So we are up at 8.30 but by the time we get something to eat and pack our gear on to out bikes we don't end up leaving until 11. Of course Elias didn't bother to fix his lights yesterday as he thought he would melt in the rain, so we are going to have to look in to doing that somewhere along the road. Elias is so cleaver that he left his helmet outside on his bike all day yesterday, and it was upturned, so he know has what can best be described as a bowl of soup, to put on his head this morning. Ha ha.
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We heads back out the same way as we did yesterday, though this time we take the correct road heading towards, Khum Tuc where we stop for some lunch. Lunch was not the best thing I have eaten, the usual chicken parts and rice. We pick through some of the bits of chicken but end up ordering some more rice because we are hungry and can't be eating any more of the rice. They end up over charging us badly, we offer them some of what they want and they seem happy enough so we are on our way. We stop somewhere to get some petrol, I can fill my tank for £5.50, so quite a difference from the prices I am used to. Elias is sick of driving with a fish bowl on his head and so stops at a local shop to buy a new helmet. We had been driving though the rain and so he decides to get one with a visor on it. I have a look but decide that the quality is not the best and so I don't buy. It isn't long before we stop and Elias is messing round with his visor, I tell him to be careful, but as he is French he doesn't listen. Crack! He breaks the visor on one side, I think we got a whole 5km before he broke his helmet. As we drive along the road the wind catches the flapping visor and rips it from the helmet. So Elias buys the helmet for the visor, and now he has none. Good job Elias!
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As we motor along we start heading up a hill and I notice that my Moto is spluttering, with the power fading on and off intermittently. It gets to the point where I my bike just dies on me, and I can't get up the hill. Elias rips off in to the distance, but it is not long before he is back. While I am waiting, a Vietnamese guy stops and asks me what the problem is. I explain and he tells me that he knows a garage where we can get it fixed. When Elias returns we decide to follow the guy to this garage and see what the problem is. After the mechanic takes a look it appears that the pump is clogged and so when I am going up a hill I can not get the power I need. So the guy takes the pump out and gives it a good clean and then puts it back in. It was probably the crap petrol that we put in earlier. I have decided that we will only use a petrol stations for our petrol from now, and not the little pump on the side of the road that we used today. Once my pump is fitted I take it for a test drive while Elias gets his lights replaced. I had back up the hill and there is no problem with the bike, great job. After I get to the top I pick a spot to turn around and head back. I wait for a couple of bikes to pass and then I start my U turn. What happened next was a culmination of stupidity, lack of confidence and inexperience. As I start to turn round I realise I am going too fast and not turning enough. In this moment of panic my mind tells me to slow down. In reality what actually happens is I apply more power. Normally these type of events happen slowly, not this one. I am accelerating towards the side of the road. Then I see it. A 4ft concrete ditch, running the length of the road. Interesting that I had not noticed this before. My panic turns to fear as I plunge my bike into the ditch. Somehow I manage to jump from the bike and land on the road. My Moto now sitting in the ditch. I start to think about what type of damage I will have done to my bike and how much it may cost to fix. Then I realise that I am not going to be able to get my bike out of the ditch as the sides are so steep. What am I going to do? While I am standing here like a dock, I think about what has just happened and I relise that there were many options to avoid this catastrophe. I could have pulled the clutch, applied the brakes or even just taken my hand off the accelerator. So many options, but I choose to power my Moto in to the ditch. Good choice Marty. I hear a bike coming, he stops when he sees my Moto in the ditch, he can't help but produce a smile at my predicament. He speaks no English, but then I don't think that this situation needs much explaining. He flags down the next Moto passing and another guy comes over to help. They point to my leg and it is the first time that I notice the damage I have done to myself. Removed a good chunk of skin off my right calf, I am bleeding all down my leg and on to the road. Now I can feel the pain. Obviously a by product of my hasty dismount. The three of us manage to get my Moto out of the ditch and back on to the road. The front light is hanging off and so one of the guys just gives it a tap back in to place, then the second guy heads back to his bike, while the first one continues to talk to me in Vietnamese. I think he is asking for money, and so I offer him some for his help. He gives it back, it is then clear that he was trying to tell me to slow down. Little did he know that this was a low speed incident. I thank him again for his help and move off slowly back down to where Elias is. I pass him on the road and so turn round and we head on our way. I explain to Elias what had happened. Of course he laughs and is as understanding as you might have expected.
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As night time approaches we are no where near anywhere! It starts to rain and so we are on with the sexy ponchos. As we drive my light is shining in to the sky, like the bat symbol, a result of my visit to the ditch I suspect. The rain is coming down very hard and visibility is next to zero for me as I have a column of light shining directly up in front of me. Elias is not in much better shape as his light is turning on and off as if he is communicating in morse code with the trees. This situation is further complicated by the fact that the front light dims when you are not accelerating, we are going down hill so we are not doing too much accelerating. Suddenly the good road that we were on disappears without warning. Speed reduced, we are dipping in and out of potholes trying to avoid the largest ones. We see a sign for the next town, only 22km, we will stop there. This driving is brutal, I can't wait to get out of the rain. As we get to where the town is supposed to be, the sign changes to another town, 40km away. Our town is nowhere to be seen. It just disappeared. There were no turns, it just doesn't exist. We have little choice now, we have to keep going. As we continue to drive the rain is getting heavier, and when lorries pass on the other side of the road I am getting coated in a spray and blinded by the lights. It is not just on coming traffic that blinds me. Everytime Elias brakes it is like a flash bang going off in my face, but I have to keep close as I can not see anything with my light. There is a thunderstorm coming and as we wind our way through the mountains we are treated to a light show. Every few minutes the whole sky is illuminated with bright flashes and I can see the silhouette of the mountains, beautiful. After what seems like an eternity we get to a town, I see street lights, the rain eases. We coast through the town stopping at the hotels to get the prices. We end up finding somewhere for $5 each for the night.
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We roll the bikes in to a covered garage. At least they will be dry in the morning. We start the lengthly process of removing our gear from the bike. Many bungee ropes later and we have the stuff off and in to the room. It is such a relief to be at a hotel and have not died. We nip over to a local place and have some dinner. You can tell that this place does not see a lot of foreigners, we even get the real price for the food, which is nice. We come back to the hotel and have a few beers and some tea before we retire to the room. Elias plays some guitar and we try to watch a movie, but I am so busted that I fall asleep. Haven't talked about the plan tomorrow, needless to say it will not involve driving in the night again. My mattress is more like a board, but after my day I don't care.