February 14, 2007 by zankbennett.

Arrived without missing a flight into Melbourne on the 10th after an overnight flight from Bali.  Not much sleep going on there.
Arrived and got in touch with a friend of a friend, Liz.  Spend the first night in a hostel and the next night at Liz’s house with the parents and all.  Really good people.  Liz, you rock!  Thanks so much!  That Sunday was the St Kilda festival in St Kilda.  Out of control.  Like 100,000 people (more?) in the streets for a giant, free live-music festival with X-games events and dance stages.  Really good time, and right on the water.  Had a full day there.  I’m getting so sunburned from the doxycycline I’m still taking as a malaria prophylactic and it increases photo sensitivity
some pics….

Diego, Liz and I…somewhere dancing…

St Kilda Festival!  Having way too much fun.

Sunset…more of my antics

The next night, coordinated to get together with another friend of a friend in St Kilda, Spado.  We have had a great couple days and I’m seeing tons of the city.  Good times.
 Then, on Monday, took a tour of the Great Ocean Road, going south from Melbourne.  Lots of amazing coastline.  Koala bears in the trees and great people on the bus…save the driver!!!  He must have skipped the stabilization drugs that day.   He actually left four of us at one point and took the 20 others to the next site…ok, so we hitch-hiked to the next spot ourselves…as he passes us, coming back to look.  It was hilarious, or at least it really is now.  His name?  Boom Boom Eddie.  I kid not.

The crew at Loch Ard Gorge. Tenia, me, Eimear and Tony.   Gorgeous location.

Group antics…on our own, private tour!

Thanks for the pic, Tony!

Sunset from the gas station.

Still keen for the jump.

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February 14, 2007 by zankbennett.

Left Bali after far too few days.  Had tons of great surfing and really enjoyed meeting the people there.   They are just simply the kindest, gentlest people I’ve encountered on this trip.
Managed to step on a sea urchin…something I’ve always wondered about…how would it feel?  The walk across the reef was so punishing….about 150 meters at medium to low tide, which took me about 20 minutes!

The reef-walk out to the break.  Amazing wave…but F A R out there.

Sunset north of the town.

How priceless is THIS!?

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February 7, 2007 by zankbennett.

Got in last night from Singapore (see Hong Kong) on an evening flight. Checked into a hotel. $4/night. Perfect. One fitted sheet and a pillow. That was the extent of the ‘linen’. Ha ha. No toilet paper, towels…not even a shower head, just a pipe coming out of the wall. Really, do I need a big fancy shower head….or anything but tap-temp water?
The dresser has doors that open. Inside is lots of writing. I wouldn’t call most of it graffiti; it’s more informative.
My favorites are the message about bed bugs. For those outside the ‘know’ with bed bugs, they’re real! I’ve heard wacky stories about itching for days after a good night of being bitten. It’s in all the travel books. Anyway, so the writings in the dresser report the presence of bedbugs (or not) and the year/month. Luckily, the bug problem was apparently mostly in 2005. Ha ha!
Got up this morning and ate the breakfast that comes with the room, a banana sandwich. Mmm. Warm, from a bread machine.
After pouring rain all night, the morning was sunny and HOT. Humidity has to be near 90%. It’s incredible.
Rented a scooter and drove all the long way to the famed surf break, Padang Padang. Almost flat, but the view was beautiful.
Drove back to town and rented a surfboard and hit the onshore beach break. Sloppy and chest-high. There was more trash in the water than anywhere I’ve ever seen. Dead fish even! The water is warm! 26 degrees…hardly refreshing! Had enough, so went over to the other side and on to an island where the wind would be offshore and the surf was said to be bigger. Yes!
I scored a serious left-hander about head high +. Surfed until dark. The sunset was amazing. The whole scene was breathtaking. About 15 miles away there’s a massive mountain peak from another island. The clouds had formed low around the island so it was impossible to see the base, but the peak just stood out above them. It was insanity! One of the most beautiful places to be in the water. Will be there tomorrow for dawn patrol and will take some pics…
Woo!
$1 lunch. $2 dinner (with a sweet live acoustic trio). $1 rash guard. $4 surfboard. $4 scooter. $5 hotel

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February 4, 2007 by zankbennett.

