Street Lights Are a Gift From God
Amy and I just experienced one of our most harrowing experiences travelling. Period. Our excitement from booking a 2-day motorcycle trip from Nha Trang to Dalat through the Central Highlands of Vietnam quickly turned into exhaustion, sore buttocks, and yearning for some rest. I'm going to bed as soon as I finish this blog. We want to check our emails, but this internet shop is so slow we can't even get hotmail. How discouraging.
This was supposed to be one of the highlights of our trip as I have been reading about the good reactions travelers have had recently doing similar trips. Motocycle trips through Northern Vietnam and the Central Highlands have recently become very popular with tourists. In Dalat, the main stopping point in the Highlands, there are a group of 30 or so riders who call themselves the "Easy Riders." They all speak excellent English and are supposed to be very good guides. Many tourists book one of them for day trips around Dalat. Others book them for longer trips, going for 2-3 days. We chose the latter to see more of the countryside and to experience some travel that's off the beaten track. We also decided that we wanted to ride our own bike rather than just sit on the backs of one of them.
We had met Tuan last night after he finished taking some Norwegians from Dalat to Nha Trang for a 3 day trip. We wanted to go the reverse direction and also do the trip in two days instead of three. Tuan spoke excellent English, is college educated, and seemed like a good enough choice. We also met with Nam the Man, but he was very hesitant to allow us to ride ourselves. Tuan was just as hesitant, but he eventually reliquished to our request.
The day started innocently enough. We left Nha Trang around 8AM soon after breakfast. I quickly got the hang of our tiny 125 CC bike. We were soon zooming up the highway towards the Central Highlands. The land was peaceful and drove through some gorgeous passes. Along the way, though we had to navigate Vietnamese traffic. I sincerely believe that roads are some of the defining aspects that separate third world countries from the developed world. Cars and trucks were passing each other without abandon. Sometimes if felt as if the oncoming cars drove more on our lanes than they did on their own lanes. Fortunately, we had no major instances for the first 3 hours of our ride.
That's when our trouble started. Around11AM, Tuan's bike broke town. We stopped by a roadside house that advertised that they fixed bikes, but they barely had any tools. Eventually, after some coaxing Tuan bought some rope and we towed one another into the next town. While we ate lunch, the local mechanics tried to fix Tuan's bike. After four hours, we were ready to go. His bike went 30 meters and gave out. They tried to fix it again. By this time, it was getting near 4PM, and we decided that we couldn't wait for Tuan anymore or else we would be stuck in this nasty little roadside village. Amy and I packed both of our bags and we were on our way.
We were 90 km from the city where we were planning on spending the night. I thought if we drove around 60 kph, a reasonable speed, we should get to Buon Ma Thout (BMT) in a reasonable time - hopefully before nightfall. We didn't get into BMT until 7:30PM, over 2 hours riding in the dark and rainy road.
First, the we were afraid to ride faster than 40 kph because of the various obstacles along the road - oncoming traffic, trucks and cars trying to pass us, scooters and bikes, tractors, and pedestrians. Soon, we started to hit areas where the ground was wet and slick with loose mud and gravel.
This is when the trouble began. As we rode through another town, we HIT a bicyclist. We hit a teenage girl on her bike. My motorcycle knocked her over and basically mangled her rear wheel. Suddenly, a mob appears and circles us within seconds. The girl was fine, shaken, but not even in tears. Some in the crowd starting yelling out that we should pay her 200,000 VND, approximately $14. Fortunately, a nice English speaking local woman intervene and told us that because we damaged her bicycle, we should pay her 100,000 VND. I quickly brought out the cash, asked the local woman to tell the crowd to disperse, and raced off. Amy and I were shaken, but at least we weren't attacked.
The fun continued. It suddenly got pitch dark and that's when we started to appreciate the streetlights of home. Imagine the same road scenarios above, but just without lights. What makes matters worse was the fact that bicycles and tractors here don't have reflectors. Dodging people was straight out of Toad's Wild Ride in Disneyland. Oh, did I mention it started to rain? Of course, it starts to rain. We took some temporary shelter, bought some weak ponchos and decided to press forward. We were only 20 km from our destination and we didn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
After another hour of harrowing near misses we made in into town where streets lined with street lights. I don't know if this was the stupidiest thing I've done traveling or not, but it must have been on the top of the list somewhere. We made it only by the God's mercy, that's for sure. We checked in at a hotel where we're planning on meeting Tuan.
