The journey to Phong Nha was a bit rough because it was the first overnight bus of my entire trip. I booked the ticket through my hostel for 300,000 dong ($17.70AUD) and was told that it would take about 7 or 8 hours, so I should arrive at around 5 or 6am. I was the only person to get on the bus in Tam Coc, and the bus workers only pointed me to the back of the bus. But I walked and walked and there weren’t any free seats! Then at the very back, there were three beds right beside each other, with a couple on two of them and all of their stuff on the other. I ducked down and said that I would be joining them, so they moved all of their stuff in order to make some room for me. So there I lied in a three-person bed, wedged between the bathroom (with a constant swinging door), and a couple, and feeling like the ultimate third-wheel – I mean…I’ve been in third-wheel situations before, but sharing a bed was a new one for me!
I sat there and vowed to never book transportation through my accommodation again (which of course still keeps happening). There were a bunch of locals already sitting in the aisles, where they were given a mat to lie down on for the night – it blew my mind! A few minutes later, they picked up some more foreigners (who had to sit in the aisle) but then the bus stopped somewhere else and let all of the foreigners off. The locals still remained in the aisles and slept there for the duration of the trip. After about half an hour, we stopped for a break but I decided to stay on the bus since I had already eaten beforehand. I looked for a hostel to book for the next day and emailed them to say that I’d be arriving early in the morning. Then, I put in my ear plugs and put on my eye mask, and tried to sleep. And I think I actually did because I wasn’t horribly tired the next day. I had read that the bus would sometimes arrive early, around 4 or 4:30, so I set multiple alarms every half hour because I was paranoid that I’d miss my stop. At about three, I woke up and checked my map to see where we were. I saw that we were getting close to Phong Nha so I got my stuff ready. Only about two or three other people got off with me, and we were left on a street that was eerily quiet at 3:30 in the morning.
No one was there to pick me up, so I sat and tried to wake myself up so that I could decide how to get to my hostel. No Grabs were available, and it was a 50-minute walk so that wasn’t going to happen. I was wondering if I should book a private room at a nearby hotel just so I’d be able to get some sleep. Just before 4am, a bunch of locals started showing up to pick up some people from another bus. I asked if anyone was from Village House and they said no, so I decided I’d try to send a Whatsapp call. A very tired person answered and said that he’d be there in about ten minutes. I was staying in a 10-bed mixed dorm for 86500 dong ($5.10) per night. Luckily, the guy let me check in early (EXTREMELY early!) and showed me to my bed, which I was so thankful for. By the time I got to bed, it was 5am so I slept until 9:30 so that I wouldn’t miss breakfast.
On Friday morning, I had lemon pancakes with coffee for breakfast and then had a lazy morning researching what I could do. The homestay that I was staying in was right on the river, so it had a very relaxing atmosphere.
Phong Nha is famous for all of its caves but in order to get to them with a tour, I’d have to pay a MINIMUM of 1000000 dong ($60.76). I needed to decide if I would do a tour by that night so that it could be booked for the following day. That day, I decided that I’d just explore the surrounding area since the hostel was outside of the city and there was a lot of countryside to see. The hostel had free bikes to use so I biked about 15 minutes away to Bomb Crater Bar, which is exactly what it describes – a bar made in a bomb crater. I ordered some instant pho, which was interesting with little balls of instant meat that I decided to skip. However, as soon as I ordered, I realised that I had left my phone charger 
plugged in outside of the hostel and started freaking out that someone would take it, so I ate my food as fast as I could, biked back, and luckily it was still there. I then asked the hostel owner if it would be better for me to bike to the Botanical Garden or through the Bong Lai Valley, and he said the valley would be a lot easier because the botanical garden was really hilly to get to. The trip to the end of the valley was about 10km so it would take just over an hour to get to. It was also a ‘feels-like’ 42 degree day, so I was seriously questioning why I was crazy enough to go biking for over two hours in the sweltering heat. However, the slight breeze of the bike made the weather a lot more bearable, so it wasn’t that bad! I biked along the main road, past Bomb Crater Bar, hit a highway, crossed the highway, and then started on the gravel road through the valley. At one point, there was a man who waved at me so I waved back, but then he started yelling so I stopped. I had just gotten on a really bumpy section, so I thought that maybe he was going to give me some advice. However, he pointed to my bike and then pointed to the road, and it
looked like he was suggesting to push me up the hill. Nice! Okay, yeah sure… I got ready to start peddling again but my bike wasn’t moving. The man had jumped on the back of my bike and was trying to get me to bike him down the road! No, absolutely not. Especially when I was hardly even confident riding the bike down the road on my own. He kept insisting and saying motorbike, and I kept resisting until he finally got off. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to say that he’d give me a ride on his motorbike, but that’s when the language barrier gets the best of you. I continued on my way and eventually got to a place called The Duck Stop. It was a duck farm that was run by a local family, and as soon as I got there (completely sweaty and gross), there were two younger kids (a teenager and an 8-year-old) there to greet me. They sat me down and offered me some peanuts with salt and pepper, and then asked if I’d be interested in doing a duck tour. I had the choice of spending time with the
ducks and having a pancake and drink for 100000 dong ($5.90), or do everything AND ride a buffalo for 150000 dong. I decided to do the first option, and joined a group of about 8 people to visit the ducks. We were first shown how to be duck leaders, by quacking around the area with the food dish so that the ducks would follow you (and basically feeling like you were making a fool of yourself!). Then, we were told to sit down and hold our feet in a cup position so that the leader could pour some food in the “cup” and then the ducks would eat all of the food and give you a “foot massage” at the same time. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and it tickled so much! We were given a duck to hold and were told to make a wish and throw it into the air so it flew into the pond. That one I felt bad about doing, but I guess they fly and like water, and they didn’t seem to mind. We only
spent about 10-15 minutes with the ducks and then went back to the main area, where we were served traditional pancakes (which might have actually been duck…).