Bought a ticket to Singapore. Took the 45-min shuttle to airport. Had the time wrong. Missed it by one minute! After nearly having a fit, decided to walk to the airport hotel, about 1 km down a dismal road. They wanted $25 for a disgusting room….back to the old quarter of downtown and to the hostel. By now it was late and I had to call the owner for a room. He was appropriately laughing at my misfortune. Got on the internet and booked another flight….just as the clock passed midnight. That would have been fine, only I didn’t realize it was already the next day….so I booked another plane ticket for the next day. So I go to sleep and the next day make sure to get to the airport nice and early. Only prob was, there was NO flight. Hmmm. Turns out, when the clock passed midnight, I’d bought a ticket for the “next day”. Well, so I get back on the shuttle bus for round two of embarrasment by showing up at the hostel.
Both times, met a bunch of cool people on the shuttle and generally enjoyed myself.
Finally, I’m now at the airport, three hours early. It appears that on my third trip I may just make the flight. Singapore.

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February 4, 2007 by zankbennett.

Here are a few random pics to convey the feel of the trip.  It was entirely priceless.  Hopefully these capture a bit of the rush!

On the climb up one fo the first mountain passes.  The stoke was just tremendous!

Along the road. It always felt great to get the helmet off for a few minutes and survey the scenery.

One of those magical pictures.  This little girl had the best look on her face, years beyond her age, and the BG colors were perfect.  The well-known Sunday Market in Bac Ha, Vietnam.

The school children in Sin Ho.  I stopped to look at the map and they just swamped me!  The kid with the black shirt in the middle was hilarious.  I was chasing him up and down the road…he pointed out that I’d stepped in a monsterous pile of water buffalo poop when getting off my bike.  I was chasing him pretending like I was going to wipe it on his trousers.  We had a blast!!! :D  I don’t expect any of the kids had spoken with white people before.

Brandon and I.  Paunch and John.  ;)  Thanks, bud.  Here’s wishing you all the best the world has to offer!

A picture of the limestone walls along the best day of the trip…Brandon had left for Hanoi and I pressed on to make Meo Vac from Ha Giang.  About 18km from Meo Vac, this was the scenery.  Note teh road along the bottom of the picture.  It went like this for another 15km.  The view in the other direction was twice as breathtaking and the reason for the entire trip!  For real.

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February 3, 2007 by zankbennett.

Day 1: Hanoi to Mai Chau, 136 km.
Leaving Hanoi was insane.  I guess I can say I did it.  Slow is the word.  People drive in all directions on any part of the road they please.  Keep your eyes open and avoid people, that’s really the game.  Horns are used extensively to warn/signal others that something unusual is about to happen….so the beeping is incessant!  …but it really works.

I putted out of the city and after about an hour (still on outskirts of Hanoi) stopped for lunch.  The young teenage girl working there was learning English and was very helpful.  On the road…no white people.  In fact I haven’t seen a white person since I was 10 minutes from my hostel.  Wow!

Made it a little further and stopped by a store that sold helmets.  I have them my open-face model for a beautiful closed-face one.  Infinitely better with noise and cold.  It’s REALLY chilly on the bike!  Have a monstrous down coat on.  Not enough.  Tomorrow fleece goes below.

It was starting to get dark as I ascended the huge mountain pass that acts as the gateway to Mai Chau.  The road up was steep and, in the dark, quite confusing.  Visibility gradually decreased until, near the top, it had dropped to no more than 100 feet in thick, thick fog.  At three or four places, the mountain to my left had slid onto the road, leaving just enough space for a single car.  The rubble had been beaten down by the traffic, but it was still quite rough.  Simple on the bike, but in the post-dusk light, difficult to identify early.  To my right, from what I could see, the cliff dropped into an infinite valley of pea soup.  It was haunting.  The sky was blue and black and gray and dead still.

Just over the pass and I could see Mai Chau in the distance; I had passed the fog, but was still high on the hill.  As I descended a kid on a scooter pulled up next to me on this winding, 8% downward grade, and handed me a business card.  The two of us rode strangely side by side into Mai Chau and through to the village of Lac, home of the White Thai people.  I was greeted by a wonderful woman who opened me a beer, cooked me dinner and showed me my $8 room!  Perfect, if strange! :). There’s a really weird poster of a Vietnamese couple on my wall.  ???
Went out to the town market after dark, for about an hour.  There were thousands of people there and we were the only two white people.  Really cool.  Live music on a huge stage (even if it was glorified karaoke!!) and food vendors and clothing…I bought a cheap watch to destroy on the journey.

