江南 - 林俊傑

enjoy our favourite song during the trip cos this song really reminds us of halong bay...haha...

曲：林俊傑 詞：李瑞洵

風到這裡就是黏 黏住過客的思念
雨到了這裡纏成線 纏著我們流連人世間

你在身邊就是緣 緣份寫在三生石上面
愛有萬分之一甜 寧願我就葬在這一點

圈圈圓圓圈圈 天天年年天天 的我
深深看你的臉 生氣的溫柔 埋怨的溫柔 的臉

不懂愛恨情愁煎熬的我們 都以為相愛就像風雲的善變
相信愛一天 抵過永遠 在這一剎那凍結了時間

不懂怎麼表現溫柔的我們 還以為殉情只是古老的傳言
離愁能有多痛 痛有多濃 當夢被埋在江南煙雨中
心碎了才懂

thac bac (silver waterfall)

u see the bridge that connects the 2 banks at the centre



i hope i dun fall...haha...

our final stop is back to the silver waterfall...the 100m tumbling falls are really impressive and peaceful...you will get to climb the staircase up the falls and cross a bridge connecting both banks and come down by the other staircase...ling told me that the thac bac waterfall is actually the freshwater supply for the whole sapa and water are pumped from the waterfall all the way to sapa town...sometimes u can spot tourists trying to take a bath at the bottom of the waterfalls...around this time, the sky was getting rather dark...and true enough, when we were on our way back to sapa from the silver waterfall, it started to rain...i thought we were quite lucky that it only rained now and not earlier, else it will have spoilt our whole day tour...we also went pass a big pink building which is the starting permit checkpoint for those adventurous trekkers who wants to conquer the 3143m mount fansipan...i hope one day i will come back here again to take it on!!!

tram ton pass aka heaven's gate

at the accident site...safety first...better wear our helmets!!!

look how the mountains intersect with each other

the clouds are like cotton blanket covering the mountains

another group photo...my driver really looks blur haha

the gals trying to be funny!!! haha...

weather starting to get nasty...

on our way back to the tram ton pass, our drivers stop us at one very curvy bend...he told us that a tour bus have crashed down the valley here before and several died...we look down the valley and surely the fragmented tour bus can still be seen, leaving a trail all the way down the vally...how scary can it be!!!...we certainly hope we dun add to those statistics haha...the clouds at the tram ton pass now has already cleared...the view there was really breathtaking, i think there is a reason why they called it the "heaven's gate"...tram ton pass is a pass on the north side of fansipan...at 1900m, it is the highest mountain pass in vietnam...aside from the magnificent views, it is also known for its sudden, dramatic shifts in climate, from fog to sunshine (which we have experienced!!!)...we took a break at the roadside stall that we have seen earlier this morning...a few vietnamese tourists stopped over too and joined us to enjoy the strong cold breeze from the tram ton pass...the wind was really cold and i just hid myself inside the tents away from the chill while dawn and myyher tried to take funny photos of them in jumping positions!!!...also the vietnameses were really very fascinated with myyher's digicam haha...whenever she takes it out to take pictures, vietnameses will like crowd around her to admire it...i bet myyher is so proud of her camera haha...

red dao village

the red dao children

the 4 brothers...look how run-down their house is compared to the previous tribes we visited

the red dao village is rather small and consists only just around 10 families due to their young history...they are probably the poorest among the minority tribes too...when we reached the village, the parents were all out working in the rice fields, leaving only the kids behind to look after the houses...their houses are built directly on top of the dirt without any proper floor...they dun have televison like the previous tribes that we visited...the youngest brother didn't even have a proper pant to wear...=(

laos minority

look at their black teeth o.0

the laos children

look how playful they are!!! (notice that tv set at the end also)

we backtrack abit back to around tam duong town to visit the laos minority...we bought some sweets in a shop in the village so that we can offer to the kids when we see them...the laos people too live on stilt houses...we went into one of the houses to take a look at their living conditions...the house was pretty much like the white thai's...and they too have televison!!! haha...one interesting thing you notice is that they actually divide their bedrooms into different compartments...each compartment is for one generation...meaning the grandparents will take one, the parents another and the kids another...the most noticable characteristic of the laos people is their black teeth...to them, the darker their teeth, the more beautiful a women is...i doubt we will want to be like them haha...we gave sweets to the kids of that family...but u never know, within minutes, all the neighbour's kids also gathered in the house, waiting for sweets too haha...i guess they do learn community spirit quite young haha...

