The Gibbon Experience

I´m taking a 24 hours bus from Hanoi to Laos and Luang Prabang. I´ve heard horror stories about bus rides between Vietnam and Laos. Dirty buses, the aircon doesn't work, bad roads, no stops for food and small sleeping seats which you share with a stranger. I´m hoping for the best and I get a normal ”Vietnam” sleeper bus, all good so far. We arrive to a road barrier and the Vietnamese border around 02.00 and we have to stop and wait until 07.00 for the border controll officers to start their day.

Crossing a border is always interesting. You hear stories from other travelers and when you entering a new country you never really now what to expect. For example, since we are crossing the border on the weekend we have to pay 1 USD weekend fee to leave Vietnam. Yes. We pay the government to LEAVE the country. Did I say it's a lot of corruption in Asia? We pay the fee and walks to the Laos border office to get our visa on arrival and the bus trip continues. Then after more then 24 hours we arrive. To Vientiane.. From there I have to take another bus and the 24 hours ride turns out to be almost 36. But over all was it a pretty good bus trip. No horror story to pass on.

 

Luang Probang is a wonderful city. Since the town was declared World heritage site 1995, UNESCO have
contributed to repairs and maintenance of buildings and tempels. By maintaining the old french architecture and Temples it's no wonder why Luang Prabang is called the most beautiful city in South East Asia.

One of the main attractions around Luang Prabang is beautiful the Kuang Si waterfall. You can take a minivan or tuk-tuk for 40 000 kip, around 41 SEK, to get there. The driver wait for you and you get a couple of hours to spend at the waterfall and its surroundings.

From Luang Prabang I take a bus north west to Houay Xai at the boarder to Thailand to do my number one activity in Laos, The Gibbon Experience, zip lining och treetop houses, 2,5 hours from Houay Xai, into Nam Kan National Park is the starting point for this high flying adventure. By working with the surrounding villages The Gibbon Experience use the locals knowledge to protect and create a sustainable future for the forest and also provides full time jobs to over 120 people. Through the jungle runs 15 km zipline and its the home of the highest tree tophouses in the world, 30-40 meter, which can only be accessed by ziplines. The houses are fully equipped with squat toilets, showers, kitchen sink, running drinking water from a spring lake and space for accommodation for 2-11 persons. It is a set up for an unforgettable experience and it was one of the best things I have done during my trip.

To glide through the jungle with an amazing green scenery felt so unreal and it was so much fun. I couldn't stop smile or laugh every time i did it. The zip lining was great but it can be done in many places, what made The Gibbon Experience so fantastic was the overnight stay in a treetop house. To be in the jungle is a cool feeling considering all the wild animals living there. To sleep there makes it even better but to actually live in a treetop is one of the most fascinating and memorable things I have ever done! It´s difficult to describe why but to live on the same level as the birds, monkeys and other animals is for me the closest thing you can get to be a part of the jungle itself.

 

 

The mountains in the west and the sea in the east.

North Vietnam is the home of some of the most fantastic scenery in South East asia. With Hanoi as the starting point in the middle you can go in any direction to find places to that will take your breath away. I´m taking a bus a couple of hours to the east to reach the coast and Halong City, the gateway to the the majestic Halong Bay with its lime stone rocks. You can book a boat trip on a "Junk" (Yes, thats how they call the boats) for a overnight stay on the boat but my budget is limited so I´m taking ferry to nearby Cat Ba Island for a cheaper accommodation. We slowly cruise between the big rocks and when the sun finally breaks through the wall of clouds the scenery is fantastic.

 

As soon as I read in my travel book Lonely Planet that you can climb on these magnificent rocks I was hooked. So I joined the well experienced and professional Asia outdoors for a day of rock climbing and kayaking in Lan Ha Bay, less crowded than Halong Bay but the same amazing scenery, and it was great! With not much climbing experience and that fact that it was my first time for climbing outdoors I was excited but didn't really know what to expect. It turns out to be the best I have done in Vietnam so far! After a fairly easy first route I really had to work hard to finish the other three. Now I can´t wait to get back home and start climb more!

Like a child on Christmas after the hardest route..

