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For details of the places I visited in Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, with GPS Coordinates, see my book Vietnam Caves.

For details on motorbiking in Vietnam and Cambodia, from buying and selling a motorbike, to border crossing, see my book Motorbiking Cambodia & Vietnam.

 

Motorbiking for hours on end in the day, taking pictures and notes, then blogging at night takes a bit of a toll. So i decide i am not going to set an alarm, as according to Jon’s route, it is only 200km to the next point. Thus i snuggle up in my comfy bed.

I love this soft cover, just wanted to take it with.

However, at 1:30 in the morning, I awake with a terrible stomach ache, and desperately need a toilet. I spend the next two hours, making friends with the toilet. At the second go, I run out of toilet paper from what the hotel provided as they only left about 1/8 of a small roll in the room. Luckily i always take a full roll with me on travels.

Things are not looking so good for continuing my travels the next day. Eventually at about 3am, i fall asleep and luckily sleep till 7:30, where I get up, feeling crap, but okay for travel.

I take a shower, and discover that the water now has only two settings, ice cube cold or mountain cold. This annoys me a bit as i love to take a warm shower, especially when i pay for it. This adds to the lack of toilet paper, and also that last night when i went out for a snack and to fill the bike with gas, someone came into my room and switched the aircon off. This peed me off a bit, as one i switched all the lights off, and set the aircon to 24 so that it just cools the room for when i get back, mean i pay for it, and then I like to think no one goes snooping around when i am not there. Added that the next morning I see that someone tried to move my bike. I do not think it is the owner. For when I arrived at the hotel, i parked in front of the door. The owner moved my bike to the side. Later the night when I returned from filling the gas tank on the bike, I parked in the same spot as what the owner put it in, and he stood watching me chain the bike up. The chain was pulled inside the swing arm as someone tried to push it away. This is inside their closed property. Not looking good for a 5 star review, but i hold off because maybe they want to save electricity, as i am the only one in the hotel.

I go downstairs, and ask for food. The lady does not understand, so i quickly search on google and translate breakfast into vietnamese. Thanks Google. The lady shakes her head and says it is closed. Now i am getting even more annoyed, as i selected this hotel as it said on bookings.com that it has a restaurant on site. Also, she does not want to accept my master or Visa card, so i am forced to pay cash. the room was 250K, apparently 10K below their normal rate because i booked it though the web. However, last night i took a ice tea, that i know normally goes for 10K, and i get charged 20K for it, so she made her 10K up. O well, move on.

I walk outside, as i saw the restaurant when i came in, and discover that it is from a era gone by. It is a shame, as the place has so much potential. The restaurant has glass floors with fish in a pond beneath them.

The once maybe swimming pool, is now a fish pond.

My room had a balcony, with a view of a large tree,ha ha ha.

I realize that this hotel may just be on its last legs. The tour-guide i met the day before with the two girls suggested a hotel to me, no doubt the one he takes all his customers to. However, that hotel was more than double what i paid.

I walk back, get my bags, pack my bike, and head out to the next large town.

I rely heavily on my iPhone and iPad for driving directions, email, blogging and so on, so i have two external batteries that each can charge the iPad and two iPhones fully up. Each night, I make sure I charge all.

Just as i head out of town, I spot one of the mobile food stalls, so I stop and ask the lady (by pointing) that i want a bread roll, cucumber, and two fried eggs on it. She nods then proceed to do the Subway, the works thing. She basically puts all kinds of strange things on that I have no idea what it is. I am like, no no no, shaking my head and waving my arms. the lady just gives me a strange look, then continues to stuff the roll with everything she has. Again I go no no no, shaking my head and waving my arms. This time, she looks at me for a moment, then smiles, points at the bread roll, then points at another customer sitting behind her at a table, who is hosing himself for my consternation.

I just go stand by my bike and wait for my roll. She calls me over when she makes my roll, and point to all kinds of strange stuff, and I just shake my head. So i get my cucumber and egg roll, for 10K (US 50 cent)

I have no idea what those things in those jars are.

Next door is a place making cool stuff, so i head over to have a look while eating.

