The tummy bug came back to haunt Helen and once again she was caught on a day of travel…always carry Imodium as it comes in very handy for those long bus journeys!! So it wasn’t the best night and we were a little worried about the journey as our next destination; Tha Khaek was a good 8 hours or more away. Still onwards we travelled as sometimes just getting on with it needs to be done, especially when we’re on a time schedule of sorts. The first part of the journey was the boat back over to the mainland where we were directed to a bus carrying passengers to Pakse. It took around 2 hours to reach Pakse and when we arrived at the bus station we were moved onto another local bus with one other traveller, Floss. The middle aisle on the second bus was full of rice bags so we took a few seats at the front and waited…and waited. It was another hour and a half before leaving the bus station with more locals boarding as we drove out of the bus station.

It was a very long bus journey indeed, we don’t really know how many times we stopped, started, the bus driver got off for food, more locals got on, but by the end of the journey the middle bags of rice were loaded with people all the way through the bus. These journeys are always the one’s we remember though and we definitely recommend taking local buses when you’ve got the energy. We arrived at Tha Khaek bus station at around 11.15 pm, along with Floss we picked up a tuk-tuk into town which is about 4km away. The tuk-tuk was packed with a family, two other men, one large epson printer, us and our bags! The Travel Lodge, our first pick was closed up and full with some guests sleeping on the floor, so we drove around the town and the driver took us to a guest house where there was one room available. Floss took it and we decided to go in with her, it was an old office that had two single beds, one fan and polystyrene around the walls to insulate it. There was also a strong stench of garlic, but as it was now midnight and only costing 50,000 kip between us all we took it for the night.

The following morning we packed up and walked around looking for other possible, affordable places to stay whilst en-route to the Tourist Information Center. We don’t always go to these places as often the tourist information can be less than helpful but we had read in the Lonely Planet that they offer well-priced eco-tours in the area. There was a hotel a few houses down from the office on the right and they had rooms available with en-suite for 50,000 kip/room, the 3 of us decided we would move here. Walking a little further up the street we found the Tourist Information office and it was closed, with a sign saying opening times 1.30-4.30pm, we hung around for a few minutes and along came a man on a scooter, he unlocked the office and in we went. They have a good brochure listing 1 to 3 day treks and sights in the region, our main purpose of visiting Tha Khaek was to visit the mighty Konglor cave, but to do this as a one day trip would involve a lot of time spent in a mini-van or on a bus and the 3 day trip with the cave included was no longer on offer. So we settled for a 2 day trek in the Phu-Hin Bun national park where we would walk for 2 days, visit a few caves, stay in a local village and visit striking lagoons. This was pretty good value for money at around $82 each for 3+ people, Ann from France arrived at the same time and booked the trip along with Floss and ourselves and we hoped more people would book on for the following day as we would get some money back in this instance.  In comparison Green Discovery Laos who also operate tours in this area of the country are nearly double if not triple the amount of the tours offered by the tourist information, they do seem to offer some very good options such as 3 day kayak, biking and trekking but they are priced way above our budget and cost more than the higher priced tours we did back in Vietnam.

We moved to the new hotel and spent the remainder of the day exploring Tha khaki; visited the market, where Helen bought a piece of traditional Laos–style material that would work as a sarong for bathing purposes, and we walked up to the Travel Lodge to arrange accommodation there for our last night in Tha Khaek. We took a back-lane around the town and watched the locals get home from work, kids playing in the street and many people offering us their hello’s along the way. We stopped off for some western food at the main square in the centre of town and then walked back to the hotel to rest and pack for the following day. Unfortunately for the rest of the evening Helen’s tummy bug hit an all time high of toilet visits and restlessness, we were worried about the trip and vowed to get some anti-bacterial antibiotics in the morning.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Up early we made our own breakfast in the room and headed out to find some half decent bikes for a good price. We tried a few places that were mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide, however the bikes were knackered and wouldn’t have got us down the road let alone into the unknown terrain ahead. We finally found some bikes that were the best we had seen, and these were nothing special, at least they had brakes and what looked to be gears on one of them. We began our journey following the LP and a photocopied map that the bike rental cafe gave us. It was straight forward enough, straight down the road for 18km.

It all started off well and level, but soon we were faced with huge big dipping roads, up hill, down hill, up hill, down hill. The midday sun was rapidly approaching and the map we had did not show as far as the river that we were heading towards. Water was also running low as well as the bikes felling very tired and the chains were very rusty! We finally passed a billboard sign with a photograph of a waterfall and not much else, we proceeded as it did not look like a path that would lead us to the waterfall, the sign looked like an advert for the area. Down a huge hill, which was fun and to the bottom, success the river was there and the waterfall must be nearby. Asking the locals they said it was a few KM up the road from where we came. This was not good news and we decided to grab water and food here and try to get a boat to the waterfall.

The people are very friendly and they cooked us up a meal with our requirements of no meat. They showed us the meat and fish that they had and you would have to be a brave person to try it, cooked and uncooked meat in torn plastic bags together in a basket and dried fish that did not look very tasty. We had rice with eggs and a bowl of vegetables which was lovely and they brought us more rice however we were stuffed to the brim. We inquired about a boat to the waterfall $20. We asked about a truck taxi back with our bikes but that was $20. Due to it been New Year they were all having fun and relaxing, we weren’t going to hold it against them for charging high rates. We decided to brave the roads once more and started our assent up the hill.

