The road tracklog
From Cao Bang to Ninh Binh
From 01/12 to 07/12/2008

The 01/12 I left Cao Bang as of the daybreak to Lang Son for sending emails in the search of a workshop to replace the pump pipe of lifting cabin. Alas the road QL4A was under work, I arrived in Lang Son at 10:30 where I looked for an Internet Café. The international connection was too slow I could neither to receive nor to send message. Consequently I decided to head directly to Hanoi where I looked for a bivouac around lakes. Alas I did not find anything for my truck. I stationed in the Dai Co Viet Street. I had seen at the entry the city a Mercedes concession where I had asked whether it could deal with the replacement of the damaged pipe of which I had the spare part. The answer was ok; I had taken an appointment on Wednesday.

The 02/12 was dedicated initially to going to a bank to withdrawal money to pay the repairs of my truck, then to a cybercafé to update my website. Then I visited the city.

The site of Hanoi is attested since the Neolithic era, civilization Hoabinhian, the city is built along the Song Hong River, the Red River. The plan of urbanization is conceived with quadrangular trees lined streets and many lakes. It has a population of approximately 3.5 million inhabitants and surely as many motorbikes. I visited it by bicycle by a beautiful sunny day. It was a great moment, except pollution by fumes exhaust and sound of the horns of taxis and buses.

The chance wanted that close to my bank the French-colonist Prison is. Only one building remains but oh how much exhibit was revealing prison conditions in 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

 
 
La prison française 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

 
 

Prison Conditions  
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

While going to Old Quarter where the cybercafés are, I stopped to contemplate the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple and the Sighs Bridge.

 
 
Lac Hoan Kiem 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

Heading northwards, I passed in front of the Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and the Palace of the General Governor of the Union Indochina of which architecture is characteristic of French colonial art.

 
 

Palace of Governor
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

Further on it was the Quan Thanh Temple whose bronze of Tran Vo, God of North, dates back to 1677 and at the edge of the Ho Tay Lake the Tran Quoc Pagoda.

 
 
Quan Thanh Temple 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

 
 

Tran Quoc Pagoda 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

Cycling back in front of the Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum I was going to see the One Pillar Pagoda dedicated to Bodhisattva of the Mercy, Am Bo Tat in Vietnamese, otherwise Chinese Guanyin, Tibetan Chenrezi and Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit, then the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

 
 
One Pillar Pagoda 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

 
 

Ho Chi Minh Museum 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

It was time to have terrestrial foods, I lunched at KoTo on Van Mieu beside the Temple of the Literature which was the first university in 1070 devoted to Confucius, it trained the Vietnamese Laureates according to the Chinese tradition.

 
 
Temple of Literature 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

 
 

Bonsai, dwarves of garden 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

In middle of afternoon I paid visit the Centre Culturel Français and its proximity to the jewels of modern architecture the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution.

 
 
Museum of Vietnamese Revolution 
Hanoi 
02/12/2008 

At the end of the day I went shopping to food purchases for the next weeks. Back to my truck, it remained to write a report of this marvellous day.

The 03/12 I headed to the Mercedes Workshop while passing by the metal bridge Chuong Duong Bridge as at the time of my arrival. Alas a policeman told me that it was not allowed for trucks. Another policeman asked me money. I drove my way because on the map there was another bridge further on, Vinh Tuy Bridge. When I saw it, it was under construction! I continued on the same road along Song Hong on several kilometres. I discovered another bridge used by trucks but accesses were still under work. After several kilometres on a bad road, I arrived at the junction between the QL5 and the QL1A, i.e. at 500 meters of the Mercedes Workshop where I was again accepted by Mr. Van Huy, Workshop Manager, which entrusted work to Mr. Nguyen Duc Trinh, Service Advisor, with a workman. The replacement of the defective pipe was carried out in the morning with difficult conditions under the truck in an inextricable tangle of cables. The examination of the pipe showed that it had been abraded by frictions on a duc which goes from the air filter to the engine following vibrations on the roads. I left the workshop after being invited to have lunch. Mercedes' Team was welcoming, skilful and helpful.

 
 

Mercedes workshop 
Hanoi 
03/12/2008 

Back to Hanoi around 3:00 p.m. I bivouacked on Hung Vong at 200 meters away from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. I walked around to visit the Citadel, closed to the public, the Flag Tower and the Military Museum. I walked across the embassies quarter occupying beautiful colonial houses of the Twenties.

 
 
Flag Tower 
Hanoi 
03/12/2008 

 
 

"Art Deco" house 
Hanoi 
03/12/2008 

The 04/12 started with a strolls by bicycle towards the West Lake, Ho Tay, to visit the pagoda eponym surrounded by a garden well-suited to the meditation.

