Jan 10. Da Nang to Đông Thượng.
174 km
We Left Da Nang after a nice large
complimentary breakfast. I always tend to eat to much when there is a
decent breakfast buffet. Especially when it is a western style and
there is bacon. My bike has had been getting increasingly louder
since I ceased it twice a few days earlier. But The battery we put in
my scooter a few days earlier was finally drained so I got another
one at a shop. $12 for a sealed motorcycle battery that I would end
up running the rest of the way. We had to get away from the coast
quickly. Get out of the heavy traffic. Once we got back on the Ho Chi
Minh Highway there was way less traffic and some great mountain
roads. Just shy of 175 km on the day it was early afternoon and we
were climbing a 7 km mountain pass. Almost at the top my bike gets
loud and grinds to a halt. This time it won't start again. This time
its done. It had done about 600 km since the first time it ceased
but this time it had heated to much. We tried to tow it with Travis's
bike but it wasn't happening. We went for about 20 yards when we
started to smell his belt burning. Not worth killing both bikes.
Travis went the top and I started pushing. I had pushed about a half
km when a local lady and guy pulled up on a small truck. They were
carrying large foam coolers filled with seafood packed on ice. Not
much ice so the juice was leaking everywhere and it smelled great.
They stacked their coolers and made room for my bike. I climbed in
the cab and we started to drive. I am lucky they picked me up because
the next 20 km were up and down. Even though we were nearly at the
top of the big pass, there was 5 or 6 more I would have had to push.
They dropped me off at a mechanic shop they said was good. He said it
would take him 4 hours to completely rebuild the motor. They tore
into it. When we are watching them, they are going very fast and just
throwing parts in a pile. From my own experience, when I take apart a
motor, I have to set everything out on cardboard with drawings and
labels. I kept thinking how are they going to be able to put this
back together again. After a few hours we decided to get a hotel.
When we got back he was honing my cylinder for the new piston. Then
he pressed and balanced the crank with the new rod and bearings.
Then I see him working on a lathe and I figure out he put new clutch
shoes on the auto clutch. They are over sized so you turn them down to
the inner diameter of the clutch housing. Then it was time to start
drinking beer. We offered him a few beers while he was working then
when he stopped he invited us into his "house" for more.
His house was 1 room in the back of his garage. This is where his
wife, child and him lived. We proceeded to drink beer and bbq fish
until 11 at night. That was when the 14 year old kid had my bike back
together. Grand total 3 million dong or about $140. It was an
experience.
 |
| Spraying water on an overheating bus. |
 |
| My new clutch shoes getting machined to fit correctly in the clutch housing. |
 |
| Farm tools made by the blacksmith next door |
Jan 11. Đông Thượng to Ea Drang.
298 km
We went back to the shop to have him
tighten up a few things that were forgotten the night before. The
bike ran great now. Lots of compression and the clutch was finally
not slipping when it was cold. On the way out of town there is a guy
stopped on a scooter on the right side of the road so I move over to
the left side of the lane to go around him. With out looking or
signaling he turns left right in front of me. I go into a slide
trying to avoid him. I lay the scooter so far down on the left side
that it was a tripod between the tires and the left side peg. If I'm
going to lay her down, I'd rather low side her then another
high side. As I went past the guy my rear tire hit his foot which was
fully protected by a flipflop. When I came to a stop the bike hand
done 180 degree spin but I had saved it. I'm not sure how. I walked
back to the guy to see if he was ok. He was rubbing his foot, but
there was no damage. I bit my tongue and got back on the bike. I
wanted to yell at him to turn his head or use his blinker. It was a
newish scooter so the blinkers probably worked. Looking back on it,
he was probably thinking it was my fault for not honking when I was
coming up behind him. We stayed the night at a decent hotel. We
walked around and found some food carts. Vietnam has some really
great sandwiches. First they make some really good rolls that are
basically French bread, they add some BBQ pork, sausage stuff, some
other types of meat product, some sauces, some mayonnaise, some salad,
some cucumbers and maybe some carrots. 2 of them will fill you up. 1
is a nice breakfast. Its usually 15 or 20k dong for one sandwich..
Less then 1$. We went into a place that looked like a bar or a club
to try to get a beer. But it was a coffee shop and there were quite a
few people in it at 10:00 PM. We didn't understand it, but they
didn't have any beer.
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| Don't fall in here. |
We went back to the same sandwich place
from the night before. They were just as good the next day. As the
day went on we were getting out of the mountains and more into farm
land. Still hilly but way more dry then it was in the jungle. In one
town we should have taken a left but we went straight. Soon there was
no traffic. This is good. I think. Soon after there was no more
tarmac. It got rocky and dusty. This was a road that only locals
used. I was looking at the GPS and just when we were getting close to
another major road there was a police checkpoint. They stopped us and
said we had to go on another smaller road. This one was even worse
than the unpaved road. It was probably 40 year old tarmac that was
only about 1/2 there. So we took about a 2 hour detour on shitty
roads but we made it back to the Ho Chi Minh Highway. Once we got
back on the Ho Chi Minh Highway, it was 1/2 shit tarmac and 1/2
construction. I looked back and I noticed Travis wasn't behind me so
I pulled off to wait. I figured he got caught behind some machinery.
