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).

Vietnam, Day 7 - Ha Giang to Dong Van

Heavy rain last night, so that means the trails are probably going to be extremely muddy; which means hard work. So far we've done 1163km in a mix of on and off road, and we have another 200 km to do today.

Our first off-road excursion starts not long after we turn off the main road, we climb into the hills and are soon on dirt roads. Technically it's still 'road', but in the loosest sense. It's another burst of fun as we climb higher on the wide track. There's little sign of the heavy rain that fell where we stayed, perhaps it was localised. We pass by a few road building crews at work with bulldozers and diggers widening and flattening the earth, presumably ready for a tarmac road surface. Graham and Danny ahead of me are sliding their way through the muddy sections having fun, as am I.

Our progress stops abruptly just where another crew sits idle by some machines. At first we don't see why we've had to halt, but on dismounting and walking further on and around the corner we can see a huge section of the hillside has collapsed onto and over the road. We can't make out the other end of the road and below us is a drop so steep, we can't even see where it ends. We're not going anywhere fast. Ta confers with the crew, apparently they're waiting for the boss to direct their efforts; he's investigating what needs doing. Ta assures us it will only take an hour to clear and there's no detour available. So we wait. Having seen the damage, we're not convinced, but we agree to give it an hour before deciding how to proceed. Meanwhile a brave digger driver, climbs the steep earthen slope above the road in his health and safety steel toe-capped flip-flops and starts working in his digger. It looks so precarious and would never be allowed in Europe or the US. The boss arrives and we were right, this is going to take way more than an hour. Just as we're gearing up again to go back, there's a rumble and we see a large tree above the road tumble along with the earth and rocks surrounding it. This is clearly still a live landslide. We ride back to the main road the way we came. We've seen so many landslides in the last few days, it seems the whole area is gradually falling down! The mountains and hill are so loose and friable, it's a wonder that any roads are still intact.

I'm following Alan. He's riding very sensibly, obviously not wanting an honourable mention in the blog! Doesn't stop him from enjoying the trails though, like the rest of us, he's having a ball.

Then back on the main road battling traffic. Along many of the roads and in villages we've been through in the last few days we've seen corn laid out to dry on the roadside. It's a staple in the area and I presume it's ground down into flour.

We reach the Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark. Karst means there will be limestone rocks, caves and interesting geological features. We climb, ending at a pass at 1100m where we stop for coffee, which I'm told was very good. There are foreign tourist groups turning up in 4x4s and also on mopeds complete with knee and elbow pads, but trainers and plimsolls on their feet.

Today is Sunday and the roads in this national park are full of waving local weekend tourists in cars, buses and on mopeds. We see a few 'proper' bikes too and a couple of old sidecars outfits with boxer engines.

Back onto the main road and refuel and then we turn off the main road again, but now we've lost Graham. He turns up eventually; after the refuel, he was told to wait for the last guy, which turned out to be Graham himself!

We're almost back to the road we were on originally as it joins up with the road we're now on. We take various off-road detours and in one place we pass through tall grass and a stoney path, which a few remark reminds them of Mijas, particularly a place there know by Baz and his team as 'little Vietnam' - well, we're now in the real thing!

Ta warns us the next offroad bits will be tough, but we are ready, so off we go. It is very rocky, which tends to throw the wheels offline and you either correct or let the bike find its own way. This is where speed assists, as the rotational momentum of the wheels gives you stability; but not too fast, or the suspension will throw you off. So it's a balancing act of speed, momentum, throttle and clutch all topped off with judicious steering. For finding the right line through the chaotic terrain is the secret of success or failure. Riding offroad, your brain has to process so much information and then control your actions, it's a finely honed machine. Getting it right is a great feeling, akin to finding a fast and smooth path down the ski slope. We have some good skiers in our group too!

At some point we enter an area call the "Challenging Road". It's mildly challenging, but the roads Ta takes us on are better.

Leaving this we start what turns out to be the hardest riding we've done yet. A rocky, narrow path barely clinging to a steep sided valley. It has a few kinks that add extra difficulty, but really it's the random rocks and stones that are the real challenge, plus the view, just don't look down!  I'm following Ray and he's riding like a pro; he says he's found his groove. Perhaps now the groover will be ready for that Karaoke session?!

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It's getting dark so the light from the headlights are actually helping to guide our way. The toughest part over, we stop to regather, but some in our party are not happy bunnies. The failing light plus the extreme terrain they consider inappropriate. Most of us, however, are very happy with the challenge we've overcome.

The run to the finish line is in the dark (Ta had warned us this would be the case if we took the last off-road section) and Tang leads with his LED spotlights. He's indicating left and right on the switchbacks, which he means to be helpful, but I it find distracting as when the light is on, it reduces visibility of the road. It's getting cold and I zip up my jacket and close vents. It seems an age until we arrive, but it's bearable. We file into the hotel carpark and there's a buzz as we recall our exploits of the last few hours.

This is the frontier town of Dong Van, only a few km from the Chinese border. Towering over the centre is a huge limestone rock at least 100m tall, topped with a neon sign, that in the dark looks like it's floating on air. The market is still open and we go for a wander after dinner.

It's always a good sign when we swap stories about how we survived in style. Today, we did. It was a long day, a big day, some say, the best day. But tomorrow is another day, so let's see.

