Day 7
It helps to have a checking out time as it encourages me to get up and get moving. Even though I had had lots of sleep, tried to stay in bed as long as I could but still managed to get down the stairs for 07.59! As I am pulling out of the hotel I spot the girl at the reception washing some clothes in a bowl by treading on them, in my mirror.

Had picked up petrol just before checking in last night to be ready this morning so headed out planning on getting breakfast later which started as a roadside corn on the cob. the saleslady was initially piling a basket full of them for me to take away but I just wanted the one. immediately after her setup another lady tries calling me over to sell me some meat, raw of course. You can buy anything by the roadside and I am reflecting on the rules and regulations in England about hygiene and stuff like that and how most of the planet actually manages to do without some of the niceties and restrictions we put on ourselves.

I ride almost non stop until I pull into a cafe set back from the road and yes I do have the usual noodle soup, and try to get a little rest but not too successfully. I need to be more strict about my rest breaks and they really need to include a little sleep every 50-60 km, anything less just is not enough. I have some pain killers, the bruising around the shoulder has been coming out the last few days. I am also beginning to wonder if some of my sudden tiredness is due to coffee or response to it, unusual.

I ride on another 30 km, total before 12 about 80 km! I am exhausted and been looking for a resting spot, probably so tired that am having problems choosing a place. Eventually I pull off the road, turn off the engine and practically collapse onto the leaves in this forest, can hardly stand up. I have seen these forest before, they have scraped off some of the bark, painted the trunk black and tied bowls to the trees as if harvesting some kind of sap. I am out of awareness for about one hour despite the road noise and the sun getting through the foliage. I do feel much better for it.

A while later I am going through Comla and notice this temple with a huge golden statue outside, I pull in to investigate. They seem to be packing up some stalls in the yard as if I have just missed some function. The downstairs hall is empty so I take some photos in the yard then go up the stairs leading to the top floor from the front of the building and find there are prayers in progress. I am spotted by the Head Monk (HM) and invited into an office given some water and have a chat. He then offers me food downstairs which I eagerly accept. He emphasises its vegetarian nature. There is a feast, although cold, of five dishes. some of them are meat substitute and actually taste very good and much better than some of the real meat I have had! I am attended to by one man and woman allocated by the HM. I thought he was going to eat with me but he is not hungry. He tells me that the ex-President GWB has visited here, I did notice his and the first lady's photo upstairs. HM also says that he does not speak English very well and I say nor does the President but dont think he gets that.

I am then given a tour of the big statue which is actually on top of a huge artificial rock, inside which they have created a shrine. we walk the way up and out into the fresh air to look at the statue. while lunching and checking my route with HM I discover that I have taken the wrong fork in the road. I have missed some very interesting parts of the HCM trail which is a great shame, on the other hand I have cut my journey to Huey by at least half a day. The other downside is that on this route I have to travel down the AH16 which connects to road 1, very busy. My riding style has to revert very quickly to urban traffic. In the first 10 minutes on road 1 I get more traffic than I have had in the last 6 days all put together, this is a motorway situation with a single lane driven Vietnam style. To make matters a little more interesting it begins to drizzle. I miss my chance of pulling into a petrol station as a lot of bikes are doing (it is also on the other side of the road, busy, my side of the road is still running parallel to the railway track). I pull into my side of the off-road behind another guy who has put on his poncho and is answering the call of nature. Good idea on both accounts so I do the same. Later I pull into another abandoned station where some bikers are having a smoke, for a break from the rain. The poncho has a tendency to collect few cups of water in the lap area. In the future I will buy something with sleeves instead of a cape, that way both my legs and arms are protected rather than neither.

I am at most 40km from Huey and decide that even if I do as low as 30-40 km/h I will still get there in good time with lower risks. I need to really keep my head in the traffic as it is quite hectic, but even the rain does not deter the drivers from doing their interesting stuff. On the road size really matters and they make sure you know it. so, you have a bus or more typically a truck coming through, in your direction or opposite, hand on the very loud horn and coming through regardless of the available gap or anything else. The road does tend to clear in response to such persuasive behaviour. I think they would have a lot of difficulty actually stopping if the occasion demands it.

I stop a couple of times to stay fresh, I do have the time and I really cant afford to be tired as I approach city traffic.

I ask for directions as I get into town, which is actually looking interesting with city gates and so on. One bike with a passenger offers to guide me to the travel agent where I am supposed to collect the bike papers, very kind, it was had to find the place and the traffic a nightmare. One of the rule Felix mentioned to me is to go with the flow and also sometimes the traffic flows around you when you do have to do something different, this really works but it is quite scary and takes some courage (madness) when you have to ride into traffic flowing across your direction or even opposite.

The papers are not here! I am promised them in the morning. The town is looking worth staying for at least a day. I am curious about my recent riding behaviour, days upon days and hours on end not seeing very much of the towns. i am covering distance and seeing a good deal of the country as well as interacting with the country people although it has been only at the level of getting snacks and short conversations in the last few days. The ride itself, the breeze on my skin, the sense of freedom do meet something within me. I guess I wonder if I could be doing this anywhere. The timing of getting the bike felt right to me but I do feel i may be missing some interesting sites, however I am also pretty sick of doing the tourist bit.

I find a backpackers hostel and am greeted by an Aussie guy who is the manager, warmly met as soon as I pull up on the bike. Free beer 5-6 (it is 5.40 now), free breakfast and internet. I pull the bike into the lockable area and grab a few beers and take my seat on the step in front of the hostel and soon get into conversation with two Dutch men and we put the world to rights about the ways of the East and West and wonderfulness of travel. They will be catching a train to Hanoi 2 a.m. and slightly anxious about it.

An hour and half and 3 beers later, I unload the bike, grab a shower and head out to get some dinner and soon am greeted by rickshaw drivers offering me any kind of woman I want! I will find a way of dealing with this soon instead of feeling mortally insulted or my puritanical values assaulted, This is a fact of life here.

Travel Lightly - It is not the luggage on your back that is heavy, it is the baggage in your mind, a Light mind can bear any load while a heavy one is burdened by the mere trivialities.