Nambusters II Part 6 video

Hi folks

I haven't posted an update for a while, not much to update about since most of our arrangements are now made and we're just counting down the days until we head out!  Around 90 days from today but who's counting?

I finally managed to work up a video to cover off the last part of Nambusters II.  The footage was all taken during the last day as we were heading back from Ha Giang to Lau Cai.  Regrettably, the highlight of that day, where we made some new friends at a very remote village and gave them our comedy 'gifts' was not caught on camera - not video camera anyway.  We did get photos and they can be seen under the day 6 write-up.

Even so, we travelled through some quite varied terrain and weather conditions on the last day.  To start off there were quite serious looking clouds and we thought we were heading for a drenching.  Fortunately the clouds slowly gave way to a lovely warm afternoon which was perfect for riding.  We also had to repair the Sufat subframe on a few occasions, getting it welded at least twice during the day.  In the end, we offloaded the luggage strapped to the back onto my bike to lessen the weight on the subframe, and Del fixed it up with cable ties that held nicely.

After some punishing off-road 'roads' we found ourselves on a glorious ribbon of mountain road that went on and on.  I followed Jim for that section and could tell he was properly enjoying it.  No photos or footage because we were too busy having fun.  Eventually we pulled in at Lao Cai and wrapped the trip up there before taking the night train back to Hanoi.

The video below has two parts, the first being the last section of the trip, and following that there's a brief highlights bit from the whole trip.  Enjoy!

Nambusters II Part 5 video

Another instalment to the NBII saga...

This video follows our escapades as we headed out from Dongvan to Ha Giang via various mountain routes.  Half the day was spent off road, traversing a mountain track that took us through many extremely remote villages.  As usual everyone was incredibly friendly, and in most cases kids ran out of their houses to wave us by.

One more video to come after this one...

Nambusters II Part 4 video

Really enjoyed making this video.  In many ways it was the peak of our trip because the Ma Pi Leng pass was the road we're been working up to and looking forward to.  At 5000ft it's one of the highest passes in Vietnam and definitely one of the most dangerous.  Half of the bends are completely blind, the road is narrow, and it's 100% unforgiving.  It's pretty much straight down the fast way if you mess a bend up.

It's also one of the most scenic places we've ever been to.  The views have to be seen to be believed.  Absolutely epic in every way!

Nambusters II Part 3 video

This was shot over the course of a day, starting at Quang Uyen then riding to the Nguom Ngao caves. Then on to Ban Gioc waterfall which sits half in Vietnamese and half Chinese territory. The border runs right down the centre of the river. Finally leaving Ban Gioc and riding to Bao Lac.

Lomo dry holdall

A few days ago the Lomo dry bags I ordered arrived. Build quality was superb on both of them, however the 40 litre holdall turned out to be just too big for what I need, so those kind folk at Lomo offered to replace it with the 30l without any fuss.  I can't recommend them highly enough.

Construction of this replacement 30l seems at least as good as my Ortlieb 49l which cost more than twice as much.  Despite 30l being a relatively modest capacity, I'd say it actually holds more than that based on other 30l luggage I've seen. It's compact enough for a motorcycle but holds enough for a week on the bike easily.

So, it's a roll-top holdall, with the opening along the length of it so you can get to any of the contents easily without emptying everything out.  There are compression straps between the handles if you look closely, and also at the sides so that all looks good.  It's made out of a rubberised PVC type material with good construction on the seams, which are folded in then bonded.  There is a double-layer of this material behind those handles, which are attached along a strip approx 10" long down the side of the bag.  Dry bags are often hard to choose the right size (as proven by me having to send the last one back) so I'll help you out here - this one, packed and closed, is 21" wide.

Very happy with this, should do a good job and keep all my kit nice and dry.  At just £19 it's a no-brainer, and contrast that to my Ortlieb which was around £60...

Visit Lomo on their UK website.  Highly recommended and very affordable.

The R8 has landed :)

No, not one of these...

One of these, a Kriega R8 for Nambusters 3!  Almost as good as the £90k supercar, right??