After I finished eating, I decided to continue my way to 
the end of the valley and once I got there, I sat at a cute cafe on the riverside and enjoyed an iced Vietnamese coffee. The river was quite low at that time of the year, so even though the views were already nice, I’m sure they’d be even nicer during wet season!
When I noticed the sun starting to set, I decided to cross the suspension bridge and bike back 
on the other side of the valley. It was like day and night – as soon as I crossed that bridge, every single person would yell out hello. The people were so friendly, and all of the kids were so excited to see a foreigner – they’d always point and yell out hello, even the kids under the age of 2.
I got back to the hostel and was happy to see that I had the whole room to myself, so I went to have a shower. 
However, after my shower, everyone started to arrive. I went outside and met a girl named Shantaliah who was from New Zealand. She was thinking of renting a motorbike to go to the caves the following day, but she didn’t feel comfortable going by herself. I suggested that I could go with her if she wanted, and it would halve the price of the motorbike. She had never ridden a motorbike with someone else on it, but she said that she would give it a try, and we decided to go to the caves the next morning. We chatted for quite awhile – I ordered dinner from the hostel and we continued talking until after dark.
On Saturday morning, I got up and went to have breakfast at the hostel. I needed to plan my transportation for the following day, and I decided that instead of just taking a bus directly to Hue, I would go with a tour company in order to stop at some DMZ (Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone) sites on the way. While I was emailing, a guy came and sat 
beside me and introduced himself as Nick from the Netherlands. Shantaliah came and joined us, and we realised that it might rain that day so we figured we should get started as soon as we could. Nick said that he would join, and then when we got to our room, we ran into a guy named Tom from Germany who said that he would also join us. There were a bunch of caves to choose from, but we decided to start with the Phong Nha Cave because the Paradise and Dark Caves were the most popular and also the most expensive. 
We got our stuff ready and rented our motorbikes (Shantaliah and I paid 100000 dong/$5.90 each), and made our way to the cave. It wasn’t too far away and we had to pay 190000 dong ($11.21) for the three-hour tour. Once I realised it would be three hours, I decided to buy some snacks because I didn’t think I would last until 2pm. We needed 10 people for one boat, so we had to join other people who were waiting for a group of ten. The nice thing about this tour was that most of it was on a boat. We started by going about 20 minutes down the river past a bunch of villages, then the ladies turned off the motor and paddled through the cave.
The cave was absolutely spectacular, and had so many designs coming from the ceiling and the walls – it was so cool! It’s definitely one of the better caves that I’ve been in. Once we got to the end of the cave, the ladies turned the boat around, paddled a bit, and then dropped us off so that we could walk through the rest of the cave.
It was difficult getting good photos (as it always is when it’s dark), so they definitely don’t look as good as it did in real life. Once we got back to the end of the cave, we all got some ice cream and then got on the boat to go back to the entrance.
We decided to go for lunch, where we all got Banh Mi 
sandwiches, and then the four of us decided to go to the botanical garden (which was really a forest hike with an alright waterfall). However, as soon as we got there, it started misting down with rain. We paid 40000 dong ($2.36) and only had about an hour and a half until the park closed. As we walked, 
the rain started getting heavier and heavier, and the rocks started getting slipperier and slipperier. We finally made it to the waterfall, where some people were swimming, but we decided to keep going.
The worst part was that it was too hot and sticky to wear a rain jacket or poncho, so we either had the choice of 
being extremely hot or extremely wet. On the walk back, we had to step over some rocks across a stream, and that’s when I finally slipped. Luckily I didn’t actually land in the water, but on a rock so I was able to stay relatively dry. We made it out of the park right at the closing time (4:30) and then decided to make our way back to the hostel. However, the rain was a lot worse when going at a faster speed on the motorbike so it was impossible to stay dry. Tom’s motorbike suddenly stopped working, so we all had to stop and figure out what to do. He needed to catch a bus in about an hour, so he was really pressed for time. He could only drive at the slowest speed, so we all followed him for about 10-15 minutes. Then all of a sudden, his bike started working again (thank goodness!) so we drove the rest of the 30 minutes at a faster speed. We decided to join in on the family dinner that night, which has a bunch of food cooked by the homestay, so we each paid 70000 dong ($4.13) for that. It didn’t start until 6:30, which gave us all time to shower and then chat until dinner started. There were about 12 people at the family dinner, and it was so nice! They had so many different types of food, and it was a good way for everyone at the homestay to get to know each other.
We were sitting outside on the patio, but we were sheltered from the rain while it was absolutely pouring outside, so it was 
nice to have the sound of the rain in the background! Nick said that he would join me on the bus trip to Hue the next day, so we decided to wake up at 6am because we’d be picked up between 6:30 and 7:10. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Shantaliah that night because she would be heading north (one of the difficult things about travelling in Vietnam is many people are going in opposite directions). After our goodbyes,
we just had a relaxing evening before going to bed. Love always
Tam Coc was one of my favourite places that I’ve ever been, and likely my favourite place in Vietnam thus far. It had everything that one would look for in Vietnam – the bright green rice fields of Sapa, and the tall surrounding cliffs and mountains of Ha Long Bay – it was a combination of the two, and I absolutely loved it! To be honest, I didn’t actually step foot in the actual city of Ninh Binh because I heard to stay in Tam Coc instead. I ordered a ticket to Tam Coc through my hotel in Cat Ba since I was too tired to walk to one of the travel companies to 
order a nice bus. However, every time I book transport through a hostel or hotel, it doesn’t seem to be the best option (yet I continue to keep doing it!). I paid 260000 dong ($15.34AUD) for the bus to pick me up at 9:30 on Tuesday morning. I got into an extended golfcart-like vehicle and we drove around Cat Ba to pick up about 10 people to go to the bus. We then got on the bus and
it completely filled up. Even though it was cold and rainy in Cat Ba, the trip to Ninh Binh got more and more hot because there was hardly any air conditioning and any time I opened my vent, the guy beside me would close it. The seats also weren’t built for a normal-sized person, so everyone ended up leaning their seats backwards, and you would either have your knees digging into the seat in front of you, or have to try to find some space in
the aisle. We stopped at around 12:30 for a bathroom and food break, and then I ended up arriving in Tam Coc just after 3pm. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be as hot as it was in Tam Coc, because some of the people who I had met in Cat Ba had come from there and said that the weather was the exact same as in Cat Ba. It was a pleasant surprise, especially since it had been so cold for the past week. I decided to stay at Tam Coc Rice Fields Homestay for 115000 dong ($6.79) in an 8-bed dorm. This place was so nice because it was only a five-minute walk from the main part of town (through a dark alley), but then it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, with a beautiful view of the rice fields off of the patio.
