December 9-13, 2022

Often it’s not just a place that leaves lasting memories, but the people associated with the place as well.

I had stumbled on Pu Luong Treehouse online back in late October and contacted the owner via their website as there didn’t seem to be a way to make a reservation directly on their site. Dzung (aka Zoom), the owner, responded immediately and said she would schedule me in for two nights.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, and honestly didn’t expect much, as the place is simply several bamboo houses built on stilts by locals. Zoom calls it “authentic” and that it is. It’s not the Ritz. It’s far from primitive. It’s authentic and extremely charming. And due to the incredible staff and the beauty of Pu Luong Nature Reserve, this place has become my favorite place out of everywhere we’ve been in northern Vietnam. In fact, after 53 countries and counting, it has made it high up on my list of favorite places period.

The route we took to get here from Tuyen Quang took us over a mountain on a well worn and broken up road with grades as steep as 18%. I was having doubts that we were headed in the right direction but the gps kept saying we were getting closer.

Eventually we dropped off the side of the road down a small muddy concrete footpath and emerged onto a small road around a valley of rice paddies. There in the middle sat a small hill with its’ own forest filled with bamboo tree houses.

As we pulled up to the gate we were welcomed by staff and shown where to park the bike. Duy, the manager, greeted us and showed us around, giving us a map of the area and explaining that we were the only guests this night. He literally said, “The place is all yours. Please enjoy.”

And that was just the beginning.

Entrance to Pu Luong Tree House

Our room for the first night was one of these treehouses.

This wasn’t my favorite place because of all the things to do. It became my favorite because of the lack of things to do.

Our private seating area under our treehouse.

We spent the first night in a treehouse or house on stilts. The view out across the paddies to the hills is beautiful. I walked back down to the common area to ask Duy if we could get two extra pillows. The answer wasn’t simply “Yes”. It was “Two? Four? Or six?”

The view from our balcony the afternoon we arrived.

And the same view the next morning. Socked in and dead silent. Total relaxation.

A set menu dinner is served in a nice dining area, and it is by far the finest food we have experienced in Vietnam and maybe beyond. Each night is a different menu, using local ingredients and authentic local dishes. Breakfast consistes of your choice of an omelet, fried eggs, or pancakes, with fresh fruit and coffee or tea.

Meals were served in this beautiful dining area, again with peaceful beautiful views.

Not sure why but my breakfast omelette reminded me of Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob.

Another super cool member of the staff at the Treehouse. I think Duy said his name was Tso, but he definitely referred to him as the Public Relations Manager and Head of Quality Assurance.

The next morning Duy greeted us and asked how we enjoyed the treehouse. Then he asked if we’d like to change rooms. “Look them over and stay anywhere you like. A different room each night if you like!”

This place is incredible.

We took Duy up on his offer, and moved to The Roundhouse for the rest of our stay.

We had originally only planned to stay for two nights, then continue south toward Khe Sanh and on to Da Nang and Hue. But a check of the weather forecast showed a 70 to 75 percent chance of rain for the next ten days further south. While we normally don’t mind riding in the rain, several factors were telling us to reconsider. First and foremost was this place: comfortable, beautiful, incredible food. It would be hard to beat. Then there were the roads. They’re good but not great, and the combination of the slick red mud from the constant rain along with the trucks and other obstacles (dogs, chickens, bad drivers, etc) again made us want to just stay here and chill.

So we talked it over and reached a new game plan: We would spend five nights here, then move to another location near Ninh Binh for several nights before returning to Hanoi. We wouldn’t be going any further south this time but we’re okay with that.

When I asked Duy if we could stay another several nights, his response was as I had come to expect: “Stay as long as you’d like. We had one guest come for a week and stay for a month.”

I think I could do that here.

We’ve now been here four days. A few other guests have come and gone but it’s mostly just been us. Yesterday I asked Duy if there was a place to get my hair cut in the nearby village. As usual, he not only showed me where but told me to take his scooter to go into town. As we also had to make a run to the ATM (much further away), we took our bike instead.

By the way, we each had our hair washed and blow dried, and I had a haicut and shave. The total price for all of this: $2.50.

All of this luxury lifestyle comes at a price of course. While other places we’ve stayed have mostly been $10 to $18 a night, and as much as $26 in Hanoi, here we are paying $46 a night for room and breakfast (about the same price as it cost to rent a patch of grass to pitch the tent in Europe), and another $8 each for a fabulous dinner.

