My Motorcycle Diary

First before I tell you all about my six day adventure (and yes it was a true adventure) I should let everyone that this title is very relevant because everyone said I looked like Castro and that was my nickname.  Yes yes I know the movie is about Che but Castro and Che were close friends and much of Castro's ideologys came from Che.  Just a little less for you all before I tell my story.

The Planning:
It went a lot like this - hey I want to go on a bike trip in Vietnam because everyone said it was amazing.  Hey look the guy next to me is looking at bikes on the internet. "hey pal do you want to go on a week motor bike trip" and we said ok and shock on it!  The next day we found a place that rented bikes and bam let the trip begin.
A little history of my past experience on a motorbike. . . .short list, there is one.  Since my new friend Joel from Australia was pretty much a beginner (had some experience but little), we decided to spend a little extra money and split the cost of a guide.  I was on the fence about the idea because of the cast but he could speak the language, knew the roads, could fix the bike and most importantly he could help us both out with our lack of experience on the bikes.
I took one lap around the block on the bike (which is much to short for my first time before a 1200km journey) and we began.

Day 1
The same day as the planning.  We road 140km the first day the first part was through the craziness of Hanoi.  They say it is one of the hardest cities to drive a motorbike through.  I might be scaring you all a little but dont worry there is plenty more to come.  The first day we took it slow.  It was all very new, getting used to the bike, the roads and driving in a foreign country.  We spent our first night at a home stay.  It was amazing start. Mosquito nets and bamboo, just what you would expect a small town of Vietnam to be like.  We had some a amazing food with the family.  Its traditional to drink with dinner and drink we did.  They brow there own liquor called rice wine and everyone makes it a little different.  We probably had 15 shots over dinner and no joke we really drank that much.  Everyone really loosened up from the long day of riding of course.  Joel and I really enjoyed ourselves and I dont mean in a drunk way. We were just having fun and drinking with all the local men. They also did this traditional dance thing for us that night too.  Good start, dont you think?

Day 2
Woke up the next day feeling great.  The other great thing about rice wine is that because they make it the stuff is super pure and no hang over the next day (could be dangerous for us Americans).  Day 2 started out great but then it went south.  If you get nervous about motorcycles dont read this part.  Yes motorcycles are very dangerous and I was inexperienced driving on roads a bit above my pay grade.  So the story goes I fell off my bike -- I hit a pot hole and fellow off my bike.  Wasn't going that fast luckily.  I got road rash on my for arm (1/3 of my for arm) and knee.  I also sprain my ankle.  Someone was looking out for me and  I am very thankful.  So it was the 2 day I could go back or suck it up and keep going.  So  I stood up and looked to see how the bike was.  Everything was fine and I got right back on and started going again.  My friend was ahead of me so no one saw me.  I finally caught up to them and we pull over and cleaned me up. 

The rest of the day I was very careful and over cautious.  The crash was still fresh in my mind and I was shackin' up naturally.  We arrived at our stop for the night and I just spent the rest of my day nursing my wounds and resting my foot.

Day 3
This was by far my favorite day of them all. Nothing short of exciting and adventures of course.  We got off the main high way and were driving on these country roads see Vietnam as it should be seen.  The natural beauty was just breath taking (pictures to come).  My favorite parts were the small rural villages.  Bamboo and grass huts, water buffalo, chickens causing traffic and little kids running out to see you pass by.  The people were so friendly everywhere we stopped and they all just wanted to meet you and shack your hand.  I got just such a warm and happy feeling seeing and doing the things I was doing.  It is really hard to explain it to you all but It was everything I dreamed Vietnam to be and much much more. O and we also drove over 250 Km,  I fell in the mud and was covered head to toe, and some of the most difficult driving of the whole trip (half of it was like off riding with a dirt bike). Joel also almost got killed by a bus too.

Day 4
This day was a lot of mountain views and twisty turning mountain roads.  It was a really short ride, under 150Km.  This was because we decided to do so much extra the day before.  We go to the stop in the afternoon.  This place was filled with tourist and very different from our usual local hangouts.  I didnt like it all that much.  The place was on a high mountain about 1500m above sea level.  Everyone came there because of the views and there was no question they were great but I didnt like them all being there. The night turned out well because we were again invited to join in with the men to eat and drink.  This time we drank rice wine with 26 herbs and cobra.  This one was by far my favorite one.

Day 5
We did some more village driving and as before I loved it.  Everyday I was getting better and better at driving.  That doesn't mean I was being cautious because I was always the last to arrive and taking it slow on the corners.  This day we also drive like 220km and it was hard and tiring.  That night we stayed in another homestay and it was just as good as the first night with even better food.  This one was by a lake so we had some fun and swam around the lake.  We also found a waterfall and Joel and I were jumping off that and making movies.  We were just trying to enjoy our last night.  If you were wondering if we drank the answer is yes.  Some delicious rice wine once again.

Day 6
This day was all about getting back to Hanoi.  We were just driving on major highways with lots of people.  We were all tired and just wanted to get back. I cant explain how amazing this trip was and I will carry the stories from it in my back pocket for the rest of my life.  The great thing is that I still have a month and a half left and plenty of time to make some more equally great ones.

Cheers

I hope I didnt scare you all that much.  You should be happy to know I safe and extremely happy!