No Fixed Abode: Saddle Sore

Sat 26 Mar 2016 - Easy Rider Motorcycle trip day 3

The trip from Dalat to Hoi An is usually made over 6 days but as we only had 5, today was a double day with lots of travelling.

We’d had a rubbish night’s sleep with the wind rattling the windows and a dog yapping the whole night. At 0730 we left the hotel still full from last night’s meal. Within a couple of minutes we were pulling over at a restaurant for breakfast - eggs and bread. With this delicious treat over we set off on the long road ahead.

The first couple of hours was spent bombing down a major highway with the bikes buffeted by a strong side wind, which did at least get rid of the haze and keep us cool.

Before long we turned off the main road and soon found ourselves in large forest of trees, all neatly planted in rows. Getting off the bikes Hai explained that we were in a rubber plantation then scored one of the trees with his knife. As a trickle of white latex sap dribbled down the trunk he explained the harvesting process. The sap soon solidifies so the farmer has a busy task every morning scouring a fresh groove, catching the sap then collecting it all.

A short ride on and we pulled over at a small plot where the family made charcoal from coffee tree wood, which is, apparently, the best there is. The wood is chopped into 1m logs, stacked in a kiln, set alight then sealed in and allowed to smoulder with very little air for 2 weeks. After then the air supply is blocked off and the fire allowed to slowly extinguish for another week. Eventually the kiln is broken open and the charcoal removed before the whole process is repeated again.

Back on the road we stopped for a delicious lunch then found a hammock bar for a well deserved nap. We awoke to find Harry on the verge of victory of a game of Chinese chess with the owner. With checkmate achieved and much shaking of hands all round, we drove for another long stint before pulling over at a pepper plantation, similar to the place we’d visited near Kep, in Cambodia, but on a much larger scale. Apparently Vietnam is the world leader for peppercorn production.

Next in our Vietnamese botany lesson was a stop at a tapioca field. The edible bulb is part of the root system of a hardy tree and Hai explained it had been a staple foodstuff during the war as it could be hidden amongst other trees, to hide it from US bombers, and didn't need much cultivation - handy when your farmers are all preoccupied fighting for their cause.

With the terrain once again getting mountainous we drove through fields of tea before pulling over at a beautiful pagoda. A short visit and an encounter with the inevitable wedding later we were off for our final visit, and overnight stay, of the day at the large city of Thi Xa Xom Thun.

Stopping on the way in to buy some washing powder and toothpaste we headed for an orphanage run by the sisters of the local catholic church. Originally established to care for children who’d lost parents in the war it then began saving children from a local hill tribe who have the morbid custom of burying toddlers alive if their parents die before they are two. Supported entirely by donations and with over 200 children to care for, from babies to two at university, they rely on gifts from travellers to help ends meet. We wished we’d given more.

On the way out we visited the church. A large wooden, stilt construction but in an almost identical style to an English church, complete with stained glass windows and columns supporting an arched knave. Outside was prepared for a large ceremony, which made us realise that it was Easter tomorrow. Shame we couldn't have left some eggs for the children.

The evening was spent on the mezzanine of a lovely restaurant listening to the tuneless wails of a karaoke party below and enjoying rice crackers, rabbit and quail - we can’t have many Vietnamese animals left to try.