vietnam
I first started writing these on the night of my third night on road trip.

Daniel and Schtashi whom I had met in Hongkong arrived about 2 a.m. 29th January and were put very close to my bed in the dorm. The hostel is comfortable as far as th bed is concerned. The locker under the bed in my case has a broken hinge which makes it a little pointless. I use the reception area to keep my laptop and valuables inside the laptop case, until couple of days later when one of the Kiwi girls (2 sisters cycling for the last 7 months) accuses one of the young staff of interfering with their stuff, she had actualwalked in while he was doing so. The matter was handled in the usual manner (I had complained earlier about the downstair toilet being wet all over with no satisfaction. there are no wash basins in the dorm so you can either wash your hands under the tap from the shower or go downstairs. a lot of shower/toilet/basin rooms are all in one so if you have a shower everything gets wet) and eventually brushed under the carpet. There is also various water leaks in progress in the dorm shower/toilet areas. The staff are quite young and except for one girl who seems to have the night shift and sleep in my dorm during the day, fairly unhelpful unless they are selling you something. They are a little unhappy as Will (an English guy arrived with robber boots, small backpack and hoodies) is selling his Minsk bike (the hostel has also bikes to sell, as it turns out not in good condition, the scottish boys also buy their bikes off Felix) is offering his bike for sale, he has just arrived from Saigon.

31st March was spent mostly with Felix, a French Canadian guy who has been in Hanoi for the last 7 months and sells and repairs motor bikes, mostly Minsk (an old russian bike, more like a tractor really, pretty indestrunctible). He arrived here pretty broke and friendless and was taken in by some guy. since then he has started his own business, having burnt himself out runnigna business in Canada. He takes me to a quiet area and lets me spend some time on a replica Honda (Sufat). It is very smooth specially the clutch. I have damaged my left thumb joint while I was learning in the Uk because I used to let the clutch out quickly, the bike used to jerk and hit the handle bar against my thumb joint, so I hadnt particularly been looking forward to riding again. But no problem on that account. After my time on the bike, he collected one of his own, an old MZ (apparantly rare now, German) and I followed him into Hanoi. Traffic in Hanoi is by far the worst I have seen in my travels due to the density of the mopeds and chaotic driving. One good thing is that all the vehicles are keen on using their horns so you have a little chance.
The difficulty is that there are so many and come from all sort of directions. New Lessons in life and traffic: you can never know where the next thing is coming from, in this case i learnt that just because you look one way does not mean there is nothing coming from another, in fact I decided I should look where the tradffic was least SUPPOSED to be coming from.
we agreed on the price, included in which he bought me a helmet. The staff at hostel reckon he is charged me too much, he probably has but then he has put in a lot of time with me. The same night I was supposed to collect the ownership paper from the hostel he was going to leave it at, but it was not there. I am also trying to catch up with the Scottish boys to check their progress about leaving tomorrow to see if we would travel together.

Day one - 1st Feb
The Scottish boys would have left early today. I have got chatting to 3 slightly older English guys (Joe, Mark, Chris), late 20s who have the same plans and been trying to buy Minsks for the last couple of days. But I do sense a bit of an atmosphere regarding my proposed travel with them later and it turns out they are not too comfortable about it. They have been travelling together a while and another person is going to change things. I believe this is a great chance for me to strike out alone, I have been a little apprehensive doing this both in terms of lack of bike experience and secondly in terms of doing a road trip in a strange country. The ownership paper for the bike turns out to be a temporary one and the main one is likely to turn up in 5 days, we agree for it to be sent to Huey which is about half way down south for me to collect on the way down. I am aware that delaying the trip, I have noticed this in myself before when I am uncertain of something. I try to call my mother a few times but get the answer machine. The boys are still getting their act together. Minsks are hardy but difficult to maintain, 2 stroke machines, so they have been gathering spares. Currently they are waiting to find some bungee cords for securing stuff to the racks on the bikes. I on the other hand have settled for a more expensive which by all accounts is more dependable and more likely to find mechanics who can deal with it.
Eventaully I get mystuff on the bike, it is too much but well that is how it is as I havent been able to discard any more things. I even offered the computer to Felix as part payment but he declined. On the way out of the hostel alleyway, the boys are struggling with starting their bike. I set off, it is about 1.30 p.m. Streets are extremely busy but I am keeping extra calm, I have to, I dont know the way and have to stop every few hundred yards to get direction as well as cope with riding the bike and the traffic. The female staff at the hosel, unlike her colleagues spent about half an hour getting directions out of Hanoifor me off the internet.