I love that new-kit-just-arrived-in-the-post feeling.  It was quickly unpacked and loaded up so I could try it out on my commute to work, which is a ride of mixed motorway and city riding of around 28 miles.  I have a Honda VTR1000 and use a Kriega US-20 to carry my work clothes in to the office.

My '98 VTR.  She's getting on a bit but still rides and handles well.

The only issue here is that the US-20 mounts on the pillion seat of my VTR.  The R8 bumps up against it when you sit on the bike, not by much but a little.  In Nam that won't be a problem since my holdall will be mounted more on the rear rack, keeping the pillion seat clear.  Well, clear until one of the fine chaps on the trip buys me some unusual and bulky 'present' anyway.

In case you weren't reading this blog last time round, this is what they bought me.  The nice 2' aluminium bowl which is mounted on the back of my bike...

Turned out quite well actually, it was perfect for me to stuff my rucksack in and use it as half a top box.  When we were in the mountains I wanted to take a bit of Vietnamese mountain rock back with me, so I'd stop when I saw something of interest, reach down, grab a rock and chuck it in the bowl. On the last day, we stopped at a very remote village and this nice lady took a shine to it, so I gave it to her.  It makes me happy to think that as I type this, she's probably using it to cook, prepare some veg, or wash the kids, or any of a number of other uses that these bowls seem to get.

Anyway back to the R8. This is the bad boy in all its glory.  Two packs on a waist belt which is very well padded and that really helps it stay in place when worn.  The pack on the left is 100% waterproof since it uses a dry-bag type closure.  The pack on the right is not 100% waterproof, but should withstand a significant downpour since it's worn behind you and the flap covers much of the water resistant zip.  The zips are all YKK zips by the way so they should last well.

Covered mesh pockets in both lids/flaps

Main pouch has zipped pocket which contains the tool roll

Velcro front pocket under the flap

Main compartment has a second mesh covered zip pocket and a retaining clip for where the tool roll sits

Front zip pocket on the smaller section, with key lanyard

Main waterproof pouch in the small section

Nice details abound... this is one of the adjustment pulls

You can see how thick and padded the waist belt is. That helps it to stay in place.

The smaller section is easily removable. leaving just a single waist pack as above.

This section, which includes the dry-bag, just slides off the main waist strap. It's held in place with Velcro on the inside of a belt loop so it does not move whatsoever once fitted in place.

As you can see in the photos, the build quality is excellent, and it's pretty flexible. You can remove the smaller section easily if it's surplus.  There are plenty of pockets and zipped compartments to keep your stuff organised and dry.  Overall an excellent piece of kit.  I think there's easily enough capacity here for the items I'll want to keep handy when we're on NB3.

The tool roll, which fits in a purpose-made section (with retaining strap) of the main compartment

Tool roll opened out.  Could also be used to organise cables, first aid stuff etc

Lastly as you can see the tool roll is quite a flexible item, and not just limited to tools.  You could fit any of a number of items in there.  In fact I do not plan on carrying tools in it, inside the R8 compartment since I don't like the idea of falling and landing on hard tools attached to my waist.  I would either have them attached elsewhere on the bike (in the roll) or use the tool roll to keep other items such as power/data cables, chargers, SD cards, first aid items, swiss army knife (never leave home without one) and so on.

NB3 Update; Boots, bags...and more bags...

G'day.  Things are moving along swiftly for NB3 since I was 'cleared' to go last week by my good lady wife.  Did I mention how amazing she is?

Within the space of a week or so, I've had a bit of a yard sale to get some money together for the flights.  I sold an assortment of items that I'd accumulated and weren't really using....watches, swiss army knives, a guitar (I have others), my Nexus tablet that wound me up so much on the last trip...anyway so far I've raised enough to cover the flights which are around £700.

For anyone visiting Hanoi, I can't say how much I would recommend the Hotel Tirant in the old quarter, near Hoam Kiem lake.  The staff are outstanding.  The first time we went, I sat down to breakfast one morning, groggy and waking up.  Suddenly I noticed a few people around me, and the place had gone quiet.  One of the staff presented a birthday cake in front of me that said 'Happy Birthday Mr Neil' in icing, and the staff stood in a line and sang Happy Birthday to me.  No-one had told them it was my birthday, and I know certain hotels check guests' passports for the birth date and look out for that sort of thing, but it was a great touch and really appreciated by me.  Bella, a lovely girl who runs the place, seems to know every guest by name, including when they are leaving and what they will be doing while they are there. The hotel itself is super clean, and when we are out on motorbike tour for a week they hold on to our suitcases and surplus luggage at no charge.  Honestly, you couldn't ask for more.