white thai tribe

the white thai stilt house...notice the 2 staircases

myyher and the white thai children

the tea leaves that the white thai grow and use

their kitchen...back to basic!!!

we continued our tour after lunch towards lai chau town...we crossed a few long suspension bridges along the way...it already look scary crossing them by foot, but it was even more frightening crossing them on motorbikes!!!...haha...our first village visit was to the Do village, home to the white thai people...they live in stilt houses with firewoods stacked below the floors...there is usually 2 staircases up the house...one at the back that leads to the kitchen (used only by the women) and another at the front that leads to the living room (can be used by anyone)...as their name suggested, their pioneers have came from thailand long ago to settle in vietnam...and they divided themselves into the white thai and black thai...we visited one of the stilt house after walking around the village...ling said that some of the thai people still know how to speak thai language...but when myyher tried to communicate with them using thai...they didn't seems to understand...they explained to ling in vietnamese that only the older generations know thai and most of the younger generations have lost touch with their thai language...they were really friendly, showed us around the house and treated us to some tea that they made themselves...we were abit hesitant at first to try them, but we still took a few slips, not wanting to be rude...it was a pity that we didn't bought sweets yet, else we could have at least offer them to the kids to repay their kindness...oh ya, i forgot to mention that they actually have televison and vcd player!!!

off we go...on motorbikes!!!

first stopover view

we and our helmets...haha...

stall by the silver waterfall
our drivers...tang...?????...ling (i dunno my driver name lol )

i am sure singapore's corn taste better =/

second stopover view

notice the waterfall in the distance on the right

is that heaven???!!!...ling says it is lucky for one to see the peak =)

group photo!!!

those winding and narrow road that we be taking on later

we met up with ling and his drivers at around 1045 outside the hotel...and he handed each one of us a helmet...i thought vietnamese dun wear them!!!???...haha...but he insisted us to wear for safetly precautions...and so ling will take dawn, another 40 years old honest looking driver takes myyher while i had a pretty much blur-looking driver to myself haha...so off we go!!!...we headed northwest and the road was really winding and narrow at times...but the way they (maybe except ling haha) take the roads and cut the corners like some motorGP racers just proved how experienced they are already at it...we had a stopover at the roadside where the scenery was once again so fascinating...you just feel like u are in the middle of nowhere haha...we continued our way to reach the 100m tall thac bac(silver) waterfall...it is situated roughly 11km from sapa along the road to lai chau...we felt water droplets falling onto our face and thought that maybe it was the waterfall...but ling told us that actually it was drizzling...duh!!!...haha...so we took shelter at the one of the roadside stalls...ling treated us to some corns (i think singapore's corns taste nicer =P ) and also this steamed rice that was cooked inside bamboo with sugarcane juice, and when mixed with peanut powder, just taste so delicious!!!...since it was raining, ling suggested we continued the tour and come back again later to visit the waterfall...the road now is getting rather steep and is mostly uphill...we went pass the tram ton pass which supposely has very spectacular view...but weather permitting...it was really foggy when we pass it...we are in the clouds!!!...and it is so damn cold...i was already shivering and so try to hide behind my driver who at least got a windbreaker on, letting him brave the strong cold wind ahead...we also saw 1 little roadstall hiding beneath the thick layer of clouds by the roadside...wonder how they can survive the coldness lol...we travelled downhill finally and took another stopover where from there, we can clearly see the valley and its settlement...there is also a waterfall in the distance...we took a group picture before continuing our journey...we passed quite a few towns and i really have no idea where we are anymore haha...but from the map, i figured we should be in sin ho town...we stop for a lunch in a small home-converted "restaurant"...we had some rather strange food which includes frozen pork-leg...and also eggplant seed or something...in the end, we just restricted ourselves to eating "kang kong" vegetable and rice haha...

