Tan Quang – Surfdog

It rained the whole night and it rained the whole morning. I guess it is because the Greek comes from a county where it does not rain that much. He is not used to driving in the Vietnamese mountains where the roads are bad – even worse when wet. And he has no exexperience with the low clouds and fog in the mountains when it rains. I have plenty of it and decided to take the easy way in the valley. Stubborn as a mule Mitsos took to the mountains.

Motorbiker — The Greek is ready for the road. It rains and he thinks it is good to take the mountina road.

Wet Dirtroad — This is the highway – and it got worse.

Since it rained for most of the trip I have only a few pictures today. You see the road – you can imagine. One time there was a river on the road that was quite deep. Had to wait till I saw some locals pass to know how to cross. I was lucky and my bike made it safe to the other side. The Greek was not so lucky. He choose to try the left side. That was not a good idea. He got stuck and had to walk his bike out of it. The water was about 60 cm deep at this side. I wonder how it is in rainy season.

Mountain Road — Only to make way for more rain

Clouds over Forrest — But the street stays below the clouds

Nhà nghỉ Hà Thần in Phố Ràng

Got into town a bit after 15:00. There are a lot of Guesthouses along the main road so it was not to easy to choose. Found this one and was quite happy. They send the little boy with me to show me the room. I liked it so the next step is to find out the price. Since he was only 10 or so I put some money on the floor but he did not like what I put. So he got some more out of my hand and put it on top. To much so I took some back. After a while, we settled for a price. We went back down again and I filled my information in the book. After that it was relaxing in the dry room and waiting for the Greek.

Hotel Room — Our room at the Nhà nghỉ Hà Thần

Wet Greek — The Greek had to turn back after a while. The fog in the mountains was to thick. Wet but happy to find me in the nice room

It was not easy to find a restaurant in twon. If you go to small towns the restaurants close quite early or have a lot of meat and not enough greens. The only one we found that looked OK enough so the Greek would go in was this one. The little girl saw us and followed us into the place. She helped us translating with the owner and we talked till dinner was done.

Today’s drive:
I drove 81 kilometers in 2 hours, 47 minutes.

Phố Ràng to Sa Pa

The next day the sky was gray but no rain. At last in the morning. That should change into the day but for now we where good to go.

House in North Vietnam — House along the road

Motorbike — Lots of mud on the roads for the rest of the day.

Passed a lot of villages in the mountains and a lot of them have roads like this. Before and after the village it is quite ok but inside there is no tar or concrete. That makes for a lot of red dust when it is dry and sticky mud when it is wet. No clue why they not fix the road inside the village??

Road Sign — Looks like I have to find another way

After the Clear Cut — Finished shavin the mountain

Factory — Really big factory in the middle of nowhere

Wood Furniture — But they have mountains next to the road. And from all the mountain wood they make thin layers of inlay.

Modern Building — Quite modern buildings here in the mountains

Hieu Dang Sapa Hotel

Sa Pa is so big now and has so many hotels and tourists – it is best to book ahead. This way you arrive and can take a shower. I opted for the Hieu Dang Sapa Hotel which is super close to the town center.

But there are loads of other hotels in Sa Pa! Get a good rate on Booking.com or on agoda.com.

Bathroom Hieu Dang Sapa Hotel — The bathroom

The last time I was in Sa Pa is so long ago. I remembered nothing at all. Decided to stay in the room for most of the day. Far to many tourists out there and so much traffic. Only went for some food in the evening with Mitsos.

Vietnamese Restaurant — Mitsos found this place – the food was expensive but really good!

Vietnamese Food — Loads of greens, some tofu and rice and chilli – sweet!

Olives — 10.000 VND are about 0.40 € or 0.45 US$

Even the Olive Oil was not expensive. Guess they do not have them crazy taxes like Thailand for food imports.

Today’s drive:
We drove 129 kilometers in 4 hours, 16 minutes with gas and food stops.

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Had a good night at the Cao Nguyen Guesthouse in Yen Minh. Took some time till Mitsos was happy with his breakfast but after that we continued our drive towards the West of Vietnam. But today we only drove South.

Mountain Village — Looks like it will be a nice day

Fields and Mountains — Agriculture eats its way up the mountains

Fields in the Mountains — They use all the land up to the mountaintops

Mountain Ranges — Mountains and more Mountains

Mountans and fileds — Guess next time the fields go up all the way to the top

Mountains in Vietnam — If burning down the last bits of forrest left is the envirommental service – they do a good job!

Fire in the mountain — Forrest protection

Small stream in the mountains — A small stream creates its own surroundings with nice bamboo trees

Chinese Graves — Chinese graves in front of a perfect chocolate hill

Bike on the road — Again a day with almost no traffic up here in the Vietnamese mountains

Northern Vietnam Hills — More of those Northern Vietnam hills

Hills — Weeeee – I need this with blue sky 🙁

Road into the Valley — The windy road into the next valley

Rice Fields and Mountains — A dream? I want my house here!

Mountains in North Vietnam — Mountain rice fields

Rice Fields — This looks like a lot of work

Mountains — The road winds itself further into the valley

Last tree — Last big tree left. Must be a important one

Mountain Fields — If you stop working on this kind of fields the rain will kill them in no time

Poor Farmers Home — Earth house – must be a poor farmer

Cable Bridge — A small village on the other side

Small Mountain Village — You can see the poor farmer on the right has only a plastic housel. Middle class on the left has a wood house and the new rich have proper big traditional wood houses. Building this is quite expensive now since there is not a lot of big trees left.

Traditional House — Another traditional house

House in Vietnam — The concrete one was there first. The wood one is new and not finished.

Tân Quang

Room at the Nhà nghỉ Huyền Tuấn — Our room at the Nhà nghỉ *Huyện Tuần*

Fridge and Windows — Comes with a fridge and a few windows

Happy Greek — As you can see: If the Greek is happy with the food he looks like this

Parking — Looks more like an parking lot – not like a hotel lobby

Today’s drive:
We drove 148 kilometers in 4 hours, 50 minutes with gas and food stops.

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Tag: Tan Quang

Winter 17/18 Tân Quang over Phố Ràng to Sa Pa