March 25 - HCM Trail
My first goal of the day was to reach the caves of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park - from my "beloved" motel, it was still about 25 kilometers of riding, on a road having a steady incline, so I left quite early, just after 6 am. On the way to the cave, it was still a bit gloomy, having rained at night and with clouds still hanging low. I felt like somewhere in Tirol on an autumn day.
Tombstones like churches
Here I was riding on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which used to be a supply line for the Vietcong through the jungle - only recently, about 15 years ago, has it been paved. Riding through the jungle has its challenges - as I would find out later that day.
The jungle (aka primary forest) along the road
There are multiple caves in the national park, the first one I got to would have been accessible by kayaks - it was still before opening, so, as not to lose time, I headed for the next one, called Paradise Cave. The huge parking lot was relatively empty - both of my guide books suggested to be there early, or else is one surrounded by a large army of tourists. I left the bike at the lot and then had a 20-minute hike up to the entrance.
This cave was discovered only in 2005, it is some 30 km long, with the highest point reaching 70 meters and some chambers being 150m wide. There are spectacular stalactites and stalagmites, hence the name "Paradise". Here are some of the many pictures I had taken.
Ready for launch
The work of a few hundred million years (or so)
Waterfall
This one looks like a baby elephant, doesn't it?
A Hollywood monster
Wonderful
I spent well over an hour in the cave, chatting with a young guide, who spoke good English, he showed me a few of the hidden treasures. The path that tourists can visit is just one kilometer long, he told me he had seen a lot more and that it was amazing. There were guided tours taking one into the depths of the cave, but I reminded myself that I was on a biking trip, so headed back for the bike. The decision to visit early turned out to be a good one, as by the time I had returned to the parking lot, it was filled with dozens of tour buses.
Back on my bike, I got to an intersection, where one turn-off was to Laos, one back to the where I came from and one where I was told not to head to. Two people told me the that there would be absolutely nothing in the coming stretch of the road, but jungle, jungle and jungle. There was hardly any traffic there, either, with an occasional motorbike rider or two, mostly foreigners touring the HCM Trail. Against the good advice, I decided to push straight, into the wild. I looked at my two water bottles, one was empty, the other one not even half full - and getting back to the parking lot (with lots of vendors) would have meant quite some time lost. Luckily, two Belgian motorbikers stopped, they were the third in a row to tell me that I was crazy heading the way they came from - they were kind enough to fill my bottles.
Soon I understood the warnings. Even though the road was paved, it was rather bumpy, but that was least of my troubles. It was steep, in fact, very steep, and I thought I would never make the some 60 kilometers till the next inhabited place. It was one of the the nicest stretches of biking I had ever done - if not the nicest. I will never forget the lush vegetation, the extremely loud noise of the crickets in the trees and the feeling of being connected with Mother Nature.
After quite some uphill riding, I did see a house, this was a ranger's station. I have to admit that when I entered, I did hope I would be offered something to eat - my breakfast was quickly wearing off - and so far in Vietnam, I had always found an abundance of places to eat at - well, not here. There was a guy, he did offer me tea, which was nice, but I though I will have to stuff myself with the energy bars I was carrying. I was already on my bike when he asked if I was hungry - I admitted the truth. A quarter of an hour later I was munching a large portion of noodle soup.
One-on-one with Mother Nature
Green
More green
In the middle of all this green, you can see the steep road
Also quite green
At one place, I found a small "pool" on the side of the road, I stopped there to take a bath. I must have been there for half an hour, no one rode by during that time.
The pristine stretch of nature ended - but not in an abrupt way, I rode by smaller - and rather poor - villages.
Back to civilization
There was a river next to the village with a sandy bank, and thought of pitching my tent there for the night, but it was still sunlight, so I rode on. There was a herd of cows in front of me, with a number of calves. One cow and a calf got frightened when they spotted me and started galloping away from me on the road - so there we were, in front, the cow, behind it, the calf and then me on the bike - so we rode on for at least a mile, when the calf decided to jump off the road to the bushes.
Soon it started getting dark and, as usual, dusk did not last long, the night rolled on - too late to find a suitable patch for my tent. The next village was still about half an hour away, and for the most part, I got an escort - it was a lady on her motorbike, who was kind enough to show me to the only motel in the vicinity. I entered the lobby, with nobody there, and sat down on a couch and was unable to move for the next 20 minutes or so. The 100 kilometers was not that much, it was the 30 kilometers uphill in the jungle that made me so tired. When I was able to get up, I started looking for a caretaker, who was a lady with an aggressive cough, the rudest of al people I had met in Vietnam. I was a bit mad at myself for not having camped at the village.