The roads travelled: Đà Lạt, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Phong Nha, Ninh Binh, Halong Bay, and Hanoi (still on our bikes and still with Ollie - which is good because he's our map)
The HIGHLIGHTS:
Đà Lạt: Đà Lạt was our first official stop on our bikes, and we were very surprised when we arrived. It strongly resembles a European town, with its townhouses, large lakes with swan peddle boats, and complimentary shit weather.
Whilst in Đà Lạt we signed up for canyoning – which is set right in the middle of the jungly mountains. It's pretty cool, and you get to abseil into a waterfall (and nearly drown … But it's all worth it for the photos, am I right?).
Nha Trang: was literally a pit stop where we cheekily dumped ourselves and our bikes on a night train, in the hopes of avoiding a 12 hour hard ride. We also bought Twixs’. Which is important, because I love Twixs.
Hoi An: my absolute favourite place in Vietnam - it's gorgeous. The old French and Chinese architecture in the ancient city are decorated with brightly coloured lanterns which are all lit up at night. It was like being in Tangled (cue the song: At last I see the Light – if you don't know this, get off my blog right now, we can't be friends if you don't watch Disney).
We spent our time here strolling through the town, eating dim-sum, having afternoon cocktails, and watching a tipsy Fi getting the chavviest henna tattoo known to traveller – and no we didn't try to stop her ;)
From Hoi An we rode to Hue, which means going through the Hai Van Pass. This was one of the best biking experiences. I can't count the number of times we had to stop to look at the views surrounding us – it was absolutely beautiful (and we only nearly got killed by trucks overtaking us round sharp bends a handful of times – lucky us).
Hue: we made the decision to spend our one day in Hue not in the town, but rather at the coast for a much needed remote beach stay. We got sandy, we got tanned, and we saw the best glow in the dark plankton EVER. The waves were actually glowing a luminous green at night!!
Phong Nha: My second favourite place in Vietnam. It's small, but absolutely gorgeous. The main attraction here are the caves (and there are loads) and the tuna toasties (of which I did not eat enough).
We chose to explore Paradise Cave which was like walking through a Lord of the Rings set (I wish I had a beard so I could've pretended to be Gimli – but this is a daily dream of mine and may not have anything to do with caves).
Ninh Binh: I don't even want to talk about this place. The 11 hour bike ride here nearly killed Fi and I (literally – but that's a story I don't think our parents should read).
Our hostel was at least a converted train station with a Platform 9 & 3/4 sign. That helped a little.
Halong Bay/Cat Ba: This was the strangest place I've ever seen, Cat Ba literally looks like everything was built in the 70s and has not been touched since - the type of place your grandparents would love.
Whilst here we did the traditional boat tour of Halong Bay – and although the weather was practically English, it was still an amazing day. From the never ending kayaking to seeing first hand the very rare Golden-headed langurs (there's only 58 left!), and consuming my weight in veggie spring rolls.
Hanoi: The obvious highlight of this destination was selling my bike.
Just kidding … I was so so so lucky to get to see my bestie Nini, Emma and Ellie when our travels crossed paths in Hanoi (Nini cried, twice). We had such a lovely day visiting the Museum of Women and the Temple of Literature, and bbqing our own dinner in the local market (well, Ellie actually cooked my dinner, but I was there … Watching).
The saddest part of this trip was saying goodbye to our little Ollie. I don't know how he's put up with Fi and I for the last 6 weeks … but he did it successfully and gallantly, and with many complaints of us not riding fast enough ;)
Applications for our new travelling companion are now open, but hurry, because we already have a potential candidate stalking us (Hello, Padraig).
Next stop: LAOS!!
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