Blogger's block :(

It seems an age since I was journeying in Cambodia and the north of Vietnam. Each week since returning to Vung Tau in the last week of November I promise myself that I will write here about what I've seen ... Each time that I don't makes it more difficult to get started. And the intensity of teaching life - concentrated weekends and marathon sessions preparing - is warping my perceptions of time. The last 3 weeks seem to have had no beginning that I can recall.

So ...

at what points in time and space did my travels begin and end? My route proper began in Ho Chi Minh City on 2 November. I travelled by bus to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, through the Ba Vet-Moc Bai immigration posts just to the south-west of Tay Ninh, and arrived in Phnom Penh for the last day of the water festival. I stayed in the city for two days before travelling on by bus to Siem Reap, and the ancient Khmer temple complexes, of which Angkor Wat is the most famous. I stayed for a total of five days/nights and then flew to Hanoi, arriving in the evening of 10 November.

At this point all pre-arranged plans ceased. I knew only that I wanted to go to Sapa in the northern Hoang Lien Son mountains close to China, and that I expected to catch up with some of the teachers who used to work at ILA in Vung Tau. Beyond that my objective was to focus on visiting places that I hadn't been to before.

Hanoi wound up becoming a base. I travelled up the Red River to Lao Cai (closest town to Sapa with a railway station) by overnight soft sleeper, after two days and nights in Hanoi, on a tour that included one night in a hotel and one night home-stay in a Hmong village. After returning to Hanoi by train (again overnight) I decided to pack a small bag and travel 100km south on National Highway 1 to Ninh Binh. This area of Vietnam is dominated by limestone karst mountains similar to Ha Long Bay and features the Tam Coc caves as well as the Hoa Lu ancient citadel. It's possible to fit all this into a one-day tour - and I used this as a means of transportation to reach Ninh Binh. However, I wanted to take my time and also to arrange a trip to Cuc Phuong National Park. So I stayed in Ninh Binh for two nights before returning to Hanoi once again, from where I then set out by overnight train to Hue. And eventually back to Vung Tau via a plane to Ho Chi Minh City on 24 November.

The hyperlinks I've put here are to Wikipedia entries. I've organised my photos on Shutterfly to roughly follow the itinerary that is set out here.


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