SD 24

Jumping for fruit

So, another week, and another Hang Son Doong tour, this time with Watto. As well as the normal quota of porters, there were others in the cave who were doing a bit of tidying up and fixing, more on that later.

Do you expect me to go there?

One of the jobs was to put directional signs for the toilets (as these are not always visible from the camps). Just one problem with the signs, they only pointed left! The porters were gong to have to get creative with their sign placements.

Hang En, between the entrances

It was a lovely warm and pleasant first day walk to Hang En with no drama and no rush, a pleasant change after my last Tu Lan tour, and, although I didn't know it yet, the calm before the storm (see next blog post)! The porter team even had time to stop by a large tree to collect some small bitter fruit, they all seemed to like it, even if it wasn't to Western tastes.

River valley walk

After Hang En, we had the usual walk along the valley bottom before the climb up to the entrance to Hang Son Doong. I haven't posted many pictures of Critters so far this year so I'm on the lookout for new ones to show (or simply better pictures of those seen last year). There's two below and expect more. Don't get too squeamish, they really can be quite beautiful if you look closely.

Marvelous moth

Spotted this beautiful moth on the path up to the entrance, I couldn't get a decent picture (shaky old hands!) until a client lent me his tripod.

Sweat munching butterflies (can you spot them?)

Another hot day, so after the climb up to the entrance, the clients had sweated a bit, this proves very attractive to butterflies, one 'brand' simply couldn't get enough from this Buff.

Witch in the mist

Inside the cave was very misty, it seems the hotter it is the more the mist and cloud forms, not great for pictures but very atmospheric.

Old fossil, rather like the cave safety experts!

The group were not the quickest, so we arrived at Camp One a little later than average, but there was still time for a quick trip down to the Fossil Passage for those that still had the energy (only three!). On my last tour I spotted a really good example so this time I went in to photograph it, it had moved! So I couldn't find it, maybe next time?

Camp One

Back at Camp One, the cave was still misty and damp so no drying of any clothes here (as usual). However the cooks really excelled themselves with their presentation, and of course the tastiness of the food.

Tasty food

We were still being followed by directional signs for toilets, could have been very confusing and dangerous to try to go where the signs were pointing at times? Fortunately no one was desperate and in a rush to go!

Where's the light switch? I can't see where to go!

The mist continued to follow us through the cave, so the sunbeams in Doline One were not as good as they could have been, although I shouldn't complain as this was the first time I had seen them properly this year.

Garden of Edam before the storm

It was misty all the way to the second doline and the Garden of Edam, and then a thunderstorm struck. In seconds the cave went from virtually zero visibility to crystal clear, amazing.

Garden of Edam seconds later

We all waited in the dry for the storm to pass before making our way to Camp Two, and then, as usual to The Great Wall of Vietnam and the end of the cave for clients.

View from my tent in Camp Two

Earlier in the year, the porter team were improving the paths in Doline One when they found two bomb fragments, these were on display where we normally stop for 'photos but one disappeared, on this trip it had re-appeared so on the way back I nipped up into the doline to take some pictures. I'm sure the Americans were not trying to bomb the cave (after all, no one new it existed then) but the pilot was probably just dumping his load into the jungle and one bomb happened to explode near the top of the doline, throwing some fragments into the cave.

Bomb bits

Back at Camp One, the porter work party were busy constructing new toilets. The old ones, which are made of wood (and this camp being continually damp), had got rather mouldy and were falling apart.

Constructing the toilet

Back in the jungle and on the way back towards Hang En, I spotted this spider, probably the best one I've seen in Vietnam. The body is about two centimetres across and if you look closely at its head you can see a smiling face.

Isn't it cute?

And so that was it, another tour over, except for the walk out to the road. As it was due to be very hot we had an early start, making for good visibility during the first part of the walk back and good views back to Hang En.

Hang En Entrance

No rest for the wicked so the next day I'm straight back out on a Tu Lan four day tour.

Washing day

Dong Hoi, and Phong Nha in March/April

Ruth paddles into the early morning sun

Time marches on, two more Months have passed since my last general update, so here's a few pictures and some news that got away. Ruth has been doing a few early morning canoeing sessions with John since he arrived.

Orange moon

The weather has finally improved, it's now super hot but after three Months of cool and cloudy weather this is almost welcome.

After the rains came

Even though it has warmed up, there are still some intense thunderstorms about.

Dong Hoi fishing nets

The other day we had a trip to Dong Hoi asWatto was form filling in order to get his driving licence.

Fishing boats, some rather old

There has been some serious ocean pollution around Vietnam and all the fish are dying and not safe to eat. This means that the many fish restaurants in Dong Hoi are either closed or will have very limited menus. We think that swimming in the sea is also banned. Very sad for the locals who rely on the sea for their living.

Fisherman's hut

Dong Hoi was almost totally destroyed during the American war, a single church is just about all that remains.

What the Americans did

The only thing left standing

Tu Lan 13

You're sinking, bail faster!

Ruth joined me for this tour, so she was in charge of most of the pictures, here are the results.

Small birds nest along the way

 The first day is a lovely walk, visiting two caves, we see lots of nature along the way.

Close-up

After passing through Rat cave there is a short walk up to Gibbon Cave, only 200m long but very pretty for the entire length.

Ruth in Gibbon Cave

After that, it's a two hour walk to the first camp site.

Friendly Stick Insect

Not so friendly ants!

Flower or fruit?

 The path is used by loggers so there can be a bit of rubbish on the way, we have started to clear this up, this time I managed to get a bag full. Still, the jungle is a little cleaner.

Been shopping! In the jungle!

