Category: The Vault

Verdant retreat

Nature Lodge, a splendid hideaway spreads over 7 hectares of verdant countryside of Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri, offers the best leisure time for your weekend retreat. Let’s take a look!

Established in 2007 by a lovely couple, the accommodation is a set of eco-friendly bungalows where you may find interesting and relent, aim at nature-loving travelers looking to break away from the hustle and bustle of city life (for a while). It is also an effort to maintain “environmental friendliness, fair employment and ethical practice”, provide “ethical employment, language and vocational tourism training to locals in Sen Monorom”.

Bungalows

If you’ve been to the Central Highland of Vietnam, you may find it similar but I bet it just bears resemblance to the exterior features, not interior designs. That’s the case here.

The rustic cabins are made of reclaimed wood details, from walls to roof, staircase to log table by the balcony, gentle breezes blowing softly on a hammock where guests may love to take a glance at horses below greeting with echoed whinnies through the trees.

Step inside and don’t let the furnishing amaze you as it did to me. So gorgeous vintage findings, including a fabulous cushioned-wooden bed accompanied by a white mosquito curtains above.

The bathroom is super cool that you would love it for the first time seeing. Good furnishings with tasteful decoration makes it an unforgettable moment during your staying there. The water is heated by bio-gas so it takes a little time to be ready.

With plenty of space between cottages, you may get lost for the first time trying to navigate. Admittedly, so did I, especially at night where the light is scarce (true, we used our headlight or smartphone to light up the environment all the time, it is quite interesting). No worries, you would get used to it quickly on day.

Tree top café

Another amazing corner when you stay at Nature Lodge. There’s great charm in many of the lodge’s well-thought out details, particularly the bar, as well as the tree top balcony. Chilling out with friends by the pools is the best to kill time. I even borrowed a guitar and we had a wonderful acoustic night. So great!

I’ve never been to any places like this before, truly live among nature, all wooden parts, the small statue with mysterious smile, cushion lounges, tables and chairs on the high decks overlooking the surrounding canopy of forest and garden views.

The Nature Lodge tree tops café & kitchen opens daily from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM, serving a variety of Western, classic Khmer and Thai cuisine. The lounge offers free wifi 24/7 so it’s perfect if your would like to reconnect to the world while looking for relaxation, meals or refreshments.

Facilities

Guests tend to come for a couple of days to relax over leisurely dining or merely short-term stop on their around-the-world trip.

Become a big fan of the lodge or you will be tired out by running around the expansive property for photography or pleasedly strolling for a summer sunset or a fresh dawn. Such a chilled-out vibe.

Also, the bar is perfect for leisurely relaxation. You can play billiards, guitar with friends or sipping a drink for a peaceful morning, or just swinging on a hammock while recollecting beautiful wanderlust memories.

It is all wooden, with vintage-styled orange lighting, impressively cute and very unique.

Although the lodge is officially open, it’s not 100 percent: there’s still quite a lot under construction, like new bungalows. In other words, there’s still a presence of equipment and noise that’s definitely annoying.

Afterall, it is beautifully preserved natural landscape, amongst thousands of native trees and many fruit trees (avocados, then you see!) that have been planted for years in order to restore deforested areas. Such an immersive green world!

The premises also provides large grass areas and communal fire places, an open space for group activities. We did campfire there with grilled shrimps, seasoned meat and beer, making so loud that the host gently reminded us to keep quiet (Oh, I was so sorry but, it was so exciting for any first-time experience).

Service

Travelers could find the staff is so friendly that it’s hard to be grumpy. Any of the attendants would be happy to offer you a stroll back to the bungalow after dinner, in case you get lost.

You may note that the room service attendants are not English-proficient so you are advised to contact the bartender for specific help.

Hardly find a flock of travelers, no, particularly on weekends, means, you will get peaceful corner for yourself, if that’s what you’re after.

Conclusion

I love the lodge for the very first time staying. Its nature beats me up with love that we had a wonderful night camping, singing and playing billiards together and Nature Lodge is a gem that you’d love to explore when in Mondulkiri.

More photos:

21 January, 2025
2020 Review: A Round-Up for My Goals, Travels, Life and Work
(First published on January 26th; Last Updated on February 16th)

So 2020, wow, it is such a tough year for most of us, itchy feet stung by travel bugs.

But to look back, I feel so lucky that at time of writing this piece, I stay here in Vietnam, a “free country” during covid pandemic. You may get shock to see an ocean of people marching on their cars, motorbikes or whatever to see 15-minute firework performance to celebrate the new year (I took a night bus with two friends – my girl friend included – and we experienced 2-hour delay to say “happy new year” in a remote cape in Southern Central Vietnam. Wonderful!

So how did my 2020 go? My income dropped a little bit during the peak of pandemic (thank the Almighty, I still survive and enjoy my travel life, many people did not during the lock-down, to be honest). We all put on hold, but still have glimmers of light here and there. So let’s have a look.

First and foremost, I can fly now as I complete the course of paragliding training. It took a hell of money, in a bloody year to say. And I was broke again. But I did it, tick the box in my bucket list since 2018: learn to fly.

