Exploring Vietnams mountains on a motorbike adventure - Episode 2

In this episode, I take a morning ferry ride. I check out some stunning mountain rice terraces, but then come across meters of debris from a landslide blocking my path. I headed off from the random hotel I'd found late yesterday afternoon. Yesterday I left Hanoi, past the dam and lake, then through this town and up the dirt track where I couldn't go any further. So today I was going to take the long way around and keep heading north to check out some of the other pins Ming had marked on the map. One of the reasons I like traveling so much is to see how different cultures do things. Here a family's butchering a cow out the front, a different type of family activity than I am used to. It looks like all the kids are off to school, an earlier start than I used to do. What an incredible mountain range and there's still fog in the valley. I had a quick look at the map and the road ahead. I think that would bring a smile to any motorbike rider. You can see the effect of the major typhoon that had recently come through the north of Vietnam with landslides all along this road. It looks like a building was taken out by one of them here. They're using the roadside to dry up corn. I came across a section that had that silty, very slippery mud. Then to a section where an excavator was clearing dirt from a landslide. I had made it down to the ferry as this was the only way to continue north up this valley. The ferry started to pull away from the shore. That was quick, straight onto the ferry, right on go. I was a little uh anxious about the road being blocked and having to go all the way back but luckily no such issue. Don't know how those trucks are going to get across. There are other boats here so I gather that's what's going to take those trucks across, not this little thing. Let's hope I can get through the other side as well. As the ferry approached the other side I got ready to get off as they seem to load and unload I was having the same issue as I'd had in the Himalayas with the foot pegs rubber inserts. As soon as they get wet and muddy they become dangerously slippery so I removed as much of the mud as possible. I came upon a street market where they had meat, vegetables, fruit, also household items, clothing and even Tupperware. The vegetation opened up into rice fields along the river so I pulled over as I was sure there was a photo to be had. Even with the haze and it being an overcast day it was still incredibly beautiful. Now that's a big water buffalo. I could see there was a pin on the map up into the hills on the right so I was looking for a turnoff. I started to climb up the side of the valley. Thought I should stop here and get a shot as it looks like it's fogging or would that be clouding in. Not sure I'll be able to get a shot from the top. Not sure how much further up there is to the top of the ridge but I'll keep going and hopefully we can see something. There may not be any visibility so I followed the narrow track down the hill. It went past some houses and past a chicken riding a water buffalo. I had passed the pin on the map so I found the first spot. I could turn it around and headed back up. This is the location of the pin but there was only a wooden building so I headed back up past the water buffalo and on to the main road again. I headed up the mountain a bit further but I was heading into cloud so I decided to call it and head back down because I'd seen a place on the way up that had great views of the valley below. The pin I was just searching for from memory went to a ridgeline but there was no ridgeline and if I went further it was just into the clouds. But here's pretty spectacular as well. I gather it's changing they're starting to go yellow the rice paddies instead of just green. Another amazing view here in Vietnam. It's one of those situations where creating something out of necessity also creates something incredibly beautiful as well. So I guess it's back down the mountain and keep heading across the bridge. See if we can find somewhere to stay tonight. I bet the farmers have super strong quads getting up and down those rice couple of minutes before seeing another bike or scooter on the road. But here I hadn't passed anyone. I made it over the crest and started to descend. Well that definitely was going to be a windy way down into the valley. I started making my way down the switchbacks. Then ahead I saw another landslide. As I approached I saw a path to the side so I went down it. I gather it would get me around the dirt and debris. Well this landslide wasn't just covering a bit of the road but a few hundred meters and maybe more. It went around the corner. I thought it best to slowly work my way down. Then the inevitable. Luckily it had only fallen onto the pile of debris. Although the bike was in a bad position to get any purchase to lift it as it wasn't all the way over it was easy to get back up. Finally the debris started to thin out and I was back on to the concrete road again. Until I hit this. I got off my bike and walked it to see if it was possible to get through. Although it looked like deep mud and a complete mess if I could go where the water was flowing I could follow the groove it had cut out and I should be able to make it. So the plan was keep the bike moving at a steady pace and all would be good. Well in the end it was quite easy. Nothing to worry about. I got to another section of that slippery clay. There's one bad one near the top. Go like this on the side. A couple before are okay. Well but the last one is you have a light bike so you should be okay. You may have to push but yeah I came down but yeah so you can get through. Thank you. Yeah thank you. They were heading up on a scooter which is a lot lighter but hopefully they have a chance of making it. It was decision time. Do I take the low line on the left or the high line on the right? Looking ahead I should have taken the high line. With the stock tires on I wouldn't have enough grip to get up onto the high line. So onwards on the low line I'd have to go. Which led me to this situation. It wasn't the deepest trench at about a foot and a half but if I missed the piece of metal someone had laid down as a bridge it would become a nightmare trying to get the bike out by myself. Having a quick think I thought it best I walked the bike across. See not a problem. It looked like people had parked the bikes and walked through instead. Probably a smart move. I was actually thinking I might not make it to where I want to get to by tonight before I got into the landslide stuff. Halfway through I'm like I might not just make it out of here. Oh that was interesting. I'm glad I was coming downhill because the weight of the bike. I just had to keep it upright. The guy that was going up says that was the last bad one and I wouldn't want to be going up. He does have a lighter bike and he's riding with a partner so I guess there's a lot of pushing they'll get up but I don't think I would have got this up here. Oh well I'm probably not going to make where I wanted to before dark so I've got to make a decision later on. It's after lunch we will see how I go. It's just how having to slow down because there's so much loose dirt on the road and wet and ah it's fun going through the corners. But yeah anyway we'll keep moving and see what happens. and this guy has some sort of shredder machine maybe. I made it to another town and turned north. I was trying to get to an area famous for its rice fields in the mountains as it looked like it had a lot of homestays. More drying going on. This time well it looks like bark. Kids always up for a wave. I pulled over they were pounding grain with a foot-operated device which looked like it was getting maximum pounding for very little effort. Genius. It looked like they were drying corn from the rafters. I think these guys have cornered the market on drying corn and that is a lot of corn. Now this seems very strange. They're advertising this beautiful rice terraced region by putting up massive billboards in the rice terrace which ruins the view of the rice terrace. I turned off the main road as I'd seen a sign to a homestay up the end of this narrow road. I passed more rice fields and drying grains. The path got even narrower. I was now riding quite muddy the scram had gotten me through. I must admit it's great to have made it at a reasonable time. I think I made it about 4 p.m. I really thought I was going to be there at about 10 p.m. still trying to get off that mountain through the landslides but made it and it is stunning up here. This is where all the very pretty rice paddies are so gonna try and get some photos. Don't have a lot of light. It's just trying to sunset now. Maybe in the morning might get an opportunity but yeah pretty special. They had, for lack of a better word, a sculpture of a piano in the fields of flowers drenched in the soft light as the sun started to fade over the hills. It was quite a stunning way to end the day amongst these mountains. The guys at the homestay were preparing the fire for dinner and it sure looked good. It was time to eat. The homestay had cooked an amazing dinner. Everybody was happy, even the little guy. It was time to dig in. As the very last of the light faded it was time to turn in and obviously my room was the one with the dirty boots. In the next episode, I wander down another sidetrack. I cross a small bridge. I come across more of the destruction from the recent typhoon and the people who lost their homes from You know my love don't worry about the cold just yet