We drove from Ba Be Lake to Dong Van today. The scenery was awesome and the further north we drove, the more the mountains soared.
It was only a few hundred km but took us all day due to the twisty, turny roads which were very slow going. I was also a little confused by the timings as our guide advised us it was 3:45 hour drive to a ethnic village they wanted us to see, but it took nearly 5 hours excluding stops. We hadn’t asked to see this village so its inclusion in our itinerary confused us. Anyway we dutifully walked up to see the Lo Lo ethnic village and sit on a local’s mat to have tea, but it wasn’t really (at all) why we’d come to Vietnam. And whilst we were having tea a dog chewed JC's shoe.
Our itinerary seemed to change as we drove which irritated us. We'd agreed a plan months ago with the tour agency but for some reason it wasn't actually possible to do what we'd suggested. But surely the agency should have known that! Anyway, we managed to agree a plan for the Saturday - we cut out all the ethnic villages they kept wanting to take us to - and confirmed that it was all about the views.
We eventually arrived in Dong Van at 1900, checked into a hotel and ate out that evening. Dong Van is a lot bigger than we’d expected and a buzzing hub. All in, a long and tiring day with not much effort expended by us at all.
Saturday 02 July 2022
We had breakfast out, as our hotel breakfast looked pretty uninspired (bread, jam, tea/coffee). JC went with Mr Long to have chicken noodles whilst I went with Dat to a cafe making rice pancakes.
Then we headed for the Sky Path. This is a 10 km route created sitting above the Ma Pi Long pass, the scenic road from Meo Vac to Dong Van. It was amazing! The walk is around 1700 m above sea level and the views of the mountains and valleys were breathtaking.
We climbed up to the overhanging rock and took the requisite photos. I didn't look down but it was a long drop!
I was glad to descend from that precarious perch. We then decided to continue exploring the area walking up a hilly path to see what was on the other side (a dwelling). It looked back breaking work to be carrying so much.
Dodging the motorbikes that are ubiquitous to any semi drivable path, we then headed to a path described as “a bit dangerous with a handrail”. We were certainly up for that. What he had failed to mention was the incredible view that came with it. The soaring white limestone cliffs dwarfed us as we walked beneath them.
A pretty nifty coke stop though.
We finished off the skypath descending through paths fringed with corn on the cob. The lone cameraman.
Lunch was in Meo Vac - too much food!
Next was a drive down towards the Sông Nho Quế (Nho Quế river), and a steep descent on foot through corn fields down to the river bank. We had a fantastic 45 minute boat trip through the narrow canyon, the steepest in Vietnam I believe.
We were accompanied by 4 friendly Vietnamese men who posed, and then included JC, in their photos. They were very amused by this tall white guy and his camera.
It was a very hot and sweaty climb back up. Over 550 steps but I declined the motorcycle pillion offer as I like the exercise. Up at the top Mr Long, our driver, was waiting and JC enjoyed a fresh coconut drink. The local kids gathered around him to watch and I snapped a photo of this. They then gathered around me giggling to see themselves on my camera screen.
We ate again in a local Dong Van restaurant and bumped into the Vietnamese guys again. They were full of rice wine and very happy to see us!
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