I'm done. Time for bed.
This was supposed to be one of the highlights of our trip as I have been reading about the good reactions travelers have had recently doing similar trips. Motocycle trips through Northern Vietnam and the Central Highlands have recently become very popular with tourists. In Dalat, the main stopping point in the Highlands, there are a group of 30 or so riders who call themselves the "Easy Riders." They all speak excellent English and are supposed to be very good guides. Many tourists book one of them for day trips around Dalat. Others book them for longer trips, going for 2-3 days. We chose the latter to see more of the countryside and to experience some travel that's off the beaten track. We also decided that we wanted to ride our own bike rather than just sit on the backs of one of them.
We had met Tuan last night after he finished taking some Norwegians from Dalat to Nha Trang for a 3 day trip. We wanted to go the reverse direction and also do the trip in two days instead of three. Tuan spoke excellent English, is college educated, and seemed like a good enough choice. We also met with Nam the Man, but he was very hesitant to allow us to ride ourselves. Tuan was just as hesitant, but he eventually reliquished to our request.
The day started innocently enough. We left Nha Trang around 8AM soon after breakfast. I quickly got the hang of our tiny 125 CC bike. We were soon zooming up the highway towards the Central Highlands. The land was peaceful and drove through some gorgeous passes. Along the way, though we had to navigate Vietnamese traffic. I sincerely believe that roads are some of the defining aspects that separate third world countries from the developed world. Cars and trucks were passing each other without abandon. Sometimes if felt as if the oncoming cars drove more on our lanes than they did on their own lanes. Fortunately, we had no major instances for the first 3 hours of our ride.
That's when our trouble started. Around11AM, Tuan's bike broke town. We stopped by a roadside house that advertised that they fixed bikes, but they barely had any tools. Eventually, after some coaxing Tuan bought some rope and we towed one another into the next town. While we ate lunch, the local mechanics tried to fix Tuan's bike. After four hours, we were ready to go. His bike went 30 meters and gave out. They tried to fix it again. By this time, it was getting near 4PM, and we decided that we couldn't wait for Tuan anymore or else we would be stuck in this nasty little roadside village. Amy and I packed both of our bags and we were on our way.
We were 90 km from the city where we were planning on spending the night. I thought if we drove around 60 kph, a reasonable speed, we should get to Buon Ma Thout (BMT) in a reasonable time - hopefully before nightfall. We didn't get into BMT until 7:30PM, over 2 hours riding in the dark and rainy road.
First, the we were afraid to ride faster than 40 kph because of the various obstacles along the road - oncoming traffic, trucks and cars trying to pass us, scooters and bikes, tractors, and pedestrians. Soon, we started to hit areas where the ground was wet and slick with loose mud and gravel.
This is when the trouble began. As we rode through another town, we HIT a bicyclist. We hit a teenage girl on her bike. My motorcycle knocked her over and basically mangled her rear wheel. Suddenly, a mob appears and circles us within seconds. The girl was fine, shaken, but not even in tears. Some in the crowd starting yelling out that we should pay her 200,000 VND, approximately $14. Fortunately, a nice English speaking local woman intervene and told us that because we damaged her bicycle, we should pay her 100,000 VND. I quickly brought out the cash, asked the local woman to tell the crowd to disperse, and raced off. Amy and I were shaken, but at least we weren't attacked.
The fun continued. It suddenly got pitch dark and that's when we started to appreciate the streetlights of home. Imagine the same road scenarios above, but just without lights. What makes matters worse was the fact that bicycles and tractors here don't have reflectors. Dodging people was straight out of Toad's Wild Ride in Disneyland. Oh, did I mention it started to rain? Of course, it starts to rain. We took some temporary shelter, bought some weak ponchos and decided to press forward. We were only 20 km from our destination and we didn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
After another hour of harrowing near misses we made in into town where streets lined with street lights. I don't know if this was the stupidiest thing I've done traveling or not, but it must have been on the top of the list somewhere. We made it only by the God's mercy, that's for sure. We checked in at a hotel where we're planning on meeting Tuan.
I'm done. Time for bed.
posted by amy & albert at 7:19 AM
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