Rare Adventures

Tag: vietnam

Twinkling Hoi An and it’s secret beaches.
Very few people who consider a trip to Vietnam will miss out on the images offered by the romantic lights of Hoi Ann, but we nearly did. We needed a week on a deserted beach somewhere to recharge after all the trips, but it all worked out in the end and we managed to achieve both.

It is worth mentioning that Hoi Ann is on the coast, it sits on an inland waterway that becomes an estuary and flows into the sea. The ancient fishing port of Hoi An is hot and busy, most people stay in the town or visit as part of a day trip from Da Nang about an hour away and has a vibe more like Miami that a desert island.

A bit of further research unearthed the discovery that there is deserted coastline only 10 minutes away by cab. An Bang beach is a relatively narrow stretch of beach that runs for miles with little beach resorts spotted along the coast, so we found our perfect solution, we had our deserted beach to kick back on, whilst still enjoying the fun of Hoi An, top result.

An Bang is a busy little town, with plenty of bars and restaurants overlooking the sea. It has a wonderful array of seafood restaurants, with most of the seafood being grown in large tanks in the restaurants or tanks in the back streets. We were in a little resort 10 minutes’ walk away called Sol An Bang Beach Resort & Spa, it was a smashing place, right on the beach and with friendly staff, just what we were looking for.

We unpacked our bags and called a Grab cab and headed into Hoi An for $3. We arrived in late afternoon and it was notably hotter than the beach. It really is an ancient town, which is famous for the shops that spread out from the river into the back streets.

Hoi An is particularly famous for their tailors and seam stresses and their ability to create their wares very quickly. The shops stretch back a long way, and peering through the doors you could see tailers busily stitching away in the background.

The first thing that strikes you is the heat, it is much hotter just a few miles from the coast, the second thing is the colour at night, the bright multi coloured lanterns are everywhere.

If it isn’t a tailor, it will be a gift shop or a restaurant, tourists are not interested in much else obviously. Walking along the quay every shop is a bar or restaurant; the key being how well placed they are to watch the boat parade at night with all the twinkly lights.

As the sun goes down the lanterns on the boats come on, and the nightly twinkly parade gets under way. The waterway is split into 2 sections. In one section there are the boats with rowers, they move gracefully on their route down river to the central bridge, turn around and head back to the landing stage.

The other alternative is on the eastern side of the central bridge where the boats are bigger and have motors so move much quicker and you get to see more of the town. As you wander along that part of the quay you will be hassled relentlessly to take a trip on the boats as well.

We opted for the slow rowing boat approach. It was a simple process; you buy a ticket and wait for your boat to turn up. Then you clamber onboard and your helmsman heads off in silence, although he was most insistent that we put on bright orange life jackets, which rather killed the romance considering Wooksie is a redhead.

There are many similarities with the taking a gondola ride in Venice, you cruise down the river and it is quite peaceful. Our boat trip was at dusk and during the trip full darkness fell, so we have the best of the changing colours of the evening and the arrival of the twinkling lanterns.

It got me wondering the tradition what the origins of the lantern flotilla. Hoi An has lantern boats because of a blend of traditional Buddhist rituals, its rich history as a trading port, and a modern desire to preserve the local heritage.

The concept has deep roots and modern appeal for several reasons, but most of all, I suspect it is like lots of things in Vietnam, it makes a fantastic tourist attraction to bring in more customers.

:
- Spiritual Ritual: The full moon has long been a holy day in Vietnamese Buddhist culture. On these nights, locals place candlelit, lotus-shaped paper lanterns on the Hoai River to honour their ancestors, pray for good fortune, and make wishes.
- Historical Influence: Dating back to the 16th century, Hoi An was a bustling international trading port where Chinese and Japanese merchants settled. These cultures brought their own lantern-making traditions, which local residents adapted and continued.
- Heritage Preservation: In recent years, local authorities standardized and formalized the hand-rowed boat operations. By removing motorized boats and requiring rowers to follow set guidelines, the city preserves a peaceful, glowing atmosphere that honours its ancient roots while supporting local tourism.
Hope you enjoy the video.
27/07/2026
Ha Gaing Loop – is it safe?