On the way out of Hanoi I find a shop and buy some extra bungee cords, may come handy, and take a rest too, while calmly watching the sea of traffic flowing in front of me.

Eventually I get out of Hanoi, partly by following another Vietnamese biker who guides me for a few kms. I will be going west initially then south. I discovered yesterday that this idea of travelling by Minsk has become popular since a program by Jeremy Clarkson (a TV presenter) used it to tour South East Asia.

My progress was generally ok through various busy suburban villages until I lost a bit of concentration near Xuan Mai. Thhis coincided with a truck overtaking another one, both coming in my direction. Overtaking is rather abrupt here, you dont see the overtaking vehicle as it is travelling pretty close to the forward one and then it pops out coming at you. I had been tired and had considered stopping earlier but hadnt. My speed was higher than it should have been, I decided to pull off the tarmac onto the dirt verge to give myself more of a gap with the oncoming truck (I have had many occasions since that staying on the tarmac allows you sometimes as little as half a meter margin), good idea. Unfortunately I didnt slow down quickly enough, gas was still on and uneven ground, and lost control and hit the dirt. I stayd down a little while trying to assess the damage and gather myself. I had banged my head and left shoulder. There are people gathered and saying various things and taking care of the bike. I stand up slowly and try to communicate using my phrase book but I am confused and wandering why I have a Vietnamese book and would these people understand it! I guess the bang on the head was a good one, the helmet stayed on my had and has minor markings on it.
I have  been wearing my black trusty jacket which prevented me losing some skin and more damage to my collar bone. My shoulder is hurting badly (I know It is not a dislocation, it could well be slight fracture of the collar bone but not too sure), and once the excitement dies down I roll the bike to a nearby bike shop (these things are practically every few hundred meters or sometimes even less due to the high dependence on mopeds specially). The guy does some straightening of the handle bar and the foot rest and the front wheel. The headlight is smashed on the left handside, the left indicator light is also bent and I have a half a mirror left on the left too. I ask about somewhere to stay. there is a guesthouse quite close by. I ride there and manage to get checked in. Shoulder is agony and I am having problems taking bags off the rack and carrying it upstairs. I get a block of ice from the staff and try icing it. Nice shower. The night is rough, I am in a lot of pain and in this state trying to assess options. It could have been worse but I am admonishing myself for jeopardising the trip by being careless. I could go back to Hanoi, get a vehicle to carry me and the bike there, or get Felix to arrange some kind of pick up. I am not sure if I will be able to ride. Sleep is not so good! I get a knock on the door about 8.30. I realise later while leaving, that the check out time was 7 a.m. I am used to 12.00 in hostels, so I get charged extra. By this time I have repacked my things, my decision is to push ahead. My outer left thigh is also hurt but minor in comparison.