So, on to the NB3 arrangements.  If I'm honest, on NB2 I crammed too much into a short space of time.  I'm not referring to the trip itself, more the days off work and travel arrangements either side of it.  I finished work on Thursday at 5, loaded up the car, drove to Dartford to stay at Del's so we could fly out from Gatwick the next morning.  It took until midnight to get to Dartford, and we were up at 6am.  Then it was drive to Gatwick and fly out, arriving at Hanoi at 6am on Saturday.  I can never sleep on a flight so was already pretty shattered by this point.  We had 24hrs in Hanoi before setting off on the bike tour.  The following weekend we returned via the overnight 'sleeper' train from Lao Cai to Hanoi, getting back at 6am (why is it always 6am!) and flew back at midnight the next day. On arriving back at Del's in Dartford I think I had an hour or two sleep then drove back up 5 hours to home in Lancashire.  I was at work the next day.

Overall you will probably agree, the schedule was a bit tiring.  The trip felt like it was over in a flash and I had no recovery time before going back to work.  Also, doing this blog 'on the fly' while we were away felt like it took too much time away from the trip itself.  Therefore on NB3 I'm just going to do notes while we're away and do the blog when we get back.  In a way, that prolongs the trip since you get to relive it for weeks afterwards as I do the trip report for each day.

Well, glad to say that this time it will be much more relaxed.  And thanks to my missus too.  I'll be flying out on Friday 26th Feb from Manchester to Heathrow, then on to Hanoi.  We're on the bike tour from Sunday to Sunday the next week, then I fly back Hanoi - Heathrow - Manchester on the 11th March.  Got all weekend then to recover before thinking about the "W' word.

I was a little excited to find out that the long stint from Heathrow to Hanoi is on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  Apparently they are much better for combatting the effects of jetlag and general effects of aviation, plus the seat pitch in economy is supposed to be more generous.  It's given me another reason to look forward to that flight, and might help me feel just that little bit less knackered.

So as of last night, my flights and hotel are booked.  Just the tour deposit to sort with Hung at Flamingo Travel now, and then we're all set!

To celebrate, I whipped up this short, simple video of some of the off road section we did on NB2.  You'll no doubt be amused by my idiotic tactical dismount at the end, along with Jim laughing at the result.  All good fun. Next time, more revs!

As some of you may know, I'm definitely the 'kit monkey' of the group.  Any excuse to change kit, or research and buy something that might do the job better.  Well this trip is no exception...

Since NB3 will include much much more off-road than either of the two previous trips, I decided my Aldi motorbike boots (£29.99) were not up to the job.  In fact, they have so little ankle support as to be a liability if you're thinking about off-roading in remote foreign lands.  The most likely part of you to get injured in an 'off' is apparently your extremities (feet/ankles/legs and hands/arms).  Therefore I felt that something with more support was in order.  Ideally you'd want something solid like motocross boots, but the problem is whatever kit you are wearing on a trip such as this, you are wearing it all day - every day for a week.  Any discomfort will get magnified as that week progresses, and what might be a minor rub here or there will turn into open sores and risk of infection when you're in the tropical south east Asia climate.  So you need plenty of support, and all-day comfort.

Well, I think we found the answer.  I picked up a pair of Wulf Trials Boots recently, at £118 they didn't break the bank, and since they are designed for trials there is a bit more articulation than you would get with MX or Enduro boots.  I actually rode my VTR1000 in to work today with them on and it wasn't a struggle.  However they are built like a tank and have good ankle support.  Just need to keep wearing them in and getting them comfy before the trip.