When I was doing my initial research into our Vietnam adventure I very quickly came across the Ha Gaing Loop. A 3 day tour of the northern mountains that border China, mostly done on the back of a motorbike.

All round it was a great trip, and I hope this blog helps you make the right choice.

As a guy who used to own a motorbike in his younger days and also suffered on the back of mate’s motorbikes on long trips through Europe that still have a PTSD effect on me. I paid particular attention to what I would be letting myself in for, as the vast majority of people doing the bike tour are young backpackers.

As 66 year old, we all have back problems. I also had the issue of my wife Wooksie, who has never been on a motorbike in her life, I could see lots of potential of unhappy and whinging wife syndrome.

As you will see from my other blogs, I am quite happy flying down mountainsides on downhill mountain bikes or snowboards, so it I’m quite happy with danger and excitement, but there was something about this whole thing that was troubling me.

What I didn’t like was putting my life in someone else’s hands, so I considered driving the bike myself, but that would mean I would not be able to enjoy the scenery. Not knowing the route, I would have to concentrate that much more, but it would be fun driving a bike again.

All the images are of young people having a great time on the backs of little motorbikes, instead of seeing lots of fun I am seeing gravel burns if they come off. I asked a couple of friends about it and in both cases their offsprings had come off their bikes and ended up in bandages, all part of the fun apparently.

Finally, in the weeks leading up to departure and English girl was killed in a crash, which had my alarm bells clanging loudly, there was no data on accidents on the loop or evidence it was safe or not. That voice in my head was whispering “what’s the worst that can happen?”, my answer was an angry wife.

I hunted around and found alternatives to the bikes in the form of jeeps, it was more expensive for sure, and probably not as much fun. I went through a decision process that might help you if you are considering the same conundrum that I was, these were the things I considered.

As you will discover, we decided to take the Jeep Tour via Tripadvisor and it was excellent.

This is how we came to the decision and also what our experiences were on the trip.

Safety

Having now done the Loop, the bike companies do seem to take care of their customers. They make plenty of safety equipment like helmets, gloves, elbow and knee pads available, and that covers the big risk that I could see, a skid on the gravel roads taking my skin off.

The young people know lots more than us oldies and rarely used the gear, but it’s there if you want it, helmets are compulsory.

The drivers are a mix bag, some of them have been doing it for years but there are the younger generations in each group that are less experienced. We saw trips with 15 – 30 bikes, they try to ride together in a line and some of the overtaking to keep together looked pretty hairy from where I was sitting.

The drivers are a very friendly and sociable bunch and hang out in the Karaoke bars with the customers enjoying the happy water too!

My son, Sam, did the 4 day trip on a motorbike and had no issues, but the death of the English girl does seem to have resulted in a clampdown on safety by the companies before the government gets involved. There are different companies doing the route and Sam did research into which were the safest, he went with Bong.

Comfort

Whichever way you look at it, there is nothing comfortable about sitting on a small motorbike for 4 or 5 hours a day, you will end up with a sore arse and a stiff back, whatever age you are.

We spoke to a couple of 30 somethings who did the bike trip, and they found the 3 day option tough going. We also saw one or two 50 somethings getting down with the kids and doing it on the back of bikes and they were alive, just, and walking like they had a broom handle for a back.

Jeeps also come in many shapes, sizes and vintages, so when our driver turned up in a very tidy Toyota, with aircon and a good stereo, we knew we were in for a few days of comfort.

It is also worth bearing in mind that it rains a lot in this area, so if you are on a bike, you are going to get wet,

So, the Jeep tour wins hands down, but maybe not quite as adventurous as being on the back of the bike.

Experience

This was the one area that I thought might not be so good in the Jeep, as we would not be out in the open air but I was completely wrong on this one.

One of the potential downsides was being isolated from the fun in our Jeep, but every night we were in the same bars as the bikers so this wasn’t an issue and we did have the company of Happy to keep us cheerful.

