the land of the blue dragon (vietnam) pt. 2

July 27, 2025

After spending a few extra days in Ho Chi Minh City, Jade and I decided to take a bus up to Da Lat, a city about 330 kms north-east which is known for its cooler climate due to being a part of the Central Highlands region of Vietnam.

da lat #

You’ll notice that there is a lot of greenery and pine trees in the pictures going forward.

Getting some reading in on the alpine coaster.

riding through the pines #

I decided to rent out a motorbike and take a ride up along the pine forests that litter the landscape up in the northern part of Da Lat. I spent a good four or five hours riding and it was quite peaceful.

well maintained road — The roads were relatively well maintained.

hoi an #

After spending a few days in Da Lat, we ventured up to Hoi An, a city in central Vietnam that is known for its ancient town, which is full of yellow painted buildings. I didn’t get my camera out whilst I was there, so sadly I do not have any pictures of the place.

my son sanctuary #

However, I did get pictures of the My Son sanctuary, which is full of temples made by the Cham people between the 4th and 13th centuries.

room of artifacts — A room full of artifacts.

evil monkey — An evil looking monkey devil character.

craft villages #

We also popped by a pottery village and a woodworking village and got to see the locals produce their crafts.

phong nha #

Now, me and Jade did visit both Da Nang and Hue as we made our way up Vietnam, but they weren’t particularly notable apart from us spending one day attempting the Hai Van Pass and getting completely soaked on the way back. This was at night as well, and since the ground was so hot from the sun, when the rain hit the tarmac it created a sort of steam mist that covered the entire road.

Anyway, we made it to Phong Nha, which is a town in northern Vietnam that is known for its limestone mountains and huge caves.

paradise cave #

I would have loved to have seen Son Doong Cave here, the largest cave in the world. However, it was prohibitively expensive. So I saw a few others, including Paradise Cave, one of the most popular sights here.

paradise cave — To give you an idea of the scope.

water pooling — Water pooled between these veins in the ground.

the duck stop #

We checked out the Duck Stop in Phong Nha, which was a silly but fun side quest that just involved hanging out with a ton of ducks and feeding them.

hungry ducks — Having feed be eaten off my stomach by a swarm.

ninh binh #

After a few days in Phong Nha, we made our way to another scenic province in Vietnam called Ninh Binh.

trang an scenic landscape complex #

We took a boat tour through Trang An, which is a huge area full of limestone landscapes and valleys with rivers running throughout.

A limestone cliff looms over some tourist boats.

It started raining about halfway through the journey.

alt — The humble umbrella was the saviour of the day.

thung nham bird park #

We made a visit to Thhung Nham Bird Park, a sanctuary that covers 18km² and is a refuge for over 50,000 birds, of which there are 40 or more species.

birds in trees — Note the birds in the trees.

green park — Visually, the park has endless shades of green.

hanoi #

After getting our nature fix, we hit the capital city of Vietnam, Hanoi. It’s a bustling city that with a lot of life that, compared to Ho Chi Minh City, feels more dense and labyrinthian.

woman with potatoes — A woman wheels away her stash of potatoes.

bicyclist — Many opt for the humble bicycle instead of a motorbike.

walking woman — Just walk, and you'll make it across.

hat seller — An impressive street-seller-cum-milliner.

hanoi train street #

Arguably the most famous place to visit is Hanoi’s train street, which is known for - you guessed it - a street with a train that runs down the middle of it. It’s an absolute tourist trap, but it’s amusing to visit.

lideco bac 32 #

We made a quick visit to Lideco Bac 32, a partially abandoned estate of residential buildings that for some reason has been left to just sit. You can explore the apartment shells and it’s a pretty unusual place.

The walls and windowsills of an unfinished building.

eating cha ca #

One of my favourite dishes I had in Hanoi was Cha Ca, which is catfish marinated in turmeric, which is cooked in a pan alongside dill and spring onions. You’ll typically eat it with vermicelli noodles, peanuts and a shrimp paste-like sauce. It’s a strong flavour, but I like strong flavours.

ha long #

We were unsure if we should make a visit to Ha Long, but decided we might as well as it is one of the most famous places in all of Vietnam, or even Asia.

ha long bay #

We took a boat through the bay, which was quite comfortable as there was plenty of space. The day itself was pretty hot, but thankfully there was no rain.

boats — Our boat was very similar to this one on the left.

ha long bay beach — One of the 'beaches' in Ha Long Bay.

ha giang #

One of our final destinations in Vietnam, Ha Giang is a province in northern Vietnam that borders China and is known for its beautiful landscapes and cooler weather.

ha giang 4 day motorcycle loop #

We decided to do a 4 day motorcycle loop in Ha Giang, a popular tourist trip that everyone who had done it said was their ‘favourite thing they have done in Vietnam’. This immediately make me skeptical.

jade in ha giang — Ha Giang was very bright.