Night shot from the camp site

Croak, Ribbit

Just before camp on the first day, one of the customers tripped and fell onto some rocks, cutting his shin and knee. We cleaned is wounds up and the next day Dave walked the casualty back to Tan Hoa centre where he was transported to Phong Nha clinic for treatment. Seven stitches in total, three on the knee and four on the shin.

Ouch, we had to cut the tour short for this guy. 

Fortunately, the rest of the tour was uneventful.

Hang Ken

Ninh Binn - Part Two

Tuesday 26th April

Working in the rice fields

Second day, no more sunshine, only rain. Undeterred, but having had enough of boat rides, we got on our bikes and started to cycle off the beaten track.

It's a cave, and a Temple, bonus!

First we cycled close to where we had had our boat rides, seeing a different perspective.

Cycle track

Very atmospheric with all the misty mountains.

Misty Mountains

Rainy day boat ride

More Misty Mountains

After covering all the local lanes we started to venture further afield, again sticking to the minor tracks. At one point we had to go through someones backyard, at a gap between two hills.

Rice fields and hills everywhere

We got as far as Trang An, another village with boat rides like Tam Coc, also a massive Temple.

Reflections

We took a different route back to Tam Coc which involved crossing a river using a major (dual carriageway) road. Just as we got onto the road, a large herd of Buffalo began to cross, slowly! It was (nearly) carnage.

Brake!

Once back in Tam Coc, emboldened by our success at navigating by using Google maps, we decided to try an alternative route back to our Hotel. Google showed just one little gap of three metres in the track, shouldn't be a problem we thought, after all, it's not that far. Still nice scenery to be seen on the route, until we rounded a corner to find a giant cement works and quarry. After a few kilometres we were approaching the 'gap', we could see the road we wanted and all was looking good. One final corner and ........... there's a river, oh dear! A local was punting by on a small boat, saw our predicament and gave us one final boat ride.

Beauty and the beast

A grand day out with eight hours of cycling.

Ninh Binh - Tam Coc

Ninh Binh Sunset

Monday 25th April

We have a few days off, so we decided to book a last minute trip to Ninh Binh. It's supposed to be like Ha Long Bay, only inland.

Foot rowing

Booking the train tickets turned out to be an absolute nightmare, it was Sunday so there was no one around in the Oxalis office to do it for us. First we tried a booking office in town but they wanted to charge us double the price. Surely we can book this online ourselves we thought, so we went to Bamboo cafe and tried, all we could manage was to select our tickets, but the 'buy button' wouldn't work. Next we tried another booking office we'd used them last year and their prices had been reasonable. Yes, they could do it, they said, sit down and wait, so we sat and waited. After twenty minutes we asked what was taking so long, it doesn't take that long to buy tickets, it takes time they said. So we waited another ten minutes, now getting frustrated we hassled them some more, eventually they told us they couldn't do it! The moral of this tale is don't trust the booking offices in Phong Nha, check prices online and if they make you wait too long they probably don't know what they are doing

Tam Coc cave

Now on the verge of giving up, we asked Mike from Easy Tiger bar. He let us use his computer, but I was unable to pay with my Vietnamese debit card, then I tried with my British credit card, still no joy so Mike rang up Phong Nha Farmstay who booked the tickets for us. We collected them at 9:30pm, a long day.

Scarecrow or very thin Vietnamese person

We caught the train from Dong Hoi to Ninh Binh, and from there a taxi to Tam Coc, a long day with over eight hours of travelling.

Going in

We arrived to a pleasant evening, our hotel was a little bit out of town but fortunately they had bikes and I had brought a light. It's dark out here!

Tam Coc river

Tuesday 26th

More scenery

A lovely hot and sunny day.

Which boat to chose, we chose the green one

One of the main attractions of the area is the boat rides through the rice fields, between the limestone tower karst, so our first activity of the day was this.

Wild horses couldn't drag me away from here

We wanted to time it so that we were on the water before the coach parties arrived from Ha Noi, so after an early breakfast we cycled into town, not quite early enough! A large coach party had got there before us.

"Humming Bird"

Despite following a thousand boats, it was a very pleasant ride. Basically, it's no more than two Westerners (or ten Vietnamese) to a small boat which is rowed by a single Vietnamese (usually a lady).

View of Tam Coc river from the top of the hill

Most of the time they row with their feet.

Panorama from the hill

The journey takes about two hours, during which time you pass through three small through caves and along flooded valleys with steep hills to either side.

Another view from the hill

After the third cave the boat turns around, but not before you are hassled by vendors trying to sell you drinks and tat.

Adventure caving at its best

They also try to get you to but a drink for the rower, which is then apparently sold back at half the price.

Mua Cave Sculpture Park

After the boat ride we had plenty of time to spare so we went on a short bike ride to Mua Cave.

Ninh Binh Scenery

This took some finding as it's 2 Km down some back streets with no signs until the last turn off, by which time it's visible anyway.

Bike trail

To get to the cave and the hill you have to walk through a "park", this is a typically Vietnamese affair, plastic horses and golden goats.

Second Tam Coc River

Plus of course a temple and some statues

This looks tight?

The cave itself is not really worth it but there is also a hill to climb, 430 steps, which offers good views of the surrounding hills and the Tam Coc boat ride.

It is tight, duck!

Partway up the hill Ruth spotted a Humming bird type of thing, it moved so fast it was difficult to get a good picture, but below is the best I could manage.

Evening light on the river

Still plenty of time left in the day so we continued our bike ride, travelling along some of the quieter lanes surrounding our Hotel.

Fishing tackle hanging out to dry

At four pm we boarded another boat, nearer to our Hotel, the idea being to hopefully catch the sunset.

Tiny waterways abound

Although we didn't manage this, the waterways traveled were totally different and the early evening light was really nice.

Reflections

This time we passed through two low caves, and hardly saw anyone except at the very beginning and just as we started back.