Excuse the long blog entry – been a while! It’s been a challenging week of riding followed by a chilled out week of relaxation before the retreat next week. I’ve basically hibernated!
Thursday
Today I think I cracked. At some point along the highways and byways of southern Vietnam, I realised I had done enough, that I had had enough. I had ‘done’ Asia, and I was ‘done’ with Asia. I’m tired of the danger, exhausted from the hyper vigilance you need just to stay alive, and I found myself increasingly pissed off with the utter moronic, death cheating driving. Too many times this week I have escaped by luck. I don’t feel lucky anymore! And I don’t want my lasting memory of Vietnam to be one of ‘never again’. I’m learning how to say ‘enough’ and do that with gratitude.
But as has been the way on this trip, just when things seem a bit bleak, something or someone comes along and things get better After pulling off the main highway (which I had to take as the other road was a dirt track!) I found this wonderful meandering road that took me gradually up hill towards my accommodation- Bamboo Lodge. On arrival it was sheer delight; a forested area with traditional huts on stilts, next to the river. It nestled on the edges of the Cat Tien National Park.
And wonderfully….English speaking travelers – Canadians, English, German, New Zealand, American. It was just simply lovely to talk and listen and actually understand, and be understood! It’s incredible how tiring it is to try communicate and constantly fail! There was a restaurant on site so ….after a day of surrender, it was a surreal way to end the day. I stayed at the forest hut for two days, spending most of it fixing and cleaning Bob….he was destroyed after the mud tracks and showing all the signs of wearing out. I put on a new chain and stripped everything down to regrease and reset.
Morons in motors
Saturday was an incredible day, as I eventually got in to the mountains. The road started to rise almost straight away in to the 92k ride, but what also started straight away was the scenery – gone were the endless flat roads with shops, traffic, dust, exhaust fumes and endless horn beeping, to forest, streams, waterfalls, and mountains everywhere. It was a tough climb but immensely enjoyable. That is if one sets aside the brain dead moronic driving, which significantly reduced the joy of the climb, and diminished the opportunity to actually look at the scenery to momentary glances. Words fail me when trying to describe the stupidity witnessed on the roads. What I concluded was that there is an ignorance, an arrogance, a belligerence, a ‘fuck you’ attitude which prevails. Nothing else can even come close to explaining what one endures when riding here – countless times I’d be going round a bend, trying to hold the bike upright at such a slow pace, only to find a coach or lorry on my side of the road overtaking on a blind bend, forcing me off the road. They would see me, and just keep coming. There’s no where to go. Whilst I accept that these people don’t give a jot about my life, surely they must have a modicum of care about their own life. Clearly not. It defies logic. They are seemingly prepared to play ‘chicken’ with their lives, the lives of their passengers and the lives of other road users who are on the correct side of the road.
Whinge over….I needed to get that off my chest! But over the past week I have found myself becoming more and more agitated and frankly, scared.
I made it to my evening accommodation, a small motel Lu had found half way to Da Lat. What was great was ….no aircon or fan as neither were needed! The temperature has dropped considerably to a very pleasant 20 something! After grabbing some food I crashed for the night, delighted to be in the mountains!
On Sunday I resumed the climb to Da Lat. In fact, I climbed all day. After a particular tough part of the climb my attention was drawn to the powerful (and delightful) smell of coffee coming from a small cafe roasting its own beans. The coffee I had was divine! I eventually got off the main road and continued on a smaller road which initially was in very poor condition, and I wondered whether this would turn in to another Maps detour to no where. But as the road meandered through the forest and clawed and twisted its way up the mountain, it was clear that whilst the surface was at times crap, it was delightfully quiet of traffic. I loved it. Eventually, Da Lat appeared through the clouds. Or rather. It erupted. Out of nowhere this humongous city appeared, wth towering and sprawling buildings clinging precariously to every inch of the mountainous valley. Quite extraordinary. From the quietness of the final climb came manic traffic and an explosion of colour.
I eventually found my hotel amidst hundreds of others. A quiet little oasis. Da Lat is a tourist town, very popular with the Vietnamese and a favourite place for weddings – so it’s utterly geared to the tourist dollar, but that comes at a cost of it having any genuine ties to Vietnamese culture …you can find that in the backstreets, but it’s been consumed by chic coffee bars, karaoke bars and pretend Rolls Royce sightseeing taxis!
I am resting/hibernating….perhaps decompressing is a better term. – here in Da Lat. I’m stopping completely for a week. I’m exhausted. Fatigued from the emotionality of living on the edge whilst riding. I need to take stock and refill.
I was reflecting with my dear friend Susan about why this part of the journey has been so emotionally tough and mentally draining. She commented on how I have relayed in my blogs my ability to use my time on the bike to reflect, to be in a zone, to focus on myself…,and it suddenly became clear that that was what I couldn’t do in Vietnam – I couldn’t relax.I couldn’t just be in my zone, in my head…but rather be totally consumed with staying out of harms way, being hyper vigilant and constantly trying to predict the behavior of the next moronic move. It probably also triggered something in me about that sense of being ‘unseen, unheard and unknown’. Of being dispensable, inconvenient. The parallels between my feeling on the bike in Vietnam, and feelings I am coming to name and understand in my life, are fascinating.
The street market at night. Amazing place.
My hut in Cat Tien
Met a great group of fellow travelers at the Lodge 😊
Oh hang on….I’ve seen this movie before 🥲
Day one of the climb to Da Lat.
Some wonderful vistas
Stopped at this amazing cafe on the climb up run by a keen cyclist.
THE best coffee so far in Asia 😊
Can’t think where they got the idea for this building from 🤣
And out of nowhere Da Lat emerges!
The town is an explosion of colour – the temperature is just right for growing flowers and….strawberries!
Bobs resting place for the week!
The town of Da Lat
No apologies needed, fabulous read… having been to Vietnam but travelling in a car was enough of a challenge a chaotic round a bouts….great pics
Take care and welcome home soon dear friend