The Motorcycle diaries day 7

Hello parents - no blog for a while and now 7 days for you to catch up on. We've kept them all until now so we can tell you that we have finished on the motorbikes(!) and we are all safe! So you'll have to click back to the start (Motorcycle diaries day 1) to catch up in the right order! Its back to foot, bus, boat and plane power for us now.

So day 7 - from Hoi An to Hue via Lang Co beach (we were supposed to stop there but the $7 a night room was grim and the beach side resort was full (of Vietnamese, how inconsiderate, actually having a holiday when we are in the middle of ours!) so Wing and Tin Tin kindly bought us to Hue.

Left Hoi An early at 7.30, had to laugh with Wing and Tin Tin as they must have overslept and they missed breakfast! Tin Tin had to stop for petrol which caused a few organisational jokes but he had the last laugh later on when Wing ran out of fuel!

First stop a marble carving shop (very expensive!) and then the marble mountains (which the marble that is carved does not come from as the government banned them from taking it as they were destroying the tourist attraction....instead it is trucked from near Hanoi!). Lots of tourists here which was a bit shocking for us as we've managed to avoid the buses so far!

Stopped at the side of the road on the outskirts of Danang at a little fishing village to see women gutting fish and laying it all out to dry in the sun and then up and over the Hai Van Pass which was another stunning drive. We thought about buying a ridiculous sized vase, painting and model ship (like on Top Gear) to put on our bikes but figured our bags were big and heavy enough!

Brief interlude at a roadside place that distils an oil from a leaf that is a bit like eucalyptus and then on to lunch. Wing asked if boiled chicken was okay. We said 'yes, lovely'. It was certainly fresh. There was a squawk from behind us and I noticed a cage with 6 (minus 1) chickens in. Fortunately the chicken was taken behind the house. Boiled chicken arrived. All of it. Literally. Feet, head, the lot. WIng and Tin Tin kindly gave us the drumsticks.

I was intrigued how they got the feathers out so quickly. Apparently they slice the neck and let the blood drain and then plunge it in boiling water briefly three or four times, then the feathers pull out really quickly, chop it up, gut it and boil it. Easy. They have to slice the neck because if they chop the head off the chicken runs around!

I wouldn't have wanted to be a chicken today - there were only three left in the cage when we left, everytime someone arrived there was a squawk!

After a very necessary petrol station stop for Wing we arrived in Hue and found a very nice hotel on our second try.

Said goodbye to the best two tour guides we have ever had. I didn't cry, honest, well not much anyway. I have discovered one bit of travelling I really do not like and that is all the goodbyes. Ho hum, you can't have a goodbye without a hello and it was an honour and a pleasure to travel with Wing and Tin Tin for a while!

Cool shower, give laundry in (apologise profusely for smell!) and off to explore Hue, wandered to Citadel where there is a local gastronomy and bonsai fair happening because of the holiday, mingled with the locals for a bit and then dinner - pizza. Feel a bit like we let Wing and Tin Tin down at this point but hey I'm not sure I can cope with any more spinach and garlic!

Next, sleep. 7 days on motorbike, you think you're just sitting there but its really quite tiring. We've found a hotel with a pool for tomorrow so we're off to use that for the day - mind you its raining at the moment so maybe not.

Oh, and we have a pet gecko in our room, yay. Haven't been this close to one since Siem Reap, was missing them. We've called him Gordon! (I hope its a he!)

So there you have it, the Henderson's 'motorcycle diaries'. Not quite the epic that Ernesto produced and we haven't managed a whole continent, but then neither of us is planning on turning into a revolutionary either! Hope you enjoyed our motorcycle diaries as much as we enjoyed the exploits that allowed them to be written.

'Next bit' as we have taken to saying!

('Tin Tin' - left, and 'Wing', right - Sad to say goodbye, a true pair of professional,and very funny guys - we'll miss you! - if you're looking for the 'original' Dalat Easy Riders, look out for these blue jackets!)

The motorcycle diaries day six

From ummmm somewhere to Hoi An.

8am start again but it's okay - we seem to be operating on daylight hours, sleep at 9pm and awake at 6am. Good job - supposed to leave at 7.30am tomorrow and quelle surprise now we're back in civilisation the bass is booming next door!
Anyway, I digress.... We left ummm somewhere in the jungle and first stop was at a sign (!) it was a sign celebrating the completion of turning part of the Ho Chi Minh trails into a road. There were a number of trails but the main ones went close to the Laos and Cambodia Borders, another went over the sea! More maps chalked by Wing on the side of the road. VC used to travel the trails by push bike (not the sea ones obviously!) and there was a small fuel pipe line like a drainpipe all the way along them as well. Resourceful lot!

