to Bo Lu: short day, tough hills

November 1, 2016

Again it rains heavily overnight, but in the morning it is dry and the clouds have lifted a bit. We pack-up and head out of town, almost immediately starting our biggest climb of the day. We don't have to go very far today, but our legs are tired from yesterday's ride. The narrow road winds its way through several beautiful valleys, we pass several villages, but there are few shops and no roadside restaurants that are serving. (There are some signs, but no-one is eating).

Just before we reach the national park there is one more good sized town where we pick-up some bread, just in case. One more good hill to the park entrance. There is a gate and we expect to pay an entrance fee. But the ranger seems a bit confused and waves us through. On the downhill we meet a group of backpackers who bought mopeds and are touring the north of Vietnam. They give us directions to Mr. Linh's place, but you can't really miss the large roadside sign they have put up.

It is probably about double what we could have stayed at some of the other lesser known homestays, but for US$25 we have a small but nice room in a traditional wooden building, a very nice bed, wifi and hot showers. There is a comfy seating area, a restaurant, reasonably priced cold beer and English speaking staff.

The place seems full too. We enjoy a beer, have lunch and rest the rest of the day. At dinner we meet a Dutch couple and we decide to share the cost of a half-day boat trip on the lake and to the cave tomorrow.

Traditional wooden house in rice fields.

Rice fields and fish ponds. Houses are tucked into the hillside and blend in with the greenery.

We don't see many food opportunities. A short break for some crackers and fruit is called for to get us to Ba Be.

Women selling vegetables and fish by the roadside. Mostly they are having a chat session though.

We pass through several small villages, but the roadside restaurants we got used to so quickly have disappeared.

The profile looked not-too-bad, but the two hills we have to tackle are very steep.

A path takes us to Mr. Linh's place. It comes highly recommended in the Lonely Planet, which means it is more expensive than your average homestay. But the service is great, there is good food and they speak English.

Amongst the rice fields. This rice is close to harvesting.

Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 24,127 km (14,983 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0