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/t-OdBSQd1KrwRead more
Für Kathrin und mich stand heute Ruhetag auf dem Programm…bedeutet…Etwa 10km spazieren und erkunden und in den Supermärkten eskalieren 😅
Johannes und Lena sind heute an die chinesische Grenze gefahren um sich die Dong Ngnom Nago Cave und den Ban Gioc Wasserfall anzusehen🤙🏻😍 dort haben wir mit Rupin aka Hupen wieder gesehen, die wir schon beim sehr leckeren Frühstück getroffen haben 😋Read more
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
Heute standen wir um 6 Uhr auf, da es um halb 7 bereits Frühstück im Hotel gab. Zu unserer Freude war das Frühstück europäisch - es gab Pfannkuchen mit Bananen. Ich glaube die Asiaten waren nicht so begeistert von dem Frühstück 😂
Um halb 8 checkten wir aus und unser Gepäck wurde wieder mit Motorroller zum Bootsanleger transportiert während wir den Weg wieder liefen.
Wir stiegen dann ins Boot und fuhren kurz auf die andere Seite, wo unserer Bus auf uns wartete.
Da Laura und ich nicht wieder hinten sitzen wollten, waren wir die Ersten im Bus und setzten uns weiter nach vorne.
Wir fuhren knapp 4 Stunden durch die beeindruckende Berglandschaft. Einmal fuhr der Bus etwas zu schnell über einen Huckel, sodass wir alle von unseren Sitzen geschleudert wurden 🙈
Um halb 1 hielten wir bei einem Restaurant an, um Lunch zu essen. Das Restaurant war wieder local und erinnerte eher an eine überfüllte Großkantine 🙈
Ich saß an einem Tisch nur mit Asiaten. Eine brachte mir bei, mit Stäbchen zu essen 😂 das Essen war wieder nicht so lecker und das Fleisch wieder ungenießbar. Den anderen schmeckte es aber scheinbar 🙈
Anschließend fuhren wir nochmal 3 weitere Stunde zu den Wasserfällen.
Die Wasserfälle konnte wir schon von weiten sehen 😍 unglaublich schön! Leider hatten wir nur 45 Minuten Zeit, uns die Wasserfälle anzuschauen. Wir machten wieder viele Fotos und gönnten uns eine kurze Bootsfahrt, um näher an die Wasserfälle zu kommen 😊 die Wasserfälle waren echt gigantisch und die Wasserfälle grünlich. Im Hintergrund konnte man die Berglandschaft erkennen. Die lange Anfahrt hat sich auf jeden Fall gelohnt!
Wir wollten eigentlich auf die andere Seite, da es dort Viewpoints gab. Leider durften wir nicht rüber, da das andere Festland bereits zu China gehörte und es kein offizieller Grenzübergang war. Wir verbrachten also Silvester (zwischen den Jahren) zwischen zwei Länder 😂
Anschließend fuhren wir zu einer riesigen Höhle, die wir uns anschauten. Laura und ich waren nicht so motiviert, da wir stattdessen lieber länger bei den Wasserfällen geblieben wären 🙈
Die Höhle war schon schön und auch riesig, aber der Tourguide sprach nur vietnamesisch 🙈
Nach der Höhlenbesichtigung fuhren wir in eine nahelegenden Stadt, in der wir auch die Silvesternacht verbringen sollten.
Wir kamen ca. um 19 Uhr Cao Bang an. Die Stadt wirkte beim Durchfahren recht groß und modern mit viele farblichen Lichterketten und Deko.
Das Hotel war ganz nett. Wir aßen dann wieder in einen local Restaurant, dass sehr schäbig aussah und in dem Laura und ich unter anderen Umständen niemals gegessen hätten.
Das Essen war wieder nicht so gut und wir wurden beide nicht satt, da wir kein Appetit auf das Essen hatten. Nach dem Dinner erkundeten wir die nahe Umgebung und kauften uns etwas Süßes, um etwas gesättigt schlafen zu gehen.
Wir waren ziemlich kaputt und hatten keine Lust auszugehen. Wir bezweifelten auch, dass die Vietnamesen hier in Cao Bang Silvester feiern würden. Wenn selbst in Hanoi dieses Jahr nicht richtig gefeiert wird...
Wir blieben dann auf unserem Hotelzimmer und blieben bis halb 1 auf, um uns gegenseitig ein frohes neues Jahr zu wünschen 😀Read more
You might also know this place by the following names:
Thác Bản Dốc, Thac Ban Doc
Traveler
Nice!
Traveler
Tale pogled je pa res dih jemajoč 😍
Traveler Ressss🥰pa še zahod ujeli