You don’t have to be rich to travel like we do. But you can live like a king for relatively little here in Vietnam. All it takes is the willingness to get off the Gringo Trail and slow down for a while.

And Pu Luong Treehouse is my new favorite place to do that.

Tso, Duy, and Diana. I wasn’t ready to leave, but it was time to move on.

December 14-18, 2022

Having decided to avoid the rainy weather further south, we left Pu Luong and headed to Ninh Binh, south of Hanoi.

Ninh Binh is a tourist destination for people in or from the Hanoi area, as it can be reached in just a few hours (it’s only about 60 miles south of Hanoi, but as is typical the traffic through the cities in between tends to slow the average speed to around 20 to 25mph. Unless you’ve experienced traffic here (or similar places), it can be hard to understand why a flat, straight, well-paved road can only produce a 25 mph average speed. Here’s the easiest explanation I can offer: imagine trying to drive 50mph, and every couple of hundred yards is an uncontrolled intersection with dozens of scooters, car, buses and trucks entering from both sides continuously. No one stops. Ever. They just roll into the intersection in a blind game of 90-degree “chicken” and see who slows or swerves the most in order for everyone to clear the intersection without anyone stopping.

We finally witnessed a t-bone between two scooters at one of these intersections today. Fortunately nobody was going fast but it looked like a rugby scrum in the middle of the intersection, and with the only real rule being “nobody stops, ever”, it was simply a matter of time before two vehicles would occupy the same space. In this case the two school girls on one scooter hit the deck but appeared to be uninjured. With probably thirty other scooters in the scrum around them, the only other scooter that ceased forward motion was the one that t-boned them. Everyone else seemed to casually glance and continue their fight to get through.

Okay, back to Ninh Binh. It’s a tourist destination for good reason. The area is sort of known as the inland version of a Ha Long Bay, with boat tours on the river through beautiful green-covered limeatone karsts and several notable temples in the area.

Hidden Tiger, Lying Dragon

Our first stop in Ninh Binh was the Mua Cave viewpoint. The cave itself is pretty disappointing, but the climb up the 500 steps to the viewpoint is pretty impressive.

There’s a bunch of photo opportunities here for tourists. This swing isn’t quite the same as the one in Banos, Ecuador, but if you squat down and take the photo just right, it kind of looks like it…

Creepy…

The view from half way up, looking across to the Temple of the Lying Dragon.

The view from the top.

Panoramic view from the top.

At the top is this large dragon sculpture. To get to it requires some climbing on slick, jagged rocks with a sheer drop on the sides (there is a chain to grab onto in places, but it’s still pretty sketchy). A guy behind me on the climb up said “This reminds me of Angel’s Landing in Zion…and I was scared to death there.” Yep, kinda sums it up. But also worth it for the view.

As I grabbed onto the dragon’s back for stability while taking this photo, I realized that the “fin” sticking up that I was holding onto was broken and loose. Not real condifence-inspiring. You can see someone behind me trying to climb back down.

Trang An

The next day we took a three hour tour in a small rowboat powered by a local Vietnamese woman. It’s pretty amazing to me how these middle-aged women can row a boat with three or four large tourists for three hours round trip, then pick up another group and do it again.

We went to Trang An, one of several destinations for boat tours. At Trang An, there are three different tours to choose from — all of them three hours long — and we chose the tour that passes through nine caves. These caves are more like tunnels, as they enter and exit in different locations, and range from 100 to 400 meters each in length. The tour also stops at three temples along the way where you can disembark and have a look around.

Just as we pulled in to park the bike, a group of local kids ages 10 to 12 came running up. They were obviously wanting to practice their English skills, and we obviously looked like the proper targets. We had a great time answering their questions (and asking a few of our own). Their English teacher, Jay from Nepal, has been teaching English in Vietnam for four years.

Quick side note: we got so wrapped up in talking with the kids as we got off the bike, that I totally forgot to take the iPhone that I use for GPS routing off of my handlebar mount. We walked away from it and did a three hour boat tour. I realized about half way through the tour that I had left the phone sitting on the bike in a crowded parking lot, but we were on a boat on a river and there wasn’t much I could do about it. When we returned to the bike, about three and a half hours after leaving the phone there in plain sight, the phone was still sitting there. Try that in the US and see how long it lasts! I don’t recommend this stupidity, but it just affirms the nature of the people.