This is by far one of the most amazing days on the trip…all five months.  I only hope I stay safe and continue to see such amazing sights and have all these feelings.

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Day 2: Mai Chau to Son La, 165 km.

Woke at 8 am.  Since I arrived in the dark, I hadn’t yet seen the surroundings.  There were stilted houses among the rice fields against the backdrop of cloud-tipped mountains.  In all directions! It was 9:30 before we took the road back north, backtracking only slightly before making it back onto route 6, the famous.  Immediately we were engulfed by thick fog.  We climbed and climbed.  We must have crossed two mountain passes, but it was impossible to are greater than 100 feet for the better part of 1 1/2 hours.  I was getting soaked, so I pulled under the lean of a house and was about to out my one-piece rain suit on when an old Viet woman came running out.   She was beckoning us to come in out of the cold.  Wow!  Great.  The house was small.  We sat on small plastic chairs on the clean but well-aged cement floor.  There was a fire pit in the center of the room.  There was no chimney.  But this was no problem as none of the wall boards were anything close to air-tight…by a matter of inches!  From what I noticed, there was no running water.  The kitchen consisted of a few assorted pots hung neatly in the corner of the room, next to a back door where the rooster, I’m guessing, lived.  I could hear him.  It was dark.  If there was electricity it wasn’t being used.  We were sitting, myself, Brandon, the home owner and her woman friend.  I changed and we fried our shoes by the fire, per the lady’s suggestion.  Later her kids (three) came in to see what was going on.  The lady poured got tea and I shared some sweet, nutty biscuits I’d bought the night before at the night market in Mai Chau.  The lady was so friendly and happy to have guests. I hope the way I describe her home doesn’t take anything away from the hominess.  It was modest.  In fact the poorest I’ve ever seen, but she was happy and close to her children.  It was so nice of her to open her doors to a couple wet travelers.  How many people in America would open the front door to a couple muddy, no, REALLY muddy, cold and wet travelers for some tea around the living room fire?  Ha ha, without even a chimney!  ;). We were grateful and said our goodbyes and it was back to the pass.  The weather had not let up.
When we left our bikes under the lady’s awning, we thought we were out of the rain.  Fact was, we were IN a giant rain cloud.  There was no escaping it.  It rained everywhere, even under shelter.  It was amazing!  Water everywhere.  We pushed on.  As fast as we could safely go, we pushed through the terrible visibility, blinking like mad to clear the eyes.  Eventually the cloud was behind us.
Reached the town of Moc Chau for lunch around noon.  Food was delicious; it’s getting better with each meal now!  The architecture is curious.  I’ll post pics.  The colors are just crazy.  Really.  They’ll use chalky blue, just a shade from fluorescent.  I can’t describe it better.  There were massive purples, sultry reds, tacky aquas…you name it, but gaudy is the rule!  The White Thai people are the predominant race living in these regions.  They make clothes and scarves and work mostly with very bright colors.  It’s quite special to be among these people.  It always brings a smile to see a woman with a giant, brightly colored hat or headdress walking down the street as I zoom by with a wave.

Today ended in Son La, just before dark.  Wow, it was a HUGE day of riding, with a few stops along the way.

Must have passed hundreds of animals: water buffalos, oxen (yes??), dogs (!!! So many) chickens with chicks, cats, and many others that I couldn’t identify.
The animals sometimes eat trash, even if it’s in the street.  No one looks twice when a giant water buffalo takes up 3/4 of one of the driving lane…for a half hour.
Walked and rode on a suspension bridge made of wooden planks.  Later did the same on a suspension bridge made entirely out of bamboo and thick wire!  It’s surreal!  Yes!
Met numerous people today.  We’d just stop near town or small village and people of all ages would run out to look at us, get in a picture or two or just to be a part of what was going on.  It’s shocking, but that’s really the truth.  The Vietnamese people are so friendly and kind.  The smiles we get riding by are priceless; I can picture at least 20 of them just from today.

