Daily Diary 12.03.17 - 29.03.17

Daily notes from our northern motorbike loop (most recent first!) ...

• 29.03.17 Thai Nguyen - Hanoi (65km, 1.5 hours) // Hoorah for only a short ride!! Lots of traffic but we made it in one piece. Stopped off at Everest on the way to pick up a parcel that was delivered for me (thanks Dad & Sally!!) then took the bike straight to the garage for a service before we continue on our way tomorrow. Ahh,  feels good to be back in this wonderful city. 
• 28.03.17 Tinh Tuc - Thai Nguyen (188km, 6 hours, +50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Another long one but roads are improving as we move closer to Hanoi. Felt strange to be on a highway after the last 2 1/2 weeks of mountain paths! Tomorrow we'll be back in Hanoi, having completed the northern loop. 
• 27.03.17 Meo Van - Tinh Tuc (143km, 5 hours, +50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Numb bums today, long ride in the bitter cold (yes you read that right). Also had a guardian angel watching over us as our back tyre was punctured about 100m from a randomly placed bike repair shop! A lovely man helped us replace the inner tube for 20,000 VND, the price of a coffee in Vietnam. We have decided to cut our northern loop short as our final destination was a lake resort which would be no fun in this terrible weather. One more rural stop before Hanoi where we'll stay a night for the bike to be serviced, swap our winter clothes for summer ones and finally start to move south of the capital. Sun sun sun here we come!!
• 26.03.17 Dong Van - Meo Vac (24km, 1 hour) // Notes - Short one today, but nonetheless beautiful, if not more so! Also marks the start of our decent to the south, only 2500(ish)km to go! 
• 24.03.17 Quan Ba - Dong Van (94km, 3 hours +50,000 VND petrol ) // Notes - Stopped to visit the Hmong King's palace, built by the French colonial rulers  at the beginning of the 20th century to keep the King happy! It was one of my favourite tourist attractions so far, so spooky!! Will post some photographs soon. 
• 23.03.17 Ha Giang - Quan Ba (58km, 1.5 hours) // Notes - Favourite ride so far today, fairly easy aside from a few dodgy cliffside road works. Scenery was unbelievable - including the imaginatively named 'Fairy Bossoms'! Also the sun was shining for the first time in a while which cast a glorious warm blanket over everything we saw. 
• 22.03.17 Pho Rang - Ha Giang (126km, 4.5 hours, +45,000 VND petrol) // Notes - The first part of the journey saw the  worst roads yet, if you can even call them roads!! I'm guessing yesterday's rain didn't help. After lunch was much better, a relief to see some tarmac. We arrived in Ha Giang tired and mud splattered but safe and sound. 
• 21.03.17 Sa Pa - Pho Rang (108km, 3 hours, +50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Lots of downhill, and lots of rain! We had to use the ponchos for the first time which made us look like a pair of Mr Blobbys on a bike. Luckily the roads were easy to navigate as the rain was heavy at points. 
• 19.03.17 Lai Chau - Sa Pa (68km, 1.5 hours, +50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - High climb up to Sa Pa which brought some breath taking views! Heads were in the clouds. 
• 18.03.17 Muong Lay - Lai Chau (102km, 2.5 hours, +50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Nice easy one today after a day of rest yesterday, roads were great with only one or two climbs. Saw some pretty brutal animal related sights in one of the villages we rode through, can tell we're close to China! Also saw lots of women and young girls in traditional clothing which is beautiful, will try and get some snaps.  
• 16.03.17 Son La - Muong Lay (172km, 5.5 hours, +50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Tough day today, we stopped for lunch at midday and in hindsight should have stayed there for the night as the next possible place to stay was twice that distance again! Roads were bad, steep climbs, narrow gravel roads at points, but we made it to a hotel just as the sun was setting. Aside from the long bumpy ride the scenery was absolutely incredible. Will try and get some photos edited and on the blog soon! We'll be taking it much steadier from now on. 
• 15.03.17 Yen Chau - Son La (64km, 2 hours, +50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Mostly ground level, must be sugar cane season as many bikes loaded with the stuff / farmers chopping it down. Stopped in a small town for Dod to buy a camo jacket for £3.50 - he looks even cooler on the bike now. 
• 14.03.17 Mai Chau - Yen Chau  (113km, 3.5 hours) // Notes - Broke the selfie stick :( & met a Vietnamese couple during a pitstop who fed us sticky black rice cake and took about 50 photographs of us eating it. We also managed to have an entire conversation without speaking each other's languages, quite incredible! 
• 13.03.17 Hoa Binh - Mai Chau (65km, 2 hours, + 50,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Dramatic temperature changes in the mountains.  
• 12.03.17 Hanoi - Hoa Binh (76km, 2.5 Hours, + 55,000 VND petrol) // Notes - Hanoi Traffic was scary! 

Today we began the route to Saigon, I'll be keeping a diary of our progress (similar to this) on the current location page. 

1,466km done, roughly 2000 to go!