 
 
Tay Ho Pagoda 
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

Back to centre town I did the walk suggested by the LP in the Old Quarter, “Cité Indigène” according to the French denomination. It is the economic heart of Hanoi characteristic of the Vietnamese psyche, business, work and commerce. The name of the streets changes with each quadrangular block of buildings of which the height was lower than the Royal Palace, according to the Chinese tradition of the “Prohibited City”. Districts are specialized by trade. The tour made it possible to discover interesting houses by the architecture which had been developed according to the tax system well before the French colonization. Some old commercial houses remain such as for example “Memorial House” of Chinese rich salesman.

 
 
The Elegances
Memorial House   
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

In the narrow streets the traffic of motorbikes and some cars made the visit harassing as well by pollution by exhausts as by that of the blows of horn, a carpark testifies some by motorbikes.

 
 
Motorbikes parking  
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

Bach Ma Pagoda is the oldest in the city built by Thai Ly To to honour the white horse which had led him on the site of the future town of Hanoi.

 
 
The White Horse
Bach Ma Temple   
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

Further on the only city gate having survived not only savages of time but also destruction of invaders, Cua O Quan Chuong, gives an idea of the wall surrounding it.

 
 
Cua O Quan Chuong 
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

Of course French colonization left a Cathedral, St Joseph, of Gothic style with stained glasses of the 19th century. My cycling ended in the compound of the diocese where I had some rest before having lunch.
There were many other things to see, markets of districts, shops, frontages of houses and especially streets scenes.

 
 

The Cathedral   
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

One of the advantages of a individual trip consists of faculty to choose his restaurant. I went in a high place of the life in Hanoi at Nha Hang Lan Chin along the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution close to the Centre Culturel Français.

 
 
Nha Hang Lan Chin 
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

Then as digestive trip I cycled to the Paul Doumer Bridge, now Long Bien Bridge, built according to Eiffel’s plans.

 
 

Paul Doumer Bridge, Long Bien Bridge 
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

Before paying a visit to the embassy of France I visited two more temples. Hai Ba Trung close to a small lake was a peace and meditation haven where students drew it.

 
 
Hai Ba Trung Temple 
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

Then it was the Ambassadors’ Temple which was formerly a hotel for ambassadors of the Buddhist countries.

 
 

Ambassadors' Pagoda    
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

This last day spent in Hanoi ended with the spectacle of the Water Puppets dating back to 1000 years of age.
Tomorrow was another day elsewhere.

 
 
Water Puppets 
Hanoi 
04/12/2008 

The 05/12 I left Hanoi without regrets to Halong Bay where I arrived in the late morning. The two cities on the West coast, Bai Chay, and on the East coast, Hon Gay, of the bay are devoted to tourism, hotels of any category, restaurants, Karaoke bars, massages etc.

 
 

Bridge    
Halong Bay
05/12/2008 

I drove over the bridge connecting the two banks to go to Cai Rong on Van Don Island where I lunched at pier. Then I looked for a bivouac on Bai Dai, Long Beach, which I found along a narrow and asphalted road. There was nobody, time was gloomy, fog and clouds darkened the landscape.

 
 
Landscape 
Cai Rong 
05/12/2008 

The 06/12 was a rest day in Bai Dai, by checking my truck and by working on my website. The road from Bai Dai to Bai Chay being painful I decided in the late afternoon to go to bivouac in Bai Chay to advance me, because the following day I had a long road to head towards Ninh Binh where I had many visits.

The day was even gloomier than the day before. No visibility on Halong Bay, I didn’t buy a traditional boat trip round the Bay.

 
 

Bivouac 
Bai Dai
06/12/2008 

By crossing through Bai Chay I took a picture of a characteristic example of a building modern architecture; there are only two windows, at the front and at the back! The ground floor is devoted to business.

 
 
Modern architecture 
Bai Chay 
06/12/2008 

The 07/12 I had more than 200 kilometres to drive, I left to arrive in the early morning at Tam Coc, close to Ninh Binh, to visit caves. I say it clearly, nothing to see.

 
 

Ngo Dong River    
Tam Coc
07/12/2008 

 
 
Hang Gia Cave 
Tam Coc 
07/12/2008 

 
 

Bizarre!    
Tam Coc
07/12/2008 

On the other hand two kilometres away Bich Dong Pagoda is composed of three pagodas built in caves which are pleasant to visit.

 
 
Main Gate 
Bich Dong Pagoda 
07/12/2008 

 
 

   
Bich dong Pagoda
07/12/2008 

At the beginning of afternoon I visited the site of the old capital Hoa Lu of which there remains nothing.
On the other hand a couple of kilometres away two temples were restored in the 17th century, that of Dinh Tien Hoang, Dinh dynasty (968-980) and that of Dai Hanh, dynasty It (980-1009). On a hill the tomb of Dinh Tien Hoang is from where one has a splendid sight on the surrounding countryside.

 
 
Dinh Tien Hoang 
Hoa Lu 
07/12/2008 

 
 

Le Dai Hanh    
Bich dong Pagoda
07/12/2008 

 
 
Bird's eye view 
Hoa Lu 
07/12/2008