WT026 - DETOUR

Our detour from the "typical" Northern Loop was made with only one thought in mind - the visit to the Ban Gioc Waterfall, which is located in the exact border line with China. Due to the long distance between Dong Van and the waterfall, about 290km and 9 hours on the road, we spent a night in Cao Bang. This city is about 80km shorter in distance and offers many services and food establishments, as well as the War Memorial on top of a hill.

The next day, we didn't lose any more time and rode the motorbike directly to Ban Gioc, which was packed with Chinese tourists. From the Vietnamese side of the border, you don't notice the same turmoil of tourists boats that fill the waterfall area. Actually the Vietnamese people have a different approach by observing from afar and organising picnics with family and close friends. There are also some boats available but not in the same crazy amount as it is on the Chinese side.

About 8min away from the waterfall, 4km on the opposite direction, is one of the most spectacular cave systems in Vietnam called the Nguom Ngao Cave. I must confess that it blew me away. So much better than the waterfall and not so crowded. At the end, the reason that brought us to Cao Bang was overpowered by something less known.

For the last part of the 6-day-loop, we drove to the Ba Be National Park where we stayed 2 nights in a family-owned property - Hoang Chuyen Homestay. With one of the best sceneries in Vietnam, the Ba Be Lake offers visitors boat tours and a variety of waterfalls, rice pads, deep valleys and caves set amid towering peaks. Rich rain forests cover more than 23.000 hectares of land and many homestays exist inside the park as eco-friendly accommodation. In totally, we did more than 1000km with the bike and, all in all, I can only recommend the same experience throughout the north of Vietnam.