Again, one of the best days of my life.
I hope I am safe again tomorrow.
Best,
Zank

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February 3, 2007 by zankbennett.

Day 3: Son La to Lai Chau (Tam Duong), 160 km.

Can hardly feel my neck…the weight of the helmet is wearing on me.  The chafing of the helmet padding on my cheeks, forehead and even nose is getting ridiculous. Loving it!

Today began with a 30 km ride before discovering a massive cave along the left side of the road.  We had to get up to it.  Found the access road and I rode in, solo.  It was so dark and spooky that I turned before 150 m.  The roof was 50 feet tall in places, and the tunnel was 20-30 feet wide throughout.  It appeared to be a natural cave, quite serpentine in shape that was finished by hand.  Eventually Brandon, who’d had a but of trouble climbing the steep path to the opening, made it and that was all the courage I needed to push through.  The whole tunnel was about 300 m long.  At the far end, the trail dropped steeply into a field with long bamboo and people were resting and preparing their massive flame torches for the passage to the other side, from where we’d come.  I lifted one of the loads carried by the tribe’s ladies.  I could hardly lift it to my shoulder.  I’d say it was a solid 60 lbs.  This woman in her 50’s was about to carry this pack of wood on her shoulder through the cave then down a very steep trail to town.  I watched in complete amazement as she began her descent at the other side.  One slip and she’d have fallen and tumbled for 50 meters down a steep dusty trail.  How these old ladies could carry these loads remains a mystery to me.  I will be forever humbled with this memory.
From the cave it was a normal road to the next town along the way for has and some lunch.
After lunch it was a beautiful ascent into the first of many passes.  On the way down, I got a flat tire: the rear!  So, I quickly befriended a local man who happened to have tire irons and an adjustable wrench and even a crate with which to prop up the bike.  I went to work removing the rear wheel (requiring the removal of the internal hub, drum brake, chain and spacers) and subsequently changing the tube to the good one I kept in my pack.  There was a crowd of people by the time we were done.  I have my camera to on of the teenagers standing around.  He enthusiastically took the camera and was walking around with it, taking pictures…or so I thought.  Turns out, he was just happy as could be to look at everyone in the LCD!  Ha ha!  When I realized TGI, I showed him how to click a few pictures…it was great, and he was so excited.  After about 30 minutes, I gave the house owner 50,000 dong and hit the road once again.

We stopped now and again to snap a photo of the scenery.  People went bananas!  The tribes her are so friendly.  They love to wave as I ride by.  And the smiles are enough to bring tears.  These people work so hard on some vicious terrain, but when I come zooming by and wave, it’s like none of that matters to them.  The smiles are priceless.  These people in NW Vietnam are gorgeous and so welcoming.  Anytime we stop we’re surrounded by people with questions and smiles.  Sometimes it’s enough just to touch a white person and run away…telling of the accomplishment.  This invariably brought more people out, when it was established that we didn’t bite!

-waves, smile and good energy?  About 500!  Each one was so special to see.
-animals: at least 20 different types.  Lots of pigs today…and water buffalo…always!  They’re in the road all the time.  It’s going to be weird to drive down the street without animals in it.
-rice terraces: saw so many today, both from level view and from high stop a mountain pass.  Some green, some brown, waiting for next season.
-saw a small forest fire, about two miles away on a nearby mountain.  Diameter appeared to be about 100 meters.
-about four water crossings.  Nothing deeper than one foot.
-one, beautiful waterfall.
-saw some Black Thai people.

Again, one amazing day.  Dropping into Mai Chau from a huge mountain pass was a shot of adrenaline, especially as the sun set and backlit the mountains.  Lots of pictures!  My photo antics pushed the drive into the dark hours by a touch.
Found a great hotel.  Staying in a stilted house.  If I look, I can are through the boards to the next room.  Cool!  Who cares, right!?

One of the best days of my life.  Unforgettable -if blurry!!!

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Day 4: Lai Chau (Tam Duong) to Lai Chau (Tam Duong)???, 120 km.

