Day 60 - The last few days of biking

Back on the road again, on the 4th day of our second biking adventure - this time we were off the main tarmac-ed roads and onto completely red-dirt rocky unmade surfaces, harder to drive, but more fun! :) This day was to start as a travel day - not much exploration planned as we had some distance to cover, and no guarantee the place we were aiming for could provide any accommodation for the night. The sky was brilliant blue, with not a cloud in sight, amazing considering the sky-scapes the night before we stood photography for an hour as the sun began to fall from the bridge in the town we were staying.

Skies like I'd never seen them in Attapeu - in all directions, a full 360 of amazing clouds


It was hot hot hot, and this was at 9am. Sunscreen applied, we set sail, stopping at a midday point to sit out the hottest part of the day (the heat was just too much), by the river Sekong where we grabbed some shade and zzz's. Was pretty nice - with the river so low we pretty much had our own private stretch of beach.

Our own private river beach where we kipped in the shade


Continuing a few hours later we came to a river at a village where we asked directions and we were pointed across the water. Figuring we had to cross we got a local lad to help us load the bikes onto the ferry (two small rafts nailed together with planks), and he towed us across on foot. We continued further through more villages and down some pretty off-road paths that clearly weren't designed for bikes - but what the hell - it was fun! Crossing another small stream we could drive though (slowly of course), and along some even more dangerous/fun jungle paths. Eventually we came to a river that seemed too wide, fast and deep to simply drive through. Asking a passer by he assured us we were on the right path, but we aired on the side of caution and decided to double back to teh last village and take an alternative route we thought we saw... It turned out to be a dead end and so we returned to the river again, covering the same arduous track for the third time, where we made the decision to take the bikes through the river ourselves. It took all three of us steadying one bike at a time, slowly pushing, pulling and lifting it over the river bed of slippery rocks, safely to the other side - to the amusement of more locals.

Pulling the bikes through the river - this one was a just a small one, so Lukas could afford to take pics :)


Driving on again, the path became increasing demanding, and after a while we were starting to wonder if we'd taken the correct route as laid out on our hand-drawn map from the hotel we rented one of the bikes - the most detailed we could find. Soon we were starting to loose light, and realising it was too late to turn back we had no choice but to press on. Asking for more directions at a village we passed through we knew we had minutes of light remaining and despite our best efforts found only another river (it was too unsafe to consider crossing in the dark) and several dead ends. Giving up we headed back to the village where we found the hut where some helpful people previously directed us, hoping to find a bed... No one spoke any English, but after a long game of charades we communicated that we were lost needed to rest. These lovely people found a hut where a wonderful family put us up for the night. They had to send their children to their friends, and we settled in for the night sleeping as the Laos villagers do - in a small wooden hut. They offered us some dinner of rice and fried minnows, that admittedly tasted a little of dirt, but we were more than thankful for it, and afraid of offending their hospitality. The village had extremely limited electricity - basically no lights, leaving the night sky to shine through lie I have never seen - the clear day left a cloudless night that with no light pollution allowed an array of stars to be visible I'd never experienced - really special.

The hut where we slept


We slept remarkably well, and arose with the rest of the village at 5:30, We looked around briefly before saying our goodbyes and expressing our gratitude by giving our hosts the money it would have otherwise cost us to stay in a hotel, then continued onwards.

Our gracious hosts for the night in the village


Following a very long 'conversation' trying to find out where on earth we actually were and which direction we should be traveling the night before, we discovered that we took a wrong turn, and should never have crossed on the ferry at the river some 80km back, and we were only 60km from the town we slept on the first night - Paksong (we were aiming for Pakse, and obviously not pronouncing it correctly when asking directions the whole day we were repeatedly being pointed in the wrong direction). We had to cross the river we decided was too dangerous in the dead of night. To reach our destination we had to climb the Blolaven Plateau - the mountain we'd spent our 5-day trip driving around, and the path started to become extremely steep, boulder ridden and much harder to drive, to cap it all our tanks were verging on empty, and the new dilemma became how far we could get before one of us simply ran dry...

Four more stream crossings later we reached the top of the plateau, and the terrain opened up into deforested farmland (makes sense being the only flat land for miles), where we saw trackers - that meant there was diesel fuel somewhere, and diesel often means petrol too. A few tens of kilometres more, and a few stops to ask where to find a top-up-point, we finally discovered a small stall selling fuel from bottles and purchased enough to get us where we needed to be. PHEW! We also bought some much needed drinks, and breakfast.

Lady selling fuel and snacks on the outskirts of the village on-top of the plateau


Another hour of driving and we reached the town we'd visited 4 days previous, at which point we thought we deserved a beer! Back on familiar ground we explored a waterfall we missed on the 1st day, where we fell asleep for at least 90 mins before grabbing some lunch, and then heading back to Pakse to get some accommodation. We had a few hours left before turning the bikes, and the weather was still great, so one last drive, north this time, before returning the motors, and taking a much needed shower. I also got another hair chop to match the boys.

Our biking adventure took this route - the red line showing where we went, and the green where we were supposed to continue on the 4th day :S Please excuse the crudely drawn map - resources here are limited :)


Today we were back on the road (bus this time) down south to a place where the river Mekong fans out into an inland delta creating 4000 islands at the border with Cambodia. Just a few hours on a minibus, and a short ferry crossing to the main island called Don Khong.

A satellite view of this region of Laos - the Mekong river fans out to create thousands of small islands


While here we intend to rent bikes (push bikes this time) and explore this the largest of the islands, and perhaps do a boat tour to see the rest - hopefully gonna see some Dolphins that inhabit these waters too. Here we hope to spend our last few days in Laos, before crossing into Cambodia, and starting a whole new adventure... More to come soon :)

More amazing pics from Lukas.

Day 57 - biking around S.E Laos

Apologies for the lack of images this time, but the connection is too slow to allow us to upload much, simply posting text was really painful – will populate with more later, and hopefully have a a lot more to show next time :)

So last I wrote we were just waiting for our flight to Pakse in the South-East arm of Laos, leaving the North behind. Upon disembarking the 3 hour flight the wall of warm air form the more humid environment hit us like a slap in the face, and seconds later we were blasted by a light but warm rain shower. Wondering why we moved to a place the weather was fine to somewhere it was raining, we set about finding some accommodation in town. Once that as sorted, and we'd had a look at the town in the process, we decided to get the hell out of there asap (really not much to see/do), and fulfil our wish to hire bikes and do a couple of days touring the area. It wasn't easy finding bikes, but we each found a half decent machine from different sources, and booked them for 5 days.

Packing the minimal that we thought we needed to for that time into a plastic bag we bungeed to the back (no luggage racks this time), and stuffing the rest in the handy wire basket in the front, we set sail for a 5+ days adventure in this unexplored corner of the country. We had no idea what to expect, but were hoping to find more of we'd experienced off the beat'n'track up North – the real Laos village life.