mountain view hotel

view down the slope from the hotel

taking turns to capture the beautiful background...haha...

the mini-van dropped us at our mountain view hotel...was way too early to check in yet as the check-in time is at 9am...so we decided to have breakfast first at the big balcony of the hotel...the name of the hotel really lived up to its name and as it suggested...mountain-view...the view of the mountains at the back of the hotel was just mesmerising...we quickly took turn to take photo with wonderful backdrop...the clouds were really floating very low and we can feel some of them just around us...and it was really cold!!! maybe cos i cannot stand cold haha...while we slowly enjoyed our warm breakfast, one young friendly vietnamese guy came up to us and introduced that he is one of the tour guides from the hotel...his name was "ling"...and so he suggested a few daily tours that we could take...in the end, we took up one of the tour (US$17 per person) where we get to visit the silver waterfall and some minority villages on bikes...the tour will prove soon to be really worth every cents...it took pretty long for the hotel to prepare our room and it was already way past 9am...we have been waiting at the lobby and was kinda abit frustrated...it was only till around 10am that the they finally gave us the room...time to shower!!! we have not really cleaned ourselves since yesterday tour and was feeling really sticky all over...haha...

lao cai train station / sapa town

couldn't really sleep well last night...i was like sweating one moment and feeling cold the other...putting my blanket on and off lol...so i woke up probably quite early and sat on the bed staring into the window...although u couldn't really see much thru it anyway haha...slowly the rest of them woke up too...the vietnamese lady tried to communicate with us, but she doesn't know english...so i ended up only saying "kom biet...kom biet" which means "dunno" in vietnamese...haha...finally we reached lao cai train station...taking all our stuffs, we have to squeeze thru the crowd to get to the gates, after which we look for our driver who will drive us up sapa to our hotel in a mini-van, but of course with many other tourists together too...the ride takes roughly around an hour i think and it is mostly uphill as sapa town is situated 1650m above sea-level...for those who like mountain climbing, sapa is also the starting place for the tallest mountain in vietnam, mount fansipan which peaks at 3143m above sea-level...the sceneries along the way is magnificent...u can see lots of rice terraces cutting into the steep slope of the hills...and also clouds floating very low and some just around you...reminded me of genting highlands that i went few years back...it gets pretty cold as we go higher and higher...in the distance, i can see the sapa town signboard...finally we are reaching sapa town!!! haha...

overnight train to lao cai

inside the train cabin...guess the picture makes it look nicer than it was haha...

the hanoi train station was really packed with locals and tourists alike...was abit lost of where we were supposed to go...when it was time to board the train, we were rejected at the gate as we supposely do not have the small white ticket stubs...but we weren't given them in the first place!!!...what we got was just these big colorful tickets which have proven weren't enough for us to enter...then this guy came up to us and told us that there was a mistake yesterday when we bought the tickets as that lady forgot to pass us the small ticket stubs as well...and he was here to give us that...a sigh of relief...so he led us thru the gate and kindly all the way to our soft-sleeper cabin...was a rather small room with 4 beds, and already we are debating who will sleep on top...surely me as a guy will do the favour of climbing up and sleep on top i guess...but when a young vietnamese lady walked into the cabin to occupy the last top bed...i figured i felt rather funny having to face her when i sleep, so i changed with myyher who later will be glad to have slept on top with the air-con blowing directly while me and dawn was abit stuffy and warm at the bottom...

dinner at little hanoi restaurant

the tiring faces after the long travelling haha...

hmmm...are these thin papers edible???

the singapore collection in hanoi!!!

another 3 hrs ride back to hanoi city while we sleep our way thru...went to the little hanoi restaurant which was recommended by one of the guidebooks that we read...it is specially known for its "roll your own spring roll"...you get to make spring rolls (locally called "nam ren") from the pho noodle, vegetable, meat and the thin sheet of "paper" provided...taste really delicious...although towards the end, i was lazy to roll anymore and just ate the fillings straight haha...after the dinner, we came across a shop called "singapore collection"...we as singaporean was of course curious, wondering do they really sell singaporean items??? but we didn't went in to ask haha...i managed to take a quick shower in the public toilet on the ground floor as we didn't have the hotel room anymore...relaxed ourselves while kien arranged a taxi ride to pick us up to the hanoi train station...yes, we are finally leaving the noisy hanoi city to sapa!!!