Actually, it’s not the only good side. I try to recap my travel timeline last year, and it turns out to be very satisfying, in terms of traveling.

My 2020 Timeline

January

I ushered in the new year at the back of the bike, my travel buddy was the rider and we took a tour around the Southern provinces of the Mekong Delta. To be honest, Tra Vinh surprised us with a handful of cool pagodas like Cave Pagoda, or Wax Coconut (a local fruit that looks do like the ordinaries but full of copra inside). Then we passed a ferry to get on Tra Vinh, to explore more interesting buddha architecture like Wat Pătum Wôngsa Som Rông, or Bat Pagoda. On top of that, the food is awesome and very budget-friendly. Then we headed to Bac Lieu to visit windmills generating electric power. It is huge, like giants with blades slashing in the air. It’s not the only one. The province is also home to plenty of cultural, historical attractions like the Cao Van Lau monumental site or Prince Bac Lieu’s mansion.

Two weeks later, I continued embarking on another journey. It is such an epic trip that was a combination of the journey on rail from Saigon to Hanoi, then one week in Myanmar and another seven days riding across Northwest Vietnam, by motorbike.

Landing on Yangon, the new capital of Myanmar, for the very first time after a regretful missing 4 year ago (I booked 0d ticket to the Myanmar via a budget airline but filled my name incorrectly in the booking form, the fee to correct that was a hell costly so I didn’t make it then). I took a very typical itinerary: racing from the airport to the bus station, getting on an overnight bus to Bagan, then Mandalay, before my feet touched the ground of Inle lake. Never expected covid came soon after. That has been the last trip so far. The countries are now locked-down. I was one of a few lucky travelers.

Goodbye Myanmar, I took flight back to Hanoi for the second part of the trip: a road trip across Northwest Vietnam, from Dien Bien, to the Westernmost point, then through Lao Cai to Ha Giang. It was such an amazing trip I’ve ever done.

February

I spent most of my weekend on paragliding train course of Saigon Paragliding club, and had a wonderful company trip (I work for Robb Report Vietnam, a luxury lifestyle magazine) to Melia Ho Tram, a beach resort in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, ideal for weekend getaway!

March

The country lock-down. The whole society stayed in the house for 2 weeks, just out for the essential stuff. But my paragliding class managed to finish, and we enjoyed the funniest ever graduation: pouring water (and cold water, beers,..LoL).

April + May

The better days came finally. And on the Deliberation day of the country, my travel buddy and I marked it with a trip to Mui Dinh (Phan Rang), my favorite getaway spot. Spectacular landscape, amazing seafood, no cellphone coverage (ideal digital detox experience), you do yoga or jogging to the lighthouse nearby. It’s all recommended! We had white wine with lobsters, too!

The paragliding club also planned to join the Marathon contest in Dalat in June, so we did a minor practice at Dinh mountain in Ba Ria, around 25km hiking on multiple terrains. This is one of the hubs for marathon training, obviously.

June

Dalat Ultratrail 2020 – the first ever marathon I’ve taken part in and it occured in mountainous town Da lat (Lam Dong). We shared a house, we went out for dinner, we beat the challenge together. That was just awesome!

September

My girlfriend and I took hiking to the highest peak in Southern Vietnam – Ba Den mountain, but we failed (lack of training should be the reason), so we turned to the other side of the mountain, and enjoyed a very good atmosphere by the lake!

And it’s not the only one trip, I also had a wonderful experience with my friends on the rowing tour into the heart of the Tuyen Lam lake in Da Lat. In the mist and little rain, we explored a small part of the forest, and were very happy to see the local fruits in the garden.

October + November

A trip back to Cat Ba island, Hai Phong. It was quiet as few foreigners visit due to the lock-down. It is not the best time to visit the island, which means we could enjoy the sightseeing freely, not the crowds! I first visited the island in 2017 and it change little in 2020, so I just expand the visit to stunning caves in the island like Quan Y Cave and enjoy the most beautiful ferry route in Viet Nam, Cat Ba – Tuan Chau ferry, once again, and it was so cool as the first time.

The next company trip in the year was to Anantara Mui Ne (Binh Thuan), a luxury serene resort with amazing high-end service. Swimming in the pool under the sunshine then having a delicious buffet for breakfast would take all your exhausts away, trust me!

And a detox trip to Can Gio, too. This is definitely recommended for weekend getaway, a small road trip (60km from City Center to the beach) and you can enjoy the breeze, seafood, coconut and some books, too!

But the last days in November turned out to be very memorable, as my paragliding team joined in a festival in Tri Ton, An Giang – a well-known province in Mekong Delta. We finally took off and flew high after so many challenges from the weather. That’s also the very first time my brave heart tested in the really dangerous situation that all my training proved effectively (I would love to share in details in another post).

