Up early with the roosters again, ate breakfast and hit the road with my new guide who is pictured above. His name is Lee. I am very fortunate to have such great guides. We left Sapa and it was very foggy although not as bad as the day we arrived. The road was very winding and had beautiful scenery only if I could see it. All of a sudden we broke out into the sun and had perfect visibility. It was as if God turned on a switch. I felt like one of those European motorcycle racers going in and out of the corners. (With that said, I can assure you my knee was more than an inch from the ground). Great fun! Also had some straight legs where I could go faster. Top speed on my 150cc Honda is about 70 miles per hour. While riding these roads you have to be very cautious because as you round the corners there may be a cow, child, chicken or dog in the middle of the road. One day I come upon a child sitting in the middle of the road. On another day there were flats of eggs stacked about 3 foot high in the middle of the road. Not sure why but you never know what you will see.
At lunch, I asked Lee about riding in Cambodia and Laos. He said that Cambodia was very dusty (apparently not much rainfall) and he could not stomach the food in either country. He said conditions are not very clean. This coming from a Vietnamese person – I can only imagine what it looks like. We also discussed how the Vietnamese honor Ho Chi Minh and their first general named Vo Nguyen Giap who was named brother of the army. The subject then turned to China. The Vietnamese do not like China or its people. That was the end of that conversation.
As the day progressed the mountains were amazing. At first, they looked like Vietnam mountains then turned more like the Rocky Mountains (due to the pines trees) and then Hawaii which included numerous very long waterfalls. Maybe 3 different ecosystems. I have never seen this before.
All of a sudden we were going through this small town and my bike began to flutter. Sudden lack of power. I was running out of gas. I used the choke to keep me going but then the bike died as I coasted into a gas station. What timing! My guide turned around and we both filled up. My guide informed me there was a reserve on the bike which would have gotten us down the road another 50 kilometers. I just wasn’t in the mood to do any pushing in these mountains so was very happy to see the gas station.
We arrived at our Homestay around 5:00 PM. I showered and lowered the net around my bed which is a mattress on the floor. Dinner was served and I had my first tasting of grasshopper. (I don’t mean the after dinner drink). I didn’t have seconds! The moonshine was very good which seems to be a Vietnam tradition. When it comes to good Vietnam meat – there is none. I am sorry – I have had their free-range chickens. I will take a Tyson caged bird any day of the week! The beef is very chewy to the point where I can’t really eat it. The pork is fatty but tasty. My favorite food tonight was a pork loaf and fish.
We went 143 miles today – a very nice ride although got a bit chilly in the mountains which has been the first time I have been cold. It sounds like the future forecast is for much warmer weather which will be great. Looking forward to tomorrow. Lights out.
Doug's Travels 