ordered some chicken pho and a smoothie for 60000 dong ($3.54), but it took so long (which we discovered is normal for most restaurants in Tam Coc). After eating, we decided to walk over an hour to the nearest pagoda, called Bich Dong. The walk was so beautiful, and we both couldn’t believe the views!
The pagoda wasn’t anything special, but we still spent some time exploring it and then made our way back into town. We went back to the hostel to do some research and make some plans about what we’d do the next day, and then decided to go for dinner. We were both exhausted and were only planning to go for dinner and go to bed, but that didn’t end up happening. We stopped at a restaurant right by our hostel because it looked popular (and we continued going there everyday at least once per day – I don’t even know what it was called!). When we got there, there weren’t any free tables available but they directed us to a table with a French lady, who ended up leaving shortly after. Julia and I both ordered burgers (which we were so excited about!) and a coke for 80000 dong ($4.72). After we had ordered, two guys sat at the table next to ours and we got talking. Their names were Mike and Charlie, were from the United States, and were just doing a few weeks away from home. We told the guys what our plans were for the next day because we were starting with a boat ride in Trang An, which needed a minimum of four people. We all agreed to meet back at the restaurant the next morning at 8:15am so that we could order a Grab and get to the boat rides before 9am (which is when it tended to start getting busy).
On Wednesday morning, Julia and I got up and had breakfast at our hostel (I just got a crepe with a coffee), and then we headed to
the restaurant, where Mike and Charlie were already waiting for us. We ordered a Grab, which was only supposed to be 160000 dong total. However, we honestly thought it might have been one of the first times that the driver drove a manual vehicle because the amount of times that he stalled or we jerked back and forth was insane. Not only that, but when he found out that the guys were American, he
asked if we knew a song, which was ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time.’ He ended up having multiple Britney Spears songs available, so we were all trapped listening to the driver singing along while slowly making his way to Trang An. I was confused when he took a wrong turn down a backroad and we drove the whole way down, only to find out that there was a whole bunch of construction and a tractor
was blocking the way. We waited for about ten minutes, while the driver honked his horn and the tractor didn’t change position. We suggested that maybe we should go back and take the highway, so he finally turned around and went the way that we were supposed to go. Then when we got there, he charged us more (200000 dong) because he had to drive all the way around (which wasn’t our faults), so we just paid it and
left. We got our tickets to the Ecotourism Trang An Boat Ride for 200000 dong ($11.80) each, and decided to take Route 1. We heard mixed reviews about whether to take the Trang An or Tam Coc boat ride, but I heard that the Tam Coc boat ride is a lot more touristy and they constantly ask everyone to tip the driver. On our boat ride, they didn’t ask for tips because there’s a survey that
we have to fill out at the end (which questions whether we were asked for a tip). However, as soon as we filled out the survey, the driver said, “Tip, tip!” He definitely deserved one though, so we were happy to give him one. Anyway, our tour ended up being about three hours long and included boating through 9 caves and stopping at two temples. We were given about 20 minutes at each temple, and the rest of the time was spent on the boat.
We finished our boat ride at about noon and decided to head back into Tam Coc to get lunch. After lunch, the plan was to rent some bicycles in order to bike to one of the lookout points about five kilometres away. However, considering the last time I was on a bike was in 2012 in China, I was trying so hard to get out of it. I suggested going for iced coffee and everyone agreed, but only after we rented the bikes for 50000 dong ($2.95). Julia was
more nervous than I was because not only had she not been on a bike in 7 years, but she was also in a motorcycle accident before, so she was really hesitant about getting on a bike. However, despite both of us hesitating, we ended up going through with it cause we didn’t want to let down the rest of the group. And I’m so glad we did! We got to see so much more on a bike, and the scenery was beautiful to bike through.
sleep (thanks to the roosters and the plastic wrap on the mattress, which seems to be a common occurrence in Asia). Julia and I had breakfast at the hostel and then decided to rent bikes for the day again (since we were pretty much experts at that point!). I had to pack up all of my stuff since I’d be catching a night bus that evening. We biked around for a bit before deciding to stop for lunch and then Charlie and Mike met up with us to have some beer while we ate our lunch. For the rest of the day, we didn’t do a whole lot – just biked around, enjoyed the views, and chatted with random people who we ran into. We followed as many trails as we could find on maps.me, which was so useful! Julia and I biked to an area that we had seen from the viewpoint, where we could watch everyone on their boat tour.
hour tours! We then went for an iced coffee before getting on our bikes again and finding the Beverly Hills of Tam Coc. The houses were so nice, and they even had cars parked out front (Tam Coc mostly only had bicycles or motorbikes). Everyone was so friendly too – if anyone was outside while we biked by, they’d always yell out hello.
