South by Southwest

Back to Hanoi for an oil change. Jeesh $3.50 later and we were all tuned up and ready to roll again. We spent a couple of days dorking around and eating some more variety of Vietnamese food since the cities hold more options.

Too cool to be cold.

It was time to depart and we figured that the  best way to get outta dodge would be after morning rush hour and on a Sunday. It turned out to be the better decision because highway 1 which is the large heavily trafficked coastal highway can be seriously hazardous when the traffic is bad. We had it fairly light and got out pretty easily. Along the way we saw the goldfish bicycle; one of the rare but exciting sights to be seen around Hanoi and other large cities.

Goldfish guy. There's a short list of things we haven't seen strapped to the back of a bike.

We stayed near a national park that gave us access to a very cool cave system viewable by boat. The women who pilot these crafts paddle with their feet!

Tam Coc national park.

We went along for about an hour with these ladies through a series of small caves. The area we were visiting was sadly not in the growing season because this is what it looks like when it is:





There was a temple nearby on a cliff side. We took a ride up to see it. 700 steps up.

Darryl, David, Kelly, and the Dragon

The view from the top.

 This area has wild mountain goats and many domesticated to be masticated. YUM. I enjoy goats. I also enjoy eating them. We stopped at one of many roadside goat-eries and partook.

Wild mountain goats.

 The great thing about having our own wheels was that we can go wherever we want whenever we wanted. This allowed us to visit some less popular areas around the towns that we called home from night to night.

Beautiful older woman who ran a Pho shop we happened by for lunch one day. There's something so haunting and romantic about this that we really liked.

We took a roundabout way the next couple of days and ended up with one of the more enjoyable rides we had up until that point in Cuc Phuong National Park. We were staying at a guesthouse right outside the park boundary and got to ride without our bags on a well paved one lane road through the heart of the very sparsely populated park to an 8km hike to see a 1000 year old tree.

Kelly's little pea head sitting between twin trunks of this one ancient tree.

At this point we've been on the bikes for nearly two weeks total and in Vietnam for almost three. The Vietnamese people are a bit of a conundrum. We go throughout the day on the bikes very easily finding serious fault with them to the point of screaming while riding. They must be the worst drivers on Earth. The rule is, there are none, and the only way to make traffic work for you is to just go with the flow. You can see pictures and video of the mass of moving traffic in the big cities and that's an awesome sight. Daunting to take part in but once you see space in front of you, fill it. Never look behind you, its the job of whoever is coming from behind to watch what you will do. Other than that in the cities its simple because traffic is slow enough to basically do anything you want. Horns are used to let people know you're there, not so much for aggression like we use them. The highways are the hazard. Two lanes or four it doesn't matter, the haphazard fashion of passing here is infuriatingly dangerous. Two lane road and a semi is coming at you, then from behind him peeks out a two level bus. He will flash his lights and then just go for the pass. The lanes are already narrow and there's a blind curve but f*%k it I'M GOING!!! This is all day and on top of that they have air horns that will actually knock you off your bike This means that motorbiking in Vietnam is really really dangerous. We were run off the road daily. Kelly had one wipeout that was luckily on mud and not going too fast. The fairing cracked and she got muddy and pissed but it was ok.

To add to the danger, there was about a kilometer of this agricultural waste piled on the side of the road here. Very common.

Just another lunch stop.

The smiles were common, but the transportation tactics unique.

This is a menu. That is a dog and a goat.

We went to Phong Nha for some massive caves and another cool trip on the water.

One of the more entertaining signs we saw. Entry rules for the national park.

We split here from the boys for a couple of days and then headed for the Vinh Moc tunnels.  The town of Vinh Moc is just north of the DMZ and served as a supply station for Con Co, an island 20 km off the coast that harried US bombing runs during the war. For this reason we started to bomb Vinh Moc as well and drive the inhabitants underground. This is a three level system that had tunnel as deep as 30 meters to keep the villagers safe even from burrowing bombs.

Inside the tunnels at Vinh Moc. Even too short for Kelly to stand comfortably. An entire village underground.

Some of the bombs that survived the bunker busting on display.

We visited alot of war history sites and of course they won so they get to write the history of the whole affair. No where will you read that Saigon ever requested US aid. But you will see alot of signs about bloodthirsty American imperialists. Vinh Moc was no exception. The tour we got was great though and in this case was more about the fortitude of the town's inhabitants to find interesting ways to survive during a really trying time. These were not tunnels that US troops had to go in.

Rubber tree. Pure latex collecting. There are thousands of acres of rubber trees everywhere in Vietnam.

The display at the DMZ.

A few days later we met up with the boys again in Hue. There's a pretty impressive citadel in Hue. There was also the Super Bowl to attend to. Kickoff was at 6:30 am and we were not able to find a place that could get it. So we bought it to stream and thankfully had a really good wifi connection. Watched the whole game, commercials included on a 12" screen.

Enthralled by superbowl action. Better than last year though. At least we got to watch it.

