Vietnam: Part Five (Khe Sahn to Hanoi)

Khe Sahn to Phong Nha was the next leg of our journey, a total of 232 kilometers.  As one of our longer days, we took of early and were so glad we did due to the amazing photo stops along the way.  Passing more goats, water buffalo, isolated roads, and stunning scenery was only part of the days excitement.  Lunch at the near highest point of our journey, surrounded by clouds on the side of the road without another car or bike to be seen, followed by a descent into a forest where limestone karsts began popping up led to this being the most enjoyable and beautiful part of the journey thus far.  The latter half of this ride was through the Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park.  While we tend to have recency bias when we evaluate things, we are writing this post well after this journey and it is still Nicole's favorite part. We eventually reached Phong Nha and checked into our hostel.  The one we had chosen had a pool and offered a family dinner, which we were very excited to join.  After settling into our room (which was MUCH bigger than we expected), we showered up and headed down for the meal.  Once again, we weren’t surprised at the wedding happening next door and the karaoke at it that could be heard across town.  The meal consisted of build-your-own spring rolls and fried spring rolls, paired with local rice wine that our host continued pouring shots of at regular intervals.  By this point, we had learned the “mot, hai, ba, dzo!” toast which is essentially just a “1,2,3, cheers!”, and got to practice it often during the meal.

The following day we planned to visit the caves that the region is famous for (they have some of the largest cave systems and caverns in the world). The cave we chose to go to had to be entered via the river by boat. From what we had heard at family dinner the night before, you had to pay "per boat" rather than "per person," but if you showed up at the boat ramp you could pair up with others. We followed Google Maps to the supposed boat ramp location...but it ended up being a launch pad for workers who told us to turn around and ride the 20 minutes back into town. Here, we waited to find a group.  Eventually we found a family of five and ended up splitting the boat cost (while Nicole thinks it should have been split 7 ways, they argued that kids didn’t count so it was just the parents and us paying.  The kids were all teenagers 🙄).  Happy to finally be on the way, we cruised 40 minutes down the River, through the limestone karst valley, passing essentially the same route we had just taken Sabrina on. 

Eventually we reached the entrance to Phong Nha cave at which point they turn off the boat motor and hand row you through the cave.  We went in for about 30 minutes, admiring the stalactites that hung from the ceilings, the unique colors within the cave, and the bats/sparrows that reside within.  Eventually we were dropped off inside the cave to explore a bit and venture out when we were ready.  We enjoyed admiring the cave and it’s unique environment from the fenced off boardwalk.  As with many National Parks,  you are asked to remain on the path to preserve the natural elements.  We were disappointed to see 2 guys hopping the railing and taking the “looking into the distance exploring the cave” Instagram shot before they got kicked out.  Through many of these places - this has been a common theme.  Many tourists come just to get their desired photos and have no respect for the rules or the nature to get them.  Eventually we exited the cave and had a coffee before getting back on the boat and heading down the River towards home.

We planned to eat at a restaurant well known amongst travelers, particularly for their banana desserts.  When we arrived, we learned they had reopened from the pandemic less than 2 weeks before and had limited offerings (that did NOT include the famous desserts) but still decided to give it a try.  The spring rolls were delicious and we enjoyed chatting with the owner about getting by during COVID and business reopening.  Our route back to the homestay included a stretch of wide-paved road with large overhead lighting, a bit like a shopping center back in the USA. It was mostly abandoned, though, and the rice farmers had taken it over to lay tarps covering half of the roads to dry rice.  It was almost eerie each time we rode down it, as usually we were the only passengers there.   We then headed to the botanic gardens which ended up being a nature walk as opposed to gardens, but enjoyed talking about the history of this country, and the impact the US had on it (not in a good way - Kyle had gone down a rabbit-hole of war research the night before).  While these conversations aren’t always easy or pleasant, we find we learn a lot and understand different perspectives as we visit these places. 

Eventually we headed for home where we had a dip in the pool before finding a shop that had THE BEST banh mi we’ve had so far (including the amazing ones in Hoi An). We used the remaining daylight to paint a few touch ups on Nash.  As we were outside the hostel touching up Nash, 3-4 children across the street were playing badminton and asked us to join.  Of course we said yes and laughed as we switched off spots back and forth with the kids.  After about 20 minutes, we called it quits and the kids asked “how much”.  Baffled, we laughed it off and headed back in but realized we had reached a point far enough north that any interaction with kids usually meant they’ll ask for money.  This has become a point of conflict for many as parents will keep their kids out of school to wait for tourist handouts, especially as more westerners visit.  While we hadn’t seen this up until this point, we began noticing it more and more.

The following day it was time for us to continue onward, so we woke up early for a 271 km ride to Tan Ky. Exiting the National park was a stunning ride as well, seeing the limestone karsts continue and eventually fade away to rolling farmland (which had many large Catholic cathedrals dotting the landscape, as this area was where many missionaries had settled).  During the ride, Nash got a little “wobbly”.  If Nicole took her hands off the handles his front wheel would go a little wacky which indicated something was off.  We debated stopping to fix it right away, but decided we’d push to Tan Ky and get it checked out there if we made it. Fortunately, we did.  We asked at the hotel about a mechanic and he pointed us next door.  We didn’t look up or hesitate as we pulled in and asked for assistance.  Only when they laughed and said “Honda, Honda”, did we realize we had taken Nicole's Yamaha into a Honda dealership.  They had a quick discussion and waved us in anyhow to fix the ball bearings.  They obviously didn’t have the proper parts on hand, so one mechanic hopped on his bike to go grab them, returning in 5 minutes. 20 after that and Nash was no longer wobbling. It was an eventful 20 minutes as the children of the mechanics were fascinated by us, and gave us candy while we taught them handshakes, and as we practiced simple worlds in Vietnamese vs American. At one point Kyle even had 3 kids hanging off his arms while their mom yelled at them to leave us alone. Also...this was breakdown #2 for Nash (Sabrina is at 6…..but who’s counting?).

