For The Love of Travel

Ban Gioc Waterfall, 400 kms from Hanoi, is one of Vietnam’s most impressive natural sights, located in the northeast province of Cao Bang, and at the border of China/Vietnam. The falls are 30 metres high and 300 metres across on the Quay Son river – a beautiful jade blue body of water flowing from China through a pastoral landscape of rice fields and bamboo groves, surrounded by limestone pinnacles. Both countries have bamboo rafts that punt visitors around the base of the falls for a better view of the cascades. Raft activity on the river increases exponentially at 11am, as the authorities release more water over the waterfall from upstream! My driver Khoa, a photography enthusiast, did a splendid job of capturing waterfall images from all sorts of vantage points, especially videoing. And I loved the pony lady’s attitude to being photographed.

The Phat Tich Truc Lam Pagoda hangs halfway up the Phia Nhan mountain and is a good place to enjoy initial distant views of the waterfall. My first motorbike ride in decades (tightly gripping a poor motorbike tout around the middle, who offered to take me up 🙂 and got me to the pagoda entrance. And then of course down we went, once again a vice tight grip….a well earned 50,000VN ($3) for him!! I really am getting too old for this sort of caper!

As we returned to Cao Bang, we drove through mountains and valleys where I discovered farming practices here haven’t changed much in centuries, much of the work is done by hand. One piece of ‘technology’ I saw, was the bamboo water wheel. This device scoops up water from the river, carries it up to the level of the fields and drops it into earth gutters, which channel the water into the fields to irrigate the crops. This particular one might have seen better days.

We diverted off to see Nui Thang mountain (Angle Eye), located in the heart of valley of the Ban Danh hamlet next to the Thang Hen Lake UNESCO complex, which features a charming green landscape and 36 interconnected lakes.

Next day, on the way into Hanoi, saw this precious scene….is there anything oversize that the locals aren’t game to balance on a bike, or riding device?? I think not!

On my way to north east Vietnam to see the resplendent Ban Gioc waterfall, but first wanted to drop in on this village. Khoa is my driver over the next 3 days, as we explore the north east provinces.

Pac Ngoi has more than 40 traditional stilt houses on the slopes of mountains surrounding Be Be Lake – built by the Tay tribe. These houses traditionally tend to have bamboo or palm floors, are usually built near to water courses, at the foot of a mountainside and surrounded by paddy fields. The walls of the house are made of woven bamboo pieces – easy to open to welcome the wind into the house on hot summer days. The thick palm leaf roof (requiring 6000 palm leaves) helps keep the house cool in summer and warm in winter.

Along the winding mountain passes, farmers were fertilising their land and this particular spot caught my eye, because of the pattern.

Went to check out the historic cantilever Long Bien Bridge that links 2 districts (Hoan Kiem and Long Bien) across the Red River. 2.4kms in length, its construction was of strategic importance in securing control of North Vietnam. Built in 1899-1902 by Parisian architects and initially called the Paul Doumer Bridge (named after the Governor General of French Indo-China and then French President), it was rename after North Vietnam became independent in 1954. It was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War due to its critical position connecting Hanoi across the Red River to the port of Haiphong.

Today trains, mopeds, bicycles and pedestrians use the dilapidated bridge, while all other traffic is diverted to other nearby bridges. Poor families from remote rural areas live in boats under the bridge.

Coffee Cafe Restaurant and Bar, 4th floor, provides a great view of the Hoan Kiem roundabout – where scooters, trucks, cars, carts, bicycles and pedestrians all converge …and somehow manage to flow around each other to go on their way…..just a few toots of warning of their approach from faster vehicles, but absolutely no road rage at all. A wonder to behold!

Had lunch at the ‘Met Restaurant and Vegetarian Food’ and ordered a ginger/lemongrass tea – arrived with a little surprise package of ‘banh dau xanh’ (mung bean cake). The authentic cake has a Rong Vang (golden dragon) symbol, Emperor Bao Dai issued a royal decree in the 19thC to commend how good it was! Its slightly aromatic, buttery-fudge like – it MELTS in your mouth. Bringing a small pressie home for you all to try it.