Next stop a carpenters. Buddha was having his head buffed by an angle grinder!

Photo stop at waterfall and hydroelectric dam somewhere around here as well....
Then an ethnic minority group originally from Laos (lots of border crossings during the war depending on where was being bombed and then people just ended up where they were). These people were really short! And two women we met were really old as well - wearing traditional weaved skirts/wraps which was nice to see.

Lots more stunning scenery - jungle, river, mountains shrouded in mist and a stop for the freshest pineapple ever (with a salt and green chilli dip which was very good), a game of cards with the locals and we made it to a tobacco drying shack and then a rice paper making factory shed. Quick stop at a Cham built tower and on to lunch.
After lunch to Hoi An and afternoon off. Walked the old town, found bar, had drink, watched the royal bride walk down the aisle - approve of dress!, walked around some more, had dinner, back to hotel.......bass from speakers v loud but shhhhh don't tell anyone, it's stopped now!

Tried to find somewhere by the beach to stay tomorrow night but all full or stupidly expensive. Wing says not to worry, he'll sort us out!

Oh, by the way.... The 'somewhere' we were at last night was called Phuoc Son.
Have to go - Wing and Tin Tin have just delivered their 'feedback books' so I have to go and write nice stuff about them.
Hope you all enjoyed your extra bank holiday today !!

Forgot to mention

..... Love visiting French colonies - great bread!

Martyn declared breakfast the best yet. Napoleons breakfast Tin Tin called it - one of those sizzling hot plates you get at Indian restaurants at home with fried egg, tomato, cucumber, steak, ham and a meatball. With French bread.
Martyn in heaven!

Noodle soup was good but I confess this was yummy!
Dinner was White deer(?) a speciality here and some plant from the jungle - it doesn't have an english name and Wing didn't seem that sure of the vietnamese name as he says the people here have a funny accent!
Wherever here is we have learnt we have moved from south to central Vietnam so moving north slowly but surely!

The motorcycle diaries day five

From Kon Tum to ummmm, not sure where but it's quite a small place and very nice just off the road through the jungle - yes we found jungle today!

First stop a tapioca processing plant (well shack) interesting to see what they do with this plant that grows in rubbish soil so is a bit o a staple food here - used in instant noodles and msg apparently. Older people don't like it though - it reminds them of the days after the Americans left when there was not enough food.
Then on to a brick factory where the women admired Martyn and the men admired the motorbikes. I admired two cute puppies!

A war memorial was next - atop hill 601 otherwise known as 'skull hill'. I'll let you work out why, the only debate seems to be which side the 'skulls' were from - Wing thought southern army but no-one very sure.
And here under the shade of another tree but this time with maps scratched with chalk on the cement we got a history lesson in who came when, went where, learnt what, left, stayed and generally contributed to making the country what it is.
I think Wing would feel better (if that is possible) if he felt that lessons had been learnt. His comments on Iraq and Afghanistan indicate he doesn't think they have been.

Just before lunch an ethnic village, this time the Rong house had horns like a water buffalo. The well was nearly empty and a family of 40 were surviving on tapioca leaf soup with some berries from the jungle. We spent a pleasant twenty minutes with a lady who was cooking the soup.

Another war memorial where Wing showed us which of two types of tank he was more scared of and explained why and then in the shade a story of Charlie hill and an associated song about a hero from the southern army who chose to stay at the base on the hill, drew in all the VC and then rang for the bombers.
After lunch the most stunning scenery. We found the jungle and the Ho Chi Minh trails. Travelled along the main Ho Chi Minh road but did get off now and again to walk bits of the trails.

Finally a village football game on the lumpiest pitch ever but they had managed two linesmen and a ref. Two team members had trainers but they kept slipping on the wet grass. I think the red/blue team were 2:1 up against the yellows but not sure.......

And now we are here, wherever that is......
Oh and we've managed to time our visit with another holiday - Liberation day and Independent Workers day resulting in a long weekend, fireworks in Danang and lots of full hotels....... Ah well, no doubt we'll find somewhere to sleep. Wonder if we'll need the earplugs...........