Northern Road Trip // Week One 12.03.17 - 19.03.17

We are one week into our Vietnamese road trip adventure! So far, so good. Despite the forecast promising storms every day since we left the weather has been on our side, the sun has been shining and not a drop of rain thus far. The roads have varied quite dramatically, from multi-lane highways to steep and narrow gravel pathways it feels like we've seen the best and the worst already. The times when I have felt most uneasy have been, paradoxically when I have been most in awe. Our highest climb so far is 1,648 metres above sea level. Winding down the mountains through herds of water buffalos and the odd lorry is nerve-rackingly incredible, with every curling corner comes a new spectacular perspective on the dramatic surrounding scenery. What's more, our route has taken us though numerous small mountain villages where many of the women and girls still wear the beautiful traditional tribal clothing we learnt about in Hanoi. I love catching snippets and frames of daily life and goings on of these peoples' worlds, so far from our own. Some sights have not been so kind on the eye, animals are often killed, gutted and displayed for sale street side; dogs and cats included. We've just about got to grips with ordering food, the rural 'restaurants' are more like canteens. They have a certain amount of dishes available you can order from, usually meat, tofu, veg, egg, clear soup and rice or noodles - google translate has had to come to the rescue at times! There isn't an awful lot to do during the evening in the places we've stopped so far, but early nights are welcomed as the concentration whilst driving seems to be wiping us both out (pothole, pothole, buffalo, bus, pothole...). To sum up the first week in short it's been jaw dropping, eye opening and intense! Here are ten images from the journey so far...

I've been keeping a daily log of our progress on the 'current location' page, as well as adding to my photographic collection of 'things on bikes' (an excellent co-driver hobby). Check it out by clicking the tabs above at the top of the page ^^^  

Time for a Challenge 12.03.17

A rainy walk on the beach on Cat Ba.

After a very rainy, mostly boring few days on Cat Ba island we felt inspired to push ourselves a little for the next leg of our trip. Originally we had planned to bus up to Ha Giang and rent a bike for a week to travel the surrounding towns and villages. However for the following three reasons we have decided that's just not good enough... 

1. Time for a challenge 

We had the chance to really relax at Everest, with a lot of spare time on our hands life was too easy for a short while. As much as I love to watch bad TV in bed we didn't fly half way around the world to do the things we can do at home! We were inspired to challenge ourselves by a fellow volunteer from Everest, Selim.  One night we got to talking about how the South East Asian part of our trip had been much easier than we imagined it would be, and how after so long the charm can where off and things get a little boring; unless you seek the challenge yourself. He is currently cycling almost 2000km from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh in search of the challenge! We're not in a position to be able to push ourselves that hard just yet, but the next best thing is to motorbike it. We're starting with a northern loop, with potential to extend the route right down to Ho Chi Minh, which would mean covering somewhere between 3000-4000km in 6 weeks.

2. Freedom 

Having the freedom to explore at our own pace has become really important to us. We've tried various trips and tours but I get so frustrated at being told where to take photos, how long to walk for and where to eat. With the bike we can stop whenever, wherever we want to. We were also planning to skip places like Sa Pa, which is apparently a complete tourist trap. However, now we at least have the option to drive through and check it out for ourselves, if it's not our cuppa we'll leave within a day. 

3. Bikes are the best!

Getting on a bike was one of the things I was most frightened to do before we came away, but after witnessing the sheer beauty that comes with riding through the rural, mountainous parts of South East Asia neither of us can get enough of it. 

We bought ourselves an extra (knock off Nigel) waterproof hold-all at the markets last night and learnt the true meaning of packing light. You can check out our very rough route by clicking the 'current location' tab above. I'll try and update the page with an exact list of places we stop along the way, and imagery of as much scenery I can do justice. Below is a map of example routes suggested by the hire shop, we're hoping to do a bit of all three! 

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Bike hire // Flamingo Travel  www.flamingotravel.com/ 
Prices from $10 a day inc. left luggage service.

Photos 08.02.17 - 03.02.17

Living in suburban Asia was never part of our plan. Rural maybe, but suburban doesn't quite have the same appeal. I remember feeling so disheartened listening to our taxi driver ask local after local where the centre was, as we struggled through what felt like a  weary estate in the pitch black. Tomorrow we leave Mê Linh for the last time, and Lucy three weeks ago is shocked to be saying she's feeling a little emotional. We have been welcomed and cared for with open arms by every last person in this funny old place. Some bestowing an overwhelming sort of kindness that we will carry with us for a lifetime. Goodbye Mê Linh, we will remember you fondly for these things among many others...

Mê Linh in Ten Photographs

 

Your local festival...

...and how much you all love it!

Your gorgeously happy children.  

Even when they threaten to hit us with a giant stick! 

The food! And your 'stick it all in the middle and try a bit of everything' approach. 

Walking along the motorway to get to the local supermarket. (Sorry Parents, there's no other way!)

Your neighborhood trust, 'here's next doors baby, hold her for a minute'. 

Four hour karaoke marathons, for £3 each.

Your amazing pride, and utter willingness to involve us in your culture. 

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Although tomorrow we wave goodbye to Mê Linh, we still have one last blow out with the Everest gang this weekend. We have been invited to a wedding!  Eight months ago a member of staff and a volunteer fell in love, and they'll be tying the knot this Saturday. All current volunteers are invited to attend, with four of the boys asked to be groomsmen - Dod included. Excitement doesn't cover it!

Thank you and goodbye for now Mê Linh ♥ !