Approaching one of the caves we went through. It’s slightly taller inside than this looks, but you still have to duck to clear most of them.

There were several temples along the way that are only accessible via boat. We were able to stop and tour each.

Many of the white walls near our hotel had very detailed murals of local scenery painted on them. And no graffiti.

The dining area at our hotel was bordered on two sides by this “moat” full of koi.

Ninh Binh is definitely a tourist destination, but it has some great scenery and a very relaxed feel. We enjoyed our time here before heading back to Hanoi and the frenzy of that city.

December 19, 2022

Riding back into Hanoi from Ninh Binh felt very different than when we left here a little less than three weeks ago. That day I was quite nervous about entering the traffic chaos and navigating my way out of the city. Today, having experienced a large variety of traffic, obstacles, etc and become more comfortable with the “rules of the road” (or lack thereof), it was much less intimidating to join the scooter crowds and work our way towards the center of Hanoi.

On the ride back into Hanoi, we passed this guy carrying an acetylene tank (with no valve cap) on the back of his scooter. I couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

We spent our last full day in Hanoi touring some of the monuments and relics from the Vietnam War. Despite the overwhelming feel in Hanoi that this is a capitalist society — lots of tourist shops and high-end stores selling name-brand sneakers, jewelry, and watches, bars, restaurants, hotels, etc — Vietnam is still a communist country, and it is interesting to see, feel, and generally experience this culture clash.

We passed these gentlemen playing Xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess or Elephant chess. I could’ve watched for an hour, but I didn’t want to disturb them. With my bad knees from too many years of racing (and injuries), I am always amazed (and a bit jealous, I must admit) at the Asian way that people — even at their age — just squat for long periods of time as a way of sitting. Note that the gentleman facing the camera has taken one shoe off; it looks like he may be using that to sit on.

Just a random side street in Hanoi. I like the way it looked due to all of the colors, the scooters, and the national flag.

We were walking towards Truc Bach Lake, when we ran across this on a wall. I wasn’t able to translate it, but it depicts soldiers with an anti-aircraft gun, and a US Air Force plane being shot down, with one of Hanoi’s famous bridges in the background. Also in the background is Hoa Lo Prison, aka the Hanoi Hotel. The date at the bottom is the day that John McCain was shot down over Hanoi.

On the shore of Truc Bach Lake is this monument, depicting John McCain parachuting into the lake after being shot down. The text translates roughly to: “On 26 October 1967 near Truc Bach Lake in the capital, Hanoi, the citizens and military caught Pilot John Sidney McCain. The US Navy Air Force Aviator was flying aircraft A4, which crashed near Yen Phu power station. This was one of ten aircraft shot down that same day.”

We weren’t aware until we ran across these posters that the day before marked the 50th anniversary of Operation Linebacker II, or the “Christmas Bombing” of Hanoi and North Vietnam. Frustrated by a breakdown of peace talks less than a week earlier, Nixon ordered the massive bombing attack that spanned twelve days. Over 20,000 tons of bombs were dropped over Hanoi and Haiphong, and the US lost 15 B52s in the attack.

There are small lakes all over Hanoi. This one contains the remains of the landing gear of a B52 that was shot down during Operation Linebacker II. The monument next to the lake says that “On December 27, 1972 the Battalion No. 72 Air Defence Missile Regiment No. 285 shot down on the spot a B52G of the US Imperialist violating Ha Noi air space.A part of the wreckage fell in Huu Tiep Lake. The outstanding feat of arm contributed to achieving the victory “Dien Bien Phu in the air”, defeating the US Imperialist’s strategic air raid with B52 bomber against Ha Noi at the end of December 1972 and creating an important change that led the Vietnamese People’s Anti-US Resistance for National Salvation to the complete victory.”
While we were there we watched a class of school children listen to a guide explaining the importance of what they were seeing, as well as several Vietnamese tourists posing for photos in front of the wreckage.

A short walk took us to the B52 Victory Museum. Despite the name, this place is actually a small museum depicting the first and second Indochina Wars, as well as the Vietnam American War. In front of the museum is the carcass of several B52s, in addition to anti-aircraft guns.

You have to remember (or you will be reminded) that the story here is told from the other side of the Vietnam war, and it isn’t pretty. Unlike our visit to Hiroshima several years ago, where the museum is dedicated to showing the horrors of a nuclear bomb and telling the story without really pointing blame, here the blame is on full display.