The first day didn't get off to a great start. Lukas split to do his serious photo thing that would bore poor Peter and I to tears, and we went ahead in search of waterfalls. We found one that seemed pretty nice, but one of the smaller in the area. Was no one there but us, so was nice to have the freedom to roam and time to take some snaps.

Peter taking 'a moment' beside the falls – was quite a walk down :)


Pressing forward in search of the next, larger waterfall we came across a spot of bad weather. Seems the climate is much more volatile down here – being landlocked and extremely hot this time of year ,the isolated and plentiful large bodies of water (lakes and river) evaporate and rise of the dramatically shifting geography to create pockets of intense dry heat, followed by 'tropical'-heavy rainstorms that are usually short-lived. We happened to pass through one of these rainstorms, and got pretty wet. We pressed onto the town we were intending to stay in for the night, and arrived just in time to avoid a seriously heavy storm which we sat our with a couple of Beer Laos. We'd done our fare share of rain dodging for the day, so another quick drive while we had some sun, and then meeting Lukas for dinner, and n early night.

The next morning we all stuck together from the outset, and stared to go exploring off-road, down small dirt roads that were clearly not good for our motors, but fun to drive down. The weather was better, and the skies really started to look fantastic. Finding small village one by one, and waving at everyone we passed, eventually we came across a small village were music was bellowing from an open door, and locals were beckoning us in. After some persuasion they dragged us inside and started plying us with booze. From what we could gather, there was some festival to celebrate the plentiful harvest and to bless the coming year. They thrust Beer Laos into our hands and started putting glasses of Lao Lao Whiskey in our hands. They also began tying these cotton wristbands to our arms as a good luck charm for us I guess, blessing a drink at the same time you had to down. It was pretty fun, and they certainly enjoyed the experience as much as we did.

Saying our good byes, we continued on, finding village after village, waving to everyone as we went. Finally finding some accommodation in our next stop Sekong. Again the town wasn't much to look at, and basic resources such as restaurants were hard to find, as was a bank to withdrawn or change money, which was starting to run precariously low... Next morning ,up and back on the road again. Following a similar pattern, we explored every village that came our way, snapping everything picture-worthy we could find. Didn't get invited to any parties this time, but we caused quite a stir when we entered a local bar for a drink, attempting to converse with the local drunk men (seems to be most men around here), and showing them pictures of themselves which seems to hold no-end of fascination and enjoyment for them. One guy was so impressed we think he was trying to get us to send him a giant print-out for his wall, guess it beats a mirror?

Again to more accommodation and a hair cur for Lukas and Peter. In the internet café now (first we've seen in days, and the slowest we've every experienced). Updating what we've been up to before we head off for another couple of days exploring the area, before returning the bikes and continuing the journey by more conventional means again.

We really are enjoying having bikes again – it's not the same as having our own, and in some ways these new s (real) Honda's bikes aren't as good as our Chinese copies, probably because we're not willing to fix these one's up... But it's loads of fun, and when it doesn't rain (been lucky the post two days) the weather really can be glorious.

Having a great time, and more tales of the final days of biking to come shortly. TTFN

Day 53 - Luang Prabang and the surrounding area

So we've been in Luang Prabang a good few days now. Our first duty was to do the touristy things inside the city itself, and as a newly formed foursome we set about exploring the cities temples, monasteries, hills and markets - plenty of all these things here! Crossed the Mekong river on a boat to check out more temples, a cave and a village, before returning back to the developed side of the river for some well-earned food and rest.

The view from the top of the towns central hill where there are great views and a collection of monuments and shrines. And monks.


Cute kids from the poor villages here - always wanting a chat (and looking for an opportunity to make some money), doing what they can to keep themselves occupied.


The next day our plan was to get a boat down-stream to visit the larger of the two waterfalls we'd heard good things about in our guide books and from travelers we'd talked to along the way. After some difficult haggling, and an unsuccessful search for additional bodies to bring the cost-per-head, we got out deal and set off in a pretty bendy (bendy through low-quality workmanship, not intension) boat. One hour later we reached the village where we were to catch a truck to the start of the waterfall complex.

A classic (older) village man, waiting and watching as we ascended the river bank to our ride. Great snap Lukas!


A 20 minute bumpy ride in the back of a pick-up later, and we at the entrance to the waterfall. On foot from here, we first walked through an animal sanctuary where a collection of bears and a tiger (the two species kept separately of course) who'd been rescued from cruel tourist-based treatment/captivity, and were being cared for, and restored to health. After which you walk on through to the first in a cascade of pools created by the stream. The scenery was pretty stunning, and the water a tone of blue I thought only existed in the movies - presumably created by minerals in the water, or algae from the various chunks of decaying tree that seemed to be scattered within. There were combinations of swimming areas (we didn't realise you could swim and so had no costume, plus it wasn't a particularly hot day) and naturally cascading levels of sky-blue water, surrounded by picturesque jungle.

Unnaturally blue pools of water from the falls further up ahead. I wish I'd bought my swim suit!


After a few hundred metres of pools and small cascades we approached the main attraction - the large waterfall, tumbling from a total hight of around 100m, which you could scale along a difficult path to reach the top and get a pretty good view. A few hours after our arrival we were back on our return journey. The river part took longer on the way back as we were moving upstream, and our boat ran out of petrol before we reached the town again. Our driver left on foot with a canister to fetch more for 30 minutes, giving us some time to take in the scenery whilst not moving, was pretty funny really.

The main waterfall.


Another meal later, this time joined also by a fellow Ozzy acquaintance of Mailey's from Vang Veing. We'd also spent time in the day booking ourselves onto the tour we'd talked about before - not our original vision of 4 days (became too expensive!), but a more compact, but equally exciting sounding 2 day trip that included mountain biking, elephant riding, trekking, villages and kayaking. All booked in the following morning we were up bright and early to start the adventure. Mailey wasn't joining us so we said our goodbyes at this point and she continued her journey to Hanoi in Vietnam.

It began by hoping on mountain bikes and heading out of town. Stopping by first at a temple, then a paper/parchment-making facility, we continued onto cycle along a pretty rough and hilly track, that didn't completely fulfill my visions of off-road biking, but was sure fun to burn down the steep slopes. After about 2 hours we reached the elephant village where we met our elephant. We hoped on-board a wooden bench mounted to her back, as the driver guided her around am hour long walk through the forest, kicking at her ears as commands and giving her a whack with a sharpened stick when she didn't obey. It was nice to be so close to an elephant, but as I shifted side-to-side as she took each step on the very relaxing journey I started to wonder if the continued domestication of these animals in any country is still appropriate, and if by contributing to the tourist trade use of elephants, I was in some small way making the plight of these majestic animals worse... Elephants have been domesticated in this part of the world for millennia, used as work-aids to help carry large loads (eg: logs from logging), farm, and generally get about. And the development of the countries as they obtain machinery to do such jobs for them means some elephants became an unnecessary financial burden, and were abandoned - there are tales of elephants begging for food in the streets of Bangkok. Tourism has given some of these unwanted animals a new purpose, but surely it would be better (although I'm sure very costly) to just reintroduce them into the wild where they belong, and leave them alone. Being so few in numbers today, and considering their levels of intelligence, this would make me feel better, especially as I learned the process of domestication kills 40% of young elephants they use, and consists of extreme starving and sleep deprivation methods to break their will to fight back. Sounds more like a concentration camp to me.