We headed back to our regular restaurant to catch happy hour, and then Charlie and Mike wrote and asked where we were. They met up to join us for a drink and then we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. However, I think we waited too long to go because I had to be back at the hostel by 8pm to catch my 9pm bus. I wasn’t too sure why I had to be there so early, but I didn’t want to risk anything so I ended up
asking to get my meal packed up so that I could bike back to the hostel in time. These goodbyes were so difficult – this was one of the first places in all of my travels where I forgot that I was actually travelling. I just felt so comfortable, and absolutely loved my time there and the people who I was able to spend it with. I got back to the hostel and the lady gave me a towel and asked if I wanted to shower. Guess I didn’t have
to be in a rush.. I said I was fine, and tried to eat my food as fast as I could but after I was about halfway done, the hostel owner got off of the phone and said that we’d have to leave in five minutes. I put on my big backpack while holding my day pack in one hand and a plastic bag in the other, and jumped on the back of the pregnant lady’s scooter. I was definitely a pro at this point! She drove me five minutes
down the road to the bus terminal (basically a random parking lot) and then after about ten minutes, my bus to Phong Nha arrived, which will be for another post. Love always
The trip to Cat Ba was pretty simple since it had hotel-to-hotel pick up and drop off. I booked my ticket through Bookaway for $12USD ($16.90AUD) and I was supposed to be ready by 9:45 in order to leave by 10:30am. However, it was kind of pointless being there 45 minutes early because the bus didn’t show up until just after 10:30am. We spent the next hour driving around Hanoi to pick up the rest of the people until the
bus was nearly full. At about 1pm, we arrived at the ferry terminal and had to wait for the ferry to arrive. We had to take all of our stuff off of the bus, sit for about 5-10 minutes, and were given tickets to get on the ferry. The ferry ride only took ten minutes, and went from the outskirts of Haiphong to the northern part of Cat Ba Island. Then we had to grab our stuff again, get on ANOTHER bus, and drive to Cat Ba Town, which took about 20 minutes. It was raining by the time we arrived and it continued to rain for the majority of my time in Cat Ba.
lunch since it was already around 3pm. I went to a place called Yummy and ordered a Tom Yum soup and a coffee for 50000 dong/$2.95 (the restaurant had so many Thai dishes and they were WAY cheaper than any of the dishes that you’d actually get in Thailand). I then decided to do some walking around (even though it was raining and foggy) for the last two hours of daylight.
I walked to one of the public beaches and along the coast to one of the other beaches, but the beaches were both construction zones, as there were huge resorts being built right on the beach (actually, most of Cat Ba Town was a construction zone). When it started getting dark, I headed back to my hotel to dry off before meeting up with Mathijs (the Dutch guy who came with me from Hanoi) for dinner at a place called Quan Cat Ba. Cat Ba is supposed to have really good seafood so we each got prawns and squid with lemon dishes for 135000 dong ($7.97) – it was just alright, I think it was a tad over-cooked, but I’m very picky about my seafood! After dinner, we walked around for a bit and then called it an early night because we were taking a tour the next morning.
There was a bit of fog, but it added a kind of mysticism to the surroundings so it looked really cool. We had an hour to take pictures and get used to being on the boat, and then Thang shared some stories about the fisherman villages that we were passing. These people spend their whole lives on the water, from birth until death, and they have their own fish farms to sustain themselves. Most houses also have dogs that live with them in order to scare off all of the hawks that try to take the fish. The parents boat their kids to the mainland each morning to go to school, and then pick them up at the end of the day.
(and continued for the rest of the day) and then we arrived to a certain area of Lan Ha Bay. We all got off of the boat and were given an hour and a half to kayak around the bay and go through caves. It was absolutely beautiful! The only problem was that I just wanted to go slow and enjoy my surroundings, but Mathijs (and some of the other guys) kept wanting to race, so we kept speeding through everything.
After kayaking, we were soaking wet and had the option of changing into normal clothes or eating lunch in our swimsuits and going swimming after. I decided to switch into normal clothes before lunch, and the lunch was the best one I’ve ever had on a tour!
there weren’t as aggressive as the ones that I had seen in Thailand, but there were a few (stupid) people who kept trying to feed the monkeys and obviously continued getting attacked. The walk up to the viewpoint wasn’t the most enjoyable walk – let’s just say that I thought I was going to die at any moment. Especially in the rain, the smooth rocks were so slippery, and if you took a wrong step, you could fall onto the razor-sharp rocks below.
I think we were only doing the hike because we didn’t do Ha Long Bay and the company didn’t want to get bad reviews. I didn’t go up to the top viewpoint, only the second one, and then I made my way back down because I wanted to go slow and steady. I got back to the beach where I got to watch 
some of the monkeys play, and then we went back on the boat to head back to Cat Ba Town. We arrived back at around 4:30 and Mathijs, Julia, and I made plans to meet up again at 7pm for dinner. However, I was still cold even after showering and once I lied on my bed, I didn’t want to get back out, so we all decided to just stay in our rooms and relax. I knew I needed to eat at some point so I walked to Yummy and sat down to have dinner. Right after I ordered, two Dutch girls asked if I wanted to join them so I said yes. They were really nice and had come from the south of Vietnam (so were travelling in the
opposite direction) so they gave me some tips about my next destination. I was originally planning to stay in Cat Ba for three nights, but after looking at the weather and realising it would be cold and rainy the next day as well, I decided to start heading further south in order to get to some warmer weather. I headed back to the hotel to hang up all of my damp clothing (which never dried) and called it an early night. Love always
The trip to Hanoi has definitely been my most comfortable trip so far! I booked a ticket online through bookaway.com (which a couple had told me about in Sa Pa, and it’s great for booking bus and train trips in Asia!) and paid $13USD ($17.79AUD) to get a seat on Green Sapa Bus. My bus was leaving from Sa Pa Town at 8am and I was supposed to be there 30 minutes early, so I made an arrangement to take a motorbike taxi with my homestay at 6:45am for 100000 dong ($5.90). One of the brothers took me along the horrible road to Sa Pa after stopping at a little shop on the side of the road, grabbing a big Aquafina water bottle with a greenish liquid, and pouring it in the tank under the seat. He dropped me off at the Green Bus station, I checked in and got my seat number, and then ordered a coffee. While I was drinking my coffee, some of the local workers were sitting at the table next to me and started playing a card game spelling different words in English.
