We drove down the road for a couple of hours, over a pass eventually turning right at a major junction. After about 10km we came across road building work and the driver was told that the road was closed further along. It turned out that the driver was given some advice about an alternative route by one of the workmen. So we turned round back along the 10km to the junction and went straight on, which was the main road we could see on our map. After about 20min we turned off towards a place called Son Lo, it was very narrow and the surface deteriorated to a stony track and a dirt track. After 14km of rattling and rolling we came to the village, where more directions were sought. We could see that the driver was assured that the road ahead to Ba Be was ok.........however the problem is that all these people ride motorbikes, and the road is fine for them. Kien, our driver is a city man, from Hanoi and had never been up here before. We continued driving almost due south through amazing countryside, really rural. Steep sided valleys covered with trees and jungle, mountains like a child would draw, steep with rounded tops. Every available bit of land is cultivated, the mountain sides are terraced wherever possible. Lower down there are banana trees, bamboo and occasionally a pointsettia tree with its red bracts. We forded three rivers, the first one being the deepest. Andrew found a long cane and measured the depth, and after much deliberation Kien decided to go for it!
It was just after this that Andrew told us that the vehicle was not 4WD! I wished he had waited to give us that information as we had many steep, washed out, muddy areas and hairpin after hairpin still to negotiate.
We passed through a market and saw a lot of rural life along the way, women carrying loads of fodder and some heather like stuff, men carrying logs and long canes of bamboo. Children herding the cows and buffalo, and going to and from school on their bicycles .
We eventually reached the main road to drive to Ba Be Lake which is a National Park. By this time it was 5.0pm and the light was fading. We drove round the lake then started to look for Mr Linhs Homestay, which was not where it showed on Googlemaps! Driving on, we came to a sign indicating that it was 500m along a concrete track, which was not wide enough for our vehicle. A phone call was made and soon a lad and a girl arrived on a motorcycle. She gave us a real welcome, Andrew sorted out which of his bags he needed and we set off to walk, it went dark along the way. She and I took my bags and the lad on the bike took the rest, he was festooned with bags!
The house was traditionally built up in stilts, with a verandah with rooms off. The rooms had a window which could be opened onto the verandah, with a consequent loss of privacy. We were relieved to get here and Andrew and Michael sat out with a beer, while I dived into the shower, before settling down with a G&T. It was warm enough to sit outside!! There were quite a lot of people staying here, the first Westerners we had seen for five days, apart from a couple of cyclists three days ago. We felt that we were back in tourist country.
This guesthouse seems to have quite a large throughput and is well organised if a little rigid. The dinner menu was rice, fried noodle, vegetarian dishes and traditional Vietnamese dishes, and they could not/ would not deviate from this. We asked for tofu for Orlo but the " tofu is finished" . So then Andrew asked f they could cook an egg for him. Eventually he was told " here in Vietnam we don't have hen eggs" !!!!....... So we ordered the traditional Vietnamese food and Orlo had rice and vegetables. It was all good and tasty, spring rolls, pork, vegetables, rice, with satsumas for dessert. Mr Linh welcomed us at the beginning of the meal,with the traditional rice wine toast.
And so to bed.......tomorrow will be another long journey.
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