Day 81: Day 1 Minsk adventure - Mai Chau

Ho Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam

Awake at 5am, nose running, throat scratching, allergies and nerves, cannot return to slumber. Blow my nose, check the Baylor/Duke score. Baylor is up at half, good news, they're the last of the Big 12 in the tourney. Take some meds, a clariton for the nose, IB profen for the finicky back, and shower. Watch on my iPhone the update for the game, with about 2 to go, Baylor is up. 2 consecutive 3's and a few free throws later, and it was all Duke. Bummer. Attempt to fall back to sleep, eyes close, mind races, an hour later I give up. Finish packing my small bag and large travel pack, check the big one downstairs, hit up Frank's for breakfast and ice blended mocha espresso. Catch up on facebook and emails, not sure if there will be any wifi during this trip, update my status and return to get Will.

Russian Minsk

Minsk bikes are Russian made, from the town of Minsk, in Belarus, thus the name. Ours are late 70's/early 80's model. They provide proper helmets, ones that don't just cover the crown of your head, but encapsulate it all, chin and mouth guard protruding for extra protection.

Lesson One, how it works:

Right foot is the back break, you must use your weight to activate, right grip is the acceleration, right handle is the front brake, use that sparingly. Left handle is the clutch, left foot is your kick start and your gears. To start the bike, it must be in neutral, pull out the kick start, put some force behind it, step down hard, you'll know if it starts. For the gears, 1 down is first, 2 up is neutral, 1 up is 2nd, another up is 3rd, last up is 4th. Make sure to use your clutch to prevent the bike from jumping, especially in first and with deceleration. Key to first gear, hold the clutch in, rev the accelerator, slowly release clutch to avoid wheelies or bucking. Simple enough?

Lesson Two, Petrol:

This is an old school bike, no fuel injectors here, you have to mix the fuel for it. The mix is 5% oil 95% gas, so for every 10L of petrol, you pour in 0.5L of oil. Most oil containers off the shelf are either 1L or 0.8L, which should make the calculation easy. Mixing must happen at point of entry, to do this, turn fuel valve to engine off, as petrol is being dispensed, pour oil in as well, once complete, close cap, shake the bike vigorously, then open valve. Crank her up and give her a good rev, simple as that.

Lesson Three, don't die:

Best way to ride a bike, especially in Hanoi, is to think of the road like a river. Follow the stream until your turn, then shield yourself if possible by other turning bikes. Oh, and don't hit things. Easy as that.

They pack us up with spare parts, in case of the occasional breakdown, strap our bags to the back to the bike, and off we go.

Few notable observances about the Minsk. It's rattles and shakes a lot, the exhaust emits mountains of smoke anytime you use gas, that's right, only when gliding down hill or when it's off does it not smoke, my apologies Al Gore. Horn sounds like a whiny buzz, imagine a horn dying while being dragged across a metal grating, that's the noise. Why? There is no battery, the bike's horn and lights are only powered when the engine is on, and apparently that horn sound is as good as it can get under those circumstances.

Streets of Hanoi

Takes us an hour to get out of Hanoi, Will is hesitant with good reason, it's loco in Hanoi. Put a million bikes on the road at any one time, all going different speeds, now throw in obstinate buses, angry cars, lethargic big rigs, and the bitter taxis, and what do you get? Late morning driving in Hanoi. By the time the road shrinks from 8 lanes to 2, we have been on the ride for a good hour, nothing exciting yet. In fact it's so dusty, drivers are so obnoxious, buses are such bullies, I'm starting to double think my choice.

Entering the Dr. Seuss Mountains

10 minutes later we see our first set of Dr. Seuss style outcroppings and immediately my mind is changed. It was strange and weird and beautiful and so green. Apparently these hills are made of limestone, so with the rain, different patterns of deterioration combined with clinging vegetation, you get hills that lean, hills that tilt, hills that bulb, hills that wilt, so many many hills you see, why there's one, the letter B. Short ones, tall ones, skinny ones, fat ones, bitter ones, sweet ones, smiling ones, sad ones. So many kinds of hills to see, which one to climb, which ones for me?