The entire group of people who were part of our tour company (Mama’s Homestay) numbered what seemed to be about 60 people. However, we all got put into smaller groups of 5 - 8, and they became our crew for the 4 day journey.

tour group bikes — All the bikes from our tour group.

The road pictured here is not an accurate representation of what the roads looked like generally. They were often quite patchy.

bike flag — We all had flags at the back of our bikes to show we were part of a tour.

jade cruising — Jade cruising 'round a bend.

alt — The crew from left to right: Daisy, Matilda, Oeuno, Kelly and Jade. We also had another teammate called Lloyd but he isn't pictured here.

A local girl walks by the side of the road.

kid by side of road — Kids were often seen walking down the roads unsupervised.

scenic mountains — One of the scenic viewpoints early on in the trip.

mountains pitstop — A little pitstop amongst the mountains.

getting ready — Getting ready to drive again.

The stunning mountains that I thought resembled shark teeth.

jade and easyrider — Jade and his easyrider.

dodging trucks — When trucks pull out, you need to dodge.

riding through town — Riding through town.

little boy running — A little boy excitedly running.

crops amongst hills — Crops amongst the hills.

roads — The hills look like they've been sliced thinly by a road knife.

bikes around the bend — Coming 'round the bend.

oscilloscope mountains — These mountains resemble an oscilloscope.

yellow and ride outfit — I liked the yellow and red outfit.

rollerskater kid — A very happy rollerskater.

crew in mirror — Yes, I was eating a banana when this was taken.

raising arms — 'Raise your arms to give off a wow factor guys.'

sight to take in — It was a sight to behold.

machinery in a line — Machinery in a line.

jianzi — Jianzi, a Chinese sport where you have to keep a shuttlecock in the air by kicking it. Kinda like hackysack.

chess move — Oeuno thinking of her next move.

long road — The last picture I took in Ha Giang.

I was skeptical, but Ha Giang delivered and it’s one of the best experiences I’ve had whilst travelling. I’d definitely do it again.

sa pa #

Our final stop in Vietnam - Sa Pa. A mountainous region at the top of the country.

fansipan mountain #

One of the main draws of Sa Pa is Fansipan, the highest peak in all of Southeast Asia at 3,143 meters. People often spend 1-2 days trekking up, but I opted for the cable car as it was rainy and considered rather dangerous, especially without proper preparation.

cable car view — View from the cable car.

buddha — The Buddha at the top of the mountain.

mountain sign — I didn't climb it, so felt I couldn't pose in front of it.

cat cat village #

I visited Cat Cat Village, but this little village felt more like it was purely for visitors as they had a ticketed system and entrance fee and all that. It was cute, but felt artificial.

The wooden path that snakes around the village.

village angle — Another angle of the village.

You can see the village is built against a large stone cliff.

Unusually, they had some horses by the water.

The man in the grey and black jacket was caring for the horse.

hmong women — The local Hmong women would also tend to the horses.

hmong village #

My favourite thing we did in Sa Pa was take a tour to a nearby Hmong village (a proper one, not like Cat Cat). We were assisted by one of the women from the village who spoke good English, and she would answer all of our questions.

I asked her about the local custom of ‘bride kidnapping’ where a man would kidnap a woman for 3 days and keep her in his house, during which time she can say yes or no to his marriage proposal. She confirmed it happens, and even expressed a level of sadness that she had never been kidnapped. I’m not sure how I feel about this custom.

flowing river — The river was flowing quite heavily.

house ricefields — A house amongst the rice paddies.

Kids riding their bicycles through the mud.

A woman practicing batik, an old technique of applying wax to cloth to create various patterns.

alt — A young girl seeks refuge from the rain.

Our time in Vietnam was at an end, and we took a bus at 6pm to head to our next destination - the country of Laos.