I woke up at 1:00 AM. It seems this has been my ideal time to write my blogs. We had breakfast at 7:00 and were loaded and on the rode by 8:00. Our trek was 134 miles so it was going to be a big day.
For most of the day we drove 40 miles an hour so it was very relaxing. We crossed this bridge which was really cool but scary. We were on our way to Sapa – a place I have wanted to visit since my last trip to Vietnam. As the elevation increased we ended up in major fog. The road turned very rough which kept our speed down. I could barely see my guide’s tailight. It was very hard to keep up as there was lots of traffic. Vietnam drivers are the best in the world and make NY city taxi drivers look like sissies. Everyone passes everyone. They are very impatient and always start to pass even with oncoming traffic in the hopes that the oncoming traffic either slows up or moves over. They even pass around blind corners and you pray to God if there is a vehicle coming it is a motorbike not a truck. I had a somewhat of a close call when passing a truck in the fog and all of a sudden there was a van coming. I braked quickly and was able to merge back into my lane. As the van driver passed by he was yelling at me. I am pretty sure it wasn’t God bless you! There were cars going very slow due to the holes in the road. Our bikes were the best way to maneuver through the traffic.
We made it to Sapa and parked at or Homestay which happens to be my next guide’s home. The picture above has been my guide the last several days. His name is Vuong. He has been a pleasure to ride with. After riding 134 miles he was going to catch a bus in Sapa and ride back to Hanoi with a 12:30 AM arrival time. Then he was going to meet a new group of eight guys and start the same trek over again. I admire his work ethic! My new guide’s name is Lee who I have already met on the road while he was leading another group. He will be arriving late tonight and thus this will give me a small break so I can explore Sapa today.
The lady on the left is Lee’s wife and cooked up one heck of a dinner for all her customers – one of which was me. She has a farm, runs this Homestay and also works with some herbal healing products all while Lee is on the road guiding tourist around Vietnam. They are part of one of the ethnic groups I spoke of in an earlier blog. Extremely hard working folks and are true entrepreneurs. While the fire was burning we got into a good converstaion about their life. Lee’s wife – Tamay was a bit rebellious as she decided to create her own path against her mother’s will. Her mother is on the right. Her mother wanted to prearrange a husband and have them marry at a very young age which is very comon amongst this group. She fled and started working in the tourism industry and became self sufficient. This is where she met Lee and they married and started their own buiness which seems to be thriving. If you want the real Vietnam experience I recommend staying with these folks. For more information please check out thier website: sapahomestaytamay.com or call +84 982608455 / email at lytamay.sapa@gmail.com
Tamay shared the story of moving from the farm to the city and how hard it was to start the business. I shared my story which was very similar. We laughed and ageed that as a business owner – there is always more work that needs to be done. You never get done. Starting a business, wether in Vietnam or the USA, is very difficult. I think we could have talked all night!
I have logged over 500 miles now and am really feeling unbelievably good. We shall see what tomorrow brings. It is 9:30 PM and time for lights out!
Doug's Travels 