When he pulled up he was very dirty and shaking his head. What
happened? "Two little girls on a scooter came out of nowhere at
the bottom of that hill. I was riding in a pack of about 6 scooters
and they crossed right into all of us. I was braking with the rear
and not stopping. When I pulled the front brake it washed out and I
went down hard, I was 15 or 20 feet from the bike when I stood up"
We stayed the night is a decent sized
town and made plans to get to Saigon in the morning. This town
actually had a good street market to eat at across the street from
the Hotel. We had some wrap things that were great. You start rice
paper like you would with a spring roll and put a potato/veggie
pancake in it, then add bbq pork from a skewer, then add some salad.
You roll it up, stuff your face and repeat. You sit in "kid
chairs" at a very small table. My knees don't fit under table.
It is much better then most restaurants though. It is about 1/2 the
price and usually better food. Plus, all the kids running around want
to try to practice their English with you. Which normally consists of
"hello" and "what is your name".
 |
| Lunch |
Jan 13. Gia Nghĩa to Ho Chi Minh City.
225 km
The road into Ho Chi Mih City was just
shit. Even worse then the day before and the closer we got, the more
traffic there was. My bike was starting to vibrate horrible at
speeds. On my scoot the foot pegs mount to the bottom off the motor
and I could feel the motor moving in the frame. We pulled off so I
could tighten the motor mount bolts. The top one had broken off just
behind the nut. It was probably over tightened at some point. The
bottom bolt had started to loosen up also. So we rode to the next
mechanic and they replaced the bolt and made them tight. The
vibration that had been getting worse for the past few days was gone.
Saigon is a crazy place. They say there are 9 million people and 7
million scooters. I don't doubt this figure at all. By now we were
used to the chaos but the traffic here was measurably worse than in
Hanoi. I had a hostel in mind in the "backpackers area" so
we headed there. We had to cross the street through traffic to get to
the hostel and we pulled up in front of a hotel. The hotel said $18
dollar for both of you. I looked at Travis and he looked at me with
the same "Yeah. Lets park these piles of crap" look on his
face. After 2000 km in 8 days, we had finally made it to Siagon. We
walked around that area and found such wonderful things as 50 cent
beers, free pool tables and free fooseball. Although the foosball
table really sucked. The legs were wobbly like a new born deer and the
deck was uneven. But it had potential. I told them if they fix the
legs, we will come back the next day to play some more.
 |
| We made it! |
Travis had a flight on the 15 which
gave us a few days to try to sell his bike. We posted it on
Craigslist for $200. We figured someone would take it. We were wrong.
Not even a call, email or anything. So we went to a shop that
advertised "we buy and sell used motorbikes and scooters".
We told the guy we wanted $150 for it but would take $100. He rode it
and agreed it was mechanically sound but he didn't want it because it
was ugly. Just then a kid from Scandinavia walked up and asked us if
we were selling the bike. $100 into Travis's pocket and both parties
are happy. Travis had the right idea about buying a scooter in VN. "I
figured the 250 was a sunk cost anyway. So whatever I get back at the
end of the trip is a bonus". The guy at my hotel wanted to buy
my fake Honda for $100. I told him it has to be at least $130 because
that is the price of a plane ticket to Phnom Penh. In the week I
stayed there, He would never budge higher then $100 even though I
kept telling him I would be riding it to Cambodia then. I would
rather do that anyway.
Travis had a flight on the 15th
at 11:00 at night so we had the day to kill. We walked to the Vietnam
War Remnants Museum. We knew it was going to be interesting but we
were not prepared for how heavy it was. We tried to remember that
museum was paid for by the Vietnam Government who was the "enemy".
Some things were obviously slanted but the pictures and some figures
are what stuck in my mind. "By the end of the war, 7 million tons of bombs had been dropped on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia - more than twice the amount of bombs dropped on Europe and Asia in World War II." The part that resonated the
most was the use of Agent Orange. The pictures of the 1st,
2nd, and 3rd generation birth defects. A couple
times when we were traveling through VN we saw people that were
different. One lady in particular in a store was only about 3 feet
tall with very visible deformations in her arms, legs and face.
