We have been having some adventures. Hanoi was fascinating
but getting out into the mountains of north Vietnam has been a revelation. We
are on trusty honda trail bikes that are usually illegal in Vietnam due to
their power. It makes our group unusual so we have been getting lots of
admiring stares from the locals.
The bikes feel safe and predictable in mud, over rocks and
through mountain passes. This is lucky since there has been alot of all three.
There is a picture of my trusty steed attached.
The overwhelming observation for me has been labour.
Everybody works. It is largely subsistence agriculture outside the big cities
and it is harvest time so there are literally hundreds of men and women cutting
rice, ploughing with water buffalo and threshing rice. There were some
picturesque brickworks too. They are making building material out of mud. The
smoke stacks mix with the mist and workers making it look like a painting. It
is like the whole country is doing some for of manual labour.
The biggest building in every town out here is the school.
We see flocks of kids on bicycles holding umbrellas and smiling. Always
smiling. Every kid I have met seems as happy as the happiest Australian kid I
have ever met.
The gap between the rich and poor here is tiny and the
literacy rate is higher than australia so there is very little agro or class
distinctions. It feels very cooperative but the people are rewarded for working
hard so everyone seems driven and industrious.
Accommodation has been a mixture of home stays and hotels.
The home stays are on farms and we sleep and eat together in a big room. The
food is always sourced from the paddocks around the house and cooked in clay
pots on wood fires. It may be the best food I have ever eaten. Last night we
were in a hotel with a soccer field out the front so I played soccer with the
local boys and did ok but I might have been too rough. It is cool to be able to
cooperate with them perfectly without sharing a common language. Over the next
hill is China. The mountains here are ridiculous, like 'lord of the rings'
ridiculous. The others said only Nepal compares.
The mountain people in the high passes we traversed
yesterday are not faring as well. There is a program to pay the parents to send
the children to school but they are mostly doing manual labour by the age of
five. The adults are in traditional dress and there is a mixture of Mong people
and smaller ethnic groups.
It feels more invasive to travelling through their villages
in my high tech riding gear carrying my professional slr but we give the kids a
wave and stop sometimes to give them presents and to let dad do some magic
tricks. Not sure what else to do, I want to ask our guides.
Our guides wear aviators, body armour and are constantly on
their iphones through ear pieces so it feels like we have commandos looking out
for us. The other pictures are of some workers, some kids racing, some mountain
kids (they cheered up after dad did some coin tricks). The markets are starting
outside and all i can hear is squealing pigs.
Uncle Glen is my roommate for the trip and so far we are
peas in a pod. I had imagined getting lots of time with Dad and Jules on this
trip but they have had their mates here so have had their hands full. It's been
a blessing in disguise however to get some quality time with Glenn. He has been
a fearless motorcyclist and his tireless cheer and energy is much admired in
the group..
Julia can speak perfect Vietnamese after a couple of years
of training and she is an invaluable aid for a first time visitor like me. We
had more trouble in the highlands on the border with China today with the Mong
people. Someone she had charmed on the road earlier helped us buy a woolen cap
for me and a hand grown, handmade, hemp kung fu suit. She is a calming
influence that I owe much of my wellbeing to while travelling. Dad is in good
spirits too. One of the guides just took the two of us on the 'adventure' road
that the rest of the group declined. It was a spectacular high mountain pass
and we were stopped by locals at the peak to drink rice wine. I have been
seeing some of the most impressive site and having some of the best experiences
of my life here so all smiles.
AD