That's our girl on the left


After our ride we packed up for the trek which was to take us through villages, over rivers, and through some really incredible open plains of farmland, bush and forest. We walked up some pretty steep hills in what turned out to be the hottest day we'd experienced in over a month. A well earned break for lunch and a quick power-nap in a makeshift bamboo hut used for hunting were much appreciated!

One of a million amazing views experienced on the trek


The trek lasted about 3 hours in total. Once we reached the village we started to see how the majority of Laos people lived a dry dirt covered town with huts made from bamboo and weave - mostly on stilts. Children everywhere - most families have between 3-5 kids, and they are left to play in the village while the adults go out to work the land or practice their trade. We found our accommodation for the night - a home-stay shack run by a local family - and started to explore the town. It had everything you would expect; a school, animals roaming around, people preparing food and weaving straw, children playing, buildings going up, and all the time people coming to say hi, or pointing and talking at you from a distance. Taking photos is something of a sore point in this country - people generally don't like it, and it's impolite to do it without permission. A quick raise of the camera and a smile would usually provide you with a reassuring permissive nod, and as long as you show them the picture afterwards they are always keen to shoot more - they don't have mirrors so seeing themselves is a rare opportunity.

View as we entered the village


Our guide noticed a celebration in town - one hut was overcrowded with people with chatter and music coming from the open door. After enquiring he discovered there had been a wedding earlier in the day, and the celebrations were still continuing. He approached and asked if we could join in with the festivities - they were more than happy/drunk to include us. Upon entering we discovered the hut was packed with drunken Laos villagers of all ages, some playing a bamboo wind instrument, and a lady singing in tune to the music as others clapped. We sat crossed legged on the floor in what looked like the heavy drinkers corner. Pots lay about the floor with plastic (used to use bamboo) straws coming from the top, from which people were sucking back. It was Lao Jar Whiskey - fermenting sticky rice in a jar, to which you continuously add fresh water to the top, as it filtrates down you suck from the bottom. The tubes were shoved in our hands and they made us start necking this stuff as they filled from the top. It was great! Really sweet taste, with little alcohol in the flavour, but plenty of effects in the head. It's apparently 30%, and from the effects I wouldn't be surprised... We also met the town chief, who likely had many wives, who was pleased to welcome us to his village - one they are turning into a regular on the eco-tourism map. They were also passing around some snacks of sticky rice, and boiled pigs lung and liver - it's rude to refuse so we politely chewed as little as possible and swallowed the organs :S

Peter and I sucking down the jar-whiskey with the locals from the wedding party - what fun!


A few hours later, and few stories and songs sung about us, we'd left the party and sat down for dinner. Other foreigners had purchased similar packages, and had ended up at the village also. We shared our meal and evening continuing to drink with a Canadian, a French-Canadian, a German, and a guy from Holland - all really friendly. Off to our huts for a sleep under the mosquito net, then up for breakfast the next morning. Day two consisted of a easier trek along a maintained path down through a few small villages, across some streams, and down to the river where we were to start kayaking. The river was pretty easy, and only contained a few small rapids. We got stuck on a rock once, but after that it was clear sailing all the way to the point where we disembarked, and got drove back to our hotel. All in all it was a pretty cool experience, of which the highlight was definitely the village and experiencing the wedding party. The two days was only attended by Peter and myself. Lukas felt he wanted some serious photo time, and fancied exploring just villages on his own, rather than doing the activities. So he hired a guy with a bike, and spent his time traveling from village to village experiencing similar things to us, but in a more photo-opportunity creating context. He really did take some amazing pics, and he was much happier for it. So we met back up with him in town for what would be our last night in Luang Prabang. The following morning - this morning - we're booked on a flight to the south of the country, to a place called Pakse. Sat in the airport now killing some time as our flight is delayed a few hours. Our flight will take us on this updated-visual journey progress path.

Jon's-eye view kayaking along the river


Once there we hope to rent motorbikes again, and do a couple of day circuit around a network of roads - exploring the towns and villages in the south of the country before continuing on down into Cambodia.

Until next time.

Day 46 - Laos is a calling

Firstly, apologies for the length of the last post - I did ramble on a bit, but I had nearly two weeks of activity to document - we'd been busy :)

So we've left the freezing cold north of Vietnam, sold the bikes and used to dosh to fund a flight into Vientaine - the capital of Laos. The Vietnam leg of our the journey has come to an end, and the whole path we took from bottom to top can be seen here in the final visual journey-progress update map. We made the cross-country journey in a small Airbus 2-engine propeller plane that took just under 2 hours. The airport is just outside the capital, a quick taxi ride later and we were in the centre of the hotel district.

We read it can get busy in the peak season (now), but we had no idea it would be so hard to find accommodation. We tried a few hotels at first - all full. Lukas stayed with our bags and a beer, while Peter and I continued hunting - still no room, then I continued on my own. After nearly 2 hours I'd tried over 30 hotels, only 3 had room, and only one was (just) in our price range, and clean enough to consider spending and time sleeping there. So decision made, we checked in grabbed some grub and hit the sack.

The weather is sooo much nicer here - it's mid-high twenties, still a little overcast, but we can stop wearing two jumpers and a jacket to go outside. The shorts have been promoted up from the bottom of the backpack, and the jumpers relogated back down to the bottom where they belong! The city itself it pretty small, and there's not an awful lot to do here - quite a few silver-tourists around, which says it all really. So we started exploring our options for travel out of the city, and off into the countryside where we would see the countries real beauty. Luang Prabang in the north is a place we all agreed we would like to have a real good root around, but it's all very remote and isolated - we would need help, and the only morally sound way to do it here is through an eco-tourisim group. We found a major one in town and started researching options. We've spotted a 4-day tour we like the sound of, doing a combination of trekking, rafting and mountain biking through national parkland, but there was another place we wanted to check out en-route first; Vang Vieng. So after a day of exploring the city on knackered old girly pushbikes we'd rented for the day (loads of fun!), we were booked on a bus to head 180km north.

Locking up our girly bikes outside a riverside drinking hole


Laos certainly has some beautiful scenery, and we were sorely missing our bikes and experiencing the freedom (and speed - this was one slow-ass bus!) we'd grown accustomed to. Got ourselves accommodated in Vang Vieng , and instantly we could see what the guidebook meant about this being a backpackers haven - this town only exist because of backpackers, and all businesses here are geared to the travelling way of life. It's a rel party town with bars and restaurants pumping out music, or airing endless episodes of friends from DVD boxsets, as the hungover tourists all lie down on giant cushions transfixed to the tone of those familiar 6 voices. Our first evening there consisted of going to an island where there are 4 large open bars with bonfires and cheap BeerLao (the rather nice local beer that come in giant 640ml bottles), and travellers drink in their hundreds - a nice place to meet new people and share stories an tips for places visited.Brand new visual-journey progress map for Laos.