Vietnam, Day 6 - Bac Ha to Hà Giang

The cockerel didn't go off as expected and neither did the radio station. The power was off too, perhaps that explains the lack of Vietnamese communist party propaganda, but perhaps not the lack of crowing.

I didn't do a GPS altitude check on arrival yesterday, but a quick check before we leave reveals that we're at just over 900m. That explains why it's a little nippy.  Breakfast at the dinner venue, but I reckon the chef must be still in bed.

Off we go, and again we're up and down, rather like the undergarments of certain ladies of ill repute, as one of my colourful nameless chums put it, so he did. Up to 1200m. The views are largely similar to what we've seen already: terraced paddy fields; small villages with shops selling the same kind of fresh veg and packaged food sold everywhere else; kids waving, or not; chickens, dogs and pigs; and muddy tracks. Sounds like I found it monotonous, but it wasn't, every day is fresh with new experiences. People are happy and Vietnam seems to be doing OK.

Yesterday I composed the first three paragraphs of my blog in my head while riding the first stint. I spoke them out loud in my helmet and thought they sounded rather good. As soon I stopped I had forgotten them! Memory like a sieve. I did recall the essence of them later, but I don't think they sounded as good. I need someway of recording or note taking as I go; I've yet to work out a practical (waterproof, one handed gloved operation, minimal wires, all day battery life) solution, so I just type notes from memory at each stop.

Lots of off-road today in between fast curvy stretches of broken tarmac. Some real mud plugged and sprayed over my number plate as best I could. Getting the hang of spinning up the back wheel, even though there's not much power to play with. Works on gravel too if you keep your weight forward and give the handlebars a little twist; opposite lock is always very satisfying.

On one particular muddy section, even the locals were struggling and Tang had to give a couple on a loaded scooter a push to free them from the mud before the remainder of our group could get past. Danny has an off here and we rush to help him in our usual way, by taking photos of his predicament!

I said previously that the roads in Vietnam were quite good, well I'd like to revise that - the roads near Hanoi are mostly good, here they are like that found in most less developed countries, broken tarmac, dirt and gravel. It's exacerbated by the mountainous terrain and frequent landslides. We saw a party repairing the roads, laying stones rolled flat then topped with tarmac. The result is smooth and level, but I suspect not long lasting. We also saw them laying new concrete paths in the hills on a bed of sand. Again, smooth, but not for long.

I commute to work daily by motorbike, so I know almost every little bump and crack on my route.  With similar bumps, lumps and ruts to Belgium, a determined Vietnamese local will always find a way past our group, despite us riding 250cc bikes, bigger than almost everything else on two wheels. Danny gets toasted by a particularly eager guy on a tatty step-through moped. He obviously knows which lumps and bumps to avoid.

The ladies have different colours today. Yesterday was predominantly pink, today seems more greens and purples. All are very colourful.

Before lunch Ta asks if we want to take the tricky off-road route or the main road to reach the lunch stop. Silly question! There follows a twisty path scratched into the hillside with wheel swallowing ruts, more mud, sand and gravel. Gerard, Graham and I are following Ta and for once he puts on a spurt of speed and we all respond willingly. We stop often to let the tail-enders catch up, but we're all going at our own pace and all thoroughly enjoying it. At one point I see Graham lose his back end briefly, spinning it sideways before recovering, and a few seconds I lose the front at the same spot, almost coming to a halt and worse, letting Ray catch it on camera!

Back on tarmac after lunch but the corners are littered with sand and gravel just waiting for an unsuspecting Harley rider. And they caught one, Steve going down unceremoniously on a right-hander, bending the rear brake pedal but fortunately not himself.

While riding the winding tarmac sections I frequently notice what I think are a truck's wet tyre tracks, as if it's gone through a puddle and left a trail. But the trail is continuous and doesn't end. I eventually figured out it was a truck, but the trail was water dripped onto the brakes to cool them after the constant up/downs of the road.

Restarting after a stop and Steve in front of me suddenly stops! His brake light isn't working and I'm barely able to stop in time locking the front wheel but not hitting him. Behind, Graham just manages to avoid rear-ending me (I'm also without brake light). Steve's front brake is locked on. Turns out his earlier fall bent the hand guard so that it touches the front brake lever causing it to jam in place. It's lucky he didn't go over the bars. Tu fixes it in the traditional way, with a hammer and a long stick.

We're near the Chinese border at various times during the day and Steve notes a text message saying "welcome to China" when his phone connects briefly with a Chinese mobile network.

Before reaching our destination we take a fast road and have to dice with more traffic than we find on the back roads. It's quite common to be forced to move over by an oncoming car, overtaking another car, on your side of the road. Most of us are used to this and in fact it's not as bad as in India were buses overtake lorries, overtaking carts. We're not phased. One loon in a Pajero heading the same way as us overtakes on two blind bends before disappearing into the distance, in doing so he forces an oncoming car to take avoiding action.

We roll into town in the dark. Flashing lights and markets, shops still open, but people heading home. The roads are busy.  After 215km today, we park up at our out of town hotel, it's a resort complex with individual huts set in-between the trees and it has a lake out back. Very nice, but the pool isn't open as it's "broken". After dinner we enjoy an ice-cream from their freezer.