Day two - 2nd Feb
I set off at about 11 (my time gets better as trip goes on) A lot of traffic still on the roads, and I am anxious not to fall or have any kind of accident. occasionally I move my shoulder intentionally to feel the pain and to keep focused. I pull in at a cafe and ask for a snack. After about 15 minutes of "communication" the woman leaves on a moped in the direction I have just come from and returns with a carrier bag full of one sliced loaf of bread, 2 baggets and a can of sweetened condensed milk. I have been having tea (this is served wherever you go and regardless of what you are having) with Gien, I think he is her dad. Breakfast is ok, condensed milk is very sweet. There are couple of birds singing nicely in two cages. I then manage to get a coffee, with additional hot water, as they drink it really strong and having taken couple of photos with the people as well as with my bike I set off. The bill was 50000, a little high, they are insisting I take the bread and an opened can of condensed milk with me which ofcourse I dont, so I am given a small bottle of water and another drink, useful. I find a bike shop and have th bike checked out for about an hour including replacing the speedometer which does not work and is stuck at 99 miles, the bill is 30000 ($1.5). The speedo now shows 1912, probably a little high for the bike. It is going to be a light day as far as riding is concerned. I am in pain and nervous. I am quite tired by 4ish and stop at a little village which later I find out is called DomLoy. I make a mistake of telling the noodle shop guy toi toi (enough) while he is piling in the noodle into the heating basket, he pours the whole thing back in the bag. I sit there for about an hour waiting for food but no joy, he thought I dont want any all all. Meanwhile I have gathered a crowd of children and grown ups and we are having fun with trying to make sense of each other, usuccessfully. I am being told different parts of the body by the kids, one of the women tells me ng ng, which I keep repeating to the merryment of the audience. I realise later that most of the communication has been as attempt at them telling me how far my next target destination is, and they do like repeating themselves. Eventually one of the women goes away and returns with a bowl of noodle soup which I devour. I have also been asking for a place to stay and am introduced to this guy call him X, who keeps saying some thing about Taiwan. I eventually understand that the mother of his son Gham, lives in Taiwan, and the two of them are living in a house together. I have a shower and spend a bit of time doing some maths and English with Gham and one girl who has been my translator for the day. Gham is pretty good in Maths, I learn a thing or two!
I am shown my room with bed an fixed mosquitto net in place. I have been carrying one which I originally used in Egypt but later as the tents had net entrances I have hardly used it.  the house is tile floored, high ceilings but not very well maintained. They fed my again even though I had eaten about 2 hours earlier (I still felt hungry for the rest of the night anyway!). 3 cockerells crowed all night, what was that about? The other funny thing was that one of them sounded as if some person was imitaing a cockerell. These villages consist of about a dozen or so houses and shops (some selling very similar stuff such as cans of drinks) and straddle the "highway", so all night you hear the traffic including the siren like beep of the trucks. Shoulder is pretty painful and hard to sleep or get comfortable in any position other than face up.

Day Three - 3rd Feb
I get a call from X about 8 a.m. There are no doors on the bedrooms except one, there arent even doorframes, just door openings. another shower. I get dressed, socks not fully dried, I figure they will keep me cool all day, they do. I spend sometime with the kids playing Shuttlecock (couple of feathers secured at the stem end to metal washers, popular game for kids specially kicking it to one another), I had bought one in China for myself for $1 but I donate it to the group. I also insist on X accept my reed flute which I had bought Hanoi, he seems to play it well (better than me anyway). In the morning I could hear him down stairs smoking this Vietnamese pipe. It consists of a thick pipe which apparantly you put some water inside (can be beer) load up with a handful of tobacco and smoke almost in a singe inhale, which gives you a huge shot of Nicotine. The stem of the pipe is quite thick, up to 10 cm diameter in comparison to the pot holding about 1-2 cigarette loads of tobacco, so the drag is quite powerful. lots of guys have really bad teeth which I think is one sign of using the pipe. I am given a bowl of noodle soup by another women, (yes you can get noodle soup with meet and spring onions accompanied with fresh greens 3 times a day) while having tea at the noodle shop with the  owner and some of his customers, and drink a small shot of Vodka (they insist) to Hochiminh, they all refuse any money for the tea and the food. I take a few photos with. The kids and X and set off reluctantly, having been asked if I willbe back some time. In the morning the sky looked overcast, if it is raining I would be tempted to sit it out, but it turns out to be the perfect day for bike ride, it is cool all day. I leave DomLay about 10, get some petrol and oil and hit the road. Later I remember that I could have bought a few things off the shops at the village as a means of thanking them, I have been remiss and regret it.
Then I get to some very good quality roads which go on for most of the day and I have it all to myself or near enough, 95% if the time, superb. some of th scenery is also breath taking but so can be an oncoming truck so have to be carefulall the time. I am stopping about every hour to make sure I am fresh enough, get a cold drink, stretch the legs, interact with the locals. I Lunch at a little cafe including a little English lesson with a little girl. On my way to a pretty bad toilet I discover they are processing sugar cane round the back. I think they are making molases, tasty stuff, they have set of large pots along the process with the final stuff in smaller (about 50 cm diameter) set to one side. I am given a spoon and have a couple of tastes from one of these bowls. The fire of the process is fuelled by the peelings from the sugar canes. After one refreshment stop the bike is playing up, stalling and not going fast enough, stopped at a bike shop, the choke was on! he also tightens the nut holding the jack and gives me some tea but declines payment! At all my stops i refresh myself with splashing water all over my head as well as wetting my Egyptian bought scarf and wrapping it round my neck which keeps me cool.

