Day One On The Trail
…So after about 20 minutes of weaving in and out of the most insane traffic, we heard a loud pop. Our guide Mr. Cuong’s motorcycle had just died. (Adam did an amazing job getting us out of Hanoi btw. Once i get the video of the traffic posted you will see why this is such a HUGE deal! Anytime in traffic you may have 2, 3 and sometimes 4 people on one scooter zipping beside you, in front of you with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes the scooters will have cages with live animals on them, and some with huge bags of produce or whatever you can imagine! Because if all of the heavy traffic and pollution you have to wear a mask.)
Now we are sitting on the side of the highway, with cars trucks and bikes zipping by, overlooking the rice Fields. People have begun to stop and help- or really just look and talk. One fella on a scooter and another on a bike with huge sacks of potatoes on the back have both stopped!! I love life. It is definitely never dull!!
Mr. Cuong is amazing. He has all the spare engine parts you could need in his sidecar trunk and he got it going! Just like that! It was really amazing! We left and drove 80 kms with a stop in a pretty little country town to have a coke and a big bowl of pho. Back on the bike we rode through windy mountain roads where all of the children in each of the towns ran out to wave to us and say hello! It was like we were in a parade. Adam said he felt like we were JLo but they smiled at us more like we were Big Bird or Mickey Mouse. We felt like stars! Those sweet faces made my heart swell. Adam brought tons of bouncy balls that we are giving out anytime we can.
Our final destination was Lang Song right at the Chinese Border, where there very few American tourists. We went for a lovely meal with Mr. Cuong and to bed at 9pm.
It is 6:00 am and we are about to go further North and see more of the countryside close to China. Attached you will see our photos our day and of Beef Pho with Mr. Cuong at breakfast this morning.
We can not say enough good things about Mr. Cuong and Explore Indochina!!! www.exploreimdochina.com. They are a class act!!!! If you come to Vietnam to ride, you have to go for a ride with them!
We hope each of you are well and life is good. Thank you for all your sweet comments and thoughts.
Sending you heaps of love,
Leigh and Adam xxx
