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Cuc Phong National Park
After the previous day, only gluttons for punishment would don a backpack and head up to the Cuc Phong National Park. The next day we headed up to the Cuc Phong National Park, backpack in tow.
Ninh Binh – like a ring donut.
To continue our journey, we took what appeared to be the only option of a transfer via Haiphong to Ninh Binh. The bus, boat, bus and another bus combination took 7 hours and I am still convinced all the travel companies lied to us and ripped us off, but I am just about getting over it. The last bus certainly made for a memorable trip on public transport, with all the bags thrown on the roof and an interior designed for the residents of Lilliput.
Halong Bay
You can get away with paying just $30 to tour Halong Bay – $10 for the tour and $20 for the coffin. We played it safe, paid well over the odds, on the basis that the quality would be worth paying for – and it was. The cruise takes you into the 1500 sq km bay where nearly 2000 limestone karsks puncture the horizon. Being winter, there is a near permanent mist, adding to the sense of wonderment creating layers of diminishing shadows into the white misty distance.
Marble Mountains – Marble Demons
Another trip and this time the Marble Mountains – a poor man’s Halong Bay on land. Sounds rubbish, but it was a really good day out. As we took the glass elevator up the side of the mountain, I was approached by a pretty young girl introducing herself as Miss Sin. This is usually a bad sign, but she said she was “voluntary” and that she was free! How could I resist.
Waitomo glow worms light up our day
Do we, don’t we… We were not sure about seeing the glow worms, after all, we had seen a few in the tunnels around Waihi, but in the end we decided to take the trip – and the glow worms put on an extra special performance.
Waihi – Heart of Gold.
After a couple of average holiday park campsites, we decide to hit the DOC (Department of Conservation) campsites a little harder. We find a lovely little site by a river in a secluded valley called Dickey Flats. The place is idyllic and a great base for walking down the gorge to Karangahake gold mining town. The signboard suggested torches and before long, we were in dark wet and narrow tunnels cutting through the gorge, much to Jo’s displeasure. Even the glow worms hanging from the ceiling didn’t cheer her up.
Bikini clad archeologists
Today we met up with Katerina, a German fried of Julia’s who has invited us over for some lunch – which was delicious. The town of Armeni that she lives in is also the site of some fairly recently discovered Late Minoan Graves. These are from around 1600BC, and as most of the Minoan remains in Crete are little more than foot high walls and foundations (the exception being the rebuild and arguably slightly fancifully redesigned Knossos) we were not expecting too much.