OK, maybe we couldn’t go up some of the goat tracks or take off road short cuts but we still saw all the amazing views.

Admittedly we had a great driver, who chatted away all day telling us about the local history and culture. We would not have got any of that if we were on a bike. He was called Happy for a reason we discovered.

We stopped at the same cafes as the bikes, saw the same views, and we could watch the landscape go past at a nice gentle speed in our comfy seats. We didn’t have to travel at the pace of the group and set out own schedule to get back for the bus to Hanoi.

Cost

The Jeep tour is more expensive, at the end of the day you are getting a private, English speaking, driver who takes you around for 3 days, and we also had better accommodation on the first night, a nice hotel rather than a hostel room,

The trip cost us £200 each, whereas the bike tour would have been about £110, so about twice the price.

25/06/2026
Sapa – a soaking tour of the rice fields

Having completed the tour of the man made attractions, it was time for a bit of nature. Sapa originally found tourist popularity from trekking. The ultimate trek is to the top of the Fanispan peak, although 99% of visitors to the peak probably use the cable car. Consequently, no trip to Sapa can be complete without a trek so we did our research.

Most of the advertised trips are 1 to 3 days, and depending on the time of year the routes will change. Most of the spectacular photographs of rice fields are taken in August or September, late into the rainy season.

We had limited time so booked the one day trek to have a look at the rice fields. The weather was chilly when we arrived and that turned to torrential rain by the morning, we set off. We booked the Hidden Treasures one day tour which looked like it would cover most bases.

Our guide turned up in torrential rain and explained there was no point in going up the hgher due to the fog, so we would head into the valley to walk through the rice fields, having never seen rice fields close up I was quite happy with the plan.

The staff in the Lacassa Hotel were very helpful and found Wooksie a traditional straw hat which did a great job of keeping her hair dry. Next problem was our footwear, as we had only one trek planned, we gambled on wearing light trainers which simply weren’t going to cut the mustard in the waterfall called Sapa main street.

Our guide said we would need Wellington Boots for the walk, which was a bit alarming, so next stop was a rental shop where we rented boots for Wooksie, unfortunately, they didn’t have my size so I ended up buying a pair of Wellies in another shop.

We then set off, splashing our way down the side streets in our Wellies as the rain continued to pour and started to penetrate our wet weather gear. To make matters worse, Wooksie started to get cold, the walk down the road to the valley was particularly depressing as the town disappeared behind us and the paths got rougher. At this point Wooksie stopped walking, looked around and declared she was cold and wet and had had enough and this wasn’t fun.

So, after some haggling, our guide organised a cab to collect us. It took us down into the valley where we could see something interesting rather than walking along a busy tracke/road to get there. The taxi then took Wooksie back to our hotel to dry out and warm up, whilst I continued the walk with our guide.

I really enjoyed the walk through the valley, I got to see the rice fields, learned about subsistence lifestyles of the farmers in Vietnam, basically they dependant on what they grow, they trade what is spare and tourists make a good target for tips to help their lifestyle.

In the absence of Wooksie, I had a huge lunch and was only just capable of walking the remainder of the route in the afternoon. Over lunch I met a group of Australians who were even less well prepared than we were and were equally wet, but gave us a few things to laugh about, and they expressed their admiration for Wooksie’s courage in bailing out.

This one day trek is basically the second day of the 2 day trek package; we just started halfway through the route. After the tour of the farms and through the fields we ended up in a small town, this is where all the hostels for the trekkers are based. This was a very different atmosphere to Sapa down, with a much more rural feel and bars designed to keep Western tourists occupied at night, namely beer, darts, pool and karaoke!

At the end a car picked us up and took us back to the hotel in Sapa, where I found Wooksie, still suffering as she still hadn’t warmed up as there are no heaters in the hotel. The only solution I could come up with a full body massage, which starts with a hot water foot soak, after which she cheered up a lot. Though I hadn’t realised that I had confirmed “firm” massage at some point, meant we would spend the next hour being battered by frighteningly powerful little women but at least Wooksie was warm again.

