I got up early at 6.15 and found that the power was out, but I still showered and packed and with the noisy bed, creaking door and my suitcase I did make a fair bit of noise. The guy in my room got up around 7 to man the desk and soon after I left my suitcase there and went to see how I could get around the island. I tried a few places but there were no bikes to rent. I thought about taking the bus one way and walking back, but I couldn't see bus or a stop. I asked a travel agent who said where bus was and it would cost 25k to 30k. He had a motorbike for 80k for the day so I rented that instead to give me more flexibility although I would have liked a bike for exercise. I drove out and tried to fill up at a petrol station on my map but it wasn't there. I looked up the next place but by now the needle on the bike had moved and I had about half a tank so I didn't need any. I drove along the road north and went past hospital cave to the national park where 2 French people were buying tickets. I carried on and the views along the road were not so great, but further on I got better views and so I climbed up for a picture and left the key in bike. Further along I stopped for another view and parked where a barrier had been removed and took key out this time. A bus came and went close to the bike so maybe the barrier had been removed on purpose. The view was no good as trees blocked it but a bit further along it was fine so I took one of the mud flats. soon after I was at the northern point which was a ferry port with ok views and I was there as the ferry's left the harbour. I wandered a little and found a hill with a green ladder going up so I climbed up for some really good views. On my way down I counted 297 steps, which made it maybe 100m which is higher than Holland's highest hill. I got back on the bike and headed back south but stopped soon to go along a wooden boardwalk which went over the mud and stopped at a small shrine place. Nobody was around and there was a sign for no swimming, with all the mud and lack of water I didn't really need the sign. I went back and carried on to a cave nearby. There was a 30k charge to enter so I skipped it. It was a bit of a drive next and there were lots of butterflies around, maybe it was mating season, one even flew into my face and it hurt. I parked up on the other side of the road from the national park avoiding the 5k charge. There were unusual buildings and it looked like they were building a themed hotel with a fountain and other stuff. I went and paid 40k for the national park and followed the trail up the hill for the view which is supposed to take 1 hour but took 30 minutes. There were a few people at the viewing tower just sitting around in the way. I took a couple of pictures and carried on as I'd heard it gets better further on. It was a bit rocky but no problem and I met 2 Americans up there who are from Washington state near Seattle. We talked a bit and admired the view before I left to get back. On the way back there was a couple who had found an orange crab so I got a picture. Seemed strange having a crab in the forest but there you go. I was back down in about 20 minutes and had a look around as they had some information boards and a TV screen on one side and a building with specimens on the other side. They also had a WC which I used and as it was about 11.15 I decided to do another walk to frog pond which is supposed to be 2 hours. l wanted to be back in time to see a few more places and make the bus so I headed at a decent pace and after a bit put some music on. It was a tough walk at the speed I was going to frog pond so I sweated a fair bit and it was more up than down. There were more butterflies on the way and the path became more covered and as a song stopped I could hear lots of forest noises so I switched off the music and kept walking. I got to the pond around 12.20 and it was all dried up, not much to see. I headed back and saw a big orange crab and on the route back I only went past only 2 couples, so this not as popular as the other route. The uphill almost beat me but the energy from a banana I'd eaten got me through and I made it back by 1.30, on schedule. I got back on the bike and made my way to a cave, there was a guy there directed me in and asked for 10k. I asked for a ticket which he didn't understand so I showed him my national park ticket which he took so I climbed the steps but then there was a locked gate. There was also another impressive lot of stairs which went presumably to another cave, both were 10k which is not bad except it wasn't very official so I moved on. I came to another cave which was a bit further than I expected on the map and in the wrong side. It looked small but when I went up there was a door which was strange. It was open and led to a corridor and I wondered if I went in someone might close the door and charge me to get out. I went in anyway and the corridor had rooms and there was another corridor with places to see. I went around a bit and it was all empty but as I got further there were beds in one room and it looked like it might be the hospital cave which was confirmed when someone came out and tried to charge me 40k for visiting. Fair enough if someone knows the price or if there is a no entry sign but to try to charge me after I'd seen the place is something I didn't like or his attitude so I left the way I came and he switched out the lights for a bit to try to frighten me. I drove on a bit and there was the sign for the hospital cave and I was invited to park at a restaurant but they wanted me to join them for tea or buy a ticket for the cave so I went and parked back where I was before and walked round to the front of the hospital cave but I'd seen pretty much all of it so I left and went to a petrol station to get some gas. After I went along another road going west and the road was in bad shape with roadworks and compacted stones to drive on. I stopped after a bit and turned back and diverted to another road where I found a cave for 20k and then a temple. I turned around and headed back towards town but I saw this strange area which had roads but was largely empty. It was some kind of development area and I biked around it a bit and then carried on and there was a sign showing the magnitude of the development.
Back in town I returned the bike and wasn't sure it was the right place at first. Then I went to get food and there was not much around as it was the wrong time. I went to the bakery and got a cake for 10k and then near to the hostel a fried thing for 5k. Back at the hostel I just had time to buy water when the bus arrived at 3.40. The bus ride was bumpy so it was hard to be productive but then we sat at a cafe a bit so I sewed my bag some more before we all squeezed onto the boat and then transferred to a bus. Near to Hanoi we went past a supermarket - a first and we arrived soon after around 7pm and they didn't drop us at our hotels but it was near the tourist info and lake. The bus was off to Sapa, maybe something I should have done but I wanted to be sure with my Chinese visa. I walked to the Hanoi party backpackers and saw a Spanish guy who I'd played chess with before. I didn't feel very productive so I got some food and went for a walk to try to cross the river but the bridge didn't have pavements it was just road, despite having pavements next to it. I went to a different internet place and it was empty. I soon found out why as the computers were quite old and slow but it did ok. I went back and did a few things before retiring to the crappy wobbly top bunk I'd been given and went to sleep.
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