Day 12 Vietnam Motorbike Tour

Up early with the roosters again, had breakfast and left our Homestay around 9:00 AM. Had a very interesting conversation with my guide relating to his childhood. Like my last guide, he grew up very very poor and shared the same story of putting field corn in the stir-fry to fill everyone up.

He has done a great job of bettering himself. His buddies all attended the University but his parents couldn’t afford school. So he left his home at a very young age and against his mothers will to work in a convienience store for $10.00 per month. During this time he studied the menu which was in both Vietnamese and English and was able to self- teach himself English. He then got a job in a restaurant and while interacting with the tourists was able to sharpen his English even further. With the flood of people coming to Sapa he knew tourism is where he woud like to work and started his Homestay tourism buiness. He now is doing very well and sends money home to help support his folks.

He told me about 15% of Vietnam is Catholic, 30% Buddhist and the rest are just free. The Catholics are not hired by the government for police or army jobs. Also the government workers are not able travel from the Country. It is very difficult to obtain a Visa to travel from Vietnam to the US. You must show on your passport that you have traveled to other Countries. You also must be very wealthy. He mentioned we as Americans can travel to any destination in the world with the exception of North Korea.

After the American War (which is what it is called here in Nam) he told me around a million people fled Vietnam to places such as USA, Australia & France. Many went to California. Some familes were divided but were able to leave the Country at a later date. He also talked about how agent orange got into the rivers which is where they got their drinking water. When they drank the water the next generation started having birth defects. Missing limbs and other serious side effects.

I asked him if we would be able to stop by a school for a visit. I want to peak in and see what is being taught. He said sure – so I hope the will happen soon.

At midday we stopped for a tea break. I noticed the women rinsed the tea pot out in a pan that was catching rain water and also looked like the dog water bowl. So I decided to get a bottle of water instead. 🙂

We continued on and had lunch at Phu Yen Town which is where we will be staying tonight in a hotel. We only had around 60 miles to go today so we were done at noon which give me time to roam around the city and also get caught up on some work. We have a very long day tomorrow so will get rested up.

The mountain scenery was very good again today. Had dinner and lights out.