Motorbiking Northwestern Vietnam. Days 7-9

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.

This entry was posted on February 3, 2007 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Motorbiking Vietnam, SE Asia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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