Day 9 - Biker boys from Europe

Well the bikes were definitely a good idea! They've all got some little quirks, and a few pretty big ones, but they work, and they are soooo much fun to drive around - really the best way to see this country! Strapping the backpacks to the seat (designed for only two human asses) is a little uncomfortable, but the distance we wanted to travel to go to Dlata in the highlands didn't look or sound that great... The helpful chap who helped negotiate the bike deal told of us a road that seemed to be on our map of the country that would be the best route to take. We wrote down the instructions, and some inVietnamese to ask the more common non-English variety of local hoping they could simply point us in the right direction if needed.

So we got up, packed, loaded the bikes, and set off on the first road trip. It was an absolute delight to begin with! The south of the country is pretty flat, and vast areas are counted in dessert-like sand-dune systems that stretch for hundreds of kilometers. The roads here were pretty new and mostly deserted, so we could really tear it up and take in the fantastic views - meandering around the planes of this land, stopping in small villages were we always became the instant focus of attention, especially to young schoolchildren, who were all too keen to practice the English they'd learned in school. A few hours later and we were on the highways (scary at first!) looking for our secret turning to take us on ascenic mountain tour to our final destination. Now there are as good as zero road signs here, and the few there are pretty useless. The roads twist and turn with such irregularity that a compass is not that helpful either... we took the turning when we thought we were upon it, and probably drove over 15km down this road that got ever smaller until we were at the foot of the mountains and the path was now so small and hidden by plant-growth a rambler would even complain. So we admitted defeat and returned to the highway. We repeated this a few times, and spent the better part of the day going down road that we simply weren't supposed to. It was 2 hours till night fall and we were still nearly 200km from our destination. So we decided to rest up at the first reasonable looking/priced place we could find. After asking around we found a nice little place on the coast that cost us about $3 each to kip forth night. Crashed early and woke up at 6 to leave by 7 again and attempt to get to Dalat. This time we decided to take to longer way around, and stick to the highways. They're pretty grim in terms of traffic volume, and the shear amount of crap in the air that you're breathing in, and makes you and your clothes filthy. but after a few hours midday rest to avoid the hottest part of the day, we arrived safe and sound in Dalat, and have checked into a nice enough hotel, and eaten a decent meal. Now we off to bed early to start exploring this new part of the country - hoping to see waterfalls, jungle, lakes and possibly more... stay tuned :)

Amusing parts of the journey so far include:

My bike has no speedo, and the fuel gauge is very unreliable. Suffice to say Iran out of petrol and my bike just stopped. My horn doesn't work (no pun intended) and I was at the back at that point, so I ground to a halt, while the lads teared off into the distance. Thankfully we have a system where we're always checking behind us to make sure we're all okay. So the guysbarley got a kilometer or two before they headed back to find me... Even more fortunate I stopped 200m from a petrol station, so pushed the Pony in and filled her up. She sure is a thirsty beast - the other guys seem to be using a lot less fuel than her...?

A few minor accidents, where we nearly get driven off the road by large vehicles. There's this invisible 'middle-lane' that they all seem to use, and a large number of heavy vehicles moving raw materials around, that other large vehicle like to overtake. It's pretty mad, and the main cause of the frequent "horrific accidents" the guide book described. But we're pretty careful really.

Our shock absorbers have been shot to hell. The roads are mostly bad here, and when they're not bad, they about as bad as they can get. So it's not a comfortable ride, and with 25% of a seat designed for two bums you can imagine where most of the impact is directed. So we're pretty glad to have a day off tomorrow and use our legs again for a while...

Oh, my grab handle around the back of my seat I use for bungee-ing my pack to the bike got completely sheared off (the aluminium simply shattered), so had to get that fixed. Lukas' bike fell over (while at a standstill), and he snapped his front-brake handle, so we had to get that fixed, and my pack tilted over to one side, so when I stopped it pulled the bike over, and threw me into a patch of thorny plants.

Peter has been lucky so far. We think he got the best bike, as he's had no problems and it does seem to be the best behaved. But he's also the most experienced biker - could have something to do with it...? So we have to just keep taking the piss out of his bright red skin ;) LOL

But all-in-all it's been well worth it!!! When the roads clear, and the road becomes challenging (like ascending the snaking mountain paths to reach the highlands), the scenery and weather make it all worth while, as does the feeling that first beer on a comfy seat when we rest for the day. We've seen some amazing sights along the way, and we'll see many more in the weeks to come! We're loving it!!!!