Vietnam, Day 8 - Dong Van to Bao Lac

We've been close to buzzing the border with China for the last couple of days, within a few tens of kms at various times, but today we get to see China, at least from a distance.

We're soon onto a trail looping the town complete with mud, ruts and rocks. Quite the challenge so early in the morning. But it's worth it, not only for the buzz of adrenaline we all get from overcoming it, but also for the awesome views from the half way point - we can see China across the valley and over the river.  The buildings in the distance look more modern than those seen on this side of the valley, square and functional three or four storey. To be fair there are also functional buildings like this in Vietnam, but only in or near towns, whereas the Chinese buildings look as if they were built for a purpose: to overlook the border.

Then back into town, past last night's hotel and a chance to see that towering rock that dominates the town. Then out again on more rocky and even more difficult trails. Through the interspersed villages the kids wave and shout the only English they know, "hello!" Although in one village near Hanoi I heard a, "nice to meet you". Very polite. At some point on this rocky route I miss a gear and grind to a halt. Duff, right behind me, brakes suddenly and and finds there's a dip in the trail where his foot tries to touchdown, and so him and his bike both do a touchdown. Fortunately no damage. Duff likens himself to the oven cleaner "Easy Off". Something he can do even when stationary!

Tight and narrow mountain switchbacks take us higher and we eventually rejoin a main road leading to a viewpoint, half way up the side of a valley looking out to the valley floor below, which is largely filled by a green coloured dammed reservoir. This is downstream of the river border with China that we saw earlier and the border is now further away, so the reservoir is all in Vietnam, as is the valley on the other side. There's a cafe here and it seems to be a popular stop with a few two wheelers parked there, some with tourists as pillion.

As we move on from the viewpoint, the mountains above us grow taller. One in particular is a sheer face, maybe three or four hundred metres of flat vertical rock and very imposing. The road is generally good tarmac, but it suddenly becomes very potholed. Then it dawns on me that these are not potholes, they are in fact bullet holes! Sizable rocks fall from great heights onto the road and there are some recent ones still in place at the edge of the road, embedded into the tarmac.

One thing I find surprising is how the Vietnamese manage to cultivate land that would be totally ignored in the Europe. They grow maize on 45 degree or more slopes, and we can see the evidence on the hillside, patches of light coloured stalks still in the ground.

We pass through an area with many bee hives, and at one point we obviously cross a bee transit route as we can see hundreds of them flying in front of us. I manage not to end up with a bee in my bonnet, but do hear one or two hit my helmet. Near here there's also a wedding reception taking place and we stop to take a few photos of the group outside the venue complete with hemp plants growing close by.

After lunch, which involves a trip to the supermarket to get chocolate, it's another trail. This one ends up at the water's edge and a dead end; it's a ferry access point. The 'ferry' is a bamboo raft that looks to have seen better days and, when loaded with three bikes and their hefty riders, becomes submerged! But the operator still manages to pull his weighty load across the 200m or so of the reservoir using nothing more than a cable strung across the gap. It takes four crossings and we try not to imagine what would happen if the raft did sink as Ta says the reservoir is 30m deep. The ferry is operated by a family living just above the water; they have a couple of cows, some chickens and maybe a little land. We are invited into their single room hut to see how they live. Not offering the luxuries we enjoy, but they do at least have electricity.

Then it's another blast through the hills again. Ray was feeling like he'd lost his momentum and chose the easier of the two options presented to us at one stage. In fact he discovered he had a puncture and had been riding with a deflated tyre. So, it wasn't his mojo that he'd lost, it was his (hot) air (but definitely not his touch of the Blarney)! What a hero. Once that was fixed, there was no stopping him.

Back on the road for the final leg of the day and it's a relatively easy stretch of back roads before joining the man road. The main challenge here is controlling the discomfort of your nether regions. The Honda CRF 250 has a single Motocross style bench seat or perhaps plank would be more accurate. It allows you to sit in a variety of ways, none of which offers any degree of comfort for more than a few minutes. The standard seating position is uncomfortable, but shifting back a few inches finds a spot even more uncomfortable as your posterior discovers two rails or perhaps bolts immediately below the thin cushioning. Sliding back further allows you to sit on the thickest portion of the seat normally reserved for pillions, but it's a welcome break for your saddle sore cheeks. But even that becomes uncomfortable, so you either shift forward again to being regular uncomfortable or do what I do and slide back even further to the rack at the back resting your butt cheeks up against and on the carrier; it feels like riding a cruiser bike as your arms and legs are stretched right out. There's one other position you can try before you resort to standing on the pegs, I call it the nutcracker. This sees you as far forward as you can go, crotch against the tank; it takes pressure off your cheeks, but redistributes it to your nuts. Your choice, but after several days on this truly awful saddle, crushed nuts start to feel like a price worth paying.

We arrive at the hotel, before needing to use the light from the headlights in anger, and park outside. All bunnies are happy. When we come back to reception later on, the bikes have been parked in the lobby! That's a first.

This is a weird hotel, no one else is staying here, seems half finished and has a very unconventional layout. As it's an early start tomorrow, breakfast at 7am, I'll end the blog here, as I need to get my beauty sleep (apologies for any typos).