December

My friend’s wedding took place in Nha Trang, so the whole team took advantage to have a leisure trip to the seaside city. We rent a serviced apartment at a very reasonable price (travel during covid seems ideal in terms of cost as many incentives are implemented to promote domestic tourism). The weather was weird (unexpectedly cold for a coastal region) when we traveled to Doc Let beach (it is impossible to swim). Then we headed to Hon Ba nature reserve, visited Kong Forest, an amusement park offering activities like do-it-yourself zip-line or driving jeeps through forest. We had many “woo-hoo” moments there!

A week later, I had an invitation to visit my admirable friends – a couple who leaves the city for a quiet life in a mountainous province. Their story is now viral, and it is such a rare opportunity to visit them in their serene paradise – Lalafarm. We camped by a stream, and played a Truth or Dare game the whole night! Love it so much!

Health in 2020

Not much physical exercise, but I lead a healthy life with fruits and juices to boost my immunity, like having orange juice every single day to avoid cold flu (you would get trouble with high body temperature during covid in Vietnam). Several weeks of training before the marathon events also made my life better. I’ve seen beautiful sunrise and fresh air before starting a working day.

Mental health? I suffered the same anxiety which we all did during Covid lockdown, but now life in Vietnam turns normal, everyone can get out for working and entertaining. And I can travel to domestic destinations I love!

Work in 2020

Having been an intern for Tech in Asia – an online news website startup years before, I was back to the journalist-life since 2018. It’s been such a long time that I had chances to meet and interview so many amazing iconic people, wonderful places and to be honest, it’s a dream job I’ve ever dreamed of when I started the blog, like thousands of the inspired travel bloggers in the digital world. Moving. Traveling. Experiencing. Writing. I wrote more about the yachting world, horology and wine! You can check it out in my LinkedIn profile, which I will update soon in weeks later!

Life in 2020

2020 was a tough year for everybody, me included. I would have traveled to Bali, Indonesia to complete my SouthEast Asian nation bucket list unless pandemic had happened. But I was healthy, and had a fulfilling year. I traveled a lot, learned new skills – like paragliding. And my relationship with a “special” travel buddy got stronger. That’s better than many people in the world.

Travel in 2020

I just little expand my blank check:
- Myanmar (travel loop Yangon – Bagan – Mandalay – Inle lake)
- Vietnam (Northwest Vietnam road trip)
21 January, 2025
2021 Resolutions, Goals & Travels Plans
New Year’s Resolutions should be much more than some novelty pledge to get good shape in three or six months. This is our life.

After my 2020 recap, it’s now the best time to look towards 2021 and make a plan for what I want to achieve with my year coming. Every year passes and you will never get it back, so it is a one-shot chance to chase our dreams. I don’t want to waste it, and neither should you.

2020 was tough for most of us, but instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, let’s take advantage of that energy to make 2021 great, a watershed year where you crystallise what you want to do in life, to pursue your dreams and desires. That means risks of failure, something that we all panic about on a daily basis, but the alternative is worse.

Let’s write down your plan, but don’t start small. Aim big to something meaningful in your life. With that in mind, here is how I plan to “attack” 2021.

Goals for 2021

Write a fiction travel book (15%)

This one is a big fish. I have never written any books before. There are thousands of inspirational travel stories in blogging world, so traditionally telling my own with some travel tips is unlikely to work. So I plan to write a story based on my eight-years travels in Vietnam, plus unconventional tips in camping, hiking and biking, as well as my own love stories.

As it is a fiction work, I can freely rearrange materials to make it interesting in my own way. I found out that I’ve ever dreamed of being a novelist. I love to read short stories, novels, and used to compose some short stories during my childhood. So this is the best time to fulfill my little dream.

Write 21 posts for Darejourney (21/21)

I opened this blog in 2016, when I wish to be a travel blogger, a dream job of most travelers. But I was not persistent enough to make that dream come true. I was burnt out after trials and errors. So this year I am desperate to come back and start to contribute to my beloved readers. Let’s rock together, again!
Achieve IELTS 8.0 (10%)

I got IELTS 7.0 years ago. Now the certification expired. It’s time to make a push to improve language skills and convey better ideas to people around the world. I have to find a way to figure it out. I was good at Listening and Reading skills at the latest test, but the rest were average. I plan to change that situation this year. To improve my speaking skills, I tend to join Toastmaster and the expats community. Whereas blogging may boost my writing skill.

Read 21 English books (5/21)

After years of reading novels and watching movies, I found my love in sci-fi works. So I plan to read these books to fulfill my reading bugs, as well as some non-fiction and pop-sci to enrich my mind. I list to-read books below to track my progress:

1-The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adam
2-Artemis, by Andy Weir
3-Guns, Germs, and Steels: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
4-Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dicks
5-Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
6-Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decision, by Brian Cristain, Tom Griffiths
7-The gene: An Intimate History, by Siddhartha Mukherjee
8-Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl, Harold S. Kushner
9-When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
10-The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
11-The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
12-Freakonomics: a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Sides Of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt &. Stephen J. Dubner
13-Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routine, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers, by Timothy Ferriss
14-Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising and Marketing, by Mark Shaw
15-World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
16-Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long Term World Travel, by Rolf Potts
17- The Geography of Bliss, One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, by Eric Weiner
18-The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish way to Live Well, by Meik Wiking
19-Down Under, by Bill Bryson
20-Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely
21- Leonardo Da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson

The porsche is not mine!