Ok, I'm done with my attempt to honor Dr. Seuss, you're welcome, but whoever illustrated his books must of seen these hills. They're brilliant.

Hoa Binh Dam

Eat lunch on the streets of Hoa Binh. Originally tried to stop at some Plaza, turned out to be a fancy hotel that just opened, but we could not find an open restaurant, only a bar. So after leaving disappointed, we went for a sure bet. Not sure what we consumed, Will did the ordering, but it was good and cheap, two of my favorite descriptors. There appears to be a large river and dam in Hoa Binh, we take a detour to inspect, slip by security following another bike, and end up driving to the top. One side is a beautiful lake, rolling hillsides, a small steep island breaking up the glassy water. On the other side, an angled drop of 500 feet, view of the river flowing through the town, wait, is that a tunnel? Let's see where it goes, back on the bikes, race down the hill - meaning ride our back brakes down the hill - head into the tunnel abyss, other side ... uh, is a power plant. Boo. Time to get back on the journey, we're 2/3 of the way there according to the map, but it all depends on conditions.

My mechanic, yeah, he looks 12

As we turn out of Hoa Binh, the road starts to climb and climb and climb. The views become magnificent and we begin the mountainous highway riding that takes my breath away. We drop into a valley, rice fields sprawling in every direction, rolling up to a small town just a few minutes back on the road, am then it happens ... Karplunk karplunk. What's my motor doing? Did it just shut off? Try to restart, the bike laughs at me. I see a petrol station a few hundred meters away, kick it into neutral and start pushing. Arrive, maybe it needs gas? Open the tank, a third full, that's not it. No one speaks English, try to explain, they push me out of the way and start playing with the bike. If you ever travel to NW Vietnam, one thing you'll notice, there are probably 100 bikes for every car, and everyone knows how to fix the little things. Unfortunately, nothing little about it this time, roll it another 200m to the mechanic. After another 1 1/2 hours, it runs, pay 120,000 dong, and we're back on the road, sun is setting, 25km to Mai Chau all through the mountains, uh ...

Highway 6, NW Vietnam

We have a policy, Will and I, if one of us wants to take a picture, he pulls over and the other rider just slows a bit until he catches up. What we have found, I am a quicker, more aggressive driver in general, having no fear of passing slow big rigs around corners or cars when they are going at an unacceptable rate. Obviously we are chasing sunlight, so we both try to limit the picture taking. I pass Will, he me, go back a forth a few more times, last pass is mine, and off I go. About 15 minute later, Will is no where to be seen. Do I go on, do I stop, do I go back?


I decide to stop, wait another 15 minutes, assume he must have passed me and take off again. When I get near the split that leads into Mai Chau, he's no where to be found. Crap. He has to come by here, there is not other option, so I will wait. And wait I did, 5 minutes, 10, 20, 45 minutes later I hear the familiar rumble of his Minsk junker, could not be more thrilled! Turns out the last pass he was unaware of, so he thought I was still behind him, stops, when I don't appear, assumes the bike broke again, heads back. He made it to the last stop he knew I would of gone too, not there, decides I must be the other way, and so he retraces his previous ride and continues on. When I see him, when he sees me, both let out a big sigh of relief. It's pitch black, my headlight only works on high beams, sorry other drivers, good thing Mai Chau is only 5 more km.

Both of us were wondering the same thing ... When we get there, where are we staying? While driving, a motorbike pulls up next to me, attempting to get my attention. I can't hear you, what are you trying to sell? I'm beginning to get annoyed, but I think, I can always say no to the scarf or back pack or lady he is trying to sell and still ask where lodging is, so I pull over. Ironically, he was inviting us to his guesthouse, one of the many on stilts over the rice fields we had heard so much about, problem solved! It was 70,000 dong each for a huge shared room, dinner was family style and plentiful for 30,000 dong each, throw in a huge breakfast, a couple of soft drinks and waters, and we left the next morning for 125,000 dong each ($7usd), Brilliant!!!

Nite nite y'all, iPhone Blogger!