Another thing I wasn't happy with last time round was my luggage arrangements.  I used the panniers provided by Flamingo, the green leather things that were tough as a nuclear bunker but problematic in other ways.  First, they are joined, which may seem obvious but that means when you lift them off the bike you're lifting pretty much all your luggage in one go.  That means it's heavy.  They are heavy enough on their own, unladen, so when you add in 20kg of kit for a week they become heavy and cumbersome to carry.  Sods law dictates I always end up in the top floor of a 5 or 6 storey hotel with no lift, so I'm always carrying these awkward heavy panniers up 5 flights of stairs then down the next day.  Lastly, they have a metal backing plate on each side which does a great job in causing lacerations to your shoulders and arms as you carry them.  I have scars from these things, seriously.

So, out with those, and in with something else.  I am a great fan of Ortlieb and Overboard kit, and also Kriega, but none of that is cheap.  I don't have anything already that will do the job for this trip, and in all likelihood anything I buy won't get much use aside from on the trip.  So I found Lomo who supply the diving/kayaking community with wetsuits and dry bags.  On trips around Europe, we've seen plenty of Lomo dry bags attached to the back of touring motorbikes so it should be decent kit. After some weighing up of sizes and capacity, I ordered a couple of their dry bags for the princely total of about £33.  Absolute bargain.  On arrival the kit is very tough indeed, and since the webbing handle straps go all the way around and underneath the holdalls they are potentially tougher than Ortliebs where the handles join the dry bag and are bonded/RF welded on and may eventually split.

30 litre Holdall. This will get attached to the back seat/rack with cargo straps and a bungee net.  Spacious enough on its own for a weeks worth of clothing with room to spare.  Opens across the length of the bag so you don't have to unload all the contents every time you use it unlike many dry bags.  Very well made and tough, plus only £20!!!

20 litre dry bag - probably won't need this initially, but as the trip progresses and you accumulate worn clothes, presents and so on this will give me some space to move into.  Can attach this to the metal rack where the panniers normally sit, and still have a pannier rack free on the other side.  Again, very tough PVC type material, should not tear or split, and an absolute bargain at around £10!!

At this point you might think I'm finished with the new purchases...you'd be wrong.  For the last two years I used a Kriega R20 rucksack for valuables and living space during the day.  That basically means a place for bottled water, sunblock, hat, shades, cash etc.  After the first day of NB2 it got lashed to the back seat under a bungee net and stayed there the whole week.  That made getting into it a bit awkward since the bungee net got in the way of the zips.  The main reason for doing this was because there's not much point having a mesh jacket so you can stay cool, when you have a rucksack on your back blocking half the mesh. It doesn't work or ventilate properly.  That led me to thinking how to downsize the amount of stuff I had in it, so I made a list and came to the conclusion that the contents would fit in a small waist pack (who said bumbag?!).  There was then only one real choice: Kriega.  They make the excellent R3, a single 3 litre fully waterproof waist pack.  They also make the superb R8 which as you can guess is 8 litres split across two packs.  If I'm honest, the R3 would probably suffice, but when I saw that the R8 even comes with Kriega's tool roll (normally costing £20) I was sold.  The plan is to either use it as intended, or if the off road gets really rough it can easily be lashed to the back seat.  The main point is that when you're off the bike, all your cash and valuables can be removed and taken with you conveniently.

So there you have it; got a Kriega R8 on order :)  I'll let you know how this one goes.

That's enough of an update for now.  I'll leave you with some Kriega porn.

NamBusters 3....!

It's been a while since I've posted anything, other than the videos, but I wanted to do a brief update.  I actually love writing this blog, and it's only unfortunate that I have to return to normality for 50 weeks of the year to pay for the 2 weeks when I get to have something to blog about!

I'll start by saying I was not planning to join the next Nambusters trip, mainly due to matters at home concerning money, house, kids, family holidays, needing to change cars and so on.  The other lads on NB2 have been underway planning NB3 for a couple of months now, and I'd been steering clear of their plans because it was a bit gutting, knowing that I wouldn't be joining them.

That changed recently when my good lady wife told me it was ok if I went on next year's trip, and that we could change our plans for the family holidays!  She really is one in a billion. :)

NAMBUSTERS 3 IS ON!!

So this last week I've been familiarising myself with the plans the lads had already drawn up, and working out costs and suchlike.  I've even sold a few things to raise money in a hurry so I can get flights booked and paid for well in advance.

So far the whole crew who went last year have confirmed for NB3, with the possible addition of one more who hasn't been before.