Increase my net worth by $10K (10%)

I start this as a yearly goal from now then to push me beyond the limit, but I am not so confident about this. The pandemic clearly strikes hard to the world economy. As travel is not ‘back’ properly yet, but I will try to figure out the plan to reach for the number!

Travel plans for 2021

Travel to complete 63 provinces of Vietnam (62/63)

Covid means oversea travel is weird, so I plan to take a chance to visit countrywide. There are still some provinces I’ve never put my feet on so far, which I would like to travel, as follows:

1-Quang Ngai
2-Yen Bai
3-Tuyen Quang
4-Cao Bang
5-Lang Son
6-Bac Giang
7-Bac Ninh
8-Hai Duong
9-Hung Yen
10-Vinh Phuc

Morning in Yangon, Myanmar

Travel overseas

The covid pandemic still makes a big impact on travels in the world and Vietnam, as well. Lock-downs are activated now and then, unexpectedly. But in case the cure comes early, I wish to travel to Bali, Indonesia to complete my Southeast Asia region (not included Timor Leste). So the next country to visit:

1. Indonesia (Bali)

Final thoughts on my 2021 Resolutions

I’m writing this from Dalat in Vietnam, when the pandemic has struck HCMc again. It may take weeks to ease the covid and back to “New Norm”. The cure is still on its way and in the second half of 2021, let’s hope we can travel freely again and squeeze even more stuff in!
21 January, 2025
Check-in the longest bridge in Vietnam

The longest bridge in Vietnam (Dinh Vu – Cat Hai bridge) should be listed as one of the destinations to check-in, at least, once.

Not just is the proud moment but also this scenic route gives you one more option to travel to Cat Ba Island along with the conventional mean: Ferry.

READ MORE: Cat ba – Tuan Chau: the most amazing ferry route in Vietnam

You will start in Hai An district and after around 10 minutes of blue sky, water and dust (ok, it’s quite brand new in 2017, so, just little dust) at high speed, sense of freedom, you will reach Cat Hai – an residential island, which is a transit to Cat Ba.

I have to say that, at the time I traveled, it’s quite difficult to locate the way as whole facilities on land are still under construction. But, yes, it’s super suitable for sightseeing as few vehicles and tourists flocking there. And sometimes, only you who enjoy it, just you!

Quite an un-beaten track, at the right time, heh, to explore one of the most beautiful island in Vietnam (well, don’t I tell you there’s a Wonderful Cruise Tour not to miss !!).

READ MORE: Lan Ha bay Cruise Tour for One-day: The review

So I give a little clue about it in the cut-scene below (handmade, please welcome!)

The bridge is 5,5 kilometers in length and the whole complex, including modules on land should be over 15 kilometers in total. Opening in September 2, 2017, it took three years to complete, used the highest technology of bridge construction ever in Vietnam (Hell, I don’t know).

Getting to the foot of bridge requires passing industrial port complex, where you can see giant bridge built from above and millions of containers stacked as colorful legos.

Then you need to check google map or some Vietnamese can be used for guide to the bridge due to the various direction given, I chose this one, as some one said “take turn right at the tire and rubber company, and go straight through the rough trail.” Yeah, I didn’t locate the company until I smelt the terrible rubber in the air, and one more thing to notice, actually, it is a sandy trail as you can see.

After a long long puzzling route, a well-done road welcomed me, I turned left (you can check google map for direction), and caught a massive intersection, of course, there I just saw the bridge and headed for it. It’s very close and no need to google map anymore!

And this is the foot of the bridge, there the signboard tells you the name: “Cầu Đình Vũ – Cát Hải”. Ok, it should be taken into your memorable album on trip.

This is the view toward sea from the bridge, far far the sky blends color of orange and blue in perfect manner, I was lucky for a sunny day, clearly. Everything was too good to be true: the ride, weather, scenery. So it’d better to travel there in dry season.

After miles on the bridge, you will enjoy the next panoramic view. Well, it seems nothing block your sight for miles, again, and it’s truly the combination of something you can call “tranquil nature”, except for a few constructional sites scattering somewhere, but the rural sense, that I smelt with my nose, typically the smell of fish sauce, weeds (ok, grass, oh, one more information, they’re grassing too), land filled with ponds used for aquaculture.

So, you get the picture! I bet that you would fall in love with the landscape if you stay there with me. It’s so exciting, so breath-taking seconds that will last forever inside me. And I wish it for you, too, dear enthusiastic travelers.

20 January, 2025
TTC Ke Ga resort review

I had a two-day business trip to TTC Premium Ke Ga resort and here is some thoughts about the 4-star destination.

Lines of coconut

1. Landscape

You will be impressed by the garden close to the reception area with fishes, plants and trees look like a stream. At the other side, look through the window and there are blocks of plants welcoming you very beautifully.

The resort features endless lines of coconut, along with some other trees like bananas or pools full of lily or lotus, giving you sense of tropical region when walking under shade or posing for the selfie.