The ride back was surprisingly enjoyable and we got back to Koh Kong in no time. Chill time and showers and then out for some food, where we had a great Thai curry and decent Pad-thai. Many locals were celebrating TET so we witnessed family gatherings, massive spit roast pigs waiting to be feasted upon and firecrackers were going off all over the place. For the remainder of the evening we sat at one of the sea-view bars and got the blog up to date.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Up early and out the door with our baggage we headed to the Ocean Tours office. We were able to leave some bags at the tour office to lighten the load whilst on our trip to Halong bay with our new friends Justin, Jules, her brother John and his wife Lisa. The six of us piled into the tour bus with the other adventurers and began our 4 hour journey to the bay. We arrived at midday after a stop at a service area which sold assorts of tourist paraphernalia including huge tapestries which were made in the shop by a bank of ladies at sewing machines.

Once we arrived we boarded the Junk boat and set sail into the bay which had some nice views if a little cloudy. The boats have accommodation for up to fourteen people so they are nice and cosy. Due to the limited space we were staying on Cat Ba Island for the first night and on the boat on the second.

We were served some very good food on the afternoon which included some fresh seafood which we all loved. After some more sailing and relaxing on the top deck we dropped anchor and a boat arrived with some kayaks for us to venture into the bay under our own power. They were double person kayaks so we both jumped in and paddled around into bays and caves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best we loved the kayaking and the water was a decent temperature, there was even talk about going for a dip in the water at some point!

We boarded another junk boat that had docked with the first boat and the six of us headed off to Cat Ba Island for the evening. The sun poked through the clouds and it made the whole area just that little bit more magical. Our tour guide was chatting to us, supplying us with information on the area and answering any questions, he was very knowledgeable and helpful. Upon docking at the island we headed to our evenings accommodation via push bikes for a few km, maybe taking around 20 minutes to get there (our bags were taken onwards via motorbike). The village is very small and quiet with a new custom built area for the tourists to stay in basic but practical bungalows with en-suite bathroom, hot water and a double bed.

To save some money we purchased a little present from Hanoi in the form of a bottle of Rum priced at 90,000 Dong (£3). Justin and Jules had the same idea, so out came two litres of spirits which got the night off to a good start. Dinner was served and again the food was very good, they even catered well for the vegetarians and also wheat intolerance. We were informed in Hanoi that there would be AC heating in the room, but this was not the case, however more blankets were supplied and this kept us all fairly snug.

Breakfast was served at 8am which included some very good apple pancakes and omelettes. After some relaxation time and packing we all got together and headed off for a hike up the nearby karst peak (around 300m in height). Its quite a climb and you will need some good footwear, boots recommended, to manage the rocks and steep assent, apparently the record is around 35 minutes but we managed it in around 45/50 minutes. At the top there are some great views over the whole bay and down to the village below, however it started to rain so we headed down which was made more difficult by the slippery rocks underfoot.

We also ventured out to a nearby cave before heading back to the village for some lunch and then we jumped on the bikes to ride back to the dock to rendezvous with our evenings watery accommodation. The double rooms on the boat were very well presented, clean and comfortable, with hot water from the showers. The temptation to take a plunge in the water was just too much for some and after stripping down and braving the now chilly air, Justin, Jules, John and Dave all jumped in. It was chilly to say the least, but bearable for a few minutes, in the summer it must be lovely. The boat headed off and dinner was served including seafood and a plate of chips which all went down very well.

You can have a go at Squid fishing from the boats edge, however it was a quiet night in the ocean and nothing was caught, good job we weren’t fishing for our food, otherwise we would have been very hungry. After some card games and an offer for Dave to play some Texas Holdem poker with the Vietnamese boat staff, which we declined when we found out they were playing for money, I’m sure we would have got shafted, we headed to our cabin for a night at sea.

After a good sleep in our cabin, breakfast was served on deck and we were informed that due to bad weather we had to move to a safer bay which took us too far away from the Amazing Caves that we were due to visit. This was unfortunate but out of anyones hands, government orders apparently, so we set sail back to port. Upon arrival at the port we had lunch at 11am, so we were all feeling pretty full after two meals in the space of a few hours. The food wasn’t as good as on the boat but it was ok. Generally speaking the food on the trip was very good indeed, often at times we felt like each meal rolled into the next, you certainly wont go hungry if you book with Ocean Tours!

The journey back to Hanoi was uneventful and we arrived safely back at Ocean Tours at around 4.30pm. We had a sleeper bus booked for that evening so we were glad we had the time to get to the hostel pickup point and grab some food before our departure of Hanoi. Street food was a quickest option and we had some rice dishes. Helen’s vegetarian option was sticky rice and pickled cucumber, which was tasty but basic, Dave’s was a type of salami, a fried boiled egg, rice and sauce which was very tasty, almost like a mini full English breakfast.

At 6pm we were picked up from the Rendezvous hostel via mini bus and taken to the sleeper bus for the journey to Hoi An via Hue, a 13 hour journey to Hue and then 4 hours onwards to Hoi An.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)