Fresh Greens

Parts 1 to 4

I'm in a new world.

It's only taken a border crossing, a day of riding, and the scaling of a few high passes.

And now here I am in greenland.

Viet style

It's been cold on the bike. Except when my body heats up, from pumping it up those many many climbs.

There was mist in the hills, right from when I hit the road this morning

Unfortunately my brakes have been playing up. Not good. I've got new brake pads, but the brake system on my bike is actually not the one it was designed for, so it's fiddly. I had to stop a few times early today to try and sort it out. I have to readjust them regularly, which is annoying.

Bamboo's the industry around here. The hills are covered in it. And the villagers harvest and sell it. Or use it themselves of course.

Any flat land is cultivated with irrigated wet rice.

It's beautiful

The villages are mostly quite small, some with traditional hill tribe buildings. But it's not as poor and rundown as on the Lao side of the border.

I found a little shop. They had a few cakes. And I got halfway through the first Milo I've had in decades when I noticed that Milo is now owned by Nestlé. Hmmmm. They've probably owned it forever.

I followed this river, eventually getting to a small town called Son Lu, my stop for the night.

There was a supermarket! It had things in it! I bought some! I was happy!

Except when I tasted the cake thingy. I thought it was some sort of sweet crumble, but it was actually a sweet sponge cake with, wait for it, a fishy-cheesey topping. They seem to do that quite regularly with their sweets in Southeast Asia. It's fraught.

But I still ate it.

Ngọc Lặc

I'm so shattered.

Physically.

I had another big ride today, and now I can relax.

I'm in such a different world to the one I was in only a few days ago.

It's cold. My weather app says it's 18 Celsius outside, but that must be wrong. It feels way colder. I've just been out to get some dinner, and have been riding in a very light drizzle, in the dark. Now I'm fully rugged up.

It was a long and stunning ride here today.

This poor guy had been hit, his buddies and the human locals came out to mourn.

Snack suppliers

Snack spot

Snack. Deep fried sweet potato rösti

More bamboo harvesters

Vietnamese flags are all over the place. Some people are quite patriotic. On the road, teen boys, and even adults, sometimes call out to me "Vietnam Number 1!"

But by far the more common greeting is "hello!!," often followed by spontaneous squeals or laughter. And always accompanied with waves. I've honestly been calling out responses and waving to people hundreds of times every day. No lie.

Sometimes it's actually quite tiring being such a celebrity.

Magnificent views

My last high pass of the day.

I passed a local market. It was busy.

Lotsa hill tribers

And this is my old rundown hotel, on the outskirts of Ngọc Lặc. I'm in my room now, it's only 8.30pm, but I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. Extended physical activity can do that to ya.

I met two young Danish cyclists in town, as it was getting dark. It was drizzling, and they were keen to find a place to stay, so we didn't chat long.

They've ridden all the way from Denmark on a tandem bike! One bike frame, 2 seats, 2 sets of pedals.

What drives people to do such things?!!??!!

Every single stop on the bike would need to be negotiated, as well as speed, direction, traffic obstacles, absolutely everything would need to be communicated. I mean, I'm sure after all this time that they've worked out ways to deal with all that stuff, but when I asked them how it actually was riding tandem they both agreed that it's pretty complicated at times, especially on hilly windy roads, as, besides all the other things, the length of the bike is an issue too.

But before I crash out I've just gotta say how magnificent the ride was today. This country is nothing short of spectacular.

And there's plenty more where that came from.

I'm actually really marvelling at how amazing my journey is for me at the moment.

I'm so free. Independent. Flexible. Seeing amazing new things every day. Getting great workouts as part of the deal.

I've been brushing up on my Vietnamese, and it feels good to be able to communicate in their language, albeit in a very basic way. After 2 full days in the country, I'm yet to meet anyone who speaks more than a word or two of English.

Cuc Phương

I just noticed rat shit on my window sill.

That's not good, as I have food with me, including a big bunch of bananas that I couldn't possibly eat in one sitting. Hmmm. I'll have to come up with a plan.

I'm in my room in a little guest house only a couple of clicks from Cuc Phương National Park. It's after 5pm, getting dark, and I only just arrived.

I was planning to camp in the national park, but it's late, and it's drizzling, and I rode past here and decided to get a very cheap bed for the night (about $6 Oz).

I didn't plan on the rats though, we'll see how that goes.

It was a long, cold, but super beautiful and interesting ride today.

My brekky. Sad but true. I did add boiled water and threw in a couple of raw eggs, for their own two minute cooking. Pretty delicious actually.

It was raining when I left my little hotel.

I've been completely overwhelmed by the attention I've been getting along the road around here. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has been shouting out to me from the sides of the road, from their motorbikes or bikes or tractors or whatever. Old people, adults, kids, toddlers, you name it.

Cars, vans and trucks beep me, and not just to let me know they're there. The kids scream, laugh, shout and film me. If I happen to stop for some reason or other, I get mobbed. It's sorta cute.

When I stop for whatever reason I quickly get surrounded by motorbikes or bicycles, and people try to communicate with me, even though they can't speak English at all. It's pretty much all Google Translate.

