Day 13: Wonderful Morning at the Waterfall

The second day of the Ha Giang loop started with a satisfying breakfast – for 60K VND (2.35 EUR), the host's wife made a three-egg omelet and brewed coffee with condensed milk. The coffee was served cold, with ice cubes. In Vietnam, it's important to specify how you want your coffee – hot or cold. I noticed that locals often prefer it cold, so if you don't specify, you'll likely get it iced. Also, it's a nice gesture to tell the Vietnamese that you enjoyed their coffee. I genuinely liked it, sometimes it was exceptionally good – Vietnam is renowned for its coffee, being the world's second-largest coffee producer after Brazil, a fact that the Vietnamese are very proud of. The price of a cup of freshly prepared excellent coffee, whether black or with sweet condensed milk, hot or cold, ranges from 20 to 40K VND (0.80–1.60 EUR), depending on where you buy it. In Vietnam, coffee is made not in machines like in Europe, but in a special aluminum device where ground coffee is steeped in hot water. The water naturally flows through the coffee due to gravity, not forced pressure, taking about three to five minutes to drip into the glass. If you ordered white coffee, condensed milk will be at the bottom of the glass, so it needs a good stir before drinking. Back home, I am accustomed to drinking coffee with unsweetened milk, but after my trip to Vietnam, I found myself buying condensed milk – longing for those sweet Vietnamese experiences.

After breakfast in Du Gia, my next destination was a nearby waterfall. Google Maps led me down a complete off-road path, prompting me to turn back in search of a better route. I later realized that a new concrete path had been built to the waterfall, which wasn't shown on Google Maps yet. I recommend asking locals for the quickest and most convenient route to the waterfall.

You cannot drive directly to the waterfall. Vehicles must be left in the parking lot, followed by a half-kilometer walk on a gentle trail. At ten in the morning, there were about fifty tourists making noise, but they had already finished swimming and were noisily making their way down to their scooters. When I arrived at the waterfall, I met only four tourists from Austria and Switzerland, whom I had encountered the previous day at the coffee guesthouse. At the waterfall, locals sell cold beer, fresh juice cocktails, and even snacks – where there is demand, supply emerges. They also rent out towels for 20K (0.80 EUR), which came in handy for me, as I had packed mine away in my bag on the Winner.

I swam in the crystal-clear waters of the waterfall for an hour before realizing I hadn't applied sunscreen. My hat protected my head and face, but my shoulders and neck were exposed to a strong dose of UV rays. In Vietnam's tropical climate, even on cloudy and cooler mountain days, the sun can be intense. I advise using a strong sunscreen (minimum SPF 50) and always remembering to apply it to exposed skin. I've witnessed tourists with severe sunburns. It's not just uncomfortable but also hazardous. Post-Vietnam War (1955–1975), many American veterans developed skin cancer. Of course, the intense sun wasn't the sole culprit; the use of Agent Orange also played a part... But it's always wise to consider the sun's rays and take precautions.

The journey from Du Gia to Dong Van was as impressive as the previous day. Initially, I drove the same DT176, but I'll say that traveling the same road in the opposite direction offers a new experience – the same scenic beauties unfold from different perspectives. The entire route was so beautiful that at one point, I felt melancholic thinking that it couldn't get any better, fearing I would miss such views in the remaining ten days of my trip (I was wrong, as it turned out).

I arrived in Dong Van just before sunset. Following Danny's advice, I stayed two nights in Dong Van, booking the Thai Tam motel ahead of time to avoid a lengthy decision process. A clean and comfortable room with a private shower, air conditioning, and a reasonably soft double bed for 12 Euros per night seemed incredibly cheap. Before dinner in the old town of Dong Van, I took advantage of another affordable service – laundry. I put over a kilogram of dirty laundry in a bag, handed it to the motel owner, and for just 39K VND (1.50 EUR), my clothes were returned clean and fragrantly fresh the next morning.

• From - To: Du Gia Field View Homestay – Thai Tam Motel

• Distance: 90,3 km, 2:43h

• Routes: DT176 – DT182 – QL4C

• Accommodation: Thai Tam Motel, King Room with A/C 12 Eur per nightį, no breakfast