Travels up north

With a set of saddle bags, three maps, and a new 4$ pair of rayban sunglasses we set off on our Honda motobike to explore the less beaten trails of the north. We opted for a little more engine and upgrated to a 125cc; think scooter, not motorcycle. And for those who were worried, yes, we wore helmets as it is a national law, enforced by fines and confiscation of one's bike for two months. For the first 100km we suffered through the pollution and gritty roads that surround Hanoi until we reached the beautiful mountain roads we set off for. We stopped for a night 180km directly north in Bac Kan, and the next day rode a bit shorter to Ba Be Naitonal Park. Bypassing the expensive and obnoxious tours, we hired a local to putter us around Ba Be lake in his skinney boat. Surrounding us were stilt villages, caves, and untamed jungles that are denser and deeper than what you could ever imagine. Our third day we drove steeper mountain roads through small agrarian villages and gorgeous scenery, arriving in our northern most destination, Cao Bang. We explored Cao Bang's War memorial, backroads, and markets. The next day was another spectacular drive, southeast, to Lang Son. This town was set among tall, jungly limestone mountains- one of which we almost got lost in walking through a seemingly neverending cave. Finally, on the fifth day we made our way back to Hanoi on more industrial roads to complete our 700km scooter journey.

This trip was special for us due to the lack of tourist development in the North. In the areas we have traveled so far, Vietnam and it's people have picked up on the influx of Westerners- for better and worse. Vietnamese aren't hostile towards tourists, but will often go to great lenghts to get their money. Our relationship with vietnamese people so far have often been based a bit more around haggling, money, and tourism (though there have been exceptions). However, as we escaped tourism up north we were allowed to have much more meaningful relationships with the Vietnamese people and the land.

In Cao Bang, we were adopted by a guy our age. He told us he wanted to take us out for a drink and talk to us, explaining that we were the first foreigners he had ever seen in Cao Bang. He seemed honored that we went out with him, and as hard as i tried to shove my money at the cashier, he would not have it. He explained that in Vietnam, if we are invited for a drink, we do not pay. On our way to Lang Son we stopped at a familys house/restaraunt for a royal lunch. It was clear that this family had never had foreigners in their place before, and they treated us with extreme care and curiousity. As we consumed our soup, coffee, and bread, they hovered and giggled. Again, they refused my tip, charging the bare minimum for the food. And the entire family stood, smiling and waving as we departed on Moss (our moto). These were the type of interactions which were common on our trip north, and completely invaluable.

The land up north is said to be the most beautiful in Vietnam and we could see why. I will omit the impossibe task of describing the scene verbally and try to get out pictures asap. It was clear, though, that motoring eye level at 25mph was the best way to see the landscape.

Things we learned:
1. Every school-aged kid will jump and yell hello as you pass by
2. Smile at people and you will recieve one twice as big
3. When in doubt, always get off the bike, look around, talk to people, and your bound to have an interesting experience

J + L

Trains Motobikes Bia Hoi

One of the best parts about Vietnam is the potential to take the train to pretty much all major destinations. We recently took the train from Hanoi to Sapa, a mountain town in Northwest Vietnam. It is a 9 hour overnight ride to Sapa. You choose between hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper or soft sleeper, each increasing in price by a few US dollars. We opted for the "hard sleeper" option. Hard sleeper means 6 people per cabin and a small cushion. Not bad really and we got beautiful views of the country in the morning before we arrived in Sapa.

Sapa was a refreshing change from the warm, humid climate of Hanoi. This provience has a few different "ethnic minorties," such as the H'moung people and the Red Zao people. Of the four days that we were there we rented motorbikes for two whole days at 5$/day. This allowed us to travel all around the countryside to differnet villages and meet the various people. One day we were led into a small village of Red Zao people by a younger girl, who also showed us her home and family- it was quite a privledge. While the home was a primitive structure we were impressed by the size of it and by the large halogen light inside. Motoring around also gave us great views of the land: endless rice fields, terraced agriculture, small wooden shacks, and dozens of animals we didn't know existed. Roads were generally good except for a few comic instances. I am not sure that a 100cc moped is built to trugde through two feet of mud (which we almost spilled head first into), cross rivers, or off-road on large bumpy boulders.

