After first day on Motorbike

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Day one and in the evening. I have survived. I am actually kind of blown away by where I am at right now. Which by the way I really don't know where I am at. I kind of think somewhere NE of Lao Cai. My guide Khun speaks almost no English. Actually let me rephrase that. He dosn't really speak any English. And I still cant even say thank you in vietnamese yet correctly after a week. So he and I are spending tons of time in deep philosaphical conversations. On a side note what is the deal with charades here? In the states if you made the motion of brushing your teeth people would know you meant to brush your teeth. I don't think I have had one charade actually work yet. Its probablly that I just suck at it but I was wondering if others noticed the same?

We left Lao Cai in the rain this morning. I pretty much just put myself in the mindset that I signed up for a week of this. Plus, its not like I can just change my mind and go home. I am so happy now that I brought the raincoat and the backpack rain cover. We were able to get all my stuff covered and dry and on the bikes. Its probablly been 10 years since I had my motorcycle, so I expected to be a bit rusty. Which I was. I dont count the scooter ride we all did on Cat Ba island. The Minsk is a pretty underpowered, simply built, no frills bike. Which is probablly why its popular for this kind of trip. Its larger then the little scooters everyone drives and has more ground clearance. Most importantly though is the fact that you can pretty much work on the things with your bare hands and everyone from infants to the elderly knows how to pretty much strip one down and rebuild the engine on the spot. My guide has 2 saddle bags filled with enough parts that he can rebuild an entire engine on the side of the road.. The Minsk is a russian built motorcycle and its a 2 stroke so oil has to be mixed into the gas. Its loud, it smokes, and it feels alot like ridiing on the back of a chainsaw only with wheels.

Which came in handy today as he broke down about 2 times. However in less than 10 minutes he had figured it out and was back up and running. I have have the newer, more powerful one thank god. I still spent a lot of time in first and second gear getting up some of the passes we crossed today. One thing nice though was that the rain stopped by around noon.

For awhile we just followed a normal sized road out of town and followed a river. After about an hour maybe the mtns just kept getting more rugged and bigger and bigger. We hit a small town and he made a right turn onto a dirt road. Well, the term dirt is being generous. It was a mud road. We went about 5 miles on that straigt into the back woods. We came over a small hill and into a very little village having a market. Everyone is just walking in the mud and the stalls are set up on either side.

In one place they had 6 homemade pool tables and most of the men and boys seemed to be gathered around while they played some game that was a combination of pool and cards. Everytime they hit a ball in they drew a card. not sure what was happening but this game seems to be everywhere. There was a table set up in almost every village we passed. It must be a fun game as they were all into it with small money changing hands constantly.

Here, people where more shy then back in Hanoi. I would smile and nod, or smile and say hello and people would nod but then move away quickly. Not one person today tried to sell me a single thing either. We have left the main trail where normal tourists go. One thing here happened though that was quite embarrassing was when I went to get on the bike I could tell about 40 or 50 villagers all started to watch me to see my amazing motorcycle skills. As I get on the bike I cant get the kick start to work with enough force. So as I get off the bike my pants leg catches something and i fall on the ground in the mud with the bike falling over on me. Here I am sitting in the mud with my motorcycle pinning me down. A kind villager walking by grabbed the bike and lifted it off me so I could get up. Half the village thought it was the funniest thing since the 3 stooges.

After we left the market and rode up into the Tonkenese alps, it dawned on me that I had not seen a single tourist or white person in almost 2 hours. I also then noticed that where we were going was not passable by cars and trucks. We had truly gone into the back country now. If ever in my life I felt like an explorer it was now. It really hit me about where I was when my guide at a pullover, pointed at a small road on the other side of a very narrow valley and stated that the road and hill was in China. Here I was on a tiny mtn path on my little dirt bike surrounded by amazing jungle covered mtns and looking at China just across from he. It really makes you slow down on the road thats for sure. You know that feeling you get when someone hands you a baby to carry across a pit filled with snakes? You know how carefully you take each step? I was getting that same feeling now. You get sick or hurt here not sure what would happen. I have to say out of all my trips I have done, this one has to be the most remote.

Its at this point that I feel inadequete trying to describe the scenery and the villages. I am also bummed I am not a better photographer or have better gear. It was so exotic and so beautiful as to be past my non existant ability as a writer to paint a picture on how beautiful it is. And I am afraid that my pictures just don't do it justice. We ended the day at a small local lodge. There is a family here and they have 2 rooms. The rooms were clean and simple. They served me lunch and dinner which has been interesting. Since no one speaks English I cant ask what I am eating. So I am just using my better judgement. I am not super huge into trying wierd or exoctic foods. So I have found some things very tasty but because I dont know what it is my mind wont let me just chow down on it. Because of that I have not been eating too much which is probablly good as I could definitly use to lose a pound or twenty. This was confirmined when a vietnamese man in the market today walked by and rubbed my belly.

My guide Zhun and I walked about 2 or 3 miles up a stone path that lead to the top of the mtn here. At the top was a large village of the Red Hmong. They are named by colors based on what the women wear. They are an ethnic minority and do not speak Vietnamese so even my guide could not communicate with them. They are very shy and will not try to really make contact. Before we left though a man coming home could speak Vietnamese and invited us to his hut. Wow, what an eye opener. The floor is just dirt worn really shiny by decades of people on it. Everyone is dirty all the time. No real furniture and government posters were on the wall to cover gaps in the wood and the planks. The 4 children all just stood and stared. None of them would smile. The wife was in the adjoining room squatting down on the floor chopping up stuff for dinner I would imagine. She glanced up to see us then turned her back and never once stopped working while we were there. It does seem unbalanced that the women in most cultures seem to work the hardest.

The man had us sit down on tiny plastic chairs and he served us some tea. I am a bit worried as at the moment I took one little sip and swallowed it then realized that I should not have drank the water here. It was very hot but you just dont know. I am hoping I dont pay for that sip. in an alcove was 2 small raised bamboo mats that were beds and a TV in between them. He was proud of the TV and had the children plug it in. The man has a satelite dish and got perfect reception. We sat for a while watching some chinese TV. The kids were in front of it and not moving. I bet there are not many places in the world left you can go where there is no TV.

Back to lodge, a small bowl of rice and some other stuff I still dont know what it is, and then I was as exhausted as I have been in awhile and off to dream world. Dreaming of 4 inch long beetles climbing up my bed. (there was one of those by where you wash your hands. They turned it over on its back so it cant get away and its like a pet now or something) Oh and by the way I am also very glad to have brought my little silk sleeping bag. So handy for situations just like this. Sweet dreams and signing off.

Dave

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Comments

[Janice]

Which one are you?Larry,Curly or Moe?
Dave, I'm sorry but that was a funny story about the motorcycle! I bet you made their year with that one! You are legend in that village now. I also admire your courage. This part of the trip with it being so remote would be very difficult for me, so rock on!