Outside there was a large group of women (mostly middle-age or older) in traditional Vietnamese formal dress, posing for photos in front of the museum. I don’t know who they were or the significance of their visit, though in hindsight I wish I did. I have to admit it felt a bit odd or awkward as an American to be asked by several women to use their phones to take photos of them in front of the museum.

At the Imperial Citadel there are a number of US aircraft on display.

The Maison Centrale, aka Hoa Lo Prison, aka the Hanoi Hilton.

Poster on the wall at the entrance to Hoa Lo Prison.

A sign on the wall at the entrance to Hoa Lo Prison. It’s a bit of a shock to read how the prison was a “Hell on Earth” when built by the French colonialists to imprison Vietnamese, but after imprisoning Americans it became “An attractive destination for friends who love peace.”

Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.

At the end of our history tour of Hanoi, we walked back to our hotel. Not wanting to risk crossing the street (I was over the fear of riding in Hanoi, but not the fear of walking in Hanoi), we decided to splurge on one last meal.

If I could’ve found a traffic light like in the video below, I would have crossed the street in search of more restaurants and coffee shops, but we had crossed in front of our hotel the night before, and by the time we got back we decided it wasn’t worth the risk of doing it again.

This video shows one cycle of a traffic light on a regular street at non-rush hour in Hanoi. Orderly, smooth, just a bunch of scooters. This is fairly rare, as there aren’t that many traffic lights, and when there are, many people just ignore them. Imagine stepping off the curb right here and walking across the street, without the benefit of a traffic light to slow or stop traffic.

A few doors down from our hotel was Sajang BBQ, a Korean-style BBQ restaurant. We opted for the “Diamond Buffet” from the menu, which included all-you-can-eat beef, vegetables, noodles, rice, soup, salad, sushi, sashimi, chicken wings, and dessert, and included two beers. All for about $50 for both of us.

This may be the last time for a long time that we get to eat this well.

I have to admit that the prices in Vietnam for food and lodging were every bit as inexpensive as I had always heard, and the food is very good, though I did get tired of fried rice and noodles after a while. But there are options available. Gasoline was about the same price as in the US (which of course is still way less than Europe). Would I come back? As soon as somebody invents a way to get me here without sitting on a plane for 20 hours, I will strongly consider it.

On to the next adventure…

December 26, 2022

While we tend to travel “cheap” compared to many tourists, we could have traveled cheaper in Thailand and Vietnam. First of all, we rented a 500cc motorcycle in both countries, which is a HUGE motorcycle for these places. We even had locals approach us several times and comment on what a big motorcycle we were riding. As I’ve mentioned before, there is no need for such a big (relative term) bike in SE Asia; you don’t need the power, you don’t need the speed, and based on our observations of people carrying everything from an entire family to multiple refrigerators on one scooter, you really don’t need more than a scooter. You can rent a 150cc scooter in these countries for anywhere from about $6 to $10 a day, versus our $32 to $40 a day for the Honda 500. The only advantage of the 500 for us was comfort, as we aren’t small people and riding two-up with all our gear on one scooter wouldn’t have been as comfortable.

Also, while hotels and homestays in Thailand and Vietnam are relatively inexpensive compared to Europe or the US, we got a bit lazy in places and chose to “upgrade” our accommodations at times. Many homestays in Vietnam are in the $10 to $18 a day. On the other end, we spent as much as $60 a night to stay in a luxury resort in northern Thailand.

Obviously we didn’t ride every single day, so the daily average fuel costs drop considerably when the bike is parked.

So with that said, here’s a basic breakdown of what we spent in each country. Keep in mind that these daily average prices are for two people (yes, you really can eat well for around $9 a day). The “Entertainment” category includes everything from bus, boat and walking tours to cruises, and includes the taxi fares we paid to get to these places.

Thailand (22 days)

Lodging: $34.11 Daily Average
Food: $21.59 Daily Average
Gas: $5.87 Daily Average
Entertainment: $22.55 Daily Average

Vietnam (21 days)

Lodging: $26.10 Daily Average
Food: $16.53 Daily Average
Gas: $2.82 Daily Average
Entertainment: $32.87 Daily Average

All together, including the rental cost of both bikes and the round-trip airfare, it works out to a daily average expense of $169.70, or $84.85 per person per day.