tam coc boat ride

near the start of the boat ride
(notice the guy rowing the boat with his legs on the right)

one of the few small over-head bridges we have to squeeze under...
better keep your head low!!!

nice scene there!!!

the padi fields that surround us

the couple with the cute adopted asian baby which were together with us for the tour

those ducks that keep u accompanied too along the way

view of the cave from outside...

inside one of the caves...

boat hawkers with their boats loaded with goods...

at the turn-about point...heh, i got a pretty korean lady wanting to feed me =P

hmm...the locals actually use umbrella???
i thought they aren't scared of heat...haha...

after a good lunch at one of the restaurant nearby (i luv the mango juice!!! it is just so fresh!!!), we took a 3 hrs boat ride down and back the little ngo dong river to visit tam coc, which means "three caves"...they are namely hang ca, hang guia, and gang cuoi...their length varies from 40-127m...strangely enough, me and the 2 gals were separated...2 of them took one boat while i shared mine with a vietnamese gal (named "te" or something but she is living in hawaii now) and a korean gal("nam keong"...same keong as me lol)...tam coc is famously known as the "halong bay on land" as the river is surrounded by similar limestone towers...u can also see wet rice padi fields by the side of the river as we paddle down...the feeling of being in nature is just so fantastic...but maybe not the strong sun...haha...along the way, u also see farmers carrying their rice harvests on their boat...usually, the boat paddlers will give u a small paddle too to let u have a go at the tough job of rowing the boat haha...but u probably will not get to master how they can actually paddle the boat using their feets!!! o.0""...after visiting the 3 caves, we took a break at the last cave where it is swarmed by boat hawkers...it seemed to be a practice for the tourists to treat their boat riders...so we bought some drinks and bananas...and heh, i met dawn and myyher there too...haha...the trip back was much enjoyable as it was nearing evening and the wind was finally blowing...probably around this time, the boat riders will start to bug u to buy some of the hand-made items they had...luckily for me, i had a vietnamese tourist on board, so she ended up the pityful one having to endure all the "noise pollution"...haha...while me and the korean gal happily "pretend" to be busy paddling...lol...i reached back much earlier than the gals and met up with the rest of the tourists first...i was treated to the lotus seeds fruit by one of them, but yucks, dun really like it...and when i saw dawn and myyher coming back...they seemed to look very tired, but probably due to the non-stop bugging of their boat riders more haha...i heard they had quite a time catching ducks too...so i probably leave their part of the story to them...=)

hoa lu and its temples

at a stopover shop to hoa lu...taking a photo with a vietnamese???

and with a korean???

classic farmer chasing his ducks and ducklings around...

entrance to the temple of king dinh tien hoang
(the chinese characters i think means "a door to lock invaders from the north")





















inside one of the temples...





















only the king walks thru the centre...now there is tall step build thru the door so that when people pass thru the door, they will have to "bow" to pay respect to the king

the sedan that was used in the past to carry kings





















farmer relaxing while the ox works hard on the field

some of the beautiful sceneries we took there...



3rd day...we set off for our hoa lu and ninh binh tour pacakge that we took from our hotel...US$12 per person...joined by few other foreigners along the way...we headed down first to hoa lu in a 2 hrs journey ride in this small mini-bus...of cos, we slept our way thru the ride cos we slept pretty late last night due to the "night talk"...haha...hoa lu was the capital of vietnam during the dinh and early le dynasties...it was a good geographical location as the town is surrounded by mountains in the south, east and west...the defenders could just watch over the plains to the north for any chinese invasion...2 main temples were constructed to honor the 2 king of the 2 dynasties...namely the temple of king dinh tien hoang and the temple of king le dai hanh...the temples' walkways are usually built such that when viewed from the top, it will symbolise a "王" character which means "king" in chinese...few stories surrounds the temples and of the kings...but i think we can't really recalled much right now...haha...thou i remembered dawn took motion-sickness pill before embarking on the tour, and when we got down for the temples visit, she was virtually just half-conciously walking around haha...