There are many caves in the surrounding area along a small river that are ripe for exploring. We wanted to do it on our own having been relatively independent so far, so rented more bikes - this time mountain bikes - and they were really really crap! Lukas went off doing his photography thing while Peter and I tried finding these caves. Found a couple that extend a few kilometers into the mountainside, but they were pretty straight, and not overly interesting. A cave we tried later was much better with loads of compartments and giant opening to root around in. You pay and entrance fee and are handed a torch, as they are completely pitch-black inside.

Inside the coolest cave - jet black wit only a lame flashlight to look around. And no one else for miles - we had them all to ourselves! Great fun!


Stopping for beers along the way, we met Lukas later in the evening, and decided to extend our stay another day to partake in the tubing everyone we met raved about. Particularly this Ozzy guy who we met in the evening who was pissed off his head, who we later discovered was returning home to Oz after living in Bournemouth and working in Walkabout there for two years - small world! I also met a fellow Bournemouth-ian later that night too - Bizarre!

Sipping down Lao-Lao (local rice-whiskey) cocktails from buckets - classy!


Tubing the next day started just after lunch, you pay your dosh, get given a giant rubber ring, and get carted 3km up stream to the drop point. Quick cocktail at the bar before getting wet, and you just jump in and let the current take you downstream. After 50m we were drinking beers on the bamboo-made bar of the first drinking hole of many en-route. There are hundred of people just floating along, with rope swings and zip-lines into the water that we were all having fun using. 6/7 hours, and countless BeerLao's later we'd run our of light and made it back to shore.

Tubing down the river, slowly being puled along, with the sun on your back, magnificent scenery, and a beer in your hand - we loved it! More images of us getting pissed up.


Next morning we had pretty monster hangovers, but had to sport them all day no another bus journey - which today took us to Luang Probang, a further 200+km further north. Updated visual-progress map. Again - scenery was breathtaking - as we drove around massive mountains, and through tiny village communities. I had a pretty rough time on-board, with a bout of travel sickness not helped by the remnants of the night before swishing around my stomach the whole way. But about 6/7 hours later we made it. Met a nice Australian girl, Mailey, on the minibus, and after sharing a ride into town together, we all found a hotel, and are sharing 2 rooms to help spread the cost. Tomorrow we intend to do the sights of the town, and book ourselves in for the next tour - probably some waterfalls in the area first, then the big 4-day adventure. After which,.. who knows?

Generally Laos has been a pleasant experience so far. It's very different to Vietnam. Everything in Laos seems to happen at a much slower pace. There are a lot less people here, and the majority of the population live in villages, not cities, and everything is just more rural. The people as a race are slightly different too - usually taller and broader with slightly redder skin, and different shaped faces. The building styles are different too, and conditions are generally much more basic - running water is by no means everywhere, but satellite TV seems to be, with many small wooden shacks sporting a 3m dish in the front garden. There is less traffic on the roads - most of the traffic is actually made up of cars here, not bikes, and no seems in a rush to get anywhere - politely waiting behind slower vehicles until tit's safe and clear to overtake - no horns!

The food has been better in my opinion, but we've only really been in touristy places so far.. expecting food quality to deteriorate rapidly once we start getting rural. But I don't think they eat dog here, so fingers crossed - no more nasty surprises when blindly ordering, if indeed there's even a choice.

That's it for today, but more to follow shortly ;) Over half-way through our time away already! So better get a move on - lots still to see! TTFN.

More fantastic images by Lukas as usual.

Day 44 - Hanoi, the North, and the end of an era.

Firstly, Lukas's arm is fine now. He was taking the antibiotics for a few days and it cleared right up - just a scab remains, and his arm has deflated back to a more ordinary size. We're very relieved about that! :) In the last post we had just arrived the countries capital - Hanoi. After much hunting around for a reasonably priced, decent hotel, we eventually found somewhere in the old-quarter down a quiet street, a few doors away from the city's main hostel, with a handy internet cafe opposite (always full of shouting, smelly young children), and a decent pizza restaurant around the corner that we frequented a few too many times in our days here. In total we spent 5 days in Hanoi, enjoying being back in a city, and experiencing the freedom of having choices of places to eat, drink, and shop once again - something you don't realise you miss until you have those luxuries back once again. We bought things like decent driving gloves, scarfs, a few extra layers of clothing, and replacement socks (pairs seem to go missing when we get laundry done?).

Our Vietnamese friend Lan (one of the girls we met on the boat trip in Nha Trang) happened to be in the city at the same time visiting family and friends over the festive period, so we spent some time with her looking around, shopping, eating, and helped us get some things sorted, like buying playing cards - something we found unusually difficult to do here. Also did some night-time exploration of bars and restaurants, taking some pictures of the city and lake illuminated at night.

The lake at night illuminated like the bat-signal, lights beam from the tortoise monument situated at the lakes centre


We spent a lot of time exploring the city on foot (driving in the traffic here was a little overwealming at first). Lukas and myself especially enjoyed roaming the street of the inner-city residential districts in the north - down narrow alleys, and winding streets, seeing how the people who lived here really lived. Being the start of the holiday season, children were not at school, and many people had finished work, so there was plenty of activity to observe. There was a real mixed bag of accommodation, anything from crumbling shacks, to near-mansions can exist on one street, and the variance in building height differs greatly from one building to the next. The most interesting stuff was seeing the people interact with each other and with their local environment - everything from buying goods, to chilling in a roadside bar, washing clothes, to taking out the trash to the meandering bin-man. We also passed through endless markets where we saw the usual array of S.E.Asian vegetables on offer, and the meat stalls with cuts arranged openly on the street ready to be cut to requirement. We also saw a level of meat preparation we had not seen before in the more urban marketplaces. Chickens still alive, crammed into small steel of wooden cages. From these you select your bird, which is then placed upside down in a large cone, it head sticking out of the small-end. Then its throat is cut, and is left to slowly bleed dry. Once empty the bird is plucked, and then cleavered to your specification. A far cry from selecting a prepared bird nearly wrapped in plastic from a supermarket shelf!

Chickens being bled dry, plucked, and washed for sale. You pick one and watch as they prepare your meat from being alive, to being ready to cook. Spared you the really gory one here - it's quite messy. Sorry vegetarians out there :)


We also saw the beginnings of the dinner we wish we never ate - dog meat :S Whole dog carcass that had been cooked, ready for selecting your cut, and dog heads to the side (assume they eat parts of this too?) with the teeth snarling back at you as the cooked flesh has pealed back from the skull, and simultaneously pet dogs roaming around the streets and being played with by children... a confusing level of contrast between pet and food. We have heard from people we've met crossing the Laos-Vietnam border, that you see trucks filled with dogs leaving Laos, destined for Vietnam - perhaps they only eat imported dog, and keep their home-bred varieties for pets...? Who knows. It just seems so different to the level of separation we're used to at home.

