Advertisement
Published: January 29th 2007
Edit Blog Post
A Potential Nightmare made Pleasant
Although we did spend a night in the cells, the doors were kept un-locked. Tensions eased at the mere mention of "Manchester United"! Day 239, 25th January
Hanoi
We decided to stay onother day in this mad city, besides, it was raining! After breakfast of fried-eggs on French bread, I went off to the fabric shop I’d been to yesterday to pick up my silk sleeping-bag liner I’d had made for $6. On the way back there was another classic motorbike accident - I’ve stopped counting them now.
The rest of the day we spent eating and drinking beer-hoi in the foodhall opposite our hostel. Toby was still paranoid about the gay German cyclist experience while we supped our beers. But, I reckon he’s sussing out that one of us, actually me, is involved in this farce. We crashed out early, except Nick.
Just after midnight Nick barged into the room with two women, one was the Swedish girl he’d had fun with on Cat Ba, another from Germany. They started making out on the middle bed until Tobes got angry and made them put the matress between my bed and the balcony. I tried to sleep but then felt someone kneeding one of my bum-cheeks! This was quite pleasant until I heard Nick laugh and then noticed it was
Mean streets of Hanoi
Leaving the capital, but not the mopeds - they were ever present. his hand! This resulted in the unanamous decision to put them out on the balcony with just a matress and one sheet…
Day 240, 26th January
Hanoi - Ha Dong - My Duc
As the sun rose, a desperate naked Nick and girl began to hammer on the locked balcony doors. We took our time to open them thinking that the locals should be treated to this extraordinary show. At 9am we’d had breakfast and were ready to go, except Rory. He hadn’t come home last night?
At 11am, a bleary-eyed grinning Rory appeared. He’d spent the night with a woman he’d met at the British Council meeting the other day. The guy was surprised to learn that he’d also had a Swedish girl waiting for him in his hostel bed all night! Lucky bastard!
We eventually set off at 1pm, the latest we’d ever set off up to present. It always seems hard to leave a town or a city where you have great times and lots of fun. You just want the party to go on and on, and want that it never ends. We’ve met people who have lived in cities
Food Wrapper
You don't know what it is till you open it. with that view, sometimes for months and months. But, we’ve found these people to be bitter and disillusioned after a long time. Maybe you get too used to it, it’s not exotic anymore, it becomes like living at home, you get to know all the buracracy and crap associated with living permanently in a place - and sadly, once you leave that place, you never end up going back.
It was 10 miles of city cycling, through hoardes of honking mopeds, before we ended up on a bumpy road heading south, the wrong road. We were on the busy state highway one. We rode this crazy road for an hour before veering off on a quiet road to the west which was un-signposted and went through quiet, rural villages. The curiosity-factor was prevalent again, loads of folks flocked to the sides of the road to stare at us. The roads became virtually empty apart from cyclists and farm animals. The landscape was flat with rows of paddy-fields with loads of people working in them up to their knees in water. A thought crossed my mind - “Do they go to the side of the field when they want to
Flat Paddy Fields
After escaping Hanoi, the landscape was pretty flat and heavily cultivated, not much of a chance to pitch 6 tents unseen... piss”?
With no map of the area, we just used gut-feeling for directions, and got competely lost and ended up in the middle of no-where when it began to get dark. After a 40-mile-day, we started to search for a place to camp, there was really no-where. Eventully we found some banana trees on a patch of land next to paddys, and decided that we have to camp now or not camp at all. As we were pitching, we attracted the attention of the naughtiest and cheekiest kids we’d ever met. Over a dozen who wouldn’t leave us alone. When they began to at first throw mud, and then stones, we began to lose our rag. Stephane lost it when a kid lobbed a lump of mud at his tent. He gave chase, collared the kid, and gave his a hefty boot up the arse. We all thought that the kid deserved it, but also wished it hadn’t come to that.
Shortly after that, two local men appeared and produce official-looking ID cards. They motioned for us to follw - we refused - they went. Half-an-hour later they returned, with re-inforcements, and handcuffs! The choice was simple -
Toby on Taxi-bike
I took this pic of Toby on our last full day in Hanoi. A Hair-Raising dash ending with "Hanoi-Rash" - the burn travellers get on their ankles from the bikes hot exhaust! either pull down the tents and follow them, or be forcibly moved. We chose the first option. In the pitch dark, we followed the men by torchlight a mile or so to a walled-compound. It became apparent that this was the local army garrison and that we were in deep shit!
Two military types took control and ushered the six of us into two cells with big steel doors. With three of us in each cell, the doors clanked shut and we waited. A steely-faced, emotionless man appeared who seemed to be in charge. We were all crammed into one room now. The question was, “Where are you from”. “America, England, Canada, England, Quebec”. The man’s expression showed no compassion. When I said “England” I also added “near Manchester”. This was the key word - Manchester. The man’s face broke into a broad smile as he said the magical words, “Manchester United”! He was a fan, a big fan. And to have somebody here from Manchester was a miracle for him. I no time we were shown his office, his collection of Man United videos, posters, banners - he was like a big excited kid. He sent a soldier
The Military Commander & I
Breaking the ice over liquor and football talk in the military compound. off on his moped to get some local moonshine. The rest of the evening was spent drinking something that tasted like Russian tractor-fuel, and reciting the names of Man United players over the last years, none of whom I knew, cos I’m not a Man United fan!
Total Miles: 10738.84 Todays Miles: 44.49 Average speed: 11.4 Time on bike: 3:51
Advertisement
Tot: 0.066s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 7; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0491s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb