Day 2 - Giang Son to Mai Chau
Day 2 started pretty early for most of us I think, I doubt anyone got much sleep and we certainly all did a fair amount of weighing up what to do next. Plus the compulsory 'hotel dog' which goes hyperactive at 4am doesn't help.
It always puzzles me how there are some quite decent - in some cases even grandiose - hotels sitting empty in remote areas of Vietnam. I'm not sure how they make a living given how few guests there seem to be...
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We met downstairs with the others and had a coffee while we talked over what to do next, and what we were each thinking. We were unanimously ravenous, so when breakfast arrived as a bit of a noodle stir fry it got wolfed down in short order.
So, what to do next. I can only speak for myself on this. I phoned Del and had a good chat about what to do. My reasons are my own but in the end I decided to carry on with the tour and see how that day went. If by the end of this day I wasn't enjoying it or Del needed my support back in Hanoi I would can it and head back. Talking to the others, we collectively agreed to continue after a LOT of deliberation. We made a phonecall to Hung to let him know what was happening then we really just had to kick back for a few hours to wait for him to arrive since we were about 3-4 hrs drive from Hanoi.
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| Nice view from the balcony at rear of the hotel |
Towards lunchtime, Hung arrived in a pick up truck, with a driver and with a Kawasaki KLX125 for him to ride. He had been to the hospital the night before, and spoken to them that morning. So far the news was that Pinky's head was ok, he was wearing a good helmet and it did its job. It was mainly his arm to be concerned about. Incredibly his leg was only dislocated (I am guessing at the knee and the ankle) but wasn't broken. That was encouraging particularly since the impact was devastating to witness. Either way, compared to the type of injuries we had been expecting to hear about, of the life changing variety, this was very positive albeit early news.
After unloading the KLX125 and getting Del and Joe's bikes onto the truck we got the bikes out and loaded up ready. The hotel manager was quite amusingly bossy. While we were trying to load up the bikes she insisted on sitting on a couple of them then demanded that we take her photo from multiple angles. She definitely took a shine to Phil (someone always does on each trip...) I think we were all very apprehensive at this point and maybe putting on a brave face but willing to see how the day went. Joe rode back to Hanoi in the truck with the driver and the two bikes to join up with Del.
I was toying with taking the supermoto KLX instead but since we were due to do plenty of off-road riding we didn't want that fat front knobbly to become an issue. Once we were ready we had a bit of a pep talk from Hung. His view matched our own; Pinky would say carry on with the tour and enjoy it as much as we can, so let's concentrate on riding and get on with it. So on we went.
Yesterday's plan had been to ride further than we had, cut short by the accident. We were en route to 'Dream' Thac Mo Waterfall near Na Hang but had stopped short. Today we would ride from our unplanned stop at Giang Son to the Eco Lodge at Mai Chau.
We got some fuel then rode quite tentatively for the first few km, very wary of any trucks given what had happened. The roads were pretty quiet though, the sun was out and we were able to laze along for a few km before turning onto a smaller road. Not far after joining that road we encountered a bit of stopped traffic due to various trucks and goods being unloaded into bamboo makeshift stalls at the sides of the road. While we were sat in traffic, quite innocently two schoolgirls on an electric bike just pulled up next to me and started saying hello and waving. We get this type of reaction very often in Vietnam but this little moment served to remind me why we were there in the first place - to meet these great people and see their wonderful country. As we carried on the roads became lined with paddy fields and palm trees in places, again more nice lazy smooth roads in the sun with little traffic. At one point a local on a scooter tried to squeeze through a gap that just wasn't there, with the result that they sideswiped Phil, however it seemed that they just bounced off him with no more than dented pride.
Hung stopped us at a small village cafe in Vu Ban to get a snack after only a short period of time, maybe 20 minutes or so. Surprisingly for Vietnam the shop had quite a few cakes to choose from so we had some of that and enjoyed a nice coffee. I think we needed that first short ride just to shake the demons off.
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| Lovely Vietnamese coffee...the only problem is the 10 minute wait while it filters! |
Hung turned off the main roads as soon as we could and rode on to proper back roads. While they were dusty at times we welcomed the lack of traffic and the more open scenery. We stopped for 15 minutes at a lake just 1km after we'd seen some lads playing a football match on a field at the side of the road - the first time we've ever seen that in VN I think! There was a lake on one side of the road and a paddy field on the other with plenty of people working the fields. Two or three water buffalo were ambling along the road chewing the grass.
We took a few photos then got moving again onto some very narrow trails that served as the locals' access between paddy fields. From their reactions to use (mostly bemused or smiling) it didn't seem like we were a sight they see very often. Considering our passing by on motorbikes kicked up dust behind us no-one seemed to mind. I guess the dust is a fact of life to the point where many don't notice it.
I usually ride at the back, and at times like these with so much dust in the air I hang right back. I had the GoPro switched on at this stage though and was close enough to round a bend on the dusty single track to see Bryan manoeuvring the CRF up a quick left-right climb. Just as he came into view I saw the familiar slow-drop to one side, pretty much a standstill drop. It was funny though, and obviously we had to take the mickey as much as possible. When we stopped for a chat just past that climb Bryan explained the CRF didn't have enough power and that was why it went down. Jim pointed out it was the most powerful bike of the bunch!
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| Can't beat a good old rickety bamboo bridge. |
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| Down she goes...If that's not due to lack of power, I don't know what is. |
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| Bryan explains his 'off'. |
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| That's the offending climb, just as the track dips away from sight. |
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| Mr Phil TK |
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| Jim on the Baja. That bike has character. |
Eventually the trails changed flavour, from raised roads between paddy fields to tracks that traced their way between hillsides. For the most part it was dusty riding, rough ground but plenty of grip with some huge dips and gouges in the trail starting to creep in. We caught and followed some local lads on scooters and kept up a good pace, everyone getting more comfortable with off road riding by this point.
After a good few km of these trails we pushed back onto tarmac for the last ride of the day. We would ride over the last couple of mountain passes to Mai Chau where we would stay the night. Since it was getting quite late in the day and the sun was going down, when we were on the darker side of the mountain it was very cold - distractingly so in fact at least as far as I was concerned. I was still wearing just my T-shirt and mesh jacket with body armour, and the chill was getting right through it. I was glad therefore when we stopped halfway up one of the passes alongside a few bamboo and tarpaulin market stalls in a dusty old lay-by at the roadside. I fancied a quick snack and in the lack of better alternatives paid 5000VND (about 15p) for a couple of boiled eggs and some salt & pepper. It's a snack that the Vietnamese seem quite keen on but the girl clearly wasn't expecting a bunch of western tourists to turn up and ask for some boiled eggs. She seemed to find it very amusing if the giggles were anything to go by.
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| At the roadside about to buy some boiled eggs |
From there the next stop was at the summit of this superb road just before it winds its way down into Mai Chau. This seemed like as good a place as any to do the obligatory helmet shot so that's what we did. It was nice to warm up in the sun and admire the vast views laid out before us across the mountain ranges and through the valleys. It's only a few thousand feet up but it's quite a spectacle. There were two american tourists up here, the only motorcycle tourists I can recall seeing the whole week outside of Hanoi actually. Both were riding small capacity motorbikes that can be seen in the photos below parked up amongst ours.
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| Wow. |
Before the sun set we rode down to Mai Chau, the road snaking down mostly in the sun and consisting of lots of switchbacks. Once down at ground level we rode through town. I was following a truck at reasonable distance and the two tourists we'd met were behind me. When the truck ahead of me abruptly braked, I hauled up the KLX with plenty of room to spare but one of the bikes behind me flew through on the inside having had no choice but to swerve to avoid me. I don't believe he was paying much attention, or perhaps the brakes on his bike were very poor. Either way he was lucky, he didn't hit anything. It can be very dangerous in Vietnam to ride between a vehicle and the gutter side of the road without good visibility, because that's where people, kids and animals can often be found. In some ways the gutter of the road is treated like a lane on its own, where it's acceptable to ride down the gutter on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic. Luckily he sailed through without incident but I suspect his companion knew what a close call it was because he suddenly dropped back about 200 yards.
Eventually we left the small town again up a single track road which leads out to the homestays and stilt houses. We actually passed right by the stilt house that we stayed at on Nambusters 1. A left turn and a few hundred yards on we arrived at Mai Chau Eco Lodge. I would very much recommend this place to stay if you are ever in the area in Vietnam, it's just superb. Very comfortable and extremely nicely done out. Not too shabby for Neil, this will do nicely. Shame I didn't get chance to enjoy that wooden bathtub but there's always next time. Maybe I'll take my wife over, if I did that's where we'd stay and I know she'd be in there like a shot.
We checked in, lugged our kit to our rooms (actually the staff carried most of it!) and had an arrival beer. Hung called back to Flamingo to find out more news about Pinky and relayed to us that he still seemed fine, he was regaining consciousness but under a lot of pain suppression. His arm was to be operated on in the morning but so far all the signs looked like he would be ok after a lengthy recovery spell. The best news we could hope for.
A while later we met up in the hotel restaurant for a much-needed excellent meal and a few drinks, raising a glass to Pinky. We thank Hung for an excellent day, and for rescuing the trip. Later in the evening there were some ladies doing traditional dancing outside to a watchful audience. It was a shame Joe missed that, he always joins in the traditional dancing at the homestays. We retired for the evening ready for another early start (always an early start!).
Tomorrow would be another big mileage day, taking us from Mai Chau to Bac Yen!
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