English speaker played an English game, but I pulled up a chair anyhow and helped everyone out at the table. It was nice how friendly everyone was, and how easy it was to integrate myself in with them. Someone came in and said that we were going to leave, so we put the game away and I got my stuff to get on the bus. We were required to take off our shoes and put them in a plastic bag, as well as leave any food that we had at the front of the bus. This bus was the nicest bus I’ve ever seen!
$7.34USD ($10.78AUD) per night. It was a really nice hostel, with a bar on the bottom floor, a cafe and pool table/games room on the second level, a TV room on the 6th level, and a rooftop patio on top. Plus they gave free breakfast, which not only included your typical toast and cereal, but also some chicken pho (which not many people other than me seemed to take). I’ve realised that I thought I wasn’t a breakfast person my entire life, but maybe I’m just not a WESTERN breakfast person. I’ve never been a huge fan of breakfast food – hate cereal, not a huge fan of toast, eggs are alright… But give me a big bowl of noodles or soup, and I’m happy! Hanoi is an extremely busy city, however it’s not just a typical busy city, but a city full of LIFE.
of the costs of the guide, but seeing as I was the only person there, the prices added up quite quickly so I may have actually been better off paying for a tour. The tour guide ended up coming a half hour late because the original tour guide had some motorbike issues and was unable to come, so Alex replaced him. All of the guides are university students, so they’re giving up their study time to give the tours. The first place we went to was St. Joseph’s Cathedral, so I just took a picture from the outside.
We then walked to the Hoa Lo Prison Memorial, which was a pretty emotional place. The entrance fee was 30000 dong ($1.82) for me and then 15000 dong for Alex. The prison had been used by the French colonists on Vietnamese political prisoners in the early 1900s. The way that the prisoners were treated was extremely sad, and when I saw the guillotine, there were chills that ran through my entire body.
All of the materials used to make the prison were transported from Europe in the late 1800s. The prison was later used during the Vietnam war for the US prisoners of war, but it was kind of interesting how they portrayed this part of the museum because they had pictures of the prisoners enjoying themselves, such as playing basketball or chess. I’m not sure if that part was sugarcoated, or if the prisoners were actually treated well. After going to the prison, we walked to the train tracks, where many people stop to take pictures.
45000 dong ($2.66). It was around lunch time, so we were hoping it would be quiet, but unfortunately there seemed to be an entire school there on a field trip, and none of the kids seemed interested in the citadel so they were running around and playing games. We tried to keep our distance as much as we could, explored the citadel (which at this season, the entrance was beautifully covered in sunflowers), and then took a Grab back towards the hostel, which cost 35000 dong ($2.07).
Anyway, I paid for lunch for me and the tour guide, which cost 140000 dong ($8.26) and then at the end, I wasn’t sure if I should tip as well, but I gave 100000 ($5.90), so the entire tour ended up costing quite a bit. I went back to the hostel to relax for a bit and then decided to go for coffee. I went to Đinh Cafe, which is owned by the daughter of a man who invented egg coffee. The cafe is almost hidden away, so I actually walked past it the first time i was trying to find it. However, I walked in, up some stairs, and found an open table
(which in Vietnam, are like kids’ tables – the chairs are tiny so you feel like a giant!). This location was a lot less crowded than the original (which I checked out the next day), and it was actually cheaper (and better in my opinion). I ordered an egg coffee for 20000 dong ($1.18) and it was so good – it tasted like an egg nog latte, with foamy, sweet egg mixture floating on top and an extremely strong coffee in the bottom.
wrapped around minced pork. I ordered a set with a Pepsi for 60000 dong ($3.54), but the service was pretty bad at this place and the food didn’t have much flavour (even though it’s rated quite high). I walked down the night market for a bit and then headed back to the hostel.
These rolls were a lot better, and the friendly service was a nice plus. I paid 60000 dong ($3.54) and then made my way back to the hostel. There, I met Mathijs, a Dutch guy who had JUST arrived from Europe and only had two weeks to spend in Asia. He was planning to go to Sa Pa the next day, but when I said I was planning to go to Cat Ba, he booked a ticket there as well. So I had a travel
partner for the next destination! Which I’ll save for another post (and hopefully I’ll write it faster than I wrote this one!). Love always
I finally arrived in Sa Pa at 2:30pm on Monday afternoon. It was waaaaay more touristy than I thought it would be, and a lot colder – I had to find my rain jacket deep down in the bottom of my suitcase! It definitely reminded me of another mountain city like Banff. I went to the tourist information centre to ask what I could do, and they tried to sell me a 2-day/1 night trekking tour for $40 USD. I’ve learned that no matter where I go, people will try to sell me stuff. And usually for a way more expensive price than I could get on my own. It actually shocks me how many people give into paying without researching how to do it on their own first.
can’t walk around without a guide, but I did for two full days and it was completely fine. My next step was to find out where I could get a SIM card. The tourist centre pointed out a street, where I found a VinaPhone shop and got a 5GB/30-day plan for 150000 dong ($8.85AUD). Even though I
was staying in a homestay outside of Sa Pa, I decided to find a coffee shop and relax for a bit since I still hadn’t had a coffee and was feeling a bit groggy after my 8-hour bus ride. The Vietnamese coffee that I got was one of the best coffees that I’ve had in awhile, but cost a bit more at 40000 dong ($2.36). I then requested a Grab to take me to my homestay. I read that they’ll normally charge 200000 dong
($11.80) and it would take at least a half hour because the roads were so bad, so when my driver messaged me saying 200k, I replied okay. The reviews weren’t lying when they said that the roads were horrible – there were potholes everywhere, and I felt bad that the driver was putting his nice, shiny car through such a tragic experience. I was staying in a village called Ta Van in the Muong Hua valley, at Chopai Homestay. And I got it for a steal, at $4.66 per night, in what was supposed to be a 10-bed dorm but it turned out that I was the only person there, so they put me in my own twin room. The homestay was run by two brothers, both married and with their first kids (each less than a year old), and they had a huge fluffy dog named Sam. I was kind of sad that I was the only person there because it made it more difficult to interact with people, plus it felt more like I was imposing on their home, especially when they were having family dinners. However, everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and it was definitely a different experience. Within five minutes of me being there, I was sitting and waiting to check in, and I turned and there was a lady standing there. “Hello.. shopping?” she asked and pointed to the numerous purses she was carrying. I quickly learned that every lady who’s wearing the same traditional outfit will start every conversation with either, “Hello… shopping?” Or “Hello… where you from?” And then “What’s your name?” And when I continue to refuse to buy things, they’d persist, “Something little?” “Maybe later?” I definitely started losing my patience towards the end of my time there because it happened non-stop. I decided to walk around for a bit before the sun set and by that point, it was a bit hazy. Little did I know that this moment would be one of the clearest moments during my entire time there. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I kept finding myself saying, “Wow!” out loud.