Swings by the path to bungalows

The plants are well placed, bring more color to the resort, which mainly use white tone for most parts. However, the grass is not green and vivid.

You can relax with swings put on most of paths close to the beach. It’s definitely an ideal props for photography due to the poetry look.

2. Facility

You will enjoy sunbathing on beach benches beside a small swimming pool, water is clean and clear as crystal. There’s a smaller pool for children if they love to be wet a bit.

benches by the pool

The beach is actually quiet, sand is good but there’s a little litter. You may be prevent from swimming when the tide is high or it goes dark soon after. Clean your body with a public shower on the way back to bungalow, by the pool.

The public toilet is not as well-equipped as ones in bungalows. There’s no built-in bar so it’s very quiet at night.

3. Staff

The staff is friendly but not useful that some people complain about room service. They can help you with navigation as speaking basic English for usual need.

Benches in a bungalow

4. Room

Bungalows are large enough and very comfortable. There’re two benches but the fence is so high that it might block your view.

The bathroom is spacious and well-equipped, very relaxing. The surroundings is quiet so you will enjoy sweet dreams with out any disturbance.

Air-conditioner is regularly maintained, turning on and whole room is cool in minutes.

The lily

5. Food

I had three meals in TTC Ke Ga resort. They offer various courses with local taste. The flavor is great and very yummy (I’m a strict taster).

In the morning, the resort holds buffet: you can go for noodle soup or typical Western breakfast like sandwich, butcher, salad along with some tropical fruits. The drinks include coffee, fruit juice and tea, adding some sugar or ice if you’d like.

For lunch and dinner, you can order local food served with rice or some kind of noodle soup. Taste is good.

Garden by the reception area

Conclusion

The landscape is very green with a quiet surrounding, featuring coconuts. There are some props to selfie like swings. The pool is clean, but the sea is rough sometimes.

Food is good, tasty locally and various. Room is big and equipped adequately while the public toilet is normal. The disadvantage is the staff and room service.

TTC Ke Ga resort is an good destination for a retreat or honeymoon.

Like it book it ! By click on the beautiful image below, you start booking the resort via Agoda and I receive a small commission to run the website at zero cost to you.

20 January, 2025
3A station – a street art venue in Ho Chi Minh city

3A Station in Ho Chi Minh city – a street art venue/ youth culture hub/ great place for hangouts – has gone.

I’m quite sad reading the news.

This place is a combination of the contemporary art and an entertainment space. Street-style-decorated stores with a lot of graffiti wall is 3A specialities. It makes a real sense of art. The founder team plan to make it into “a destination not to be missed in Ho Chi Minh city” and I confirm that it’s true, I and my friends love the atmostphere there.

I remember the first time I’ve been in 3A station with my friend. We shot a dozen of pictures. They are all beautiful. The graffiti appears in some areas in the city, but I think that 3A station is one of the best place to enjoy this cultural art.

You can also buy a lot of art stuff here, price sometimes is quite cheap and you can pick a lot of interesting goods to decorate your backpack.

There are so many funny and exciting activities, many travelers come here to join youth local concert shows instead of sitting and drinking beer at Bui Vien – a backpacker hub. The menu is quite unique, but sometimes requires the taste.

But it’s just memory now.

It’s closed now, due to a construction project for a certain next skyscraper in the city. I mean the development, somehow, is painful, when we have to get rid of the old that we’re used to be with, to look up toward the new.

It’s quite sad.

This post for ones who used to come to 3A Station – a notice that our beloved destinations has gone, but the love for it still remains. Forever!

P/s: It seems like the founder team is looking for another venue to rebuild 3A Station.

19 January, 2025
My trip to Vietnam’s easternmost point

A challenge that most Vietnamese backpackers wishing to do is to check in four most points (North/South/West/ East) and a summit (Fansipan) in Vietnam. So, when I was a junior student, I and my friend made a backpacking trip to the easternmost point of Vietnam.

Departing from Nha Trang, we biked toward the north, via Van Gia, to Dam Mon. The traffic in Vietnam was very chaos, as usual. You are likely to be frightened at first, but an adventurous traveler would be adapted very quick and love the freedom and danger are put together in the country.

“Dare you ride” trail

Sand trail challenge

We reached the touch point of the very first challenge – sand trail. It was 10 o’clock and the sun was burning the ground. The beginning was nothing at all to us, which we could easily handle our bikes through soft off-road terrain, but when the sand was covered the whole surface, forcing us to step down and push manually vehicles passing it. It was, how can I say, hum, Hell on earth *LoL*

Directly exposed to the sun in long time (at least 3-4 hours), we were heavily dehydrated. One of my friend started to get sunstroke, and we had to stop for many times to regain our health.

Painful experience: biking on sand

Will is a must-have but your health is also very important, some travellers challenge themselves over their limit at such a very dangerous level.

When we were trying to get our bikes over sand, I noticed some travelers had given up and turn back. If you go solo with your bike, it’s extremely hard to manage to reach the homestay.