Tin tins story

He is too young to have been in the army, we reckon he is somewhere around 45-50 but it's hard to tell. We think Wing is 60 odd.

Anyway, we'd got kind of used to Wings army stories (not that you get used to them, I think I mean more used to hearing them from him).

And then Tin Tin started talking about his family. You get a bit of warning from Wing, he says 'we go there, I tell you story'.,....Tin Tin just sort of wound it into conversation.
His dad spent eight years in a re-education camp after the war. He was released but had caught malaria and died after 7months.

We also had lessons in politics and language! There is a place here called La Bas because when the French said 'over there' the locals thought that was the name of the place, also Lac lake, the French called it lac which the people thought was the name of the lake (which is word bought over by Americans) so lac lake it is.
Apparently the Dutch for 'beautiful' sounds exactly the same as the local dialect for 'pig person' which is very unfortunate- Wing has to ask Dutch tourists not to say 'beautiful' around people!

And politics- there is an election here on 22 May. Everyone will vote, tribal people, everyone. I ask if the election is fair. Tin tin says yes, everyone gets to vote and then turns and whispers and shakes his head a bit 'but they change the papers'.
Wing says it is a bit like Russia with lots of tribal areas wanting to be not communist buy either their land is too poor and they could not survive or the land is too rich and the government needs it for farming.

Never seen ethnic people being 'forced' out so obviously as here either. Its funny to use the word 'force' as it's not physical. Towns just get bigger, the minority people own the land but don't know its value so they sell a $1000 plot for $50 and move further into the 'jungle' which courtesy of chemical warfare is not so much jungle anymore it just has slightly more trees than the town!

Tin tin deals with it all as he did at the orphanage - 'this is their destiny'.........

The motorcycle diaries day 4

Lie in again, nine am start and off we went for breakfast - a steaming bowl of pho - beef noodle soup, very yummy.
Then to museum which showed lots of examples of the different ethnic groups around these parts.
After that 'the most romantic place in pleiku' otherwise known as 'the mouth of the dragon' a crater lake where apparently lots of wedding photos are taken and proposals made. We enjoyed sitting under a little pagoda listening to the bass from the large speakers and sound system that someone had installed. Then we walked back up the hill and found a fire by the side of the road, it looked like a little shrine with three incense sticks and a rock but it was very dry around and there were twigs and trees so we put the fire out!

Driving out of Pleiku we stopped at a recycling plant (?) - the locals collect all the rubbish and sell it to this guy who then trucks it to Ho Chi Minh City or elsewhere. They have a different kind of rubbish to collect here though - buckets of shrapnel, ammo boxes and bits of old mines etc........

And then a sort of lumber yard only I can't remember the name of the wood..... The bark is stripped and used for a kind of glue, bits of it are used for incense and it's also used to make paper.... Very useful. As a side industry the owner also grows tapioca, which we had never seen before either.

And on to Kon Tum for noodle lunch and a shower.

The afternoon was Tin Tins. A roman catholic church and orphanage to start. Church beautiful, orphanage very clean and well organised so not as bad as might have been but still heart wrenching.

Finally on to ethnic village with traditional Rong house which was very cool to see. REALLY high roof with amazing structure on the inside all held up with rattan! On the way there we passed workers in a rice paddy who were getting the rice off the stalks so we had a go on their leg powered machine - we weren't very good!
Then we had to race the rain back, there was thunder but not rain so that was ok.

Dinner fantastic - local delicacy - Vietnamese pancakes. Martyn ate three - piggy. Having missed pancake day we feel we have compensated now. Beansprout and shrimp in batter with cucumber and lettuce wrapped in rice paper with a carrot, onion, garlic, chilli and lemon juice dip. More please!

We have sticky rice for pudding - just off to try it now!

Foetus in an egg

If you've been following this from the start you will know that before we left we watched 'An Idiot Abroad' in particular the China episode.

Karl (the presenter) was horrified when his bus driver started eating 'foetus in an egg'.
We've come as close as we would like to thank you very much.
In the Market yesterday Wing proudly pointed out chicken, bird and duck eggs but there was one more basket.
'these are ones the duck has....' he scrunched up his face and wiggled his bum a bit.........'sat on a bit longer' we finished. 'They have bits of the duck in, lots of protein, sometimes if I work a lot I eat two but westerners they no like' Wing said. He'd be right there!