For some reason, the town I started in changed its name with the town I ended in.  It did so after my maps were printed.  Just imagine the sign-language argument I got into with the girl at the hotel.  She nearly had me believing that I’d just driven an eight-hour loop!  More at the end…

Woke up at 6:30 am and took the bread and jam to go.  Picked up a new tube for the rear tire, I’d need it later in the day, and filled up on gas before taking to the road for the climb…and climb…to Sin Ho, the fabled mountain town and surreal destination.
The sky was gray, but with spots of brightness and the air was clear and not foggy.  We had high hopes for the day as yesterday have us some welcomed patches of sun.  For the first 50 km we rods along the beautiful Nam Na river.  Next,  we climbed to a fork in the road and after chasing down Brandon who’d taken the wrong fork, got ourselves on the right road.  About 1 km up the road there was a 50 m stretch of construction.  We had to nearly walk our bikes around the machinery and people working.  This would repeat itself at least 10 times for major road blocks and another 50 for minor road work.  At one point we required the guy in the massive tractor to flatten a path for us, as the bank made by the road crew blocked our way!  That’s the Vietnamese equivalent of rolling out the red carpet and we couldn’t have been more appreciative to the 14-year old running the thing
For the most part there was little in the way of “large machinery”.  To lay the foundation for the pavement to be applied later, women and men sat alongside the road and broke the granite stones by hand in order to place them flatly.  It must take them a week to lay 20 meters of flat stone.
As we motored or struggled by, all we got were smiles and waves and the occasional cheer.  We weren’t ruining their work, we were a welcomed diversion.  This was hard for me to believe, but no one showed anything but kindness to us as we blasted through work zone after work zone.  Watching women in their tribal garb bashing stones and wrestling meter-long rocks was enough to leave me speechless.
The climb led to a cloud-covered mountain peak, and just before Sin Ho, the view down was breathtaking.  It was the highest peak yet and I’d say at least 2000 m.  Picture Colorado with intense jungle, banana plants and tribal Vietnamese, Thai and H’mong people everywhere!  The drop-offs along the downhill side of the road provided views of nightmarish intensity.  One slip in that direction and the fall could be as much as 1000 feet.  Not quite straight down, but the angle was so steep, thinking of stopping would be preposterous.  I tried not to look except when I stopped.
Just before town, we saw a house being built and a good 25 villagers working on it.  The night before, I’d mentioned to Brandon over dinner that it might be interesting to stop and try to help them built one of their typical homes.  He pulled over first and proclaimed it our mission. Before he could even remove his helmet he had grabbed a saw and was making a plank from a tree.  The pictures are hilarious.  In the end we were more of a distraction than anything else, but I think there was mutual appreciation for all involved.  We took lots of pictures and the young and old alike marveled at the images on the screen.  It was an unforgettable moment and pulled-off entirely by Brandon’s ability to make things happen.  This guy makes friends faster than a Minsk climbs mountains!

Sin Ho was enveloped in a dense fog.  Approaching, the visibility was as low as 50 feet for quite some time.
I’d read that the tribes in Sin Ho were less than friendly to outsiders.  Really?
As we neared town, we could see more and more people. I stopped along the road to remove my video camera to film the drive through. I’d just passed some children and thought I have myself enough space…but 50 m wasn’t enough!  There they came…running and screaming!  The commotion was too much for the school children at the nearby school.  Within moments I was swamped!  With my video camera out, I spun the screen around and let the children are what they look like on TV.  They laughed and screamed and pointed and jumped up and down.  This lasted for about 20 minutes.  We literally emptied an entire school!  Ha ha!  What beautiful children.  The pictures say a lot.  These children are so special, and so happy.  A few knew ‘hello’ and when it was repeated to them was enough to cause them happy-spasms in all.  What a mind-blowing experience.
We had a great lunch in Sin Ho and found everyone to be beyond friendly.  Great!
We descended from the summit town and eventually found clear skies.  The decent was amazing; where the climb have views of pines and a more alpine setting, the back side of the mountain was Vietnamese jungle at its best.  The mostly-dirt road was slick and required care to maneuver.  At the bottom were more villages, but they were sparse.  I got a flat rear tire.  Again!
I stopped outside a house along the road, realizing my rear tire was low, and made a hissing sound while frantically pointing at my rear tire.  That’s international dummy sign-language for “do you have a tire pump?” The girl comes out of her house with one, but it has no nozzle at the end.  Huh?  She comes over and shows me the trick.  She finds a tiny rock on the ground and puts it inside the tire valve stem.  Then she places a cloth over the stem.  Then she forces the pump tube over the rag.  The rationale is simple, but I wouldn’t have thought of it quickly;  the tube forces the rag down when it’s forced over the valve stem.  This forces the rock Dorn into the valve, allowing air to flow from the pump, through the rag, and into the tire.  Genius!