The plan is to do a lot more off-road this time around.  The route is reasonably confirmed and goes something like this:

Day 1 - Hanoi to (Dream) Mo Waterfall near Na Hang - 150km

Day 2 - Mo Waterfall to Mai Chau - 200km

Day 3 - Mai Chau to Bac Yen - 130km

Day 4 - Bac Yen to Song Ma - 200km

Day 5 - Song Ma to Dien Bien Phu along Ma river next to Laos border - 160km

Day 6 - Dien Bien Phu to Sin Ho - 160km

Day 7 - Paso to Lai Chau to SaPa to Lao Cai on China border - 180km

We then return from Lao Cai overnight on the sleeper train with the bikes as we did last time.

The majority will be off-road but this is a rough road route...

We have been to some of these locations on the first tour, but that was almost all road.  The real beauty of taking the off-road route around Vietnam, as we discovered last year, is that you get to see places that are only accessible by two wheels or four hooves.

I need to start working soon on the third instalment of the video.  As I've said before, slicing up GoPro footage and coming up with something watchable for a few minutes is not something that I find easy, so please bear with me.  At the rate I'm going, I'll just about have finished the videos from last year as we start next year's trip.

One definite 'take-home' that I've learned from all this is that we really need to make sure we do regular off-the-bike type footage as much as possible so there's something to be sliced in with the GoPro on-bike footage.  The struggle for me with that is my tough camera (Olympus TG-820) has one achilles heel - it's not good at video.  For some reason it adjusts focus every 5 seconds or so, for no reason.  Even if the image in front of it is static, it will adjust the focus.  That means you get very little usable footage from it.  So I need to sort an alternative out for the next trip just for video purposes.  Any suggestions welcome.  Perhaps I'll check out the small handheld DV cameras.

More updates soon.

Nambusters video Part 2

Another instalment. This one was shot over day 2.  Initially we did a trip across Ba Be Lake then rode out from the homestay to Quang Uyen.   Plenty of remote areas, mountain roads and errant wildlife.  We were really settling into it since this was quite early in the trip and the new guys were acclimatising to rural Vietnam.

Enjoy!

Ban Gioc Waterfall - photos from the China side

Prince666 over on the RideAsia.net forum kindly posted up some great photos of Ban Gioc waterfall as experienced from the Chinese side.  As I mentioned in a previous post, the waterfall sits right on the border with one half of the river and waterfall in Vietnam, and the other half in China!  Prince was happy for me to re-post these photos here.  In China, it's called 'Detian Waterfall'.

NamBusters video Part 1

After struggling with the GoPro editor for a few weeks, trying (and failing) to knock up a half decent bit of footage for the first day or so, I finally gave up.

Out goes GoPro editor, in comes iMovie on the mac.

4 hrs later, job's a good 'un.

This was shot on the first day out on tour, starting in Hanoi, where it rained for a few miles, then out of the city and through the surrounding areas.  We stopped that night at Ba Be Lake but unfortunately I don't have any footage from later in the day as we arrived - however there will be some from the following day on the next vid.

I'm resolving not to do a death-by-gopro type video, instead I think it's best if I do a video covering every day or two and keep gopro shots brief, cutting in some other off-the-bike footage if I have any.  I'm no video guru, this is my first attempt but it seems to have come out quite well.

I'm happy to upload some lengthier 'raw' gopro footage on request if anyone wants to get a real flavour of what it's like generally just riding around in Nam.

Anyway, enough waffle, here's the vid.  Be sure to watch to the end.  There should be another one to follow it over the next week or so. 

A quick update...

Hi everyone. Since the trip finished I've had to return to the daily grind, which has been hard as you can probably imagine! I kept busy for a couple of weeks writing up the blog entries for the last few days of the trip, and merging the photos with the posts which is something I didn't have time for while we were out there.

Next on the list for me is to go through the few hours of GoPro footage which I took almost as an afterthought. If you recall from the posts here, I only bought it a few weeks before the trip and it only got switched on for the second time once we arrived.  As it happens, some of the footage came out quite well. What I'm working on at the moment is putting together a few 2-minute videos of mixed footage, with each short video including shots taken from two consecutive days. The first one will be footage from Hanoi and the following day. Its the first time I've edited any video, and the GoPro editor definitely takes a bit of getting used to so bear with me!