Next job was to offload the Wellies, I gave mine to the shop that did rentals, I was pretty sure I would not be using them again, or at least, it was what I hoped. It was also time to top up with those very cheap Patagonia t shirts !

Finally, I went for a stroll and bumped into our pals from the Fansipan trip who were also chilly, so I came up with a great idea to have a nice warm drink or beer, and before I knew it we were drinking their deadly happy water and a fun night began right there and ended up with them losing their credit card.

Next stop would be Ha Gaing, for the 3 day tour, but first we had to get there.

24/06/2026
Exploring Sapa and unexpected victory celebrations

With Hanoi completed it was time to head off on our adventures around the north. First stop was Sapa for the trek and the trip up to the Fansipan peak on the longest cable car in the world, but first we had to get to Sapa.

We considered the train, as it would have meant going through Train Street, but when we mentioned it, the locals thought we were mad. It takes much longer than the bus and involved a taxi from the station up to Sapa, and apart from that it is booked weeks in advance to it wasn’t an option.

The coach to Sapa was our first experience of their travel system and it is unbelievably good. Half the route is by motorway, after which you end up back on their slow old roads and the long windy route up to Sapa.

The coach was amazing, generally referred to as VIP, it was like being on a business class flight, the seats were huge reclining seats and loads of leg room. As a person of 6 foot with long legs, I notice such things and these buses are fabulous.

After sea level and claustrophobic heat in Hanoi, Sapa is in the northern mountains at about 1500m above sea level and the change is immediately noticeable, it was raining and noticeably cooler,

The other thing that you immediately notice is that is steep, in every direction, when you leave your accommodation, it is steep. You will also quickly discover that it is really and lively at night.

There has been a huge investment in Sapa to build it as a tourist centre. Much off the tourist infrastructure has been built in the last 15 years, so you are not visiting a historic centre in any way. The investment to exploit Fansipan mountain infrastructure has been incredible, to the extent that the train runs right into the centre of the town is built into a shopping mall and apartment block for the privileged.

The other unexpected factor was that how busy it was, there were crowds everywhere. The entire town was gridlocked, our bus dumped us outside of the town and told us to get a taxi. We then discovered that we had arrived in the middle of huge event to celebrate the Vietnamese victory over the US 50 years ago. A huge stage was built in the central park area, with a huge celebration that dominated the days we were there.

We watched the celebrations involving singers and dancers with video screens behind them, it then dawned on us that the videos were images of bombing during the war and glorifying the power of their military. In such a fun loving country, with lots of people celebrating and having a good time, it was a real culture shock to have the full force of the Communist Party machine in our faces. It’s their country and we enjoyed the celebrations but it was a wake up call about the reality.

Sapa itself is a real mountain town that is busy establishing itself as the trekking centre of the north, and the commercial development reflects this. There is a steep, busy main street that is full of shops selling trekking gear. This was very handy as I had come equipped with no suitable clothing for heavy rain or cold temperatures, so I had an excuse to stock up with new T shirts, fleece and a puffer jacket, none of which I wore after the 3 days in Sapa.

There is more to Sapa than the big park and one shopping street. There is a lovely lake around at the top of the town around which there are bars and restaurants and I suspect that if the war victory celebrations, then the area around this lake would have been much busier.

Lots of people we met were staying in homestays outside of the town and used Grab taxis to get in, there was cheaper accommodation was either further up the hill or further down it. it wasn’t expensive, so we stayed at the grand looking Lacassa Hotel 500m from the centre, it seemed to be the legacy of the French occupation period, or rather a relic. Its grand appearance wasn’t matched by the internal décor, but to be fair it was being redecorated and presumably it will be a lot nicer when it has finished. There was an amazing mural on the walls on the walls of the staircase.

We did a couple of trips, firstly we did the tour of Cat Cat village, Moan Park and Fansipan mountain. A major reason for the trip was to trek through the rice fields, which was a bit of a disaster. We will cover both in later blogs.

22/06/2026