Bún chả (a vermicelli noodle bowl) with a cinnamon tea just to try to warm up.
want to stand under the cold shower to wait for it to happen. I decided that this would be my only shower during my stay. The homestay provided free breakfast (but not free coffee) so I opted for banana pancakes, which were bananas wrapped in crepes with a side of honey. They were so good! I also got my first Vietnamese drip coffee, which is given with condensed milk but not so much that it’s overpowering – however the caffeine was definitely overpowering (in a good way!).
experience everything around me and hear every sound while doing everything at my own pace. So this was likely making me feel more uncomfortable than it would the average person. After about 15 minutes, I turned and said, “It’s okay, I’ll go by myself.” “No, it’s okay. I follow you to waterfall.” “No, I’ll just go alone, it’s okay.” “I go that way too, I follow you to waterfall.” Finally, I just said, “Okay, but I don’t have any money to give you.” “When we get to waterfall, you give me something little. Buy something.” “Sorry, I don’t have anything to give you.” That seemed to get the point across because the lady turned around and went back. However, I still had to do that a few more times during my walk because ladies kept trying to join me. I got to the waterfall, which wasn’t much of a waterfall compared to the beautiful Kuang Si in Laos, and then crossed a bridge and walked back towards the homestay.
dogs, cats, cows, pigs, chickens, and horses. By that point, the fog already started to set in, so I had lunch at Dzay Restaurant (pumpkin soup and spring rolls for 110000 dong/$6.49) and relaxed for the afternoon.
booth, I’d have to pay 75000 dong to get back into the villages. I finally found an open restaurant at 2pm and by that point, I was starving. The restaurant (Good Morning View) had a set menu advertised at the front, so I decided to get that for 130000 ($7.67). My first course was pumpkin soup, which was much better than the one that I had the day before. My next course was the biggest plate of food – with a curry portion, a morning glory portion, and a rice portion. I didn’t even end up eating it all because I still had to eat dessert! The dessert was a banana pancake with honey, which seems to be a staple here.
I didn’t want to walk back the way I came – I wanted to cross the river and walk back on the other side of the river. I walked further into Sa Pa and started heading down a huge hill to go towards the 
river. However, the path that I was supposed to take had a huge crowd in front of it and they were charging 75000 dong to go through because it led to Cat Cat village. Sometimes my stubbornness gets the best of me… I continued walking further down because I refused to pay. I eventually got to another street and turned down it. All of a sudden, I heard, “Miss! Miss!!” I turned around and a man was there, and asked for my ticket. He said if I was going to Cat Cat village, I needed to pay. I tried to explain that I was going to Ta Van, and he replied that I’d have to go back up the steep hill for about one kilometre, and turn right (which was the way I came). By that point, it was about 4pm and I realised that I likely wouldn’t get back to the homestay before dark if I walked back, so I decided to order a Grab to drive me back. However, when I requested one, it said that none of the drivers were available. Guess I had no choice but to walk back up… I had only been walking for less than
two minutes when a taxi driver coming down the hill opened his window and asked, “Taxi?” I asked for Ta Van, he said 200k, and I got in. I had done 12km and climbed 112 floors that day, so I didn’t have to feel guilty about getting a ride back. However, when we got to the ticket booth leaving Sa Pa, the guard came up and asked for my ticket. There was no way I was going to pay 75000 dong on top of the 200k! I explained that I was going to my
homestay and luckily, he let me through. It’s weird because I didn’t experience that at all when I first came to my homestay so I wasn’t expecting it to happen. I relaxed for the rest of the day, and then had one more dinner at the restaurant across the street. I honestly don’t know why I kept going to this restaurant because the food was sub-par (however the service was so friendly, so maybe that’s why). I ordered pho and a hot chocolate, but this pho was half onions, which is very difficult to distinguish from noodles.
and I’d love to see it in the summer months when the rice fields are greener and there is less fog. However, it was still a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the cities! Love always
My trip from Laos to Vietnam was even longer than the slow boat from Thailand to Laos (read about that journey 
The trip to Nong Khiaw was the squishiest ride that I’ve been on so far. I booked my ticket from my hostel in Luang Prabang, and it cost 85000 kip ($13.69AUD). I was told that it would come at 8:30, but it showed up ten minutes early and I joined an older couple in the back of a tuktuk. I thought, “This will be nice! There’s only three of us.” But then, the driver stopped at another place and picked up one more person, and then another place and picked up one more person, and then continued stopping until there were about ten of us packed in. All of our luggage was professionally stacked in the middle, as if the driver had done this a million times.