Finally we passed it and felt like in heaven. “Yeahhhh, we did it, did it” – we yelled, bursting into happiness.

The lodge “parking lot”

Uncle Hai Lodge

Indeed, the lodge lies below a slope which is quite steep, just 30-40 degree, so some one would park in the lot by the trail, but because no one was in charge of securing our bikes, so we decided to get them down the slope. And it was such a damn decision. But teamwork was great and another victory was made!

The lodge was very eco-friendly, we had hammocks, roof of leaves, a view toward beautiful sea. Everything was so cool!

You’re likely to be served lemonade at first by the hostess. To be honest, we loved first moments there. But it was quite late (we’d been stuck too long in sand trail). So we decided to take part in the night trekking at 4 PM.

Trekking in the dark

So we packed 3 litre of water, a tent and some personal stuff in our backpacks. It took 4 -5 hour depending greatly on group’s stamina.

A savanna was what to face first, then a forest to cross and when we were out, it’s just a dark silence surrounding, we started to smell salty and hear sea growling gently.

The trail was very challenging, we had to stay sharp or we would be sliding downward. It’s noted that nowadays, you can rent a boat instead of the only trekking option, but the trek is still adventurous, worthy for a travel experience, I recommend using boat in case your health is not allowed for a trek.

We stopped and camped at a wide beach. We were separately working two group: set up camp and cooking. When the work was done, it’s dinner and I admittedly enjoyed one of the best food in my life. It’s a happiness you just feel after completing difficulties that you think you couldn’t do but finally you did it.

It was a cold night, the fog condensed water and wet our tent. I remember when I first got my hand out, I just drew back quickly because the low-temperature outside. It’s not experience for amateur after all.

The dawn

Dawn at the easternmost point

4:00 AM and we were waken up. It’s such a cold dawn but the sky was beautiful clear, filled with millions of stellars. We packed few essential stuffs and got on the way.

There were two major difficulties: low-light condition and rock-climbing-jump was very exhausted. It took us nearly 2 hours to reach the pole. It’s a beach filled fully with rocks, small and big, stacked one another randomly. The landscape was gradually lit-up by early sunlight.

The pyramid – a sign of easternmost pole – was put on a big rock, requiring a rope climbing. I emphasize that this is a real dangerous action because of lack of safety equipment, and if you unluckily fall off, it’s likely that you get deathly hit on your body. So be careful.

After reaching the pyramid, we felt completely proud of ourselves, of what we had done to make the way to the pole. All the pain and fear turned into happiness. The landscape was as beautiful as heaven, and we quickly shot some photographs as memories. It’s pity that one of the team member got ankle aching and wasn’t able to climb to the pyramid.

resting on way to return

The return

It’s a chance to see what we missed because of low-light trekking to see sunrise in time. The scenery was green, pure, splendid and majestic.

We took a short break at the lodge, swimming in cool water and wished one day to return for another leisure travel, a tent, few days off-the-grid, a complete slow experience.

The road

Epilogue

We’re back to the sand trail. Sunset painted every inches on the ground and scenery. I’d never seen thing like that before. It’s very stunning, a memorable moment we would put in our heart forever.

The way back was easier than the first day, we couldn’t explain why it’d taken us so long to get over the sand trail, and we came up with an idea for the next time: it’d better leave your vehicle in local’s house (at a very reasonable parking fee ~10,000 dong/ night) and walk through sand to reach the lodge.

The road then turned fantastic, a blend of orange and blue, tree swinging in winds, peace touch on the water, in the way boat floating, happiness in people face.

Travel means you love every moments on road and stories to inspire yourself and people to backpack again, to enjoy your youth, challenging yourselves in new destinations with helpful friends.

19 January, 2025
[2017 Memories] Bobla waterfall

There’re hundreds of fall in Vietnam, some turned into popular attractions, some not, some used to be. Bobla waterfall is the third.

Established for tourism but because of the far distance from main hub – Dalat, Bobla has gradually been forgotten for years.

There’s no service left, no maintainance, just a camping site for locals and anyone who know its existence.

Di Linh is just a stop, not a destination. It’s mostly well-known for tea plantations and temple. Besides, I did a research and choose 3 best attractions also: Bobla waterfall, Li Liang waterfall and Kala lake. Ta Dung lake is also quite close to downtown and worth a roadtrip of exploration.

So why Bobla made an impression on me?

First, I think it has a wonderful sense of exploration. Few travelers knows its existence and when you find it out after a long trip, it’s a great feeling. I’m very happy to cover it on Darejourney.

Second, Adventurous trail is also a good reason. The first step are quite easy. Admittedly, it’s not challenge compared to Fansipan trek or Baden night trek , but still enough for a chance.

Bushes, strange creatures (black dragonflies), a majestic scenery (you know when you see the fall) and slippery walk over water-flowing-over stones,.etc. You won’t forget it.

This is also a campsite, so bring some camp should be fine. It’s pity that I had none.

One thing to note: The flow is fierce in rainy season, so be careful if you’d like to swimming.

