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chrissables
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Posts posted by chrissables
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Day 51. 26 Oct. 220 km 10 ½ hrs Dong Van to Cao Bao, the Chinese border route!
From Dong Van south on QL4C to Meo Vac, from there east on DT217 through Bao Lac and staying on the DT217 until the DT204 and kept riding to Cao Bang.
There was rain and fog to start and I missed my turn. I nearly did not back track, but so glad I did. The ROAD, as marked on google maps turned into a clay track for about 1.5 km’s, then ended at a river where a bamboo ferry was needed to cross!
The track on the other side of the crossing was 5 + km of slippery rutted track, I was out of my comfort zone and had it been wet it would have been extremely difficult to ride out. After the 5 km, it was just a rough road and easy by comparison.
It was a long day riding and I treated myself to a nice hotel in Cao Bang
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Day 50. 25 Oct. Dong Van – Meo Vac Chinese border – Dong Van. 74 km. 5 hrs
First thing in the morning it was slow going due to pea soup thick fog.
It cleared after crossing the Nho Que River and climbing the mountain towards the Chinese border, road 193A.
This year I was turned back by the police before the summit of the mountain. Last year I crossed into China.
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Day 49. Dong Van – Chinese border – Lung Cu. (The North Pole) 108 km. 5 ½ hrs
A bit of a grey day with rain showers for my ride to the most northern point of Vietnam. Firstly I rode up to a different Chinese border crossing, Pho Bang. There a Chinese border guard was extremely unhappy and was pointing for me to park up, so I did a very quick U turn and back tracked to the North Pole.
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Day 48. Ha Giang to Dong Van. 136 km
6 hrs.
A hazy morning turning sunny and bright later, with great views.
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Day 47. Ha Giang to the Chinese border at the end of QL2. About 100km
I rode about 20 km into the border side road DT179C when it turned to rocks. There was still 39 km to my goal, of which 15 km were ok, the track in between (24 km) unknown, and although I have asked on several forums I don’t know anyone who has ridden the complete track. I would try if not alone, but this was extremely remote, so I returned to Ha Giang.
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Day 46. 21 Oct. 182 km. 8 hours
Ha Giang – Don Van Plateau – Ha Giang
Very bad roads at the start of the day heading up QL4C then east on QL34, turning north onto DT176 was the start of the rough road.
Great views again, mostly hidden by bad visibility.
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Day 45. 20 Oct. 215 km. 8 ½ hrs
Xin Man to Ha Giang
On route decided to take a detour up into the mountains. It was slow going heading up the mountains to China.
The route on google was good, great until I came to a dead end!
The weather was good but visibility poor.
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Day 44. 19 Oct. 85 km. 6. ½ hrs
Xin Man to Ban Phung
I started the day with the idea of riding a few of the small roads and seeing where they took me. After a few small roads turned to mud and were zero fun to ride I hit lucky and rode up to a place called Ban Phung high in the mountains.
Wow! What a find! Amazing views, mountains and rice terracing 800 meters up from the valley where I started and a maximum height of 1214m.
From the Homestay at the top the road turns to track and I am definitely going exploring again in this area.
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Day 43. 18 Oct. 199 km 6 ½ hrs
Sapa to Xin Man
Heavy rain soaked me in the morning and gradually stopped during the morning.
My route was north to Lao Cai, then continuing north alongside the Chinese border on QL4D to Muong Khuong, then north east to Pha Long on the DT153 looping south past the gorge which is on the border with China.
The road between Bac Ha going north east to Xin Man is now in great condition, previously a nightmare.
It felt cold up in the mountains max height 1736 m (2114 meters max height must have been from Mu Cang Chai a few days ago)
Eventually the clouds broke and great views were everywhere!
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Day 42. 17 Oct. 216 km. 8 hrs.
Sapa –Y Ty – Lao Cai – Sapa
It started off to be an easy day, but I got carried away and started looking for the Chinese border point called border port No 90. Supposedly a historical landmark.
Following google maps sent me eventually to a dead end (track disappearing in the wilderness) near the river which is the Chinese border. I ran out of time to continue exploring due to leaving late.
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Day 41. 16 Oct. 340 km. 9 ½ hrs
Sapa – Mu Cang Chai – Sapa
A nice ride to see the rice terraces, it was a bit late in the season to see them due to me spending so much time exploring other places!
I got carried away riding up the mountains and continued on up to 1850 meters on the gravel tracks.
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Day 40. 15 Oct. 103 km. 4 ½ hrs
Sapa – Lao Cai – Cho Xuan Giao – Sapa Loop
Raining again in the morning
The road to Lao Cai has beautiful views on a good weather day, but today it was not so nice.