stopped at the van, where we all had to get out of the tuktuk, grab our things to put in the van, and get in. This was the disadvantage of being one of the first ones picked up – I was one of the last ones off of the tuk tuk, and the last one to enter the van so I was forced to the middle seat in the back, sandwiched between a random guy and the huge stack of luggage, some of which was taking up half of my seat space. My only two options were to 1) squish behind the big bulge coming into my seat, or 2) rest my head on the bag and use it as a pillow. Within the first five minutes of us moving, I suddenly remembered my motion sickness pills. I guess I forgot to take them 30 minutes beforehand, and they COULD end up making me feel drowsy, but I wasn’t going to take any chances this time. I’d rather face drowsiness than one or two days of feeling sick. It wasn’t a hugely swerve-y ride, but it was definitely a bumpy ride!! Many times, I couldn’t help bouncing into the guy right beside me. Luckily, the ride wasn’t too long and we arrived about three hours later, right at noon. Nong Khiaw is a not-so-secret mountain village, and it’s absolutely breathtaking with the surrounding mountains.
night!). I checked in and oddly enough, they didn’t ask for any payment and said I’d pay at check out, which was very trusting of them. I got settled and then decided to go have lunch. I went to a restaurant closeby called Noymany Restaurant, which was known for a nice patio but slow service. I prepared myself and asked for the wifi password, but they didn’t have wifi (as well as many of the other
restaurants in this town). Laos is the only country that I didn’t get a SIM card – not because it was expensive, but because I was only in Laos for a week and figured I wouldn’t need it. However, it made me realise how useful it was to have a SIM card because often when I’m on my bus or waiting for a train, I can research places to stay and things to do in the area that I’m going to. Since I wasn’t able to do that, I found myself wasting time at my accommodation because I’d spend my time researching stuff there instead of going out and doing what I had planned. I had actually planned most of this trip over a year ago, back
when I was stuck doing my farmwork in Australia and had nothing else to do. I read blogs, looked at Pinterest, researched travel itineraries, and planned out my route. And I typed out a 6.5-page document to guide me through my trip. When I first started my trip, I ignored the guide and did what I wanted instead, but then when I looked at the guide later, I realised that all of the things that I ended up doing were on the list anyway. Obviously, no one knows myself like I do, so I’m very thankful that my past self prepared this document for my present self! In the document, all I wrote for Nong Khiaw was to do the 100 Waterfalls Trek. It’s supposed to be one of the best hikes to do, and has even been featured on a television show (which is why Nong Khiaw has now gained so much popularity). However, I didn’t realise that I’d have to pay to take a guide on this hike. And the cheapest amount that I heard of was 180000 kip ($30)! I’ve never paid this much to do a hike, and wasn’t really feeling like paying my entire daily budget to do it. I hummed and hawed for awhile, and eventually decided against taking the hike. It’s probably for the best because that day, I ended up getting sick. Again. At the restaurant, I ordered a green curry soup and an iced coffee for 33000 kip ($5.31).
their foods, which I react to quite badly. I was also suspicious about this when I was reading reviews about another restaurant in the area, and many of the reviews said that the other restaurant didn’t use MSG. So I figured other restaurants MUST be using MSG. Either that, or I reacted to the condensed milk that they put in their coffee, which makes it beyond sweet. Anyway, I did a brief walk around the town but then ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in my room until I started feeling better again, which wasn’t until later in the evening, when I had dinner.
3-week vacation and had just come from Vietnam (so they were doing the opposite route to me), and they were both really down-to-earth, nice guys. It’s always those people who I really get along with (such as Paulina in Chiang Rai) who I never end up exchanging information with, or even get a name in this case. But I enjoyed our three hours of conversation!
Breakfast, which was by far the tastiest meal I had in Laos! The meal came with an omelette (which was amazing and was made with dill, among other things, but why have I never put dill in my omelette before?! It takes it to the next level for sure!), cooked squash, kaipen (crispy riverweed, which is like seaweed but without the fishy taste – it was so good!), and sticky rice with a delicious eggplant dip. It was so much food, but I ended up eating it all because it was so amazing! Not only that, but with the coffee, they gave condensed milk AND actual milk so that I had the choice. All of that for 33000 kip ($5.31)! After breakfast, I headed back to my room to get everything ready for my walk, and then set off to the entry point. I had to pay 20000 kip ($3.22) to enter, and was greeted by a sign that said I had to worry about something OTHER than snakes and other creatures – unexploded bombs that were still in the area, because Nong Khiaw was one of the most bombed areas in Laos in the 60s by the US.
breaks and was so thankful that I brought two water bottles because I was nearly done the first one after I had reached the halfway point. After about 40 minutes, I finally got out of the heat and reached a rainforest-like area, which was considerably cooler (yet still not quite cool enough!). I reached the top after about an hour and ten minutes, and I spent at least an hour up there. When I checked my phone, it said that I had climbed 130 flights of stairs – the most I’ve ever done on this trip! No wonder I was so tired… It was surprisingly busy when I first arrived, with about 10-15 people at the top, but once everyone got their selfies and left, I got to enjoy the whole place by myself. The haze had already started to settle in, so it wasn’t a completely clear view but it was still really nice!
My time in Luang Prabang (pronounced Loo-ong Prah-bong) was quite long – perhaps a bit TOO long with the amount of stuff that there was to do there (I think that three nights would be the perfect amount of time). It was still nice to have a place to relax and not feel guilty about it. Luang Prabang is another UNESCO World Heritage City, and it has a sort of charm to it. However, one of the things that I definitely noticed was the amount of stray cats and dogs that didn’t seem to be cared for. There are stray cats and dogs everywhere, but most of them still seem to be taken care of (especially in Pai – many dogs are almost fat!). Here, many of the dogs (and cats especially) looked so sad, with really rough fur/skin, and they definitely didn’t look healthy. It was difficult to see, especially when they’d come up to your table while eating at a restaurant.
realised that I still had a ten-minute walk to my hostel. This was also the time when all of the vendors started setting up their stalls for the night market, so I had to weave back and forth around tents being set up, and be careful not to step on the mats that they had placed on the cement.
excited about because I had read that the prices in Laos are a lot cheaper than Thailand because Thailand gets a lot of its products FROM Laos. However, I found that most of the things (not only at the night market, but also entrance into temples, transport, accommodation, etc.) were a lot more pricey than they were in Thailand.