There’s no one working there but two local girl who usually collect recyclable trash for money. You can have them watch your vehicle and guide. I paid 10,000 dong for each work. I thought this would be a small support for their family, not merely service money.

If you’ve come to Bobla waterfall, what do you review it?

Bobla waterfall, Di Linh is very close to Dalat. Indeed, sunflower also blooms here in November. Check my sunflower route if you plan to see them.

19 January, 2025
[2017 Memories] Zoodoo Dalat – A Fanstatic Zoo to explore

Zoodoo Dalat – An Australian zoo in Vietnam? A very new attraction near Dalat. It’s very strange to the local. Sound great to explore and review for you guy.

Zoodoo Dalat welcomed us in the rain, a bit. It seemed there’s no paid parking lot, I saw a lot of vehicle left unattendedly, I thought it was safe to leave bike there.

road to Zoodoo among pine forest

The zoo situates among famous pine forest, 40 kilometers away from Dalat, on the way downward Nha Trang, nearly reach Omega pass (which I used to have a memorable night camping). It’s available on google map so you can search it easily. If not, you can search Bidoup national garden entrance, Zoodoo is just four kilometers away from it.

Booking in advance is advised or you’re possibly back because of full queue. There’s a fix visiting time-table and there’s limited number of visitors each time.

There’s a coffee in the premise and it plays the role of ticket box as well. Just get inside, reach the counter and tell your name/ phone number (if you’ve already booked) or request booking and leave your phone number so that they call you when tickets are available. Then have a meal/ drink waiting for your call.

ticket booth inside the cafe

Ticket price for adult is 100,000 dong, 50,000 dong for child. Most of visitors are parents and children. I think Zoodoo is suitable for a family with little children, who mostly love oversea animal. Another kind of visitors is young travellers who haven’t touched Australian animals, so they go there to have a very first check-in before the zoo is outnumbered by tourists.

The design and decoration of zoodoo coffee is just like many art coffee in HCMc or Dalat. I think their should add more stuffs related to their animals to have a better relevant ambiance.

You’ll be led by a tour guide (it’s a young girl in my trip), she loves animals and have quite good representation speeches of each animal. You should purposely ask for more details to get more knowledge value, if you expect it.

At first, the tour guide will explain the zoo regulations then selling feeding food for 10,000 dong/ piece (fresh and proceeded). It’s noted that because most of the visitors are Vietnamese, you’d better ask for foreign groups as booking to enjoy English speeches.

The first destination is a demo house, where most of typical animals of zoodoo are available. You have a very first chance to feed and touch them.

Then the guide lead you to preserved-animal cages, monkeys from Nha Trang to Chim Tri.

Giving a hug to short-leg horse !

Next, you can get inside cages of sheep, short horse, camel, birds and kangaroo, feed and touch them directly.

You should feed all your foodstuffs at horse area because from bird cages experience then, you’re distributed a certain food by the guide.

Bird cage real experience

There’s a rule that if you hurt or kill birds on or not on purposes, then the fine is 500,000 dong regardless of how condition the bird is. The guide explained that because many visitors unpurposely drop food on the ground, which attracts birds landing and being stepped on to dead, leading the number of bird decreases at half. It’s pity and I was feeling very sorry for the fact. It’ very exciting as birds are almost standing on your palm and enjoy their meals.

Kangaroos are more interesting to people who have never been to Australia – Kangaroo homeland. The guide told us that it’s proudly to have a first kangaroo baby born in Vietnam. My sense of these creatures is they’re like giant mouses

You won’t see an adult kangaroo because their combat skills my hurt the visitors, so mostly kangaroos in Zoodoo are babies.

Another hug <3

Conclusion: Zoodoo Dalat is a real worthy experience, especially the local travelers.

You can contact and read more info at Zoodoo fanpage .

A full Zoodoo tour took me 1,5 hour. And Zoodoo is a really must- go attractions if you’re backpacking Dalat.

19 January, 2025
My first time with Yi Peng festival

Yi Peng festival is a famous attraction in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Though pictures of air floating lantern lure travelers, it is really an occasion for all people to wish for merit. It was sad that I couldn’t attend it to the end due to limited schedule.

All the experience below will cover my 3-day trip, including a day before and the first day of the festival. My second night experience was actually a view of flying lanterns from a bus window. To be honest, it’s still worthy than just looking through images with imagination, though just a few lanterns in the air.

Day before

As a highland city, there are many adventurous choices around Chiang Mai, so the first hours in Chiang Mai. I indeed spent on trip to Doi Inthanon. It’s really a must-have experience and worthy a place in your bucket list in Thailand – check-in the highest spot in pagoda country.

First evening, the old walls are well lit by hundreds of tiny candles, put neatly on bricks, creating unique spaces for the city. Both foreigners and locals enjoy walking along these ancient walls accompanied by cool breezes bringing moisture from artificial fountains in channels which cover around old city.

I spent my second morning walking around the town to watch monks decorating pagodas, transforming these ancient religious structures into very colorful look with flowers, hanging laterns, sacred flags and pictures. I read that some guy even suggest attending memorable rituals or a friendly monk chat, which definitely will be in my bucket list for next trip to Chiang Mai.

