During my one and only night in Dien Bien Phu, I was jolted from sleep at 3:00am by a sound I had come to dread - rain pounding the tin overhang outside my window. The weather forecast had called for mostly clear skies, but I suppose there's no arguing with Mother Nature in this, or any other, part of the world. Nothing I could do other than hope the rain fizzled out before long and pray that the roads ahead of me were decent....or half decent....or at least not washed away, buried under landslides, or submerged beneath newly formed lakes. I rolled over and attempted another few hours of fitful sleep.
Hoping for an early start, I woke with the sun, packed my bags and headed downstairs to settle the bill. Granted, it was earlyish - lets say 6:30 - and I found my hosts sound asleep in their rooms and the front doors bolted shut. Given that the windows in my room were barred, I wondered what I would have done in the event of fire in the middle of night. At any rate, I turned around and trudged back upstairs to settle in for an hour or so of reading until the rest of Dien Bien Phu woke up.
Soon I was on the road and heading east out of the DBP valley. The city, such that it is, dropped away quickly and before I knew it, I was skirting past rice fields and small sub-villages as I climbed back into the mountains. Once again, this has become my favorite part of the day: protected by the disguise of my scooter and helmet, watching the locals go about their everyday business. A couple morning markets were in full swing and I pulled off the road to grab a quick breakfast of bread, roasted meat (probably water buffalo), and a Coke, before continuing. I was scared to death that the well-paved road I was on would peter out into the potholed muddy messes that I had been dealing with over the previous couple of days, but this one held strong. Around every bend, the tarmac road seemed to stretch on and on as it climbed into the mountains and I let out a little whoop for joy as I maintained a steady 50km per hour. The scenery was beyond spectacular - a simplistically boring description, I know - and I found myself making excuses for stretch breaks at overlooks and water falls crashing nearing the roadway. Greener than green, the mountains kept growing rougher, more jagged, and higher by the mile. According to the map, the road was supposed to "follow" a river for quite a ways, but before long I was a couple thousand feet above it and climbing.
Assuming the worst, both weather and road wise, I had planned on a short day, only going as far a mid-sized town called Muang Lai. However the good road held up and I had long stretches of it completely to myself, if you don't count the pigs, water buffalo, and their child shepherds. The weather turned out to be perfect - sunny and warm - and before I knew it I was down to shorts and a t-shirt. I ran into Muang Lai before noon and decided, after a roadside lunch of instant ramen-type rice noodles, hardboiled eggs, and peanuts, to keep going. The further I went today, the closer I was to Sapa, my eventual goal.
Great road, good weather, and amazing scenery continued all the way to Lai Chau, my stopping point for the day. Other than a dozen patches of landslide debris to slow for and a strange piece of road I coined "Snake Alley" (a stretch several kilometers long where I passed 4 or 5 snakes on the road - all multi-colored and pretty good size. Not knowing my poisonous Vietnamese snakes from the non-poisonous, I kept riding....quickly), the ride was perfect. I was saddle sore after 7 hours on the bike and, once again, managed to burn the backs of my hands, but beyond that I was feeling great. Only 60km and 4000 vertical feet to Sapa. I'd tackle that another day.
Hoping for an early start, I woke with the sun, packed my bags and headed downstairs to settle the bill. Granted, it was earlyish - lets say 6:30 - and I found my hosts sound asleep in their rooms and the front doors bolted shut. Given that the windows in my room were barred, I wondered what I would have done in the event of fire in the middle of night. At any rate, I turned around and trudged back upstairs to settle in for an hour or so of reading until the rest of Dien Bien Phu woke up.
Soon I was on the road and heading east out of the DBP valley. The city, such that it is, dropped away quickly and before I knew it, I was skirting past rice fields and small sub-villages as I climbed back into the mountains. Once again, this has become my favorite part of the day: protected by the disguise of my scooter and helmet, watching the locals go about their everyday business. A couple morning markets were in full swing and I pulled off the road to grab a quick breakfast of bread, roasted meat (probably water buffalo), and a Coke, before continuing. I was scared to death that the well-paved road I was on would peter out into the potholed muddy messes that I had been dealing with over the previous couple of days, but this one held strong. Around every bend, the tarmac road seemed to stretch on and on as it climbed into the mountains and I let out a little whoop for joy as I maintained a steady 50km per hour. The scenery was beyond spectacular - a simplistically boring description, I know - and I found myself making excuses for stretch breaks at overlooks and water falls crashing nearing the roadway. Greener than green, the mountains kept growing rougher, more jagged, and higher by the mile. According to the map, the road was supposed to "follow" a river for quite a ways, but before long I was a couple thousand feet above it and climbing.
Assuming the worst, both weather and road wise, I had planned on a short day, only going as far a mid-sized town called Muang Lai. However the good road held up and I had long stretches of it completely to myself, if you don't count the pigs, water buffalo, and their child shepherds. The weather turned out to be perfect - sunny and warm - and before I knew it I was down to shorts and a t-shirt. I ran into Muang Lai before noon and decided, after a roadside lunch of instant ramen-type rice noodles, hardboiled eggs, and peanuts, to keep going. The further I went today, the closer I was to Sapa, my eventual goal.
Great road, good weather, and amazing scenery continued all the way to Lai Chau, my stopping point for the day. Other than a dozen patches of landslide debris to slow for and a strange piece of road I coined "Snake Alley" (a stretch several kilometers long where I passed 4 or 5 snakes on the road - all multi-colored and pretty good size. Not knowing my poisonous Vietnamese snakes from the non-poisonous, I kept riding....quickly), the ride was perfect. I was saddle sore after 7 hours on the bike and, once again, managed to burn the backs of my hands, but beyond that I was feeling great. Only 60km and 4000 vertical feet to Sapa. I'd tackle that another day.
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