Riding with Mr Pink II

After all the fog and rain we have had it was good to see the sun again. We motored out of Hanoi and headed for the Ho Chi Minh Trail (road). Wow - we would be using the road used during the American War to transport men and supplies south as the North Vietnamese pushed the Americans back to what was then Saigon. In Vietnam what we know as the Vietnam War is called the American War.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail

We were using one of the main highways to head south to start with. The road was very narrow. I was learning to hug the very right side of the road as the oncoming trucks, buses and cars overtook each other. Biggest vehicle of the road has right of way, no matter what direction it comes from. On a bike you get out of the way quick smart or you will be goo between the tyre treads. We see so many near misses, yet no one gives the bird. There is no road rage. Respect how the roads work here and you will survive and have a great ride.

Lunch time was fast approaching. My stomach was making those 'feed me now' noises. We pulled over into a road side cafe. This was no McDonalds as we are so used to in the west. This was a country side road cafe. You sit on the floor here. In one room Government officials were having a business lunch. Lots of food and lots of happy juice wa flowing. Business lunches are the same world over.

Mr Pink ordered for us. Fried chicken, I would say freshly killed out the back. Sticky rice. Some green plant roots and garlic. Chilli with oil and salt. Then some meat. Before we left Australia Jan had looked up the word for dog in Vietnamese. We don't eat pets. The cafes in the area all had signs up advertising Pho (rice noddles which are so tasty) and the word for dog. I was too busy watching the road and the traffic to see these. Our cafe had this sign too. A bowl of meat was served up to us. I ask what is this and hear the word "pork". I am not really a pork eater. But hey I was in their country and I don't want to be rude. So I tucked in with my chop sticks. Jan heard "Like Pork".

Lunch. A bit like pork.

So it looks like I may have eaten dog. I can never tell our dogs this here at home. They will never talk to me again. Jan did not tell me what she heard till that night when we talked about the lunch. You can imagine how I felt. I did keep my dinner down somehow.

Lunch over and its was time to get off the main road and onto Uncle Ho's road.

Mr Pink shows off some of his moves

Future with two feet and a sidestand down, like the sensible fellow he is

Like all right-thinking men, Vietnamese cyclists eschew the wearing of form-fitting lycra and shaving of legs

By now both our bums had no feeling in them. The seat on the 125 is so narrow it's like riding a plank made out of concrete. Jan was suffering more than me. The bike is so small that she was right up against me. The road was now dirt, with many potholes. The bike's suspension was not made to take people our size. Every bump was pile driving the bike up into Jan's spine. I went slower. At 40 km/h we were still suffering. Mr Pink on the XR was way ahead. His long travel suspension was soaking up the bumps and he was standing up for most of them. I so wanted my BMW with its Comfort seat.

The scenery was breath taking. This in a small way helped to distract from the pain we were in. The road took us up through the hills. The poor 125 was down to first gear as I revved the guts out of it coaxing it like a sick horse to get us up the hills. The terrain was getting very lush. We were close to Cuc Phoung.

Close to Cuc Phuong