After another pleasant sleeper train we've been back exploring Hanoi for the last couple days. We are growing to appreciate the chaos and hustle of this city and have been able to take advantage of it's opportunities. We went to a silly but impressive water puppet show, in which seven puppeteers skillfully control hoards of colorful puppets to depict pastoral scenes and ledgends (in green murky water). Today we visited the prison which held our beloved John McCain. We read all about the horrendous conditions in which the vietnamese prisoners were subject to by French colonialists, compared to the luxeries and comforts that American pilots received while detained. Also recently we discovered the wondorus Bia Hoi. This is a home brewed beer, light in color, free of any preservatives, and sold on the streets out of a keg for twenty cents/large glass. Not that we would want to, but i've heard one can drink themselves under the table for less than two dollars. NICE!!!!

J + L

p.s. Molly and Jon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha Long Bay

For the past few days Jay and I have been in Ha Long Bay, northeast of Hanoi. We signed onto a tour because we were told it is the easiest and best way to see the bay. Though the tour did allow us to see some things we wouldn't have on our own (beautiful caves that have been spoiled by dreadful blue and green flourescent lighting) it was a typical gringo tour and we were happy to part with the group once we made it to Cat Ba Island, the largest and one of the few inhabited islands in the bay. As Lonely Planet describes it, Cat Ba resembles Jarassic Park, with dense green bush and steep rock cliffs. Because of this there is little agriculture. The main source of income for the locals is fishing. Most of these people have established floating villages throughout the bay, some even with primary schools and places to eat. As a result of the loads of tourism, the bay is polluted with trash and waste water from the tourist boats.

Ha Long Bay is famous largely due it's thousands of spectacular limestone cliffs that tower hundreds of feet out of the water. It is a place of true beauty that cannot be described properly; hopefully we can send some pictures out... After we abandoned our tour we rented a motorbike and cruised along the coast through small villiages and rice patties. We ended up at the public car ferry, primarily used by locals. The ferry looked like a very retired and rusted-over Washington state ferry. Our bike broke down on the way back to town, or so we thought. Turns out you cannot ride on half a tank of gas and our bike quit on us. A local guy came to see what was wrong and immediatly told a woman on a bike something, and she was off to get us petrol. We were told to sit in this man's house with him and his wife and child for a while, soon becoming an attraction to all those who were passing. Finally a water bottle filled with petrol showed up and our bike immediatly started up.

Cat Ba also has some great white sand beaches with clean and warm waters in relax in. The evenings were especially wonderful: at 6pm it became dark and the temperatures cooled. Groups of women came to the waterfront with tables and chairs to sell beer and calamari- a relaxing drink before dinner. To top it off, every evening christmas lights would turn on all over town and around the harbor where we sat.

The following day Jay and I found a guy who started a climbing company on the island. His company takes people all over the bay to do all sorts of climbing, especially deep water soloing. The first day he befriended us and took us on a 5 minute moto ride to a wall right in the middle of a village. He has been setting up a few routes on this wall with some friends. I decided watching was best as the easiest climb was around 5.12b- this is ridiculously hard.

The next day we arranged a boat through his company, SloPony, and went out with another couple to go deep water soloing. We took a wooden junk about 25 minutes into the bay. From there we jumped on a "basket boat"-a small, leaky wooden and tar row boat with a local guy who rowed us to the wall. The basic idea of deep water soloing is that you climb up the huge limestone cliffs and instead of falling onto a rope you fall into the water. The kicker is that how ever high you want to climb, you have to jump down. It was a little hard to get used to, but it was a thrilling and an amazing time. The wall we went to had a huge variety of climbs so we all got to do as much as we could. It is really quite safe as the water is deep and the walls are overhung so there is nothing to hit. Though landing wrong from 45 feet could leave you in some pain. It was quite the experience and definitely opened up a new world to climbing.

Thats all for now. We were waiting out a huge thunderstorm in Hanoi. Tonight we grab an overnight train to the mountainous Northwest part of Vietnam in a village called Sapa. More will follow then and hopefully some pictures when we get a better computer.

J & L

We made it

After 24 hours of traveling we arrived to the Old Quarter of Hanoi in Northern Vietnam. We were led to the overflow house for a certain guest house. Our room was the size of a double mattress, and our bed was certainly smaller than two sets of shoulders. Lauren woke me in the middle of the night asking if she should turn around and put her head by my feet. "Why, are you cramped?" i ask. She explained to me that the left half side of her body was angled up the tile wall. "It's just for a night," I offer.

Walking up and down the streets of Hanoi today has given Lauren and I the realization that we have embarked on a fairly adventurous and humbling trip. We stumble around the streets, surrounded by toads and king cobras, colorful vegetables and raw meat sitting on the sidewalks, and roughly five hundred million billion motorbikes that are constantly honking and veering centimeters from our bodies. We should be able to provide some good stories in the future. Hope you all are well

J & L