While I'm posting I want to share a couple of blogs with you.

Dave Barr's Rough Riders: http://www.chutzpah.org.za/

Dave Barr is a US double-amputee who lost both his legs while serving in the South African army.  He then went on to circumnavigate the world on a Harley Davidson!  His book of that adventure, Riding the Edge, is a great read and I would highly recommend it.

Dave is about to commence a trip around South Africa to raise money for the Cheshire Homes, which is a worldwide charity that helps the disabled.


John's Adventures in SE Asia: http://www.ridingseasia.blogspot.co.uk

John is an American ex-pat who toured Vietnam last year, as well as a few other countries in SE Asia. He liked the place so much, when he got home he sold up and moved over there. His blog is always amusing and entertaining.

Day 7 - Ha Giang to Lau Cai

Day 7....this would be the last day on the bikes for us.

We had a great meal and more than a few beers last night at the hotel eco lodge type place we were staying at.  The food was top notch, yet again.  There was more than a fair share of chopstick mojo going on too.

Maybe I need to explain that.  The thing we found with chopsticks, was that you get to grips with them quite quickly, but every now and then your ability to use them will just evaporate midway through eating with the damned things.  When that happens, you've lost your chopstick mojo.

It was a lovely peaceful place to stay with no traffic nearby, just the sounds of the woods.  After a great, early 7am breakfast (pancakes, bananas, honey!) we trudged back to our rooms to load up for the last time.  Since the bikes were parked about 150 yards away Pinky dashed to each room on his bike to collect our panniers since they weigh a good 20-30kg by now.  Plus there's bike kit to be carried (lid, jacket, gloves, cameras, rucksack etc). It's always fun, and takes at least half an hour for everyone to get ready.

View from my room verandah

Mr Phil's room

I'll be honest at this point and say, we weren't expecting much of this day's ride other than to get to where we were heading - Lao Cai.  If I'd had my brain switched on I'd have remembered that Lao Cai was the same town we visited on the China border last year before riding down to Thac Ba Lake and stopping at a home stay there.  

Like I said though...low expectations for today, and if anything because there was a lot of mileage involved (220km) we thought it would be a bit of a slog, a long haul if you will.  It turned out to be pretty eventful and I think left us with some more great memories.  Things often turn out different than you expect on a trip such as this.  Keeping an open mind and going with the flow, is the best way of tackling it.

To begin with the road was uneventful.  After about 10 miles I had a brief meltdown when I thought I'd left my passport with the staff at the eco lodge.  I pulled Pinky over and he said straight away I definitely had it, he'd given it me back the night before.  I quickly checked my bag and he was right...!  We rode on for about an hour then stopped at Viet Lam for a coffee.  It was a typical roadside affair, I realised I'd also left two cans of iced coffee in the fridge at the eco lodge...so obviously I was really on the ball today.

First stop of the day at Viet Lam for a G7

On we went, down major roads and through lovely towns all decorated with Tet celebration banners and flags.  Plenty of school kids around, generally cycling along the road while holding an umbrella above themselves for shade, and talking to their friends on bikes next to them 3 or 4 abreast.  We then took a road that turned into what I'd call a dirt road, but that would probably be doing it an injustice.  There wasn't a flat part to it, in fact there were hollows and ruts in the road a good 18" deep at times, it was good fun but the bikes were taking a battering.

The dust is a real issue when you're stuck behind a truck or bus.  On this road we caught up with a truck, and it took about 2 miles for me and Joe at the back of the pack to find a gap alongside it where we could pass.  The trucks tend to move to the middle of the road when they see you trying to pass and they rarely help you out, if anything the opposite.

So we pass the truck, and within about 1 mile one of Joe's bungee's comes untied and starts flapping everywhere along with a loose pannier. He pulled over and I stopped with him.  I can still picture it, it was the hottest it had been all week, a good 30 degrees C easily, and there's Joe with his lid and gloves on trying to frantically tie the bungee back on with this truck in the distance about to overtake us again!  As soon as he got it tied I buggered off in front of the truck.  Mates eh.