 After the rock climbing we paddle through the limestones back to the boat which was also great and then going back to Cat Ba Island.

Heading back to mainland. From Hanoi I´m catching a sleeper bus again and in the morning we stop in Sapa. Yes, I´m back. Even though I swore never going back to Sapa I´m back again. Fortunately, it is not the aluminum factory that hated to work in years ago. This time its the old hill station from the French colonization period and now the main destination for trekking in northern Vietnam. You can do trekking through valleys and rice pads and do homestays in minority villages but I decide to go vertical and climb the highest mountain in Vietnam, ”The roof top of Indochina”, Fansipan at 3143 m. I'm joining a two day tour with some other nice travelers. The weather is perfect and we start the ascent. Although the trek is classified as moderate/hard its harder then I thought. Its steep and sometimes the path is dangerous. But reaching the top makes it all worth it with the amazing view!

Everything was good but it could have been great. Instead of letting Fansipan remain as a challenging adventure for travelers who like trekking, the Vietnamese government have decided to build a large cable car with accompanying hotel on the top. A great way to make more money but it ruins the view from Sapa and the experience to climb the mountain.

I spend the last days of 2015 in Hanoi walking around the busy the old quarters and eating the delicious food.

Vietnam has been amazing and I will soon come back to this lovely country. 

Happy new year everyone!

South and Central Vietnam

I´m starting off my visit in Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh City, former Saigon. Named after the former leader Ho Chi Minh it's the biggest city in Vietnam with over 7 million inhabitants. Like any other big city in Asia there is mopeds and motorcycles everywhere. With hardly no traffic lights it´s a bit chaotic. There are however some pedestrian crossing but don´t think they will stop for you becouse of that. The only thing to do is as quickly as possible learn how to cross the street Vietnamies style. You simply start to walk slowly and then try to predict how the next incoming motorbike will turn. In front of you or at the back. Couse the will try to not run in to you. By keeping a slow pace and not make any sudden stop or move the drivers have time to turn.

 

To make it even more disorganized they also drive on the sidewalk. 

Vietnam has a dark and gruesome past with many decades of war. I can write page after page about the war with China, with France during the colonization, with Cambodia and the Khmer Rogue and not to forget, the Civil war in the 70s. But war is a terrible thing and I choose to focus on the positiv things Vietnam has to offers. With that said, I just can´t write about Ho Chi Minh City with out mention the Cho ci tunnles. Placed south west of Ho Chi Minh City towards the Cambodian border, with over 250 km tunnles in three levels, it was the fundation of the guerrilla warfare by north Vietnam against the south and the Americans. It was  like a small society with rooms for sleeping, cooking, storing and rooms for fighting. 

If navigating in the small tunnels wasn´t hard enought, it was also full of horrifying spike traps Indiana Jones-style. It was a nightmare for the south vietnamese and american soldiers. The tunnels are as deep as to 10 meters under ground and by using bumbu trees they could provide air to the tunnels. Today a small part is open for visitors with an improved ventilation and only by walking/crewling the 120 meters I sweat a lot. Having that in mind, the Viet Cong soldiers spend weeks, moths and even years in the tunnles with only limited time above ground. Absolutly unbelivible. Enough writing, more pics. 

I´m taking my first night bus/Sleeper bus to Mui Ne. It´s a pretty comfortable way to travel longer distance and especially during the night to save time and money.

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Mui Ne, a sleepy coast resort with good waves for windsurfin, kaytsurfing. But im here for another reason. In the middle of bushland, 30 minuts from the city, mother nature decided to create a small desert. Here can you drive ATV on the sand dunes or just stroll around in the fine-graind white sand and thank higher power you´re not lost in the middle of the Sahara desert. 

My next stop is Dalat in the Central Highlands where I do a two day "Easy Rider" motorcycle trip. It´s very popular and a great way to travel through the countryside of Vietnam. You´re riding a motorbike with a local guide who show you the surroundings and talk about Vietnam, the food, their agriculture and culture. My guide was Huy, a guy with a great smile and a lot of interesting stories. 

Another quick stop in the former Capital city Hué and the Royal Palace followed by the Phong Nha Cave before I enter the cool north.