Our Motorbike Adventure - Part II
ADAM - Setting off the next day we started to climb into the mountains on the nice smooth roads we had ridden on the day before. This nice smooth road lasted for about 1km when it suddenly disappeared and was replaced by uneven pot holed black stuff that looked like tarmac but was barely wide enough to drive a smart car let alone 2 way traffic. I can feel that you are concerned for Ellie at this point but don’t worry, these road conditions didn’t continue for too long. 
NO they were replaced by barrier less mountain roads made from dirt, gravel and my personal favorite deep, soft sand. At the prospect of these road conditions I started to get concerned for Ellie as she had only been riding a motor bike for just over 24 hours. However I needn't have been concerned as after a particularly treacherous patch of 'road' I turned round to check she was OK and found her standing on her pegs laughing. Much to my surprise (and relief!) she was loving it and was taking it all in her stride.
ELLIE - I couldn't believe it when we rounded a corner and were faced with thick, soft sand. After an initial moment of panic where I was convinced as soon as my bike touched the stuff I would be off, over the edge of the mountain, I was fine, and as Ad said, really enjoying it!
Riding that day was loads of fun, the sand and gravel made the mountain bends exciting and we were having a great day.
Being on bikes meant that we were able to stop and talk to the locals which was always interesting. These children were trying to give me some random fruit which didn't look all that ripe or tasty! However, soon afternoon was turning into evening and we hadn't reached our destination. We started to get concerned as although fun in daylight we didn't think these roads would be quite as great in the dark (and believe me - in the mountains it gets really dark!). We were only about 20km from the town at this point and knew we'd be able to make it if we just picked up our speed a bit and cut out our photo stops. Off we set, determined to make it before nightfall. Ad was a little in front of me when a bike with 3 blokes on came past me waving frantically and pointing at the back of my bike. Panicked I stopped - what was wrong? Was my wheel about to fall off! (Strange the thoughts that go through your mind!) The guy on the back of the bike got off and started pointing at his shirt, then at the road and then at my bike. I hadn't got a clue what he was going on about. Then, much to my horror, he tried to get onto the front of my bike - the penny dropped - he was wearing his best shirt as he was going out for the night in town and instead of riding three on his bike he wanted to come on mine as there was only me. The other two guys at this point rode off leaving me with this random Vietnamese man who had definitely had too many drinks to be driving a motorbike. I managed to mime that I was going to drive and he should sit on the back. Then, much to my relief, just as we were about to set off Ad came hurtling back round the bend in front of me.
ADAM – After going round a bend I always checked my mirrors to make sure that Ellie was OK and still behind me. Imagine my concern when she didn't emerge from a cliff edged hairpin bend! Turning round and heading back I was confused when I saw Ells with someone on the back of her bike. It took about 2 seconds to get the passenger transferred onto my bike as Ells was not happy to say the least having a pillion passenger on the bad roads.
So for the next 40 minutes I drove down the side of a mountain in the dark on sand covered roads with our baggage and new friend that we had found. He didn't really say much as he knew no English and the TET festival had taken its toll on him already, evident by the way his head crashed into the back of my helmet every time I applied the brakes! (it hurt him more than it hurt me!) Dropping our friend off in the city of Dien Bien Phu (if you know your French history you will know that this is the place that the French lost there struggle to keep Vietnam as part of their Indochina empire after a torrid 57 day siege of there base) we set off to find some food.
Walking around for 50 minutes it looked like we were being TET(ed) again, until we found a very small "restaurant" that was operating out of a garage. Not being great with the local language and the phrase book drawing a blank we resorted to the oldest form of communication-mime. I pointed at all of the things I wanted to eat and mimed how I wanted them cooked (much to the amusement of the toothless owner and the locals!). To our amazement 5 minutes later our beef and noodle stir fry arrived, exactly as we had asked for!
NO they were replaced by barrier less mountain roads made from dirt, gravel and my personal favorite deep, soft sand. At the prospect of these road conditions I started to get concerned for Ellie as she had only been riding a motor bike for just over 24 hours. However I needn't have been concerned as after a particularly treacherous patch of 'road' I turned round to check she was OK and found her standing on her pegs laughing. Much to my surprise (and relief!) she was loving it and was taking it all in her stride.ELLIE - I couldn't believe it when we rounded a corner and were faced with thick, soft sand. After an initial moment of panic where I was convinced as soon as my bike touched the stuff I would be off, over the edge of the mountain, I was fine, and as Ad said, really enjoying it!
Riding that day was loads of fun, the sand and gravel made the mountain bends exciting and we were having a great day.
Being on bikes meant that we were able to stop and talk to the locals which was always interesting. These children were trying to give me some random fruit which didn't look all that ripe or tasty! However, soon afternoon was turning into evening and we hadn't reached our destination. We started to get concerned as although fun in daylight we didn't think these roads would be quite as great in the dark (and believe me - in the mountains it gets really dark!). We were only about 20km from the town at this point and knew we'd be able to make it if we just picked up our speed a bit and cut out our photo stops. Off we set, determined to make it before nightfall. Ad was a little in front of me when a bike with 3 blokes on came past me waving frantically and pointing at the back of my bike. Panicked I stopped - what was wrong? Was my wheel about to fall off! (Strange the thoughts that go through your mind!) The guy on the back of the bike got off and started pointing at his shirt, then at the road and then at my bike. I hadn't got a clue what he was going on about. Then, much to my horror, he tried to get onto the front of my bike - the penny dropped - he was wearing his best shirt as he was going out for the night in town and instead of riding three on his bike he wanted to come on mine as there was only me. The other two guys at this point rode off leaving me with this random Vietnamese man who had definitely had too many drinks to be driving a motorbike. I managed to mime that I was going to drive and he should sit on the back. Then, much to my relief, just as we were about to set off Ad came hurtling back round the bend in front of me.ADAM – After going round a bend I always checked my mirrors to make sure that Ellie was OK and still behind me. Imagine my concern when she didn't emerge from a cliff edged hairpin bend! Turning round and heading back I was confused when I saw Ells with someone on the back of her bike. It took about 2 seconds to get the passenger transferred onto my bike as Ells was not happy to say the least having a pillion passenger on the bad roads.
So for the next 40 minutes I drove down the side of a mountain in the dark on sand covered roads with our baggage and new friend that we had found. He didn't really say much as he knew no English and the TET festival had taken its toll on him already, evident by the way his head crashed into the back of my helmet every time I applied the brakes! (it hurt him more than it hurt me!) Dropping our friend off in the city of Dien Bien Phu (if you know your French history you will know that this is the place that the French lost there struggle to keep Vietnam as part of their Indochina empire after a torrid 57 day siege of there base) we set off to find some food.Walking around for 50 minutes it looked like we were being TET(ed) again, until we found a very small "restaurant" that was operating out of a garage. Not being great with the local language and the phrase book drawing a blank we resorted to the oldest form of communication-mime. I pointed at all of the things I wanted to eat and mimed how I wanted them cooked (much to the amusement of the toothless owner and the locals!). To our amazement 5 minutes later our beef and noodle stir fry arrived, exactly as we had asked for!
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1:13 AM
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