Further on up, I'd taken to getting a bit of airtime out of these ruts I spoke about.  One of them turned out to be a bit deeper and a bit steeper than I expected, with the result that as the bike jumped out the far side of the rut, although I was stood up the back seat kicked up and hit me up the backside.  My pannier had also made a bid for freedom so that was another stop to re-attach everything.

Before too long we had our first mechanical issue of the day.  You may recall that we were all on Honda's apart from Pinky who was riding the Manfat.  Ok, the Sufat, a 225cc chinese beast of a machine.  Well Del was following him I believe, and noticed that the entire rear subframe assembly had detached itself.  We stopped to check it out, and it transpired that the subframe mounts to the frame itself had snapped.  We limped on and stopped at the next village, a very small ramshackle affair which was a good 10 miles down this dirt 'road', and even more remote than the middle of nowhere.

A couple of the ladies busying themselves outside their houses came over to check out the strangers in town, and the (by their standards) huge motorbikes.  One of them who was particularly curious is pictured below admiring Jim's rack, which by now was doing a great job of storing his lid and gloves whenever we stopped.

Next thing you know, she's on my bike, then she fired it up and revved it a bit.  I could see her looking at my aluminium bowl with envy.  We got a few photos while the mechanic got to work welding Pinky's subframe up.

The Garage.

Opposite side of the road from The Garage.

Well, after a while these two ladies went back to their business in the fronts of their houses across the road.  One of them was cutting up meat on an old wooden table and doing her best to stop the dogs from nabbing any of it.  These were people who lived in a very remote area with little in the way of possessions, but seemed as happy and friendly as anyone we met out there.

After a few minutes I came to a decision, I would give the bowl to one of them - the one who'd come across first and sat on my bike.  I was intending to fit it in my suitcase, and had worked out in my head how that could be done, but this seemed like a better use for it. She needed it more than me, it would otherwise get hung on the wall at home as a Nam trophy of sorts.  I called her over, cut the cable ties off and gave her the bowl.  Bless her, she started getting money out and counting it, I asked Pinky to tell her I didn't want any, it was hers.  She seemed really happy to give it a new home.

Proud of her new bowl.  That's her place in the background.

Joe had decided to give the other girl his potty.  Picture the scene, Joe trying to explain to a group of women who only speak Vietnamese, what a potty is and what it's for.  In the end he had to demo it, at which point they understood and burst into laughter. The lady seemed genuinely pleased to have it, as much for the tale as for the potty itself, no doubt one of her grandkids is now using it for the intended purpose.

So you err..you sit on it like this...and err...well you know...

The penny drops!

Welding?  Like a boss.

We reluctantly left the village and made tracks, the road was much the same for a while and after perhaps 15 minutes the welding gave way and the whole thing snapped again.  I'm pretty sure we stopped at yet another place and got it welded a second time, and that weld didn't last either.  However for some reason I have no photos of it to share with you.  Eventually when weld #2 broke Del got out a pack of Joe's huge cable ties and bodged it like so....

Now Del is a bit of an engineer type, he can rebuild engines (to a very high standard), he's a very capable electrical engineer, the works.  And anything he does, i.e. if he builds a motorbike from scratch, he does to a very, very high standard. Honestly, the fit and finish of some of his bikes has been outstanding.

That said, he does a cracking line in bodges too.  And this here cable tied subframe was a cracking bodge.  It was so good in fact that it held for the rest of the day where two welders had failed!

Pinky bungee'd his luggage to my bike to take some strain off his subframe, and on we went.

Stopping to fix the Sufat after weld #2 failed.

Finally we made it back onto normal blacktop, and in a big way.  One minute we were on a bumpy rocky dirt track that was doing it's best to destroy the bikes...the next minute we rounded a corner, and found ourselves on this unbelievable twisty, wide road that snaked its way over a mountain.  Pinky was up front, followed by Jim then myself.  Strangely, my XR was handling a LOT better with the extra weight of Pinky's luggage on the back.  I was on near-full knobblies and throughout the week you could lean it just so far then it would squirm around and let you know it didn't want to lean any further.  With the extra weight on board it gripped much more and was nice and stable with a fair amount of lean (for a dirt bike on knobblies you understand...).  It was obvious Jim was really enjoying himself, I tagged on behind and had a superb ride just following them both.  I expected the same was happening behind me, really impossible not to enjoy this fantastic flowing road.  And unlike many other roads we'd been on all week this one had great visibility through each corner.