At times today I have pushed the speed up to 80 km. The road has been fantastic, I hope there is lots more like this. Every where I have stopped people have been friendly and if they have known some English, usually the younger ones, ask "how are you".

This is basically the second most important road in the country (I think), a little longer than No 1 route so it is much less used my truckers and buses.

The ride is very enjoyable but I am getting tired and must stop. I go by various villages that are slightly off the main road, could have popped in I suppose. Eventually asking around I am directed to a restaurant and having started to eat (managed to get rice and a meat dish plus a light corriander soup) I enquire from the young couple running the place about a place to stay. 15 km away, damn, it is getting dark, I am very tired and annoyed at not been better organised, slight panic. I enquire again about somewhere nearby, they offer me a bed round the back. Having started a cigarette conversation followed by a few shots of Viet vodka (30% proof, drunk at most meals including breakfast!) with 5 guys who are having various chats about me, some of it sort of hushed or have an uncomfortable feel. They keep insisting on pouring me vodka which with the cigarettes are not doing my alertness any good. They then invite me to another table, I first thought they will offer me the pipe but actually this is the tea table where you wait before your meal or attend afterwards). A little while later, suddenly decide to leave and say their goodbyes. One of them, the drunkest one is having problems starting his moped and keeps hanging around or walking back to the restaurant having rolled away with it. This is another reason not to ride at night, every guy who left on his moped was drunk to some degree. I am pointd in the direction of the bed just by the tables at the restaurant but it turns out they mean they can show me to my bed. The guy brings the bike into the shop, does most of the untieing of the the bags then picks both of them up and carries them round the back, I follow. we get to this house at the end of a dirt track about 50 yards behind the restaurant. there is a family set up, I assume they are his parents (the couple may even be brother and sister, dont know), one young guy (left leg in cardboard support due to bike accident!) and couple of little girls around too. I am shown a bed, with a mosquitto net (of course) and then the shower. The shower is cold but thanks to my (introduced to by my uncle) practice of cold showers, it is not a problem. I wash my shirt and underpants too. Then I decide I might as well wash my Jeans (light blue, by now pretty grey following the fall and 3 days of riding). On my way to the washing bowl I am stopped by dad who is offering to wash them for me! or may be volunteering the wife, which I naturally refuse, incredible! I go and buy some water from the shop/restaurant, price is reasonable too. Then I join dad on the veranda with my laptop to catchup with my journals. I tell him I am doing an story about Vietnam which I guess I am in a way. He cant see the writing even with his glasses until I increase the font to 24.
Journals take couple of hours and I head for my bed. Mum and one litle girl on a bed nearby are watchin a soap opera, the lights go off about 10. the bed is solid/hard surfaced with what appears to be bamboo and no covering. Luckily I hadnt discarded my sleeping bag despite its bulk and use it as mattress. Later on I supplement it by folding half the duvet underneath myself too. I have a pretty good night, the hospitality and the family attention has been nice.