outside of the city. The hostel offers three minivans per day, but the van will only stay for 2.5 hours and I didn’t want to be rushed. Luckily at breakfast, I overheard some other people planning to go so I said I would join them in getting a tuktuk. We walked down the road and were able to talk one of the drivers down to 180,000 kip (so 36,000 kip/$5.80 each), and we convinced him to stay for four hours. The scenery on the way there was beautiful! Once we got there, I picked up some food at a street vendor and then made my way inside, and we had to pay 20000 kip ($3.22) each to enter.
bears. These bears are part of the “Free the Bears” project, which saved the bears before they reached the bear bile farms. Bear bile is used in traditional medicine for liver and gallbladder problems, but bears live horrible lives on these farms, confined in small cages, where their bile is constantly extracted either by ‘free drip,’ where a hole is put in their gallbladders or they have a permanent catheter inserted. Obviously, it’s better for them to be in the wild but this protects them from the poachers, and is run by the Government of Laos.
they could go to the cave. I found one of the pools to swim in, set all of my stuff in an area that I could watch, and had to walk along the top of a set of falls in order to get to a quiet pool on the other side. Some people were nonchalantly running across the top of the waterfall, and it was freaking me out! I definitely took it slow and made my way to the other side, where I sat for two hours and people-watched. The
water was so cold so I didn’t actually swim in it – I just sat in it with my feet in the pool. The group said that they would be quick and come back down as soon as they could so I was surprised that at 3:10, they still hadn’t come down since we were supposed to be back at the tuktuk at 3:30. However, I figured that maybe I just missed them when they walked by. I got out, changed, walked back to the tuktuk, and made it there RIGHT at 3:30. However, it was only the driver who was there. I sat in the back and we waited for about 15 minutes before everyone else showed up. They said that they left the cave at 2:30 and were going as fast as they could, so it took them over an hour to get back. By the time we got back to our hostel, it was just before 5pm so I showered and then all of the people from the slowboat arrived. I went for dinner with a girl from Russia, where we split a couple of dishes and paid 27,000 kip ($4.35) each. We then walked around the night market and headed back to the hostel.
and relaxing. Many of the temples ended up charging 20000 kip ($3.22) to enter, which was a bit too pricey for me and because I’ve already been in many temples, I decided to just look at them from a distance. Luang Prabang also has a few bamboo bridges, which are only there during dry season (during wet season, they get washed away and then they have to build new ones), and they charged 10000 kip to cross (which goes towards building the new one). Again, I decided to
just enjoy it from a distance. It’s not that much money, but paying for little things multiple times adds up quick!
community projects and offer free English classes to village children, as well as offer their land to the northern college for students who need to do practical work for agriculture school, so I knew that I’d be supporting a good cause. They picked me up at my hostel at 8am and drove me to the farm, which was only about 15 minutes away. It was absolutely beautiful!
Laos has surprised me with how lush and green it’s been everywhere. There were only five of us in the group – two sisters from the States, and two guys from the UK. We started by being shown how to pick out the good grains of dried rice (to later plant). Our guide added salt in some water, and then took out any of the grains that were floating because it meant that they were empty.
However, before we replanted them, we got to meet Rudolphe, their buffalo, who had to walk through the muddy water to plow through the mud in order to mix it around.
We then went to another field where the rice was fully grown, and had to use a sickle to cut and tie a bundle. Then we’d have to lay the bundles to dry for a few days.
rice was steamed for 15 minutes, flipped, and steamed for another 15 minutes in order to make sticky rice, which is a staple in the Lao culture.
enjoy multiple rice products! Everyone eats with their hands, so we took the sticky rice, squished it in little balls, and dipped it in a Chili paste/buffalo skin mixture (yes, you read that right!) – it was actually so delicious! I ended up being the only one who finished all of my rice. We also tried some rice wine, which was extremely strong!
It really was such a good experience and I’m so glad I did it! I went back to the hostel to relax for a couple of hours but then I was starving so I walked to a French cafe that a couple of the girls recommended to me. Although it was quite expensive, it was still nice to have some French pastries (there were so many French restaurants in Luang Prabang since it was part of the French Colonial Empire years ago – also, the amount of French people who travel Thailand and Laos is insane! I could hear French everywhere I went).
On Friday morning, I was leaving for my next destination at 8:30. However, I decided to wake up to watch the Buddhist Alms Giving Ceremony (tak bat). It has occurred in many of the past cities that I’ve been in, but it starts before the sun rises (around 5:30), so I’ve been too lazy to wake up for it. However, I was told that they come on the street right in front of the hostel at 6am so this time, I didn’t really have an excuse. I tried to set an
alarm a couple of days earlier and just rolled over and went back to bed, so I was determined to get up this time, especially since two other girls in my room decided to go as well. Tak bat is a daily ceremony when the monks go and collect food (alms) from the locals, who usually give sticky rice or fresh fruit to make merit. The monks go down the streets in meditation and collect this food for their one meal per day, and don’t have a kitchen so
the food is already prepared. We decided not to take part in giving food (because we were told that they expect the food to be made with love at home and not just bought from a street vendor) and instead just watch. I’ve also read that this ceremony has become such a big spectacle for tourists, and many of the locals have refused to take part anymore because they feel like the sanctity of the ceremony is ruined. A lot of people take pictures with flash
and then chase after the monks in order to get a good picture. We weren’t on the main street so it was pretty quiet where we were, but I was surprised as to how many flashes I saw in the distance, as well as how many people were following the monks when the ceremony was over. It was interesting seeing how the locals (and some tourists) just took a pinch of rice to give to each monk (there were hundreds of them) – I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be like that.
sea of orange robes coming down the street. After about 20 minutes, we went back into the hostel and I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep so instead, we all just made coffee and visited until about 7:30. I went upstairs to pack up my stuff, came back down for breakfast, and then my bus came early so I rushed off to head to Nong Khiaw. Love always
Prairie Girl Abroad 