It’s interesting that you possibly meet a rainbow if standing in right angles. Imagine there’s no raindrops but still a colorful event happening. How great it is!

Doves are fed widely in the city, but most of bird grounds locate near ancient wall gates. You can buy some dried corn snack and feed them to take photos. Many people take their children there to play with doves while I completely enjoy photographing the kids.

First day of Festival

I asked my hostess where the best locations to enjoy the festival were. She used a pen and rounded Thapae Gate as the starting point and following Thapae road to the riverside, turned left to China town and headed to Nakom Ping Bridge as the final destination, that would be a parade.

So in the evening, I came back Thapae Gate, surely I would get what I expected in Chiang Mai trip: a landscape of thousands of lanterns in the air as many many websites covered with such a incredibly beauty.

When I reached the square, the local organizer started setting up candles on ground, the King altar had been done completely while the stage was playing some songs, which I guessed, to remember the King.

After the open ceremony had done, people spread to take photograph. I didn’t see any air lanterns preparation, which made me suspicious a bit. I quickly joined the crowd and hopefully thought it hadn’t come yet.

While I was trying to have someone photograph me, coincidentally I met the Chinese girl in Hua Hin (who had greatly contributed to my go-with-the-flow Chiang Mai decision). We shot for each other some photos.

Admittedly, I did do some research on Yi Peng festival 2016. There were many sites mentioning Yi Peng but lacking of the essential information like the official schedule, even on Thailand Authority of Tourism website. So it was considered I was a blind traveler for anything happening that night.

There was no sign of mass lantern release still, which made me afraid of something wrong. That was my last night in Chiang Mai, I had to take advantage of any chances. I remember that the parade would head to the riverside, so I quickly walked there, hopefully any good news came up.

The road was crowded, but it wasn’t like a really parade happening but a big traffic jam instead. I search for “Yi Peng schedule 2016” and finally got my answer. As you can see it below, which I knew immediately that I would enjoy the beautiful flying lanterns from window bus view.

Yi Peng festival 2016 schedule draft

My steps stopped at China town. There were REAL people dropping the floating lanterns onto the rivers, not in mass but, yes, it happened. My stomach started crying and my eyes searched for some dish to feed myself. There was a crowded food vendor. Getting closer and I found that thay offered a noodle dish only 15 baht, quite cheap for dinner, and it was wrapped conveniently.

I looked up the schedule of Yi Peng festival 2016 again for any useful information then a destination showed up – Three Kings monument. I typed the name into google map and followed the arranged route. That was shorter way but quiet, sometimes only me alone in dark corners.There were few people strolling around until I got the the old walls.

Passing through massage road, finally I reached the square. Many people gathered there with dozen of lanterns both hanging and lying on the ground, which seemed I was at right place after all.

I really enjoyed the surroundings, feeling lost in light yellow hanging lanterns. There was two areas: one by organizers and one for tourists to light up their own candles. You could buy your own candles and light them up, choose to put them into lantern rows or simply shaping them in your own imagination.

The monument was exhibited as King altar and many people came to worship. That was one of the most peaceful moments in Yi Peng festival 2016.

I passed to the night market nearby and got interested in dozen of colorful hand-made lanterns shaping something like a A-roof. But it’s not well lit, half of lanterns had gone dark so it was very difficult to capture photos because of the low light condition.

MANY many many products were shown in the market. From t-shirt, paintings, scented incenses, handicrafts to fresh fruits and juice They were so impressive that I bought some things, even though my budget was very tight at that time.

When I was back home, my feet hurt so I had to sit down for a while to recovery. At that time, there’s young Thai bring along a guitar with something like a pot with many cents inside.

He said he played as a street artist with the guitar and revealed his triump with dozen of coins inside. That was really creative and interesting. I noticed him had done some practices on the day before but I doubted he just did for fun until he earned true money that night.

Last hours in Chiang Mai: a new look for “local Chiang Mai”

The next day, in contrast to my thinking, there was no such a big event happening. So I’d waited for the Bangkok bus since the afternoon. I knew I wouldn’t have a chance for close-up experience releasing air lantern and many days in Thai would make me fed up with “Wat visit”. Another reason was to make sure there was no sorry because of traffic jam reason.

But after dozen of bargain for a cheap fair to the station, I eventually chose to walk to enjoy neighborhood daily life. You should walk in shady side of road or it would very hot under direct sunlight.

The area near bus station actually new city of Chiang Mai which many government buildings and school/ academic institutes situate. Walking through these roads and I sensed a modern Chiang Mai but very local Chiang Mai.

You would face difficulty because road names are mostly in Thai and people mostly speak Thai instead English. All they can show you is product price. But it was more peaceful than the old city. A walk tour is good in some term.

P/s: When my bus started rolling its wheels at 20:00, the air lanterns started their journey into the sky. It’s surprising that there were much fewer lanterns in Yi Peng festival 2016 than it is in in 2015. Maybe because of King’s death limiting the range of festival. It’s so sad!

19 January, 2025