Dog meat stall in the residential street markets


We attempted to see a few tourist sights such as monuments and museums, but because of the approaching new years - everything was gearing down and either closing early, or was not open at all - but we wanted to spend the new years here to see how the Vietnamese celebrate it in their capital city. It was a little annoying, but we got to see parts of the city we might not have otherwise ventured into, and it gave us an opportunity to do some fun photography. Photography such as chasing these bikes carrying mini-orange trees around, apparently good luck to have in the home around new years - you couldn't look at a street without seeing a handful in your field of vision - they were everywhere! And the trees came in all shapes and sizes. Some bikes were grossly overloaded with the weight of these things, and we witnessed some funny moments where people were trying to secure them to their vehicles.

The bikes we were chasing around the city, trying to get the perfect shot. They really were everywhere!


New-years eve we went down to the lake in the old-quarter, where it seemed most of the city congregated to watch the fire works displays. It was really crowded, which was good as the penguin effect started to kick in and keep us warm enough to sit comfortably outside. As midnight came, the fireworks began (no countdown here), 15 minutes of big bangs, and pretty lights, finishing in a crescendo of colour, accompanied by 'oooooo's' of impressed on-lookers. Once the fireworks ended everyone instantly stood up, turned and bolted, attempting to avoid the inevitable gridlock that ensued.

Fireworks from the lake


We walked around the 3 major lakes here, through the parks, used taxi's, drove our bikes and walked through most of the districts. Never have we come to know a place we have stayed quite so well on our journey. Also there was the question of what to do with the bikes... We were really leaning towards wanting to just continue our journey on them into Laos, and continue all the way through Cambodia, Thailand, and back to Ho Chi Minh in the south of Vietnam for our flight home in April. But the border was a long way to go with no guarantees we could cross, meaning loosing a few days traveling to get somewhere we could sell them again, or if we got desperate enough - simply ditch them. So I grabbed my passport and went to visit the British Embassy for some advice. It was not good news. After some phoning around the border control people, they discovered it is technically possible to cross the border on a bike as a foreigner, but it would require more paperwork that we had time to do, which included getting our own Vietnamese driving licences for bikes and would also involve cooperation from the guys we originally bought them from down in Mu-Ni. Our hearts were broken :( Defiant as ever we thought we might just risk it, try and blag our way through the border control - say 'we rented them and were told we could continue our journey across the border'. Either way we had a journey still to make - heading 140km east to the coast, to a place called Halong bay.

Satellite view of the Gulf of Tonkin - Halong Bay, and it's 3000+ islands


Here we were to find some unique geographical features created when the sea levels were much higher, leaving 3000 or more incredible islands rising from the sea. The idea sounded great, and there are countless tours run from Hanoi city on a bus, but after checking the weather, and seeing no rain (only cold temperatures below 10 degrees C), we decided to drive again, stay overnight in Halong city on the coast and book our own tour boat when we arrived. The drive took longer than expected, and it was cold! We were starting to get tired of this shit weather, and longed for the days we wore t-shirts and shorts, caked in sunscreen, and had to stop driving in the middle of the days because it was too hot... We arrived in Halong city, and decided against trying to make it Cat Ba island (the largest island of the group, and the only one containing hotels), as it was getting dark (we'd slept in a little, and check out pretty late). Updated visual-journey progress. Finding a hotel was similar to our usual routine; start somewhere that look nice - too expensive, try every hotel in the area, find a reasonable room for a reasonable price, then haggle them down a little. Got a decent one in the end - the tallest we'd been in yet - 10 stories, and we were on the 8th floor, thank god there was an elevator this time :) Had the air-con unit yet - could pump out some serious heat, which was badly needed after our freezing journey there. We then got some grub and crashed out. The city itself it a bit grim - nothing to really do except go on tours, which is why most people do package tours direct from Hanoi. As the guidebook correctly states, 'Halong bay is the attraction, Halong city is not'. Waking the following morning we were going to drive to the dock where the boats depart, find out some info on the options available and to get ourselves a good deal. Got on the bikes that were outside the hotel (they always bring them inside for the bulk of the night), and Peter couldn't get his key in the bike... Turns out some little bastard had tried stealing it. They'd jammed a screwdriver into the ignition and snapped the main rod that the key activates and you turn to start the bike up. Bugger! Peter was not happy at all. It was also still TET (Vietnamese new years) holidays. Nowhere was open. So he proceeded to take his bodywork apart to get to the problem to see if it could be fixed. It could not. And the hotel people (who rightly felt a little guilty having not seen this crime take place right outside the completely glass fronted building), got a garage down the road to open especially and have a look. Peter's ignition is not a standard part, and the only ignition blocks they had didn't work in his bike, despite 2 hours of trying to wire them up without success. In the end they had to hard-wire the bike 'on', and to turn it off he has to unscrew the front panel, and manually unplug the electric block that connects the ignition to the rest of the bike. Peter was even more unhappy. 'He was pissed' just doesn't cut-it.

In the meantime, Lukas and myself made use of this time to research the options and costs of a tour - the only reason we'd come here. We'd need to book for the following day, as Peter's bike mishap and a little internet time took up most of our time... We had booked a tour that started at midday the following day, on a boat with groups of other tourists. The guy we booked from offered us 2 rooms (as you can only fit two people per room), for which we paid extra, and played a few games of cards to decide who get the luxury of their own space. We were also told by the guy that beer was $1 (16,000 dong), and we could bring our own booze on-board with no complications (both conditions identical to the boat trip we took in Nha Trang), so we took him for his word and handed over the cash for a 2 day, 1 night tour. The next day we checked out of the hotel, parked up at the docks, and boarded our tour boat. One we started to move, the tour guide lady on the boat told us that we now had to share our second room with a stranger. This didn't really bother us that much in principal, but we paid extra cash to have the second room for one person (paid the price for 2 people, to get 1 room as a luxury), so we obviously wanted the difference refunded. She wouldn't give it to us, and said we had to get it from the guy (the agent) who we bought the tickets from. We weren't sure we'd ever see him again, and started to kick up a bit of a fuss... We had to share otherwise this poor guy would have nowhere to sleep, but they purposely overbooked the boat to get as much money as possible from it. We'd already paid the fee for the extra space. This made us unhappy. Then we find out the beer on board the boat is double what we were promised, we became even unhappier. At our first stop we looked around some caves, which to be fair were pretty spectacular, but were ruined by some really crass lighting - it looked so Disney due to the array of colours used, you'd think you were in a Star Trek set, on another planet and Kirk would jump from behind an stalegtite at any moment.