Tan Ky was another very small town where we were just staying for a night as we passed through.  We found a coffee shop, dinner, and a comfortable bed which was all we really needed.  We also were very near the 0km marker of the Ho Chi Minh trail, essentially where the famous trail began.  We stopped by in the morning to snap a photo and realized it was very clearly a middle school hangout spot.  The kids offered to take our picture as they drank morning 2 liters of Coca-Cola and eventually took of on their bikes (most likely to school).  We headed back to the same coffee shop because we had enjoyed it so much the day prior before finding breakfast.  We stumbled into a little restaurant that seemed busy and just pointed a 2 things on the menu.  Not recognizing anything turned out to be a blessing as we ended up with our best breakfast in Vietnam.  Sizzling cast iron plates filled with eggs, meat, and sauce accompanied a plate of fresh bread for dipping.  We headed into our next destination well-caffeinated and with full bellies.

Our second to last riding day of the journey was to Ninh Binh, 257 km away and famous for their rice fields.  We had heard a small area near Ninh Binh, called Tam Coc, was nicer than staying in the big city so we opted for that.  The coolest part of the ride during this day was a slight detour through the Ho Citadel, the 15th century ruins of the ancient imperial seat of the Ho Dynasty.  We somehow entered through the back and during a harvest day so we didn’t pay any entrance fees and got to capture the true rice harvesting process and feel as we rode through.

The homestay we chose in Tam Coc again had a beautiful pool that we managed to swim in once (we kept choosing places based on them having a pool, but rarely actually swimming) and dinner on site.  We had decided to stay a few days here so we took our time exploring the city, checking out a local festival they had going on, trying an egg beer (also a thing), and hitting some of the major attractions.  We truly enjoyed Hang Mua, a temple on a limestone karst where a series of steep stone stairs will lead you up to two amazing viewpoints.  We found both the workout and the views delightful, and enjoyed climbing the "laying dragon mountain" and accompanying statue on top. 

We also took a 3 hour boat tour down the Ngô Đồng river.  Many of the boat rowers here will actually row with their feet as opposed to their hands, and boy do they have the art mastered!  Only 2 foreigners are allowed per boat vs 4 local Vietnamese people (signs specify this) due to the size and weight differences.  It was nice for us as we had, essentially, a private tour gliding through the rice paddies and karsts and five different caves. While we expected these features, we did NOT expect to also see multiple riverside karaoke singers, a concert band, and boats full of snack vendors who would latch onto your boat and beg you to buy something. It made for a pretty surreal experience when juxtaposed to the amazing scenery. After the boat ride we visited the Bich Dong mountain pagoda.  At the temple at the base of the pagoda we read some of the very interesting reincarnation cause/effect beliefs before ascending to the stone temples at the top. As we reached the highest point and began heading down, a monk stopped us and pointed at a box.  We quickly shook our heads indicating we didn’t want to buy anything but via hand gestures learned they were asking if Kyle would carry the box down.  He obliged and as we got down we left it in what we hope was the proper area before walking back to our bikes.  As we had been scammed earlier in the day with bike parking (don’t even get me started here, story for another time), we parked 3/4 mile away to avoid paying.  While we were slightly worried someone may steal the bikes or helmets, we came back to find everything in tact and where we had left it.  Good karma for carrying the box?

As we left Tam Coc for our final leg of the journey, we decided to visit the Kenh Ga floating city.  This ride was especially unique as it was along an incredibly flooded river with tons of plants and debris floating at a very rapid pace.  The floating city sat across this river and we had seen multiple crossing areas, however bikes and cars and trucks all seemed to be turning back at each one.  When we finally turned to go across the bridge that entered the city we realized why - it had rained so much it was impassable as much of the roadways or bridges were underwater.  We turned back and continued on to our final destination of Hanoi as we knew the water wouldn’t be down anytime soon.  The final ride was bittersweet….while our butts were relieved to have a break, we had been loving each and every part of this adventure and weren’t sure if we were ready for it to end.  We followed the route the Coracle had outlined, confused as it was a bit longer than the way Google maps wanted us to go but quickly realized the reason.  While the major highways have shoulders for motorcycles, the route we took had an entirely separate 2 lane road JUST for motorcycles, no vehicles allowed.  This made the final ride so easy, only putting us in true city traffic for about 10 km of the 180 km finale.  And then, before we knew it, we were there.  In the heart of Hanoi, the old city, during a crazy farmers market and rush hour.  We couldn’t find anywhere to park the bikes and our hostel tried to help….after about 30 minutes of looking we finally found a bakery that had a garage inside down a hallway in a covered building and they allowed us to pay a couple dollars to park there for a day.  Excited, relieved, and a bit exhausted we checked into our hostel room and took a deep breath.

We had a rooftop happy hour that the hostel provided everyone a “free beer” for.  We made it just in time, and afterwards headed to the street full of bars and food to catch what the night life vibe was in Hanoi.  We enjoyed a beer on the street before heading around the corner to get bún chả for dinner and planning next steps. We had a *tentative* next agenda item that we hadn’t been holding our breath for as we thought one of our motorcycle breakdowns would hold us up for a couple of days.  Since it hadn’t, we booked bus tickets and headed the next morning to the northwest most corner of Vietnam to do the Ha Giang Loop, per numerous recommendations that we had heard over the last three weeks.