But it's fun.

When I eventually say "bye bye" and wave, they wave but then don't move, even though I'm trapped in our little happy bubble by their motorbikes or other vehicles. Eventually as I move off they'll reluctantly move, but not after constantly asking me for pics, or to go and eat with them, or to just hang out some more. It's so sweet. They pretty much never ever get to see foreigners, let alone meet them.

I've basically been heading east since I left Laos, have come out of the high mountains and am now only about 50 clicks (as the seagull flies) from the northeast coast of the country, the Gulf of Tonkin.

But there's no hint of the coast here. It's super green farming and produce land, there's karst hills everywhere, and this region is part of the second largest food basket in the country.

As soon as I could, I got off the main road, and cycled through tiny towns and villages. It was beautiful. Totally quiet and peaceful (except for the dogs).

The dogs can actually be quite annoying around here sometimes, bless them. There's so many of them, and I seem to be just as popular with them as I am with all the human animals.

But they're not always friendly, unfortunately, and most of them around here are a lot bigger than they were in Laos.

But so far so good.

Yeah, I'm a son. And a father, brother and friend. But actually sơn means paint. It's a brand of house paints. Also, notice the Viet flags. They're absolutely everywhere in these parts.

Well hallelujah! I think that's the prettiest dam wall I ever did see!

Just pruned.

Flockaducks

Spirit shrine in the field

Sugar cane local processing plant.

Gathering raw materials, the old way.

Dragonfruits. Yum.

Pineapple nursery

Pineapple crop

The roads got pretty rough as the day wore on. But it's def worth taking them anyway, it's so much nicer and more interesting.

It was a long day. And actually I did have to detour because of a pretty much impassable road, which added quite a few clicks to my journey.

But I'm here, I'm resting, and my young host kindly said he'd organise some veggie egg rice food for me. Which means I don't need to go to the small town nearby to eat. Such a sweetie Ah Tang is.

What an absolute feast! Just what the sports doctor ordered.

And actually, never leave your chopsticks sticking out like that in your bowl in Asia. It's not kosher, and is very bad luck, as it resembles incense burning for deceased relatives. I only did it because there was no one around.

Cực Phương National Park

Established in 1962 as Vietnam's first national park, Cuc Phương is one of Southeast Asia's largest wildlife protection areas. It harbours an incredible 135 species of mammals, over 300 species of birds, and another 122 species of reptiles and amphibians.

Mammals there include leopards, Asian black bears, civets, and rare langurs (a type of monkey).

Incredibly, I almost had the whole place to myself for the whole day. It was midweek, cold and drizzly, and it's the quiet season here.

There's a 20km long narrow road through the Southeastern corner of the park, so I went in on my bike and rode right through.

It was cold and misty in the morn.

This butterfly landed just as I took the pic.

Then suddenly flew off

These leaves were so huge

Someone must've reikied them.

I went to a cave which they call the "cave of prehistoric man." In fact, the fossil evidence in there is only from 7,500 years ago, which is only a brief moment in evolutionary  terms, but still, it's provided fascinating evidence of early human burial rituals.

Amazingly huge palms. They reminded me of the huge cycads you get in Australia.

It was a long climb to the cave entrance

Subterranean cricket

Bat neighbourhood. It turns out they've removed all the fossils from the cave.

Then I hiked down a muddy track further into the forest

Giant in the making

Giant made

Trunkated portal

Black coffee, until I added all the sweetened condensed milk. Yummm. There was a place to eat at the end of the road.

Then I did a longer loop hike.

Poachers are a real problem here. The wildlife trade is lucrative.

This is actually a concrete rubbish bin at another track entrance

Entrance to Palace Cave. It was so trippy in there on my own. A path inside went up and up and up.

At one point the floor just dropped away, but I could squeeze around

I climbed up here, and the cave opened out into a new cavern, and it was suddenly super hot and humid in there, as opposed to the bottom parts, which were cold, just like outside.

It's sorta weird being alone in a place like that, having to remember which way you went inside the cave, so you make sure you find your way out again. There were so many potential directions to take.

I considered leaving bikkie crumbs to ensure I found my way back, in a Hansel and Gretelian kinda way, but I heard that bats really have a sweet fang, so it was no use.

But I made it out of course, and met Eli as I left the cave. She'd gone in, but felt weird about going too far inside alone. I was deeper in the cave, so neither of us knew the other was there. When I appeared behind her climbing back down the hill it scared the batcrap out of her.

Eli is such a legend. She's such a cretin though (she's from Crete), and was super amazing to chat with. She's a geologist, and has just come back from a research project in South Africa. We walked the second part of the track together right back to the parking area. It was so great to speak English for a change, and we had a really nice connection.

This tree is at least 1000 years old. Eli told me that some cypress trees in Crete are 4,000 years old. I had no idea trees could live that long.

Imagine that. Those Cretean trees were there when the Mycenaeans ruled the roost, when the Greek Empire rose and fell, and when the Romans superseded them. They lived there right through the Dark Ages, the Enlightenment, and through the ravages of the Industrial Revolution and the unGreat Wars.