Travis and I later discussed a hand full of people that we saw that
we thought had defects from it. Was what we saw dirrectly related to
Agent Orange? Maybe. Maybe not. But they seemed to be matching the
symptoms. I hope some day my kids can ride through Affganistan and
Iraq the way we have in VN. To meet people and experiance the
culture. For so many people VN is still the "enimy". These
people need to travel in Vietnam. They will not think the same way.
 |
| Almost Team Green |
 |
| 9 million people. 7 million scooters. |
The next day I was pretty hungover but I rolled out of bed and forced myself to go out. I picked up some wire, glue and electrical tape at a shop. When I got to the bar, no one was there. I waited about 20 minutes and one of the kids showed up. He said he had to work and no one else was coming. I should come back at 4 if I wanted to fix the table. So I did that. I fixed a broken player and glued some of the warping wood back together using some of my moto straps to hold it. That night the table was better but still was lacking. I tried to explain that if they had a good table, they would get good business. These kids could actually play pretty well and they were not easy games. That is what made it fun. I asked if they could meet up the next day to get some lunch and discus fixing the table. It needed a solid base. Something that would be all to easy for a local carpenter to make. We agreed on 2:00 the next day. No one showed up. I was ready to pay a carpenter to build a base for the table and I had told them that. I don't know if they thought I was feeding them bullshit or what. But the second time I got stood up was not forgivable. A few days later I went back to play. All I said was "you f**ked up man, we could have made this table into something decent but you couldn't even meet up with me." And that was that.
Time flies when you are having fun. Or
you go on a 1 week bender in Saigon. It is really really easy to get
stuck there. There are many travelers and expats with many
interesting stories. I met one guy named Mac who builds custom bikes
from what is available in VN. Honda 250 twin flat tracker bikes,
Honda 67 choppers and dirtbikes. Just about everything. The problem
with his shop was he didn't actually do the bikes himself. He did not
have the knowledge. He knew what he wanted so he would go to a welder
to do the frame, a painter for the tins, and a mechanic to rebuild
the motor. Nothing was in house. I could see his frustration when he
was talking with a mechanic he had worked with on some bikes. They
were arguing over an oil leak on a bike that was rebuilt. He said
"I've been here for a long time but they still try to screw me
over". I told him he needs to set up a good shop and bring in a
mechanic, a painter, a welder he can trust. So everything can be done
in house.
When you are walking down the street in
an area with many tourists, ever 20 feet someone is trying to sell
you something. "You want marijuana? You want cocaine? You want
massage? You want scooter? You want girlfriend?". I would always
laugh at them when they offered me cocaine. I'd say "Look at my
beer gut. Does it look like I do cocaine?".
The sex industry in south east Asia is creepy. I can't count the number of times I see old baling fat white dudes holding hands with a cute little 20 year old. There is only one reason she is with him. I met up with a girl from VN from couch surfing. We had some food and drinks. She was more than happy to meet up to talk about her country and practice her English. Even walking with her, a girl who wasn't single, I felt wierd about it. Ever foreigner I passed I wanted to explain that she had a boyfriend and I wasn't paying her for sex. Its not just VN. It is all of SEA. Cambodia and Thailand are just as bad. I Bangkok I met up with a friend from Japan in a "strip club". This was the epitome of creepy. There was about 20 poles on stage and each one had a girl just kind of standing there. Every girl had a number on her. They weren't dancing. They were just kind of waiting. No one was smiling. You look around the room to see the same creepy old dudes trying to decide which one they want to take home. A waitress would keep coming back to us asking "which girl you want". I said none... they all look like they are 16. I need to go. I need to GTFO.
After 1 week in Saigon that is how I
was feeling. I needed to leave. And soon. Then I met Ferran. He was a
Spaniard who had recently bought a Honda Win for $200. When I met him
he was really scared about traveling on the motorbike. He had never
done it before. He didn't know what to expect. He didn't know how to
fix the bike. All he knew was he had 2 weeks to make it to Hanoi.
Over some beers and a few games of pool, I told him I would help him
make sure the bike was up to snuff to ride up to Hanoi.
The win was in decent shape but the
clutch was not working properly. It would not disengage or engage
fully. You could almost ride it like an automatic, it had an audible
tick in the valve train and the steering head bearings were loose.
Ferran and I rode to Mac's place so I could work on his moto. After a
few hours we fixed the clutch with a new cable ($5), adjusted the
exhaust tappet, and tightened the steering head bearing some. The
exhaust tappet was so loose I could move the rocker arm and make the
same tapping sound. The gap was probably .5 mm. The steering head
bearing was loose enough to the point where holding the front brake
hard would make the stem clunk forward in the bearings. After fixing
this, Farran was a little more at ease but still worried. I told him
"I have a crazy idea. Why don't I ride north with you for a day
or 2 to Da Lak. I need to get out of this city, and you need a little
more confidence about the bike. Plus, I want to see Da Lak and the
coast down to the delta.
That night he stayed in the bed that
Travis had left empty
Vietnam Video Part 2.
 |
| Dude who wanted to buy my scooter. |
 |
| Ferran and his win "Charlie". |
Vietnam Video Part 2.