Disney caves - spectacular, but lit up like a Christmas tree


On the islands there were the usual tourist shops, some selling beer for 13,000 (90 cents). So we bought a round of beers, and grabbed some waters for the night. When we arrived back on the boat they shoved a printed notice in our face telling us we had to pay a 15,000 dong cover charge for every can of drink we bought on board - another broken promise form the agent who sold us the tickets. We were furious, and outright refused to pay anything. We bought a couple of more beers onshore in protest, and started drinking them. Once we were back on the water, the guide sat down with us and tried convincing us to pay to charge. We refused, and a full-on argument broke out. We caused quite a scene, and Lukas and Peter were really shouting at the girl. I the end she asked to speak to just one person as we were all shouting, so me being the calmest/most-English, became the mediator, and put our case across. In tern she communicated back into Vietnamese to the captain, who was a real hot-head. They just weren't getting it. The guy they employ to sell tickets lied to us. We bough them on a set of conditions that were explained to us. They moved the goal posts and expect us to pay more money than we intended. There was no way were budging. It was simply the last straw, 3 pretty big lies, that cost us money on each occasion. It wasn't the money, it was the principal of just being lied to so much, we were disgusted with their behaviour - it's just not the way to do business, not in any country. Combined with Peter's bike, and the amount of lying we'd experienced at our expense in the country so far, we just snapped. They wouldn't budge either, and eventually treathened us with our passports (you have to hand them over everywhere you sleep for visa reasons, the boat was still a hotel effectively). We didn't care, and demanded to have police waiting at the shore when we docked to sort it out. We stopped drinking the beer we bought on-board to not further agitate the situation, and drank their beers instead, clocking up a pretty sizable bill. We drank our own drinks in our room at night while playing cards (also prohibited by their rules). The sight seeing wasn't great either. Although it was not raining, it was cloudy, and visibility was restricted to a few kilometers, so the beauty of the bay was mostly masked by mist. Was turning out to be a nightmare trip, and we began to regret ever leaving Hanoi.

About as good-a-view as we could get, given the weather conditions


In the end they magically produced another spare room for the other guy to stay in, and we got our room that we paid for to ourselves. Which made things a little better, and the trip improved after a spot of cyacking around a bay area, that allowed us to go exploring some of the caves large enough to enter at the waters edge. Some were quite large and we ventured in at least 10 metres, well at least far enough until we couldn't see a thing, got scared and started back padeling. It was quite tranquil, and pretty fun. That and the two ozzy girls we met on board whom we shared a few cards games with were the saving grace of the experience, and made us start to think, perhaps it was worth doing after all... maybe.

Peter and myself cyacking around the bay - was really quite pleasant and turned our lifted our spirits a little after the experience on the boat so far


Midday and we docked back at the port, and we paid the price for the beers we drank, but not the service charge on our own drinks, They then handed our passports over without saying a word. We'd won, back of the net! :) We're glad it didn't get out of hand again. So we refueled, loaded up the bikes and hit the road again. We were all ill by now from all the driving in the cold weather, and the boat trip was the nail in the coffin - temperatures were sooooo low we all came down with nasty colds. Mine seemed to be pretty bad, and I felt like I had the flu all the way back - my whole body ached, and was having some hot & cold flushes. The ride wasn't pleasant. On the way back I broke the chain on the pony - it just gave in and flew off. Had to push it (backwards - wouldn't go forwards as the chain was jammed) to a nearby garage that was shut due to the holiday. After some sad-face-pulling they agreed to open for us and see what they could do. No part shops were open, so this small garage had to mend the broken link, rather than replace the whole thing, which took a while, and once finished was only a temporary measure. I couldn't accelerate or down-shift fast- everything had to be gradual and slow, or the chain would simply break again, but she made it all the way back.

Pony having a brand new chain fitted later in Hanoi


We were all cold, ill, tired, and aching. We decided that's enough. We were planning to to go to Sapa in the north of the country, but with this crap weather it was pointless, as it's all about scenery up there, and so we agreed to sell the bikes back in Hanoi, and use the money to fund buying some plane tickets to somewhere warmer. The signs were telling us it's time to give them up. If we kept them our distance per day would be limited, and staying north would mean more cold, and we'd had over 3 weeks of naff weather since leaving the south, and we yerned for warmer climates. We checked ourselves back into the same hotel we were in several days before, and set about fixing the bikes up for sale. I got a brand new chain fitted and spark plug, Lukas's was okay, and Peters we couldn't fix due to the unavailability of the part until the stores reopened fully in a few days time. We also gave the bikes a proper cleaning - 50p to have 3 people slaving over the cleaning of a bike for 20 minutes. Same as a can of coke over here.

Pony getting the cleaning of a lifetime


We composed an advertisement, and thanks to some brilliantly rendered hand-typography by myself, and some spot on distribution by Lukas around town, we had a couple fo phonecalls within hours. We were aiming at selling to other travellers, and not wanting to rip anyone off, and needing a fast sale, we set the price at $200 a piece - trying to sell them as a trio, but willing to split if neccessary.

The ad we photocopied and posted around town


The viewings went well. The first couple to look were only interested in one bike, and low and behold they preferred the Pony! She was very flattered. Quick fix and a wash, and she was good as new, and the most attractive again :). But the first phone call we received was from a pair of American travellers, who wanted 2 bikes, and we would rather shift 2 at once and deal with the 3rd separately. After another successful viewing, the Pony trumped the others again, and thankfully we convinced them (or rather they convinced themselves after test driving) that Peters bike with the broken ignition was the better buy - it really is the best bike of the three, we just didn't have the time to hang around for the part and get it fixed. It still worked, you just have to unscrew a panel to get it going first. And so we were glad the people who'd be travelling had the two best bikes to help them get there. They wanted to sleep on it, but they seemed really keen on the idea. Reserving those two bikes for them, we went back to the German couple who were living here, and informed them Lukas' bike remained if they wanted it. And they decided to take it. Nothing wrong with it, was in good shape, just the one least suited to longer distances, as her top speed was only around 70kmph. So one sold, and another deal to seal in the morning. We went out and blew a silly amount of money on some French red, followed by some beers, and a decent meal. The next morning our heads ached, but awoke to receive a call from the young Americans, Al & Aliah; sealed! They wanted the bikes. Best way to start a day - with good news. We were thrilled the bikes would be doing our journey in reverse, and continuing to carry fellow travellers across this great land. So we had our last day with them, bought flights to Vientaine, Laos, with the money for the following day, signed over the bikes and then went for dinner with our bikes new owners to share travelling tips. We told them of the route we took - best route to use, and good places to stop off en-route, and in-tern they shared their experiences they'd already had in Laos, and highlighted a few things we should try and do as our journey continues. It was quite an emotional experience parting with the motors, and I had to take the pony for one last spin around town before handing her over. The experience was so different to when I first tried driving her, all her quirks i'd learnt to cope with and use to my advantage, I was a good driver now, and we'd spent enough time in the city to have a really good drive around in traffic, and be more than confident of my surroundings, and location. It was a good last drive, and I felt sad letting her go. I will miss that old bike.

Lukas saying good bye to his Ruzenka


That brings us bang up to date. Just checked out of the hotel and waiting for the Taxi to take us to the airport, then onto Laos, and more adventures in teh second country in our journey. Until next time.



More photos from Lukas as usual.

