Minh's Motorbike Tour Day 1

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Traditional hill tribe music

Mon 12th
On Saturday i was asked by a guy if I had heard of the Easy Riders. I'd been told about them by at least 3 people and told I had to do it. They are Motorbikers who take you from city to city showing you the sites from a locals point of veiw. However there is no real way of contacting them you just have to wait for them to come to you. So when Minh approached me and said I could cover the ground I wanted to cover in 3 days I couldn't resist. I avoided telling my parents that I was getting on the back of a motorbike untill I was safe at the other end (and they read this) no point them worrying.

So i met Minh at the cafe 2 doors down from where I was staying. While I ate breakfast he loaded my huge bag onto the back of his bike. After fitting 2 bags on the back (one was his) he strapped my hand lugage onto the front. Helmets were on and we set out of the city along the coastline before turning inland. He stopped the biker and told me about the shrip farms that we were passing. Did you know an adult pregnant shrimp found in the sea sells for a lot of money. Next stop was a brick factory town where they dig the mug from the ground mix with water, mould to shape and fire in kilns.
He showed me where there was no vegitation after the US Napalmed the are so they could see the enemy. Feilds full of beautiful whitre trees surrounded us with a fragrant smell which turned out to be coffee plantations.
After lunch I stopped to have some white corn from a stall and then we passed feilds of sticky corn. We saw where the locals cut the rocks into slabs by hand and then finally we arricved at a large lake where some of the minority people live. We are staying in along house (although it is different from the ones in Borneo) but it is a purpose built tourist one although not many tourist here- mostly easy riders.
We had performaces of music and dance by the locals- its amazing the different sounds from bamboo and gongs you can get. We also tried there rice wine.

So far Easy riders is living up to expectations- so much in one day.

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Photos

Brick making machine and slicer
They put mud in and the brick shapes come out like a long sausage. They get stamped with company brand and then sliced.

Effects of the war
On the near hillside there is no veggitation growing because the US sprayed large quantities of chemical defoliants in an effort to reduce the cover available to enemy combatants as it kills the leaves and so reduces cover.

Coffe plants
aren't they pretty and smell good too- sweet like honey. I much prefer coffee like this than roasted!

Drying out flour potatoe
they are trying to develope a fuel from this.
They cut the potatoes (on the right) into slices adn then spreed them out to dry.

Stone being cut from the rock on the left
Not sure if its granite or marble.

Making the rice wine
The rice wine is not liquid in the pot so they pore water into it as you drink from it.

Comments

[DDLL (concerned parent)]

Safe ?
Glad that you survived the bike (if not the driver !). Glad to see the helmet but not so happy about the sleeveless arms which would have been a bit of a mess in a fall.

[Tamsin]

No sleeves
I put on a long sleeves when on the bike- to protect from sun aswell as fall.