Using the smugglers route to cross from Vietnam into China

In May 2016 I visited Lung Cu all the way up the most northern part of Vietnam but this is not what this story is about

After Lung Cu I thought it would be cool to see the border here. I’m drawn towards the border because I’m intrigued with the idea that a border to a country as closed as China would be completely unsupervised. I’ve always had this idea of a completely remote border, you know, without even a border control post where only shepherds roam somewhere deep in the mountains.

As I drove out the road the pavement suddenly stopped and before me was about 6 motorbikes and a tiny dirt path along the ridge of the mountain. It looked like something you would only want to walk and the direction took you straight towards China. This is it I guess – the border.

I could see pretty far ahead and it looked like at least a 15-minute walk down along a very muddy path before anything would change so I decided to opt against it. However, as I turned around a little bit I noticed a definite path going up the mountain, not towards China, so I figured it would be safe to go up there, at least for the view over the valley.

When I got up I saw several road marker stones with skulls on them all over the area. Skulls, just skulls. Frightening.

Thoughts of land mines and stuff like that popped up in my head and I was about to turn around. Enough is enough.

But when I was about to turn around I saw a shepherd with two cows on a definite path, albeit small, meaning that at least it would be safe, landmine wise – and so I continued towards him.

Around the corner I saw a paved road pop out in the middle of nowhere, Chinese signs and more skulls. I’m pretty sure this was the border. I walked up on the pavement, talked some with the farmer – who was Chinese! – and walked back to my bike.

On the way out, with mud all over my shoes, I got some concerned looks from locals who could only wonder what I’d been doing out there. I’ve heard from other people that the area is used for smugglers as well – which would make sense since it’s so easy and remote.

North Vietnam Roadtrip April 2017

What is this!?

I’m on another trip to north vietnam! This time together with Amy!

It will be around 2 weeks and will be to many of the same spots but also some new ones. Since it’s shorter we’ll probably skip the left part of the north and focus on cao bang and hi giang.

Day 1

 Day 2

 

 Day 3

 

 Day 4

 

 Day 5

 

 Day 6

 

 Day 7

Day 7 was spent just hiking around Dong Van!

 Day 8

 

 Day 9

For some reason this is creating trouble to plot but we went all the way from Dong Van to Ha Giang City. A 150km long, very mountainous ride!!

 Day 10

 Day 11

 Day 12

 Day 13

 Day 14

I climbed Mount Taranaki in New Zealand

“All I can say is that I’m now yet another singer in the choir of people that praise New Zealand to high heavens.”

After a few months in Australia of mostly working I figured it was time to go out and explore a bit again. I always wanted to see New Zealand and since my good buddy JJ (whom I met in Vietnam on my motorcycle trip) was a kiwi I figured now was a good time as any to go and visit him. He lived near the beach in Ohope and even had a spare bedroom! I booked the plane tickets with a return 3 weeks later and off I went.

After an extremely pleasant trip hitching from Auckland to Ohope with beautiful roads all the way and locals going out of their way to help me, I arrived. The last ride I got, which took me directly to my final destination, was a couple named Jono and Kelly from #rallylife and they even offered me to stay in their house while I was in town! If you read this Jono and Kelly – thank you – you have no idea how much I appreciated it.

thank you jono and kelly
Thank you Jono and Kelly!

As JJ was working I spent most of my time hiking, working from my computer or going to the beach. That itself doesn’t sound too bad but JJ pushed me to go a bit out of my way and explore some more. On the last day, this took me to the Agrodome where I witnessed a sheep getting sheared live in front of us at a farming show.

agrodome farming show in new zealand
A one hour show at the Agrodome, presenting a selection of 19 types of sheep being farmed in New Zealand. The Merino sheep in the top middle is my favourite

It also took me to Hobbiton (the Lord Of The Rings movie set). I’m glad I did both of those things!

hobbiton movie set new zealand
A rabbit hole, I mean Hobbit hole in Hobbiton. The amazing movie set used to film the Lord of the Rings series

However, the highlight of the trip was a 3 day camping trip (+ roadtrip) across the north island to New Plymouth with JJ and his dad. We did a ton of hiking (or tramping or mountaineering) as well as climbing Mount Taranaki. It is the biggest volcano on the North Island and even has snow on the top! It is also looks a lot like the more famous Mount Fuji in Japan.

climbing mount taranaki new zealand at 45 degrees angle
This mountain was no walk-over. It was very steep . I don’t know the actual angle but from this picture it looks like 45 degrees

It took about 4 hours to make it to the top. We spent an hour up there enjoying it. And it took 3 hours to get down so it was a full day experience. JJ’s dad swore that it was the last time he would climb this mountain but that’s also what he said last time, so who knows.

climbing mount taranaki in new zealand
The top of Mount Taranaki near New Plymouth, New Zealand. It was a rough climb but as always – worth it in the end!

This is a short summary of my time in New Zealand but so much happened and I had such a good time that it would be pointless to write it all down anyway. All I can say is that I’m now yet another singer in the choir of people that praise New Zealand to high heavens.

showcasing new zealand scenery new plymouth
New Zealand is beautiful!