Day 34 – Driving in Vietnam; the art of staying alive

So the last blog post was quite long, but there were still a few things I forgot to put in... Apologies again for writing a lot, but the rainy days and nights give us little to do, so I sit writing these things to alleviate boredom, then publish when I can get a connection :)

Firstly, I got myself a suit made in Hoi An! A brand new tailored shiny suit (my first ever!), made from cashmere wool in dark grey, fits like a charm – they made it in 7 hours, and I tried it on the very next day. Looks smashing. Getting it posted home. 30 quid! Bargin!

Secondly the computers we were using in our hotel were really bad, and infected with a virus that caused the machines to mess up enough that I lost all my media on my iPod (so now it's useless until I return home and update it again), and Lukas lost a few hours work resizing images and typing his blog. We managed to blow one of the machines up completely (something we seems to manage almost everywhere we go), and the rest made us so frustrated we almost threw them into the street. They're mostly around 8 years old, and the connection speeds slow here, so it can be a little painful and frustrating at times... How did we used to cope? ;)

The bikes were in need of fixing up a little again too. The hungry pony needed new rear brakes (I'd worn them down to the metal so they no longer worked without locking like a handbrake), Peter got his brakes done too and Lukas needed some wiring to make his headlights work. Once all this was done we felt safe enough to hit the road again.

Back to driving...

Now that we've covered nearly 2,500km since buying the bikes (including the everyday use and getting lost a lot, not just our journey-progress) I wanted to take this opportunity to write a little about the roads over here, and what an experience it is to drive on them.

You drive on the right over here. The first rule is size matters. The second rule is, there are no more rules...! The only kind of priority on the roads is one of scale: I'm bigger than you so get out of my way or I'll squash you. That's it. Everything else is just survival of the most aware. And considering how aware you need to be to stay alive, its amazing to see most divers not looking around them or using their mirrors.

The traffic on the roads consists of:
90% motorbikes (most of which are 100cc or smaller) and bicycles
5% HGV's, trucks, buses & coaches
4.5% assorted vans
0.5% cars
The roads are not limited to vechicles. You'll also encounter some people on foot, and every type of animal imaginable including chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, pigs, cows, and oxen.

Whizzing past cows freely roaming on the road


Families of goats often appear on the more mountainous roads


A bike very rarely has just one person on-board. Its much more common to see at least 2 people, and we've seen as many as 5 (a whole family!). Even when there's 2 people, the one at the back if often carrying something rediculously large, like a large plate glass window.

Family (of 4) on bikes


Some bikes are loaded with furniture, or have tens of ducks or chickens fastened (still alive and quacking/clucking) by their feet, likely destined for some market. We've seen bikes with at least 6 goats (hopefully dead) tied to them, doing 60kph down the motorway! Adn the other day a bike with 2 large pigs (still alive) strapped upside down to the back. You even see mothers with a new born baby cradled in one arm, driving the bike with the other. Push bikes are often used to move large amounts if materials around, and when the load gets too large to move under man power, just use a motorbike to push it along the street.

Man on bike with chickens


As you approach any junction you encounter you always need to be aware and slow down as with no priority given to traffic going in any particular direction, you get this cross-hatching effect where the bikes weave in and out of each other trying to avoid an impact. Any vehicle turning onto one road from another never stops to check if its clear... Instead, without even looking, the driver swerves onto to road, expecting drivers already in the flow of traffic to avoid them. If you are currently being overtaken by someone on your left this often gives you no choice but to slam on your brakes and hope to avoid a collision. Drivers crossing traffic don't stop either, they simply drive right at oncoming traffic (sometimes for hundreds of metres) until they see an opportunity to swerve onto the correct side of the road. There are traffic lights at a few major junctions in larger cities, but the red signal still doesn't stop a lot of people. There is this nifty countdown timer telling you how much time remains on the current colour, but nearly all use this as a way to skip the lights prematurely.

Indication when turning is not seen as a necessity and drivers often swerve wildly across traffic to make their turning. Seeing someone slow down is often all the indication you get. Most bikes don't have working indicators, some drive at night with no working lights, and nearly every bike has no juice in the battery - requiring the bike to be kick-started to get things going (including ours).

Cars, being larger, can do whatever they wish, and often block roads with maneuvers forcing all traffic to grind to a halt. You can even see coaches doing a three-point-turn on a motorway!

There are 3 main types of environment to drive in, the most manic of which are cities. The centre of any city is always really busy, and gets worse at rush hours. You're usually sharing your immediate personal space around the bike with 4/5 others. If you're brave enough to walk you usually find yourself relegated to the gutter as pavements are often coated in stuff from shops or more bikes parked up. They have zebra-crossings here with a sign and everything telling drivers to be aware of pedestrians, but pedestrians are smaller than bikes so the bikes just plough on through.

Average volume of traffic in Siagon at junction


Motorways are a real mixed bag. At times they can be flat, dull, and rammed with coaches and large slow moving trucks filled with some raw material. Often covered in dust, dirt or sand, you get filthy whether it's wet or dry. Other times the traffic clears, you have the roads to yourself and the drive and quality of scenery just blows you away (usually the highland roads). Wherever you are there's always random animals to avoid, wandering across the road without a care in the world. Sometimes entire herds are ushered down the road for kilometres by children with sticks, likely moving them from one grazing site to the next. Others just seem to be wondering freely. We saw a pretty horrific accident where a bus had just collided with a bull. The front of the bus was pretty smashed up and bits of it were scattered across the road. The poor bull looked paralysed, only able to move its head. Sat on the middle of the motorway with a petrified look of pain in its eyes, wanting to crawl away and die on its own somewhere. Instead waiting while crowds gathered, probably only a few minutes before someone came along to put it out of its misery. We were guided past with the rest of the traffic. Was pretty sad thing to see, but inevitable with the road conditions out here.

One example of some stunning scenery passed along the journey


The final type of roads consists of everything else; smaller roads outside cities that range from anything from a half decent tarmac road that comfortably fits a lane of traffic in both directions, to a mud path that is so wrecked you struggle to get out of first gear. These can be the most fun to drive along, but are always to slowest!

No road - just mud path


The road conditions I think I've mentioned before - they really are pretty bad, but steadily improving as we travel north. Avoiding potholes has become so commonplace, that I'm thinking of turning pro. Road works and giant sections of missing tarmac, that appear to have been extracted from the earth by UFO's, are just the way things are here - always in need of repair, and you just have to pay attention to where you're going more.

All in all, compared to the driving experiences we're used to at home - it's vastly different here. But somehow, despite all the additional dangers, and carelessness of the drivers on the roads - the people here make it work. There are more accidents yes, and we've seen the aftermath of many on our travels (mostly flipped trucks forced off the roads by buses overtaking other large vehicles at 100 around blind corners), but the cow is the only casualty we've witnessed. Cities you have to drive slower due to congestion, and although impacts are frequent they are at such low speeds that it's almost impossible to get hurt. As lawless and crazy as it seems to us, they make it work, and because of the additional dangers that exist here, in some respects, I'd say most drivers are better than back home. And apart from the bad weather, there hasn't been a second of the experience of driving here with our own bikes we haven't really enjoyed. I'm so glad we decided to see the country this way - it's made such a difference, and given us so much more freedom than if we'd simply used coaches to jump from A to B.

