Cuc Phong National Park, Cat Ba, Holong Bay, Sapa and Hanoi

I went for a trek in Cuc Phuong National Park near Ninh Binh and came accross some interesting creatures - have no idea what this is but it was certainly alive!!!

This lizard was doing a reasonable job of camouflaging himself.

Can't say the same for this butterfly who decided to sit on my boot for about 10 minutes.

The educational sign warning about the consequences of poaching....

Ryan the Tiger makes friends with a stick insect.

Some of the amazing views from the back of the motorcycle on the way to the park.

The floating village we stopped at on the way back to town.

The engineering masterpieces - bridges connecting the different areas of the village - of course tourists have to pay a fee to cross!!

Preparing dinner.Well if you can wash your dinner in the water why not you knickers!!

The local kids who had just finished school.

Don't think she wanted her photo taken!!

Unlike this one who just kept on smiling and posing.

I love Dragon Flies - it is amazing how many different colours of them there are.....

The view over the bay at Cat Ba Island.

Looks like something out of the Jeff Godlum movie 'The Fly'!!

I spent ages trying to get a focused photo of this bee collecting pollen - at least it paid off eventually!!

Cat Ba Island - looking out at the sea.

And turning around and looking in the other direction.......

And a slightly different view.Ryan The Tiger is getting excited about spending he day sailing around Halong Bay.

Some of the many photo's taken on Halong Bay - you can see why it is one of Vietnam's most popular tourist sites with foreigners and Vietnamese alike.

The floating fishing villages around Halong Bay.

Not sure how you take the dog for it's morning walk from here/???

Of course I couldn't leave Cat Ba without taking a trek around the national park - and I nearly stood on this snake who was in the middle of the path!! Luckily he didn't seem upset or poisonous (not that I was going to get any closer!!)

Ryan the Tiger enjoys the view from the top of Cat Ba Mountain.

OK so I just had to get my photo on the motorcycle (OK Ade it is really just a scooter!!) as I have now had a few journeys on these - though always with a driver!!

Next stop after a bus, boat,bus, bus, train and mini bus journey was Sapa - another popular area in the northern hills of Vietnam. I debated coming here as was running out of time on my visa and also this area was hit by the bad rains last month but having met few people who had just come back I am glad I decided to give it a visit. This was one of the ladies who greeted you with a smile after the long journey (of course she later wanted to sell you some souvenir's!!)

I was in Sapa for the weekend which is when the local villagers come into the market. Even though they wear the traditional dress they jump about on motorbikes and on their mobile phones - really the old world meets the new. I love the fact they still keep some of their traditions but benefit from modern technology.

How could I resist taking this photo???

These young guys were making beautiful detailed vases and other ornaments from stone at Cat Cat Village just a few k,'s outside Sapa. It's a shame it would most likely have gotten smashed if I tried to send it home or I would have bought some - certainly worth the few Dong they wanted for it.

Local kids just play happily around the village.

The full moon came out whilst I was in Sapa so I got to see the local Children's Full Moon Festival which I had seen people preparing for throughout the country.

A hundred or so Km's from Sapa is the Bac Ha Sunday market which local tribes come to trade in and certainly made for some great photo opportunities......

A little girl in the traditional dress of the Flower Hmong villagers.

The locals trade cattle, horses, dog, water Buffalo etc. Going rate is $300 for a Water Buffalo - not bad given in some areas one of those can buy a girl a husband!!! Of course in between sales they sit about sharing some local rice wine - though we were offered some I was not brave enough to try it - and it was only 10.30!!

Lots of colourful outfits - the different tribes wear different styles/headdress etc. Lots of souveigner stalls for the bus loads of tourists that arrive every Sunday - with the overinflated prices

Ban Pho village where some of the Hmong villagers at the market live - a traditional house and kitchen!! You could walk from the kitchen straight into the animal quarters -in this house there was a pony there!!

Replacing the road washed away with the recent floods!!

Views on the way back to Sapa make the bumpy road more bearable!!

When I left the hotel with the guide to go on the one day trek around Sapa area and visit Lai Chua villages I hadn't been expecting an escort party of local ladies. They are a tiny tribe of Black Hmong people and very friendly - holding your hand and guiding you down the steeper paths. They did of course have some souveigners to sell and it was hard to resist - you could tell they had done this before!! Eventually I gave in and bought a couple of small things - though I paid a little more than I would have in the market (but a lot less than they intitially asked) it was worth it as they made the trek more memorable.

Views of the hillside around the village.

The young girls making bracelets etc. IT's not surprising they hang about in groups - in this village people get married as young as 13 and when a guy likes a girl he kidnaps her and takes her to his house for 3 days. He does not touch her but gives her food and drinks if the girl is interested in him she will eat the food - if she doesn't eat she is returned to her family after 3 days!!

A local boy - it is compulsory for all kids to attend school until they are about 12 in Vietnam and this is free but they only go either in the morning or afternoon depending on thier age . To go onto secondary school/university the families have to pay but not for those from the minority villages who also get this for free.

Working in the fields.

The umbrella is nearly as big as this lady!!