And now global heating is killing them.

Well done humans. Such enlightened evolution.

I didn't see much wildlife in there, but I did see a civet running across the road.

As it got dark I finally made it home, cold and tired, but was so invigorated by spending the day in such a stunning natural environment. Nature does that to ya, doesn't it.

And when I finally got home, look what was awaiting me!

A Village Festival

I just love how unpredictable life is when you travel this way. You really have no idea what's around the corner.

Today's big surprise came pretty much as soon as I headed off in the late morning. I came across a festival, and a local explained to me that it's a 3 day celebration of the ethnic minorities in the area.

It was fascinating.

It started off pretty normal, with various stalls etc.

Absolutely huge Chinese-style porcelain floor vases

Clothes influenced by traditional designs

Gong shop

Rice whisky, made with forest tubers

Then I came across a whole bunch of older women playing a traditional game, where you put a wooden puck on the top of your bare foot, and throw it with your foot at targets at the other end, and try to knock them down. It was so interesting to watch, and the women were really into it.

The younger men were hosting a visiting volleyball team.

The local team (in red) won the game, much to the delight of almost everyone there. The crowd didn't hold back during the game.

Yet another balloon seller

Kids on bamboo stilts. Def beats gaming.

Swish restaurants and hangout zones for dignitaries.

The kids have to run the bamboo gauntlet.

Local medicine and tucker

Homemade bow and arrow sets, and knives, all made from forest raw materials (besides the knife blades of course, which are still smithed locally though).

As an example of how safe and comfortable it is around here, I left my fully loaded bike unlocked and out of my sight, up against a wall outside the festival grounds, for the whole time I was inside there. I didn't worry about it for a second.

The guest houses around here don't even have locks for their guest rooms. Yesterday I went out all day with all my stuff in my room. Of course, no one around here would even dream of going in there. No one locks their houses.

It's so nice to be in an environment like this.

And so today I came to the temporary end of my journey through the hills. I descended down to the plains, to the Red River Delta, where I'll be for the next little while.

Where I came from

Christian cemetery

Tam Cốc

By early arvo, after having to negotiate some traffic-infested bigger roads for awhile, I finally made it to Tam Cốc, an area famous for its limestone karst, and river and lake systems.

I rested for a bit, amd finally organised some laundry. Some of my stuff is embarrassingly cycle-filthy, fully caked in sweat and mud. Then I rode into the small touristed town, and straight out the other side.

As soon as I could I took some back tracks. The scenery was breathtaking.

The area around here is known as "Halong Bay on Land," because the karst formations are similar to that famous place in the Gulf of Tonkin, but here the karst juts out from inland waterways and rice fields, rather than from the bay.

I cycled out to Bích Động, a beautiful pagoda not too far from town.

Entranceway

The whole temple is built into, and on top of, a beautiful limestone cliff. A temple has existed in some form or other at the site from ancient times, but most of the current buildings were constructed in the early 1700s.

It consists of three main temples, each higher than the other on the cliff edge.

View from the second temple. The view from the highest tier is obstructed by trees. Bloody trees, they should chop 'em all down.

Part of the temple is inside the cave itself.

For loose Westerners, some of whom pay scant attention to cultural sensitivities in places like this

It was getting dark, so I found a place to eat, and met Lisa and Pete, a lovely Aussie couple who currently live in Woolgoolga, of all places, near Coffs Harbour. We chatted for ages, about travel, about kids, about life.

We had a beer together, I ate, and then our gorgeous host Hiện treated us all to about 5 shots each of rice whisky at the end of the night. She was so nice. The first was a banana rice mix, the others were made from forest tubers, and tasted a bit like liquid Chinese medicine.

I actually like that flavour, but Lisa and Pete weren't big on it.

Beer keg, Viet style. 10,000D for a large glass (60c Oz).

Eventually I rolled home. My guest house is only a couple of clicks from town.

Of course I went munchie shopping on the way.

Delicious coconut rice snacks. I love these.

Burnt peanut toffee, almost impossible to eat. Dentists should lobby to ban it.

This is a particularly yummy rice jelly coconut sweet

Duck roadtisserie

Down To Earth

So here I am, nearly at sea level again, for the first time since I left Bangkok a month ago. For pretty much that whole time I've been in the high hills of northeastern Laos and northwestern Vietnam, busting my legs up and down steep hills.

It's been a re-baptism of fire, and I'm now born-again. Even though they don't really look that different, my legs feel as if they're about three times wider, they feel much heavier as I walk around, as I guess they've had no option but to bulk up again, under duress.

I feel great, and also feel happy to ride a few flat roads for awhile. There's plenty more hills to come for me.

I plan to stick around here exploring for a few days, and then to head northeast, to eventually merge into the crazy smelly traffic mix on the road to the big smoke, the capital, Hanoi.

You know how much I love the forest and the small villages. But I grew up in the city. And the big smoke does it for me too, at least for awhile. More thrills and spills await, (hopefully without the spills) ❤️

http://buymeacoffee.com/krolesh9