When we reached the bottom and eventually stopped for a cool down and some food, we all raved about it.  I believe it was Jim's favourite road of the entire tour.

Once over the pass, we levelled out onto straighter and calmer roads.  Kids were cycling home from school, and the roadsides were full of sheets of bamboo being dried out.  Remember what I said earlier about Chopstick Mojo?  Well I think on this particular day I lost my photo mojo.  Normally I can get a very respectable photo while riding the bike, but I'm sorry to say I didn't get a decent enough photo of the bamboo at the roadside.  Sorry about that.

Kids with their brollies

Bamboo sheets drying out

Another quick stop for a drink and cool down on a cafe midway through this fantastic bend.  It was good to sit in the shade and just watch the occasional traffic go by for a while.

From there it was a steady ride that eventually got to a more built up area approaching a city.  Suddenly we're in the city, and I can see the gantry in the photo below, at that point I remembered it from last year and knew where we were.

L-R: Joe, Del, Bryan, Phil, Me, Jim.  That gantry just behind us is in China!!

Me

China!!

We had a few photos, but you can't stop there long because it's a border. So we hopped back on the bikes and fought our way through traffic for the last couple of miles across town to our final stop of the tour.  It got a little crazy, there were overtakes on the outside, on the inside, anything went but it was good fun.  Next thing you know, we pull into a little alleyway and find ourselves outside a hotel, and kill the engines for the last time.  A lad from the hotel appears with beers for us, while we unload the luggage and get the bikes ready to be taken to the train.  The lad then drains the fuel from each bike and runs them round to the train station.

I don't thin we could really believe a week had gone by so quick.  At the same time we'd done so much in such a short space of time.  It was pretty emotional for me, but underneath it all I was really glad we'd all enjoyed it and we were all in one piece.  Riding in Vietnam is risky business.

Pinky made some arrangements with the hotel that we could use a couple of their rooms to have quick showers.  We wouldn't be leaving for the train until later in the evening.  Once showered, me and Phil went for a walk to see a bit of Lao Cai.  Phil bought some trainers, we had a coffee, then a coconut, then made our way back.  Later on we all went out for another walk and explore around the markets to try and find gifts.

Last stop of the tour is just down that alley between these two buildings

A local school

Not many 'proper' bikes around in Vietnam, this was quite unusual to see.

It's coconut time!  Surprisingly good.

Late in the evening we chucked all the bike luggage on a handcart, and the hard working porter chap pushed it to the train station while we walked.  When we got there the bikes were about to be loaded up.  I just remembered in time to remove my GoPro bar mount before it was too late, it was still on the left handlebar.

Wasn't expecting much from the cabins but they actually turned out to be really good.  All the luggage fit in them and under the beds, there were 4 to a cabin and the place was air conditioned. There was a bit of larking about on the train but I don't remember too much of it due to being asleep very quickly.

I woke in the early hours, and shortly we approached Hanoi and crossed the bridge just before the city itself. The train was on a line that passes literally down streets and right past people's front doors.  It was amusing to see how close the buildings were to the train window.  It was also surprising to see that at 5am Hanoi food market was in full swing, absolutely buzzing with people who were presumably traders buying goods for the day. It seems like life never stops in Hanoi.

Bryan and Jim settle in for the long haul

This is the train line we were on (although a different train)

This is what happens during the day when the street is being used as a market...

Hanoi train station...5.45am...

So...while there's still another day to go, which I will write up, and there are still videos to be sorted through and posted up, that concludes the bike part of the trip.  I struggle to put into words just how fantastic a time I personally had.  The bikes, the roads, the food...the EPIC scenery, which is just jaw-dropping at every turn.  But most of all the people, both the fantastic bunch of lads I had the pleasure of joining on this tour, and last but not least the awesome Vietnamese people themselves who are friendly and happy almost to a person.  I really hope I can return to do Nambusters III at some point in the future, now that would be something!