I was taking it easy (ish) on my tire when it blew out going around a corner!  I almost lost it, but made it to the side of the road.  No houses in sight this time!  I ended up running with the bike pulling itself for about three miles before my hissing noise and crazy pointing landed me at the home of a cave-guide.  He helped me change the tube and I was of after a quick tea.
Whew.
Well, the push to Sa Pa would have to wait until tomorrow.
I made it to Mai Chau (the same town I left from!!!!??) and stopped to buy a tube.  The guy selling the tube convinced me that the town we were heading for for the night was the one I was standing in!  Problem.  Brandon already rode ahead.  But where?  There’s nowhere to spend the night between here and Sa Pa.  I rode after him but the road forked and I never saw him again.  It’s 4 hours later and no word from him.  He’s ok, I’m sure…but where?
So I go to the recommended hotel and check in.  I tell them that they’re in a city different than what they think!  Then I show them on the map.  They point to where I was this morning and say “there, there”.  Well, if I’m THERE, then I made a full loop!  No way, it’s just not possible.  After a really nice girl and I jumped up and down for about 20 minutes I realized that the names of the two towns were swapped!!  What are the chances?  She was nice about it and we both got a good laugh.
More tomorrow….but where’s Brandon???

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February 3, 2007 by zankbennett.

Day 5: Lai Chau to Sa Pa, 65 km.

Woke up in whatever town I stayed in last night!  I headed solo to Sa Pa.  Along the way, I passed the town that Brandon must have stayed in.  I stopped and asked if they’d seen an American on a motorbike…all sign language.  Sure enough, the girl showed me his reg card.  He was only a half hour ahead.
About 20 minutes later, out of the corner of my eye, I saw his jacket.  So I U-turned.  He was at a school and had all the kids out in front, teaching them the ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes song.  Awesome!  After a quick detour to fix his clutch and for me to out my ridiculously small rain suit on, we were off to cross the massive and mysterious pass to Sa Pa.
I stopped about half way up to take some pictures and make a quick video.  My bike never started again, and Brandon had already left for the summit.  I got picked up by a massive truck.  We lifted the heavy bike with my bag on the back, up and into the truck.  He took me to the beginning of Sa Pa town through some of the worst mid I’ve seen on this trip.  I can’t believe I didn’t get to ride it!
The guy strapped my bike into the truck in a miserable fashion.  Half of the plastic housing that holds my headlight in place was trashed.  My left blinker, trashed.  The kick stand, bent to heck.  My fault for not tying the bike myself.
The worst part, though, is that I had a flat tire as soon as I got going on the bike to look for a hotel.  That’s three in as many days.  This is a big problem.  It’s not easy to change the rear tube, especially in the cold.  So I called the guy in Hanoi who rented me the bike and had him talk to a local repair guy.  Hopefully it will be an issue of the past…
Funniest part…when the repairman pulled the tune out of my tire, it was severed through, radially.  In other words, it was like a donut cut by a knife.  I’ve never even heard of a tube failing in that way.  Unbelievable.
Worse still…I went to take a picture of it and my camera wouldn’t open…the most expensive part of the terrible decision I made to hoist my bike about 4 1/2 feet into the bed of that truck.

Still, the scenery before the breakdown was some of the most beautiful I could imagine!  Today was priceless.
Staying in Sa Pa in a hotel with beautiful mountain views…of course, we can’t see anything as the fog is intense…but I can feel it’s there!

Sa Pa is a huge tourist town.  Unfortunately, the H’mong people have come to this region to beg for money and to sell their goods or hash or pot.  I really wish I hadn’t seen the ugly side.  I was amazed at how well the tribes had been preserved and how well the people were adept at getting by with what little they had.  I never heard one word from someone in a hill tribe.  Now they’re using the same few English phrases that people learn to get money from tourists.  It was the same lingo in Egypt.  Sad.