Having had some kind of breakfast, I head out, to what turns out to be 200 km of utter boredom, frustration and annoyance. The road is mostly miles on miles of roadworks, and the sections that are tarred, is mostly pothole ridden, or so pressed out by trucks, that it is bone jarring. Even at 20km/h, I hit potholes that bottom the suspension out and i can hear the piston rods in the front suspension slam against the stoppers. the problem is that there are trucks and busses that either push you off the road, or you need to stay with them. And the problem of riding behind a truck or bus on bad roads, are that you do not have enough time to swerve for a pothole. Even riding behind the wheels do not help as many times a truck’s wheels will go over the pothole, where a bike’s one goes in, especially if the truck has double wheels on an axle. the scenery is also mostly either flat lands, or small towns, or not impressive hills.

I come to yet another town, and do about 50km/h. Suddenly a traffic cop jumps out and shows i must pull over and ride up onto the curb to some other officers. I tell you, these guys are like ninjas how they appear out of nowhere. Having learned in Cambodia, once you are on the curb, things go downhill. So I stay in the road next to the sidewalk, bike idling. The keys on this bike is by my knee, so it is difficult for them to just pull it out. I open my visor, as the visor is tinted, and one cannot see my face. One of the officers on the curb walks over, and on seeing i am a tourist, throws the other officer that pulled me over a nastily glance, probably because he has no have to deal with the tourist. He tells me to slow down in english (I was hoping he could not speak English), and tells me the speed limit is 40km/h for bikes. Cars can do 60. Actually big bikes can do 50, but they do not see my bike as a big one. i replay in Afrikaans, and the guy takes a step back. then i start telling him Jonny yokes in Afrikaans. the guy scratches his head, then shows with his hands to slow down, shows 4 fingers while saying 40, then tells me go go go, while showing me to go. with that i floor the scooter and is out of there. However, soon down the road the road gets so bad that i can barely do 20km/h.

Since i have no mountain passes, I amuse myself as to the other riders on the road. Finding a wooden guy.

And three mobile shops.

Not long after i spot a vase guy.

This guy, just as i get close to take the picture, he suddenly slams on the brakes for no reason. I almost rear end him and actually take the picture as a swerve and pass him. As i ride away, i check back and he just stands in the middle of the road, wondering out loud.

Then the town i want to be in appears in the distance.

I look around for a spot that sells food and have wifi, and as i slow down, people from a shop call me. I ask if they have wifi, and they say yes. So i go in. It turns out it is another coffee shop. what is it with these people and coffee. i mean, okay i like it now and again, but they sell no food at all, just coffee and some drinks. so i get an ice tea and go online to check for hotels.

Again Expedia have nothing, getting useless Expedia, and bookings.com have 3 hotels. There are more according to my map application, but i have now learned that these places are so far out, that there are about no backpacker places, just hotels, and all are in the $12 or more range. So i find one for $14.50, the cheapest and book it online.

turns out they have 3 hotels in town, mine is number one. I go to where i think the hotel is, but do not find it. I ask a local, showing him the booking confirmation email with the hotels name on, and he points across the road, to a large building visible in the next road. I go there, and find out it is hotel number 2. The lady directs me to the other hotel, and it is actually a very nice hotel for the money.

They have a large restaurant next door, that only sells coffee, of course. So i sight see a bit, seeing these strange statues.

I find nothing that interests me, and go to the hotel, then see a place across the road. they sell food, but cannot speak english, and have no english menu. No worries, they have wifi, so Google translate the menu. Some of the menu items comes out weird, so i select the one that says chicken wings,. Actually very nice.

I barely sits down, and it begins raining, actually pouring rain.

I laugh as i think about booking the hotel, actually the past two, as they require a phone number, and i do not know my Vietnam one. So i just put down Simon’s from Saigon Minks. I figure that Simon would give them my number if they did actually call. Unless he thinks it is the cops and deny my total existence. 🙂

Tomorrow is another 200km ride, and again Jon’s plan is about 7 hours, so i wonder if i am in for another long ass bone jarring crap ride. Good thing though, stomach is better, may have been the KFC as it was a bit on the spicy side.

Wow, this post took like 3 hours to write, i see another restaurant on the corner. Think i am going to take a shower, change, then see what they have to offer. Till tomorrow.