Continuing with our journey

So we made it to Hue with no problems, and our updated visual-journey plan, can be seen here.

It was another lovely journey (started off a little wet, but improved as we progressed) where we traveled north along the coast, past glorious looking beaches (well they would be if the sun was out), sleepy towns where everyone waves and shouts hi as you pass, and mountain ranges that lift you up into the clouds (it's cold in those things!). We had a lot of fun on this journey!

A friendly cloud stops by to say hello as we drive through it, ascending up into the mountains


Hue was a lovely place - really old city right in the centre of the country - near the DMZ (demilitarised zone) that split the country in two along the river Ben Hai. Unfortunately for us the weather didn't improve, it got worse. The rain continued to fall, and the sun didn't come out at all. It was pretty miserable - visibility was severely restricted due to the constant drizzle, and it severely impacted our sight-seeing and travel plans. Luckily for us there was plenty to do in walking distance, and the restaurants around our hotel were really nice, so we were well fed, and occupied enough for our 2 days there. While there we explored some ancient tombs of Emperors of old, and the large citadel in the city centre; surrounded by a 10m thick wall that encompasses the old-town, with an inner citadel that used to be the residence of an emperor about 200 years ago - ruins are all that remains now, some badly restored sections and buildings, and a tennis court? Both excursions were more examples of poor restoration and care-taking of the countries historical treasures. Pictures sucked a little due to the weather, but it was good to be out and doing things.

Inside the wet citadel - sprawling acres of ruins, temples, and dwellings of the Emperor


After a look at the weather forecast - it seemed a little bleak - temperatures were falling, and there was no end in sight to the never ending rain. We had to keep moving, we had a long distance to travel to reach Hanoi (the countries capital in the north), and so did some shopping to buy a couple of rain macks - well more like colourful capes that all the locals seemed to wear to protect themselves while driving in the rain. Proud of our new purchases, and convinced they'd help protect us from the elements, we rested in temperatures cold enough enough to see your own breath (this is inside our hotel room!), packed up and set sail again. As predicted it continued to rain pretty consistently, and our new waterproof attire seemed to be doing it's job - only the bottom of our legs were getting wet (these things are full-length on Vietnamese people, but just cover our knees) - a vast improvement!

After a few tens of kilometres, the toll of the pounding rain and strong winds started to show on our capes. They simple started to fall apart and the rain started to leak into the newly made tears... It was pretty funny really. Lukas's was clearly the worst. By the half-way point he looked like he'd gone ten rounds with a tiger - his cape was completely ripped to shreds. I was laughing for at least half an hour driving behind him as pieces tore off and flew past my head at 60kmph. Hilarious! Our optimistic target for the day was over 200km away, and the conditions after 3/4 hours started got worse, and really started to get us down, it quickly became unbearable again. We had no choice but to stop at a town called Dong Hoi - a small midway town where they're definitely not used to seeing tourists, and there was very little to do except wander the streets. We made the focus of our time there finding new waterproof capes - better ones! We also bought some gloves to protect our hands from the bitter winds, that weren't water proof at all, and died our hands purple. And after a sprint around the local market, we found what seemed to be much better jackets. A dinner, sleep and breakfast later, we were back on the road with our improved jackets. We stayed drier, and the jackets stayed in one piece - it made things a lot more bearable.

Lukas' rain mack after a frew hours of wind and rain - the back looked much worse! :)


Again we drove as long as long as we could bear in the rain, to the next stop-over, a place called Ha Tinh; again nothing to really do except check in, get a taxi to a mediocre restaurant, go to bed and prepare for more of the same as our journey would continue the next morning... After another soaking experience we made it to the next big city - Vinh. Updated visual journey progress.

Vinh was another town not used to tourists, and finding a hotel was as difficult as ever. Once settled, we sat down and decided that there simply was no way we could continue in this weather another day - we'd just had enough, it had beaten us. We needed a break, and we were in the middle of nowhere (this section of the country has little to offer travelers of any kind), with 2/3 days of driving (at bike pace) to reach our target destination of Hanoi. We decided we would try doing the bus thing again - stacking the bikes on the roof and pay to be taken the distance. So off to the bus station where we found a really helpful chap, who spoke English pretty well after spending some time in London with his friend who is a black-cab driver. We were able to make a deal to take us and the bikes to Hanoi, although this time they removed rows of seats from within the bus and put our motorised stallions inside - the bikes were much happier for it.

No snakes this time, but a similar deal - where the guy hung from the moving bus soliciting fares from the street until the bus was bursting. The driver was so mad, that you couldn't bring yourself to look out the windscreen - it was just too terrifying. You just had to close your eyes and thin of something else.On-board we met a handful of Australian travelers this time who we shared the back seats with. Two friendly girls who had just arrived from Laos, at the back-end of their travels finishing in Vietnam before returning home, and one guy called Jeff, who had been cycling (yes you heard it - cycling) from Barcelona, back home to Oz!!! He has crossed Europe, the Middle-East, and Asia, again just arriving from Loas, he was hitching a ride with his bike to the north of Vietnam (again to avoid the weather), before traveling it's whole length from north to south. He'd clocked up 18,000km since April when he left, and he has more than 6 months before he's thinking of returning home. He carries a tent with him and camps wherever he wants en-route, only using cities to sleep when he needs a break. I couldn't quite decide if he was an inspiration, or just crazy, either way he seemed like a nice chap, and made the bus journey pass quicker. He sure had some tales to tell! :)

And so we arrived in Hanoi. Updated visual journey progress. We're here for a good few days now - getting clothes washed, eating some good food, doing some sites, and waiting for the Chinese/lunar new year celebrations that are in about 3 days time - should be good!

Poor old Lukas got bitten about 5 days ago in Hue in the night, and it had swelled up quite large. It didn't go away and got bigger and bigger, until yesterday his entire arm was swollen to about 1.5 times it's usual size, and the epicentre was starting to ooze some pretty horrible liquids... A bit worried we took him to the hospital this morning to get checked out. Fortunately he'd improved overnight thanks to the antibiotics Peter had bought with him, but it still needed looking at as he pulled a centimetre square lump of solid puss from it this morning (YUK!!!), which left a rather sizable hole in his arm that needed properly cleaning and sealing. So that what's we did at the hospital, where we were told he had a soft-tissue infection, and he was given a pile of new antibiotics and some anti-inflammatory tablets to take for the next week.

Lukas and his gamy arm - eeeeewwwwww :S


He all good - not to worry. We're all just glad he's on the mend. Ahead of us we have a trip to Halong bay which is supposed to be stunning, but we need better weather really. And we've some tough decisions to make regarding the bikes - do we sell up at this point and continue by bus, or can we find a way to get the paperwork needed to cross the boarder into Laos to continue the journey how we'd prefer - at our own pace, on the back on my Lady Pony, with the boys in my mirrors tearing along mountain roads (well I'm usually at the back - I drive too fast apparently). Tune in next time to find out! TTFN.


And yes Bazza – they really do eat that shit! And worse!