Goodbye Phong Nha.

We're leaving Phong Nha ke Bang in the morning.... We plan on it at least. Third times the charm. We'll arrive on Hanoi in two days time. Flight booked to Bangkok on the fifth.

I'm going to miss this place. Already trying to plan to come back.

Chuc mung nam moi

Spent TET out in the countryside at a home stay called pepper house. Cooked chicken, rice cake, and obviously drank some rice wine. Fireworks and fertilizer bombs were going off all night. There have been many accidents in the last week. Unfortunately around 5 people have died, mainly due to drinking and driving. As amazing as new years was, you have to be aware that any Vietnamese that you see during tet is most likely intoxicated.

Phong Nha ke Bang extended stay

Another day of exploration through the National Park. Went to the pub of cold beer later. Not exactly Easy to get to. Had to drive the bike 8 km, then drive down a dirt road. Park the bikes, walk through a river knee deep, and walk another 1000m up the road. When we got there we got a full chicken. We get to pick it, and he killed, plucked, and cooks it all on the spot. Takes about a hour or more to be ready but was an experience.

The delayed journey.

Woke up, pay for the room, say our goodbyes, and get on the bikes ready to ride to Hanoi on  the Ho Chi Minh trail. As we start the bikes, Lucas 's sounds worry some. We take it to a mechanic and they don't seem to think there's a problem. It's a two day ride to Hanoi on the Ho Chi in trail, so we want to make sure the bikes are in ready condition. With TeT (the new year)  on the 30th and 31st we know that everyone is leaving the big city's to spend it with there family's, so the roads will be busier than normal, and more dangerous. We make the decision to not leave Phong Nha, and spend tet here. Phong Nha national park is still full of live explosives from the war, so you cant do any Bush walking in the jungle. The rumor for tet is that explosives from the war are set off all around the area. Supposedly it will be a battle field here. Sounds unbelievable and terrifying. We extended our stay once again and will leave Phong Nha to Hanoi after the new year celebrations are over. I could spend a lifetime here.

The dark cave.

Another run around of Phong Nha national park. We explored the dark cave. Tomorrow we ride the Ho Chi Minh as far as we can to Hanoi. Just under 600km. tomorrow will be a big one.

Phong Nha cave, and Tien son cave

We got a big group of 14 people from the hostel and rented a boat to take us through Phong Nha cave and then after we walked through Tien son cave. Unbelievable. The more people on the boat the cheaper it is. Then after losing most, about 8 of us took a 30km drive into the National Park around sunset and enjoyed a fire and swim. Soon after getting kicked out we came back and celebrated Australia day. Phong Nha national park is wonderful 

Paradise cave, and Phong Nha ke Bang national park

We left Dong Hoi and made our way to the cave. Found an awesome hostel called easy tiger when we got there. IV finally found what iv been looking for in Vietnam. The jungle and the mountains. As we arrived we met up with a friend from Hoi An who is biking to Hanoi as well. We dropped off our stuff and made our way to the cave. It was an unbelievable drive through dense jungle and mountains to get there. The cave was about 25 km from the hostel, so having our own bikes to get there made things much easier, and such more enjoyable. It costed about 125,000 Dong (6$or so) to get into the cave. It was a long walk from the entrance, but when we finally got there I was speechless. The cave was amazing in the least. After exploring it, which took an hour or so we found a grotto near the cave. The grotto had no lights other than the natural light from the entrance. We decided to explore the grotto as far as possible, but we only had lights from our phones. After getting deep into the darkness of the grotto we decided to turn back. without the light from our phones we were in complete darkness. We road the Ho Chi Minh trail back around though the mountains. I wish I could re live this day again, it was unforgettable. No problems today. Other than Lucas getting attacked by a flying squirrel.

Hue to Dong Hoi. The Ho Chi Minh trail round 2.

Woke up, explored the Imperial Palace in Hue, and then set off North. Instead of taking Highway one, we trailed off inland and met up with the Ho Chi Minh trail again. I'm so happy we did. Beautiful scenery, and minimal traffic. The weather is cold, while driving I'm wearing every single shirt and sweatshirt I brought. It wasn't going to be a day without problems though. My bike started getting a choppy sound, and I notice my chain needed a tighten. Before I knew it the muffler was making a popping sound. We went back towards the coast to Dong Hoi and I brought my bike in for a look. A piece on my muffler was broken so they welded it up and tightened my chain. 50,000 Dong (2.50$). The plan tomorrow is to get back on the Ho Chi Minh trail and find a cave called Phong Nha (2nd largest cave in the world) and spend the day.