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The longer I stay here and the further I travel, the more I begin to love this place. Over the last couple of days I've travelled around 500km, beneath a hot August sun, along the Ho Chi Minh Trail that is a piece of artwork in the form of road. And when I say hot, I mean really hot. Really, bloody hot. When I left Hue it was 39 degrees and that was at 10 in the morning. A few pages in my book have started to fall out because the glue has melted.
There are three main North-to-South roads in Vietnam. The Highway 1A, the Ho Chi Minh Highway and the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The first is supposed to be busy and dangerous, and the latter is remote and therefore dangerous. The Ho Chi Minh Highway falls somewhere in the middle. The route I had planned was a 2 day ride, terminating in Phong Nha, along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Because it's so rural and because I'm travelling alone, I hired another guide for this trip. I thought if I ran out of petrol or if I broke down, as I had on the previous journey, then I would be a bit stuffed.
My guide was a young guy called Bom. An aptly named guide taking me through an area known for having an estimated 100,000 unexploded mines left from the war. (Quite rightly, he told me not to wander off the trail!). He also brought along his little brother, Win, for reasons that I never worked out. They're of a similar age to me and it was their first time on the trail too.
The first leg of the journey was from Hue to Khe Sanh. A neatly-laid, tarmac road that twisted through the contours of the mountains. Driving perfection- a road that any driver would have approved of. For the second leg, to Phong Na, we weren't quite as lucky. The views continued to amaze but the road was a harsh, concrete track that reminded me a bit of the Surrey section of the M25. One of many strange familiarities I've noticed since leaving England.
When we arrived in Khe Sanh on the first evening, Bom asked if I would like to meet, and have dinner with, his fiancé's family who lived about 20km from the guesthouse we were staying in. Naturally I said yes, it was my first experience of non-tourist life in Vietnam. They lived in a town called Lao Bao, which is right on the Laotian border. There's even a market that is technically between the two countries and therefore no tax regulations apply.
The women of the family prepared a feast, that they laid out on the floor for everyone to sit around. Although they only spoke very little English and I spoke even less Vietnamese, we could vaguely understand each other through nods and smiles. The food was great and they were all so welcoming. After dinner, I was invited through to the back of the house to have beers with the men. A slightly more intimidating experience but an experience nonetheless.
The following day, we arrived in Phong Nha late after a 10 hour journey. Long enough on a bike in any weather, let alone 40 degree heat. According to the locals, we're supposedly experiencing a small heatwave, (I'd never had guessed!). Even the buffalo just lay out in the rivers for most of the day, bathing in the muddy waters.
The second leg was a nerve racking journey that I'm glad I had a guide for. During the last few hours we didn't see a single person and we were both running low on fuel and water. We resorted to free-wheeling down the hills and coasting round the hairpins. When it started to get dark, the jungle really came alive. We could hear the animals and insects over the noise of our bikes, and I think I swallowed my own body weight in mosquitos.
It was the hardest yet most rewarding day of the trip to date.
I'm looking forward to a rest in Phong Nha but will make the most of my time because I now realise what's in store for the next few days and I can prepare my bike accordingly. I've booked it in for an oil change, a new front tyre and it needs an odd bit of welding done. My aim to get to Hanoi by the end of the weekend which is do-able with a few more long days.
- comments
Ma Sounds amazing! So glad you are taking all the experiences there are (sought of!) Have a safe continued journey, love you xxxx