From Cho Xuan Giao the road is a quiet ride up the back roads into Sa Pa with great scenery until after Ban Den and the tourist area, then the road was bad and busy until Sa Pa.
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Day 38. 13 Oct.
Sa Pa.
Pissing down all day, cold too so i stayed in my room.
Day 39. 14 Oct. 271 km. 8 hrs
Sapa to Phong Tho – Muong So – Dao San - Sapa Loop.
It was raining all the way and visibility was bad, but it cleared slightly in the mountains between showers. I took a wrong turn and ended up at Dao San 1358 meters high in the mountains.
The views would be spectacular with no fog!
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Day 37. 12 Oct. 171 km. 5 hrs
Muong Lay to Sapa via Sin Ho
From my room it was a 5 km ride north before turning east up DT128 through Sin Ho and onwards to Sa Pa.
Wet with pea soup thick fog made for an interesting ride, especially as the side of the road just disappeared down the mountain with no barrier. Bad roads and landslides added to the fun!
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Day 36. 11 Oct. 182 km. 6 hrs
Muong Lay to the Dam and river road hunting
I was looking for a road that followed the rivers edge heading into the restricted area, but after quite a lot of hunting around and getting turned back at the dam (Lai Chau Hydropower Plant) entrance and off road riding to bypass the security I gave up. It was either under water or the map was wrong.
I decided to go inland over the same mountains as the day before and try to find the road from the west side heading east. I still could not find any evidence of a riverside road, but I spotted a bridge over the river with a road disappearing up into the mountains, the DT127, I managed 15 km until the road construction stopped me going further.
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Day 35. 10 Oct. 343 km. 10 hrs
Muong Lay to Pac Ma return trip.
Pac Ma is a restricted area and I had been told there was no way of riding there without getting stopped by the police. There was nobody around to stop me and the locals were friendly. I could have kept going but it was a long ride back to my room and I didn’t want to ride in the dark, so I had to turn around.
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Day 34. 09 Oct 190 km. 7.5 hrs
Dien Bien Phu – Tuan Giao – Muong Lay
Another great ride, north back to Tuan Giao then onto a new road for me before ending the day at Muong Lay.
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Day 33. 08 Oct 110 km 5 hrs
An unplanned great ride through a some remote villages outside of Dien Bien Phu.
It was the same route to start as the road to Laos border, then off north over big mountains topping off at 1300 meters.
There was a stretch off about 20 km off road, rough track on the way, ok riding, but slow going.
I stopped a local to confirm I could continue my loop back and he took me to the town where to road was better and there was a clear route.
I gave him some petrol money and was rewarded with a kiss. 5555555
That evening there was a wedding party in town and I was invited to join them. I was thinking beer and bridesmaids, but there only a few ladies there and tea to drink. I was given a rose and invited for coffee by one of the male guests though!
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Day 32. 07 Oct 265 km. 7 ¾ hrs
Dien Bien Phu – Muong Cha – Cha Cang – Muong Tung – Dien Bien Phu.
A ride north and west towards the restricted areas. Then looping back east and south. It was a longer day than expected but with the stunning views a great day. The last leg was quite a rough road though.
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Day 31. 06 Oct 181 km 6 ½ hrs
Dien Bien Phu to the Laos border and back.
This was not the normal border crossing point, but a remote crossing along the border further south east. Link below.
A lovely ride through the valley before a stunning climb to the Laos border. The border control building looked abandoned with a small building to its side. Nobody was visible so I carried on and a guy in a beat up old car waved me on.
I rode past the Vietnam / Laos border point for a while and the track disappeared into the distance.
There was also a side road up to some pylons that with more time needs exploring.
Heavy rain for a short while returning
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Day 29. 04 Oct
Around Son La
Thunderstorms in the morning until 1pm.
Day 30. 05 Oct. 170 km 5 ½ hrs
Son La to Dein Bien Phu
I took a diversion down the mountains the back way to Tuan Giao, some more new roads I found and great views.
Great views, no rain!
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Vietnam Trip 3, 2019.
in Motorcycles in Thailand
Posted
Day 52. 27 Oct. 120 km. Cao Bang to Pac Bo Cave and around.
I started the day riding to Pac Bo Cave, where Ho Chi Minh was living when he entered Vietnam from China. But now they are stopping traffic going through, you have to park and get a buggy to the area.
That wasn’t for me, so when riding back I was looking at side roads to explore, I found one that went up to the Chinese border area.
It was a nice road until the top where the last houses were, and then it turned to mud so I turned back. It looked like terrible place to live on a rainy day.