No Fixed Abode: Head in the clouds

Sun 27 Mar 2016 - Easy Rider Motorcycle trip day 4

Let’s get the first question on your mind - what animals have Glenn and Yvonne eaten today? - out of the way. For lunch we had hearts and kidneys from pigs and for dinner we had cuttlefish and deer.

At 0800 we met the boys, loaded the bikes and headed off for breakfast. The restaurant was packed. It was a flashy place that had won an award for its interesting bamboo architecture - it also served tasty food.

Once on the road our first stop was at a tapioca starch (powder) producer. We’ve seen dozens of roadside places drying the tapioca roots in the sun and it is to places such as this that they are sent. Hai described the process of milling, washing, draining and packaging and explained that it was quite a good business for the family running it.

Next we visited a shrine at the top of a strategically important hill in the war. Hundreds of soldiers from both sides died here and we had to give the boys some time to pay their respects to their ancestors - something very important in Vietnamese culture. Hai then explained that ‘crazy’ things had been observed here at night by the locals so a Buddha shrine had been erected on the opposite side of the road to help the restless spirits find their way.

In the next small town we pulled over at a scrap metal dealer wondering what was going on. Inside Hai showed us the cases of many shells that had been recovered from the fields and told us that 2000 people per year die from unexploded ordnance. A rather chilling reminder of the brutality of war.

Leaving the war behind us for a moment we stopped at a point a few km from the borders of both Laos and Cambodia, the very heart of Indochina, and Hai told us of a local Vietnamese idiom: “When the rooster sings it is heard in three countries”.

After stopping for dinner we then visited a hill tribe village and were once again mobbed by children who appeared from nowhere when they heard the bikes approach. With the candy gone Hai showed us around the village ‘tall’ house, a large bamboo building with a very high roof. Before the adoption of christianity the villagers worshipped pagan gods and the taller the house the closer to the gods they could become. The house acts as a meeting room where the tribes history is passed down by the telling of stories. Beyond the tall house was a huge church - a testament to the success of the missionaries - although there was a large pole outside with spirit catcher pennants blowing in the breeze as a reminder of their superstitious beliefs.

We were now on the Ho Chi Minh road, which has been made over the legendary Ho Chi Minh trail that was used by the north to supply their troops in the south. The road winds upwards past many more hill tribe villages, with their own tall houses, into the rainforest covered mountains. With the air getting cooler we pulled over to don some extra clothes. As we continued climbing the clouds began to drop and we pulled over once more to add another layer. The boys warned us there could be rain ahead and they donned a rag tag array of warm, waterproof gear that we thought must be over the top. Glenn did wear the jacket presented to him by Harry, more to please Harry then anything, but as we climbed into the clouds he was glad of it. The wind blew cold, the forest thickened and a light rain began to fall. As well as the poor visibility the boys were also presented with a road surface that periodically disintegrated into large cracks and potholes and crazy lorry and bus drivers who barged past with several load blasts of their horns.

We took a well deserved break at a pretty waterfall then pushed on down the other side of the pass to the mountain town of Huyen Phouc Son. With all of us feeling cold we quickly checked in a fought for a spell in a warm shower - the first time we’ve showered for warmth since, well, we can’t remember.

With our spirits lifted we had our last dinner together as the boys will catch the night bus home tomorrow unless a ride back materialises. Dinners have been great fun with them so tomorrow will be strange. At least we’ll be bolder with our choices of food and eating places.