Travelling through the hills on a bike....

The Vietnamese People

When I started researching our Southeast Asia stops, Vietnam worried me the most. The literature spoke of aggressive, unsmiling, hard people, pushy touts and scam artists.  We had been in Saigon, the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc and met only friendly folks and the Central Highlands was the same.  As our bikes sped along the narrow and seemingly deserted roads, Owen’s rumbling engine would draw attention and kids would come running. At the ends of their yards or from doorways, they’d jump up and down waving and yelling hello. Adults would look up, I’d wave and they would smile and return the wave. There was no doubt that we drew stares but once I smiled, my watcher’s face would break into a delightfully warm grin. Often, we’d hear the hellos and shouts before we could see anyone so I’d throw up my hand in a wave, not knowing where they were. Owen was right; there were times I felt like a queen – waving continually.

Highland Cruisers

As we rode Tien took the lead and when we stopped, he was the one to show us the site.  Each stop was fairly quick - perfect for us. We took many breaks along the road just to walk, stretch our legs and give our butts a break. One stop was a silk farm and we were astonished to see the amount of silk threads being gently pulled, ever so slowly, from the cocoons. Once a spool of silk was full, it was spun and dried. The photo below shows the cocoons in the trough and if you look closely enough, you will see the threads of silk being extracted.

The ride continued through the hills and the scenery was beautiful. Our pit stop for a walk took place on a bridge overlooking a river. The homes are those of fishermen and their families.

As we waited on the bridge, a group of Vietnamese went by pulled by a tractor. I’ve been dying to get a photo of their tractors to show you as they are quite unique.  The engine is a tractor engine but it can be adjusted so that it pulls a load or pushes machines used in the rice fields.  Farmers can use their feet to drive these things on the road.

After this, we walked to the end of the bridge and met Owen and Tien who showed us our next road – it was slick red clay with large potholes. Currently two tractors were trying to get up the small hill to the highway but were slipping in the mud. Owen encouraged us to walk down the road and said they’d catch up to us so off we went. At the base of the hill, a couple were getting their wedding photos taken – the groom in his tux and the bride in her WHITE wedding dress standing on this muddy RED road. The groom called us over like we were old friends – we went, congratulating them as we did. A photo was taken, me beside the bride and Ian beside the groom. It was quite funny.

Many couples are getting married right now – we must have passed dozens of wedding receptions. With Vietnamese New Years (Tet) approaching, it’s an auspicious time. Marrying now means newly married couples can produce a baby for next year’s Tet.  As so many people cannot afford large weddings and reception halls are very expensive – open air restaurants are transformed. Colourful tent like appendages are added to the front to make the restaurant larger, to add privacy, and to beautify the place.

Ian and I continued down the road which to be honest, wasn’t one I was looking forward to travelling on. Owen and Tien arrived and away we went. Tien and Ian had no problem managing the slick clay and the potholes but Owen’s bike was too large and too heavy. A couple times I thought we were going down and I hoped I’d land in the brush at the side of the road rather than in the red clay in my white jacket. We had no choice but to move slowly so I wasn’t worried about getting hurt. It was very rough going and there was a lot of slipping and sliding. Owen almost dumped the bike but his feet stopped it from completely falling over. It did however lean enough for me to slide off. I was fine, but that was it for Owen. We would not be continuing down the road.

Ian and I walked back to meet Owen and Tien at the highway. The road we had just left apparently led to a great scenic drive and to Tien’s sister’s house where we’d be stopping for a visit. I didn’t know what I was missing so I was glad to be back on the highway.  It looked like rain so we donned rain gear.

Lunch that day was on a hilltop at a huge open restaurant filled with metal tables and stools. The floor was absolutely covered in filth – napkins, scraps, etc. Staff wipe everything left on the tables onto the floor and at the end of the day sweep and hose down the floor. Efficient but doesn’t keep the flies away. Lunch consisted of several shared dishes and everything was cold. I picked at the food – nothing really appealed to me – still, it was better than dog meat offered at quite a few restaurants we passed.

We soon made it to Lak Lake where we’d spend the night. We made our way to the top of a hill to Bao Dai Villa.

It had a fantastic view but that’s about all it had going for it. I believe we were the only couple staying there – the room was incredibly basic and the bed rock hard – not something you want when your butt is sore from riding a bike all day. I tried to take a shower but the water went everywhere so I gave up. There were dirty handprints on walls, exposed wires and by Ian’s side of the bed, a section of broken floorboards left a nice sized hole!

Owen had said he was picking us up by taxi so I dressed for that – imagine my surprise when I saw the bikes (my butt wasn’t too happy – ouch!). We were headed to a local’s house for a dinner of duck and pork. I didn’t have the heart to tell Owen that neither Ian nor myself ate duck – I just hoped there was something else I could eat.  Hien the owner was pleasant and met us with smiles. We sat down in tiny plastic chairs around a low table to a dinner of spring rolls, rice, the pork and duck and low and behold - cauliflower and broccoli. I can’t remember the last time I’d had cauliflower and broccoli! I nibbled some rice, ate a few spring rolls and of course, the veggies.  Hien, Tien and Owen noticed the amount of food I ate, which was very little, but that was all I could manage.

There was another couple who joined us but we had no idea who they were – I don’t think we were ever introduced. They were drinking rice wine out of a bag (moonshine).

I remembered rice wine from when we lived in Korea so I wasn’t interested in any of it. I was glad that Owen had found us a ride back in a car so we could leave when we were ready. I was exhausted so we had a fairly early night. Unfortunately, sleep proved a challenge as it was so cold in the room and all we had was a sheet and thin blanket. I just kept adding clothes until finally I was warm enough.

We woke up to a bright sunny day and rainbows.

Breakfast was back at Hien’s house where we had omelettes and baguettes. Down the road, tourists could ride elephants if they wished but Ian and I had done that long ago and were not keen. It was interesting eating breakfast with elephants walking close enough that we could reach out and touch them.

After breakfast we went for a walk in the village of the Mang people (I think that’s right). The lane went to a large lake that provided fishing opportunities for the locals and was lined on either side with long houses. Houses had small pigs with babies and the animals roamed quite freely.

We got back on the bikes and headed out towards what looked like rain…..

The view was amazing and it easily distracted me from the possibility of getting wet.