DIARY - Friday 31st January 2008 How could I stay miserable, I was in a Dong Dang hotel that specialised in Karaoke. They were at it, catawauling at high pitch with gay abandon. There was only one thing to do - go down and join in the fun - it was that or go stir crazy! But that was several days ago and things have moved on. I have toured the north east of Vietnam, not one other European in sight and the weather has been bitterly cold. The plan was that I would join another group of motorcyclists to go on tour during the Tet celebration. Tet is the mother and father of all holidays, it's Christmas, New Years Eve and a birthday all rolled into one.Virtually the whole whole country closes down and travel is practically impossible. What has transpired though, is that the group of New Zealanders have cancelled their plans due to the awful weather conditions. Being a hardy Yorkshire lass (Hmm) my own plans remain and I have hooked up with a professional Vietnamese guide, courtesy of Voyage Vietnam tour company and we are currently out in the sticks!
We met up on Tuesday after I had been shopping for the most important piece of equipment, invaluable to say the least. A pair of wellies. After a week of wet muddy feet I am the proud owner of a pair of shiny waterproof boots - Bliss! The first day we ended up in Mai Chau in the west of the country, on our sojourn to the north west peaks. It rained nearly all day and the mist was all obscuring. The second day we got as far as Son La, again, thick fog and mist hiding all the beauty and it rained hard again. Today, our third day, we managed to get as far as Tuan Giao before the heavens opened again. My only coment is that the rain is slightly warmer!
Lonely Planet tells me that the road over the Pha Din Pass is called the interface between heaven and earth, the views are meant to be spectacular and not for those suffering from vertigo. The road is under construction, read into that more mud, but for us, we trundle along barely seeing two metres in front. Tandy (my guides name so far as I can pronounce it) is a brilliant guy, a keen sense of humour, he works independently and owns 10 Minsks at his home in Sapa. He last took 10 BMW 1200gs riders on a long tour of the north and thinks the bikes are totally unsuitable for the roads in Vietnam - but then he is a bit on the short side, so he would say that! What he has told me is that the Minsk has a neutral gear between each of the four gears - and I thought I was just a lousy gear changer when I could hit every one! He is a pretty mean mechanic too and fixed my side stand when he broke it off turning the bike on it.
When we arrived in Son La yesterday, I decided to walk up to the lookout tower high on the hill behind the guest house. There were hundreds of steps cut into the rock and I wished I had started to count them on the way up, not to worry I told myself, I can count them on the way down. It took me thirty minutes to climb up, an overload of step exercise. Almost at the top the steps veered off away from the main path and I decided to have a look up the side track first. Arriving at the building, red faced and decidedly out of breath, four young soldiers came out of the guard house, grinning with delight. I had arrived just as they were going to sit down to dinner. They insisted I join them. Oh heck, what had I let myself in for. Sitting on the bamboo mat chop sticks pushed into hand, choice morsels of baked fish, sticky rice cakes, vegetables and heavens only knows what else were piled into my bowl. It would seem rude to decline but after each mouthful they proposed a toast with rice wine being poured out of a plastic bottle. One hundred per cent is the shout as the tiny glasses are up ended and the rice wine burns its way down my throat. An hour later I make an unsteady exit and head off back down the mountain. What a fantastic interlude, one of those times that make travelling so special, they were a great bunch of kids and waved enthusiastically as I tottered away. D'ya know something? I quite forgot to count the steps down to the bottom.