Triple decker truck full of pigs? Triple decker bus full of pigs.

Main entrance into the citadel at Hue.

Another funny sign at the entrance into the citadel. Rule #3.

 After Hue we finally had some coastal driving and one very very fine day on which to do it.

Just another day on the streets. Teeming with locals on bikes. And as you pass they all yell HELLO! Its really pretty nice.

Road side.

Road side.

Road side.

Famous bridge in Danang.

We drove through Danang and made our next stop in Hoi An. This cool little city has a French colonial  old town with a lot of character and a ton of tailors. This is a famous area to get nice clothing made for cheap. Kelly convinced me it was time to grow up a little so I had my first suit made. The whole experience was difficult but would have been made a lot cooler if it wasn't so damn hot. For this reason we decided it was time to re-introduce ourselves to the beach.

Common shopfront in Hoi An

Taxi. The lady was probably 90.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip. We're gonna get bikes when we get home.

Ok moms and dads, here comes the shocker. A couple of days after we left Hoi An, David, one of the Canadian brothers we had been riding with all month and traveling with for about a month before that had an accident. He mis-judged a sharp left, came off his bike and went into a ditch. Kelly and I rounded the corner seconds afterward to find him and his bike in the ditch with his brother Darryl by his side. Turns out he severely broke his collarbone and needed to cut his trip short by a month to get home and get surgery. Last we heard, he is recovering slowly but will be ok. Darryl being a good brother ended his trip there too in order to better help David get home. The kicker was that this all happened on the eve of Tet which is when the country basically shuts down so they were very lucky to even get a flight out let alone anyone to help them at the hospital.

Road side.

Road side.

Road side.

Road side. Bummer. David goes down.

We sold off Darryl's bike for him pretty quickly and were able to unload a half working bike on David's behalf to the family we were staying with. This like I said was the beginning of Tet and the really cool family we were staying with did nothing but cook and feast during the couple of days we were there. They were nice enough to share some of their celebratory cakes with us and that really brought up the spirits of the group. I know a lot of the things I've said may sound like we didn't enjoy the people there but that couldn't be further from the truth. Everyone was always quick to offer assistance and a smile.

Two daughters dolled up for Tet, see us on our way out of the guesthouse.

This was a bummer. Our crew was broken up prematurely but we had to move on. There was some consideration given to selling ours too and removing ourselves from the danger of ourselves and other drivers, but with only about 1000km to go and more than double that behind us we had to finish strong.

We headed back to the beach after the unfortunate incident to a resort city called Nha Trang. This is little Russia. 90% of the tourists, of which there are a lot of, were Russian. They're just different folks. It was still a fun stop though.

Lobster lady on the beach in Nha Trang.

Attractions.

The central highlands and Dalat were next on our trip. With a quick jump up in elevation we found the weather became much more mild and reasonable. This was coffee and tea growing area and also turned out to be where EVERY Vietnamese family goes to celebrate Tet. So though we had been warned to always pre-book during this week long holiday we had four nights with no trouble so it seemed overly cautious. We pulled into a packed city after a very cool day of riding and had about an hour before sunset. It seems Dalat is made of hotels and guesthouses. Every other door opens to one, but we must have asked in at least 50 and all answered with the infuriating shooing motion that in Vietnam means 'no'. Finally after both our patience had long since run dry we managed to get a spot on the floor in a hotel's laundry room for twice the price what we usually paid per night.

Where we just came from on the road to Dalat.

Tea plantations on the road to Dalat.

Whenever you order Pho (ubiquitous Vietnamese soup pronounced 'fuh') you get a big plate of greens and herb that differ depending on where you happen to be. Usually some combination of fennel, lettuce, morning glory, celery, mint, basil, dandelion... This little fella was still hanging around when I went to share a piece of lettuce with him.

Laundry room.

We took it with the thought that tomorrow we would just ride out of town and move on, but a very nice night on the top floor with a great view, the smell of fresh laundry, and a generally comfortable space kept us around for another night and Valentine's day.

Mui Ne, another beach town came after, and once again the heat was on. We had our agreed best day of driving to get there. We chose an uncommon route through a mountain pass that has the road passing through lowland jungle before shooting up to pine forests and spectacular panoramas. At one point when we were at the pinnacle, we could see the ocean 40km in the distance and the whole road snaking away toward our night's home. Days like this, and like many of them on the back of our motorcycles were some of the best of this trip. It is THE best way to see a country.

Dragon fruit plantation.

Look closely these are shrimp.

This trash has a beach problem.

There are massive sand dunes here seemingly made for sliding around on.

All of the youth here are always so cheerful and happy to see us. They all know a little English and usually it includes "where are you from?" They love to hear we're American.

Three days later Kelly and I pulled in to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and celebrated with a big kiss and a frosty brew. We had done it. Not without our troubles and of course the memory of our fallen comrades. It was a jagged little pill not having the Trautman twins by our sides for the completion of this arduous trip. They deserved to be there, but were with us in spirit.

 What a trip....