Day Four
The household rises at 7!! ouch. There has been a cockerell in operation part of the night but he is not terribly enthusiastic and tends to do just the half of the cocka doodle .....

i am pretty tired but force myself to get up and try to make an early start, actually I dont manage to leave till 9. Break fast is you guessed it, noodle soup.
I offet the young guy some money for the bed even though I guess I did not have to. He has a grin and takes 30000 off of me, I was prepared for up to 100,000.

Yesterday I have done 160 km, pretty high but I enjoyed it while I was riding (most of the time any way).

Money matters - if they ask you for DOllars, it is usually bad news. One petrol attendant asked for $3, I offered VTD, she took 50000 ( I am up $0.5 just like that).

Another very nice days riding, I have done 70 by 11.30 and feeling it too. Eventually find a shadey spot and get some sleep, ignoring the school kids riding by on their bicycles and shouting to me. Luckily I did not stay at my first place of choice, as I was preparing to push the bike into this little track, young kid herding couple of water buffalos went up there first. I was about to sleep in the water-buffalo central! Before falling "sleep" I discover a plastic bag full of medication including some Diclofenac and small bag of cannabis amongst other pills I dont recognise. When I get up I kick this into the ground the best I can trying to prevent some kid coming across them. I dont want to spend time digging it in or setting fire to it as it might attract attention from the uniformed street sweep and I might get accused of posession.
I am incredibly refreshed with about 40 minutes of rest and riding quite well afterwards for about 40 km non-stop. Then I pull over and get some noodle soup! There is a bird in a cage singing nicely and doing frequent somersaults, interesting. Later I force myself to stop a few times and take photos otherwise I will be just wizzing through this beautiful countryside.

Road hazards include trucks or other vehicles appearing from amongst the shrubbery into the road; water buffalos wandering  around; suicidal chickens and dogs; people carrying 3 meter long suger canes across the back of their bicycles and sometimes overtaking another similar laden vehicle; school children on bicycles holding hands 4 across and of course high speeding 4WD vehicles and overtaking trucks. It is not terribly unusual to find something (in one case water-buffalo drawn cart) travelling towards you in your lane.
I saw one cart (in the correct lane I might add) being drawn by one such beast, nothing unusual so far, the driver however was happily asleep in the back of the cart. Unfortunately I will be unable to do this with my cart.

One of my stops was at a cafe where there was lots of coming and goings by moped riders. I had seen this event before but not close-by. I think these places (in this case at the back of the cafe) are some kind of a community centre/party branch where bits of paper/info are delivered and dealt with, may be some kind of a ballet (not the dance) being taken from the people, but not sure.

I got into Phou Chou about 5 p.m. busy little town. I had forgotten how little I had missed busy streets and people! I discovered there is an internet cafe and decide to make a night of it here in a hotel so check into one. I have a massage opposit the hotel, I am not sure if it was a purely massage place but in this one case lack of language is to my advantage, it wasnt a terribly good massage either.

When I came out of the massage place (part of another hotel) I was going to have a little stroll around but the place looks deserted, dark and strange now so I went back to the hotel to update my journal.

One thing I have noticed about the Vietnemese (in the countryside anyway) is that they dont appear to be as keen to instruct you as the Chinese were. In Hanoi I did come across more pushy street vendors or unhelpful hostel staff, but I have been very happy with the country folk so far.

I will go and upload this now, grab some food and set off earlyish in the morning. I have missed seeing some interesting places near Hanoi and North Vietnam but I was just not in the mood and hope to make up for it further down south.

I am using "notepad" which allows me to upload to my travel log, but I havent found a spell check function yet, well that is my excuse anyway.

I have noticed that While riding I get the numb-bum syndrome frequently either because I am not used to riding a lot and/or because the seat is not designed for touring.

Date of next upload depends on finding an internet access