January 2014 Hoi Anh, Vietnam.

Ok, next destination: Hoi Anh. Its been a while already when this happened so i just try to make story based of my goldfish memory, so here goes something. (For now on if you read this it's just by your own responsibility :P)

You can read lots of stuff from Hoi Anh on guidebooks and that's really beautiful city i can tell, and recommend to visit there. But this is not about city still, it's story about what happened on my trip so i just tell that.

I was in Hoi Anh couple of days, just wondering around near beautiful river there and renting motorbike and going around near places, sometimes stopping for tea with local men and maybe playing something with them.

I tried to learn this check style game but never really learned very well that, but that's popular hobby in Vietnam among men, drinking tea and playing this:

But i didn't get points with success but rather trying it, lol :D

Anyway if i wasn't going around with motorbike or just wondering in evening near to riverside i liked to go just for beer and watch peoples going market and everyday life near the river.

 So here is some pictures of river area, was very beautiful just take beer and enjoy scene :)

Anyway, one evening i was sitting near to river with my beer, enjoying evening and good beer, i heard: Hello mate!!!!

Jan, beer and lots of stories :)

I turned to see who is speaking, i saw this fellow traveler from Australia. So i had beer and some stories and she had beer and lots of stories, she told me that she had been travelling already when i was still playing with sand cake when i was kid. And she was travelling with his little son when she was younger, and son still travels, i understood. Idea of that was fascinating and we were changing stories about travelling, haven't had so good time changing stories for awhile.

Anyway, there was some kind of appointment with travelers in that evening so went there and had good time.

But like sometimes in traveling, some things are just short while, so next day i was packing my backpack again and heading more to north, eventually in Phong nha-ke Bang National park. (Or something like that) Which is place of really massive caves!!!!

So i was visiting couple really massive caves, one of them had to go with underground river with boat, in that area they have discovered most biggest cave known now. (that's i understood)

Didn't go that cave but others were massive also!!!!

Of course my skills and my camera you really cant get the picture, if you want better pic, just google that place, but can say that was totally awesome!!!!

From entrance of area, was raining...

Entrance of the cave

So that was awesome place to visit. But i wanted to have time trip to ancient Vietnam and was asking from Huan, my motordriver on mountain area if i want to see some little oriental village where is no tourists if possible. He advised me this little village where i went next for about one week. I don't even tell name of village because i want to keep that like oriental place, but i went there, was really beautiful village in middle of mountain area and there were just couple homestays and some tourists but usually not many and usually they were there just one night with organised trip. There was this one Guide, born in Vietnam and now living in France, so he had business of taking just France people there so those was only foreigners i saw there, but just one night always. So i could really get in to village life, of course language barrier was little shame, but i was there about one week, just chilling and enjoying time travel.

 Some pictures of that village:

So there i was, and one evening this French-Vietnamese Guide came again to my homestay with French group, so they always had this party of local dance in my homestay:

And here is another one:

And after that of course we were eating so good food that still makes me tearing when remember that <3
French group was eating together in the room but this guide was taking me secretly downstairs to eat with the family and some locals which was honor to me.

Me eating with family. Guy in red in right is French-Vietnamese guide

But again, i had been that place in about week so i thought i should move on because wanted to visit also Halong bay, so i was asking this guide does he know what time on next morning there is bus going even Halong bay direction. But he said that actually he's group is heading on that direction with mini Van in next morning so if i want i could come with them. So i was like -"Sounds good, how much i pay you for trip?" He said. -"nothing, just join with us"

So i got free ride towards Halong bay. I knew that trip would be so long that we have to stop some city for a night. So i thought group is going on some expensive hotel and i find some cheap place and in morning continuing again. So i was telling this my plan to the guide but he said that he's parents live in that city and he is going there for night and invited me there for a night, for free of course again :D

So i was also there with his family eating on evening, i love the way how they eat: food is on the floor and everyone around that and then just eat very good food.

And after that next morning we continued towards and were stopping in this really beautiful temple-lake area which name even don't remember:

But in the end we arrived to Harbor where boats are going to Halong bay and i was saying good bye this group because their plans were different than mine to continue, so i tell you later what happened next....