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Day 6: Sa Pa to Bac Ha, 75 km.

Another short travel day.  The hotel in Sa Pa, along with the whole town, lost electricity in the morning so my laundry was stuck in limbo.  At 11:30 it was finally done and near noon we struck out for our next stop, Bac Ha.  About 15 km down the mountain I had another blow-out.  I was dangerously close to going off the cliff this time.  That’s it.  No more of this tire business!
In Lao Cai (a big border city with China) I called Hung in Hanoi and arranged to have him pay for the new rear tire I surely needed.  So, after having to ride a good 20 km on a flat rear tire a remedy was in motion.  We stopped briefly on a bridge so I could answer the phone and right there, at my feet was a whole heroin kit complete with 4 or 5 needles.  Wow!  It was a prime location for another Zank Homeless shot.  It’s quite sad, however; Vietnam is well known for having a skyrocketing AIDS rate.  From the posters I’ve seen along the way, dirty needles play a big part in this.
We ate lunch while my bike was fixed and it was off to Bac Ha.  The road was beautiful for the second half, during the beautiful climb up to the city.  It turns out that there is a magnificent market here tomorrow, so we’ll get another late start and have a 3/4 day of riding.  Heading north and east.  The best is yet to come.  It’s hard to believe.  The sights so far have been so amazing.
No sooner had we left the Sa Pa town center, people began to wave and smile at us in the manner we were used to.  It felt really good to get out of the tourist center.  Back at it….
Tomorrow will be the first in five with no flat tire!

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February 3, 2007 by zankbennett.

Day 8: Ha Giang to Meo Vac , 160 km.

Where to start…
No flat tire!!!!!!
Woke up at 5:45 am.  Intent was to hit Meo Vac and return in one day WITH the requisite permit from the police station…read: SCAM!  Got to police station at 6:50 after finding out that it opens at 7 am  turns out that only a guide can buy a permit.  Huh?  Ok, how much is a guide?  So a sleazy guy rides up on a scooter with pictures of naked girls on his has tank.  Perfect!  He wants $35/day with a two-day min.  Yeah, sure!  That’s about what an average Vietnamese person makes in three weeks.  No way.  So I go with Brandon back to the hotel bec we realized that it was only a dream that we could make it to Meo Vac and back in one day.  After packing up and assessing the hassle-factor, Brandon decided to abort and head back to Hanoi.  I could hardly blame him.
At the hotel I met up with a couple Canadian girls I’d met the night before at dinner and spoke with their guide.  He was friends with the guide who’d initially approached me, but knew no one else.  He did tell me that, as long as I didn’t stop and LOOK for the police I wouldn’t have any trouble.  Cool.
So I go to the permit place and beg for help…no luck.  I go to the only semi-major hotel in town and, after about 10 minutes of sign language, manage to convey to the girls that I need a guide.  They call the first guy.  Ha ha.  He must be the only guy in town.  So, we began the negotiation process.  Ok, it’s looking ok.
He tells me it’s $20 for the permit and he needs $30/day.  Ok.  We go to the permit place.  He asks for $20 and wants to go in alone. Ha ha.  Sure.  I’m stupid!  I just started traveling yesterday…the day after I won the lottery!
So I go in and find a very nice girl who spoke good English.  She tells me the guide must pay $10.  So I tell this to the guide.  He goes into a new mode.  Now he’s upset (bec I caught him lying) and trying to turn it to my problem.  Well, he knows he’s the only guide in town.  Finally we renegotiate and get on to the shop where his bike is being fixed.  It’s there that he tells me that he has to wait a while before his bike is fixed.  I look, and it’s in pieces on the shop floor. Sure.   Have all day.  He also tells me that he has to carry a policeman nearly the whole way.  What?!  I tell him that I’m going for gas and pay him half.  Give me the permit and I’ll pay the second half if he shows in Meo Vac.  But I tell him not to even bother; just take my $ and stay home.  I don’t want a guide anyway.  I’ve been having a great time asking directions from random people along the road
I leave him with the cop at the mechanic.  I wouldn’t see him until much after dinner and dark.  Unfortunately.
The first part of the drive was a drop.  Then the road climbed a bit. Eventually, the road climbed and climbed.  The last 22 km of the trip were sureal.  This is as good as any scenery I have seen in my life. Certainly I was beside myself.  I filmed a lot of the decent into Meo Vac.  The canyon I drove into was towering tall.  Rocks had slid down from high above, leaving massive craters in the road.  Many rocks had just fallen and were still in the middle of the road.  The sight of these rocks was terrifying. At any moment another cluster of rocks could drop.  I couldn’t believe that kids were able to travel here on their own.
As scenery goes, this ride was the highlight of the trip around the world.  Period.
After this slow 22 km, I decided to get back to Hanoi as soon as possible.  Maybe two days.
In Meo Vac, I went out searching for dinner.  I am definitely the only white person in town.  In fact, the hotel I’m staying in isn’t even labeled as a hotel!  I had to ask a local to point one out to me.  I was standing right in front of it.  On the way from the hotel to dinner I walked past a group of boys kicking a “kick-chicken”.  That’s what I call this thing that consists of a weight with feathers coming out of one end.  They kick it in a circle.  I’d never tried it, but when I walked by it came my way.  I kicked at it and actually made good contact.  An hour later I was still there playing!  Then dinner.  Forgot walet at hotel.  With sing language, I explained this had headed back to get my wallet.
After paying, I walked back to hotel.  There was “my guide”.  He’d just gotten in and it was well after dark…and he wanted the rest of his $.  I gave it to him. He left and took the permit to the police to prove he’d been there. He insisted that I won’t be able to leave town without him.  Sure.  Hopefully I won’t see him again.  ;)
I went searching for the karaoke bar I’d seen on the way into town…and on the way, I got called into a scotter repair station. Some of the kids I was playing kick-chicken with we’re having dinner. I came into the shop and took off my shoes.  They were eating and drinking moonshine out of a beer bottle poured into shot glasses.  I sat with them and told sign language stories for a couple hours.  It was a great time.  We drank this rice-vodka and laughed and carried on.  They were so cool.  Just normal kids.
I motivated everyone to get to the karaoke bar.  Classic!  They did some Vietnamese songs and I did some Toad and some Barry Manilo and G. Michael!  Ha ha. It was a great night.  I was showing them a few breakdancing moves.  A couple of the kids were really good at it.
Came back to hotel about 10:30.