Lai Cau village - the locals here worship their Ancestors - at New Year or times of other good/sad/important events in the family they go to the graves of their parents/grandparents and decorate them and invite them to come back to thier house. This brings good luck and is seen to be very important in many of the minority villages. Sometimes this is practiced along with a religoun (Buddhism/Christianity included) other times it is just the worship of the ancestors on it's own.

This is Lily who I met at the second village I stopped at - even when I didn't buy anything from her (having already bought from the other ladies!!) she was very friendly and made me promise that next time I come to Sapa I will buy from her.......the ladies in these villages speak better English than some of the people who work with tourists in the cities.

Catching the night train back to Hanoi with Sandrina who I met in Sapa and we did some siteseeing together in Hanoi.

Ryan the Tiger came with me back to Hanoi and this is him at the Temple of Literature. But just after this photo was taken he told me that though he had really enjoyed his travels with me that he now felt ready to set off on his own independant adventure and wanted to head back north to some remote areas of Vietnam where he had heard some of his long lost relatives may be hiding from the poachers!! As sad as I was I felt that it was important to let him go and discover his own roots :-(

Sunset over one of the lakes in Hanoi.

All around the lake there were people jogging or doing aerobics classes - a common site in the early evening/mornings in all the different South East Asian countries.

We got to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi only to discover that they had taken Ho Chi Minh's body to Russia for maintenance a couple of weeks earlier than normal!!

A typical corner shop - accept they are not just on corners - in Hanoi.

Ok so I had heard that they eat dog, even seen it on a few menu's but this was the first time I had seen it served up so to speak!! No I didn't taste it - not that I think I can criticise given what I do eat - I mean in India you go to jail for life for for the murder of cows!!

A typical street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

A baby walker......

You can certainly tell you have arrived back in Khoa San Road area of Bangkok!!!!

Having had to through out some of my very worn and shabby clothes to stay under the weight limit on my budget flight back to Bangkok I have enjoyed taking a break from site seeing the last couple of days to go on a shopping frenzy :-)

Just as I was sitting uploading my photo's this little guy wandered over and was so excited about all my travels she asked if she could join me for a while. As I have a little space now Ryan The Tiger has gone I said I would enjoy the company - so say hello to Chom Poo Moo(CPM)


Vietnam certainly added a few more memorable experiences to my travel adventures. It is probably the most beautiful country I have been to on my trip (not withstanding the mountains in Nepal) with spectacular and varied scenery. Many rivers/lakes/waterways - not one city/town is without it's waterbased life activities, long golden beaches,forrests, hills and mountains and those unusal and numerous rock formations of Halong Bay etc. The downside is the aggressive & dishonest approach of a lot of the people who come into contact with travellers and who think it is ok to lie/cheat and blatantly steal from people. Bartering is a way of life in most of the countries I have been to and as anywhere there are times when you pay well over the normally acceptable price as you have not done your homework. Unfortunately in Vietnam far too often people will agree a price with you then demand more when it comes to paying. Taxi's (all varities) are the worse - they will even stop in the middle of remote areas and throw your bags out (I know a few people who experinced this) if you refuse to give them more than the agreed fare or drop you at the wrong place (hard to know when you haven't been there before!). Organised tours will often miss out half the places you were supposed to visit or have hidden costs, shop keepers will refuse to give you change and hotels (particularly in Hanoi) have been known to claim the room rate quoted was for each individual or add on high taxes!!Similar scams appear in a lot of countries where bartering etc is part of the tradition but in Vietnam it is much more prevelant (even that in India given the difference in sizes) and in other countries when you challenge them normally they back down as they don't like a fuss - here suddenly they or anyone else nearby has forgotten how to speak English even though all the negotiations have been done in English!!!I had a few experiences of this and most of the time managed to get away with the agreed rates but even at the officical airport shop they tried to charge me for things I didn't buy but as I thought it was too high I had asked for a receipt - the explanation was that they had 'forgotten' to close the previous transaction - didn;t seem to matter that the items showed randamoly on my receipt and not at the start!!!Almost everyone I met in Vietnam had several stories of rip offs etc to tell and quite a few didn't stay as long as they had planned and vowed not to come back as it gets very tiring having to fight constantly with people - even for me and you know how much I like a fight!! At least the thieves in Cambodia just did it the good old fashioned way!!!That said I have enjoyed most of my experiences here and did meet lots of lovely friendly people and had some good fun moments with locals (mainly away from the bigger tourist areas) but after 4 weeks of dealing with this I was glad to move on - but I would come back again. So I arrived back in Bangkok with set prices/reasonable levels of bartering( except for tuc tucs which I avoid), public buses maps and the ability to walk to places it seems so straight forward after Vietnam - I never thought I would say that about Bangkok!!! Now I am just killing a couple of hours before catching the overnight bus/boat to Kao Toa Island where I am hopefully going to learn to dive before spending some time chilling out on the beach and reading all those books that are in my bag!! Looking forward to spending more than a couple of nights in the one place - a holiday from my travels I suppose :-)Till the next time.....

Jack xx

PS. Anyone who is feeling depressed and missing Ryan The Tiger can contact the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90......