One of the best days ever.  Didn’t speak much English at all after about 9:30 am.  These people are so amazing, even with the language barrier.  Overall, I am impressed by the Vietnamese people I’ve met.  The kids tonight had a world-map and were pointing and making bombing sounds.  That was a little awkward, but they played it down.  I don’t feel like anyone holds a grudge about the war here, even with the presence of the older generation.
Today was again, on of the best days of travel and of my life!
I whole heartedly recommend this motorbike trip!!!
Next few days guide me toward Hanoi.
Safely!!!!
Best,
-Zank

Day 9…my birthday: Meo Vac  to Hanoi, 375km!!!

Left the camera off for most of the day.  This one was to sit as a memory.
It was MASSIVE.  375 km worth and 12 hours!!!  The roads were insane.  I got well off the beaten path.  Must have crossed no fewer than eight bamboo bridges, paying about 12 1/2 cents apiece.  Rode like I was on fire.  Really put the Yamaha through its paces…jumping over big ruts and riding through rocky streams.  At one point, found a huge dead-end in the form of a mountain-wall cul-de-sac.  A local village man hopped on the back of the bike and helped me back out for about 30 km (that’s about an hour!)  I was dead lost.  It was magnificant.  Unequivocally the best day of riding for me.  Up on tall ridges with monsterous ruts, powering through the hills along paths where hill tribes were assembling for the day’s market.  The men shouted encouragement and the kids just pointed.  The vistas vanished at my sides as I kept an eagle-eye on the road ahead and broke the 40 km/hr average barrier, then 50!
Luckily, as the road turned to pavement, I got behind an ambulance and guided me at nearly a 65 km/hr average straight into Hanoi!!!  It was dark and I was tired and we were hauling as$! Hair on FIRE!!!
The best road trip.  Ever.

Thank you everyone in Vietnam and especially the beautiful people in the mountains of the Northwest.  You are inspirational.

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