Obviously we decided to blow the budget and spend 2 more days with our easy rider guides. Day 3 was the longest of the trip, covering about 250 km. We rode from buon ma thuot to a tiny town called Kon Tom. Along the way we stopped in the city of pleiku which was the site of some significant action during the Vietnam war. It was also the site of a very large US base where our guide Mr Young was stationed. Really somber hearing him recount how things were back then and what they went through. The old US base there has of course been taken over by the Vietnamese military. Riding through town we saw so many Vietnamese army soldiers.
We spent that night in Kon tum which is a really small town but it had good food and power!!!!! It also had my least favorite creature: roaches. EWWWWW.
The next day (4/11/12) was a whirlwind!!!! Got up and hurried over to a local baker to grab some breakfast snacks. We both got pineapple pastries, some chocolate'ish bread and some other pastry thing. From there it was off to a very old catholic church (100 years old) to look around and take a few pictures. The people there also run an orphanage primarily for the local Montagnards (minority) people. Apparently in this particular minority area, they are matriarchal. Also, when the mothers die in child birth they bury the newborn baby (alive or dead) with the dead mother. So the church people try to rescue the children. It's also a depository for unwanted or burdensome children as well. There are approximately 200 kids there of various ages. They're fed, educated and cared for by each other and the church people. While walking around, one of the small children ran up to Carolyn and jumped up into her arms. Adorable :)
From there we drove over to the minority village and visited the local chief. He was a wonderful, happy old man who spoke perfect French but not a lick of English. Luckily our guide spoke French so we were just fine. The chief played a couple tunes on a bamboo xylophone for us and then allowed me to display my musical genius! I warned him that I was going to make it rain ... Which it eventually did!!!! Carolyn took a turn on the bamboo things and then we took off.
We took a break at a nice little coffee cafe, had some coffee and ate our pastries. While eating our luscious treats some ladies sat next to us and produced a bag of live scorpions!!! Mr Young went and sat next to them and proceeded to negotiate a price. During this exchange, the lad produces a jar with enormous dead scorpions, some wood chips and a couple nasty little bugs. We asked Mr Young what it was for and he said it was traditional honest Viagra! He said he'll buy it, put some rice whiskey in and let it sit for a while before drinking his Chinese Viagra. Crazy!!!!
Anyway, we left that town and started riding on the 'official' Ho Chi Minh trail. It's a large highway through the central highlands which more or less follows the historical Ho Chi Minh trail. Along the way we stopped at a war memorial where we were able to climb on an old Russian tank. Apparently this tank was used to 'liberate' whatever city we were in in 1975. Further up the road we stopped in Dak To which was another US base during the war. Both runways are still there but nothing else remains. Strange feeling to stand on a runway built over 40 years ago in such a remote area. Mr Young told us about the awful fighting that went on there every day. From a distance we could see the location of an old special forces base. All along we were only 18 km from the Laos border. During the fighting the north Vietnamese would hide in Laos and then come across to attack before heading back across.
Here's where things get soggy. Shortly after leaving Dak To we stopped for lunch. During lunch the sky opened up and all hell broke loose. We couldn't sit around all day so we put on rain gear and started up the mountains. The scenery was absolutely stunning!!! Lush, green, beautiful mountains and jungle. However the rain started coming down so hard we couldn't really see. Riding on the back of a little motorcycle, in torrential rain, through mountain passes is pretty harrowing. After about 3 hours we made it to our hotel in a tiny town called kham duc. The power went out shortly after we got there which of course meant no hot shower. That and Carolyn and I had to walk around with headlamps on.
We had dinner with our peeps for the last time and shared some laughs and drinks. Good times!
Today we made our way down to Hoi An ... About 130 km away. During the ride Mr Young's bike had some issues which gave us a bit of a scare. It turned out to be a faulty spark plug which was an easy fix. Closer to Hoi An we stopped so I could buy a mosquito zapper!!!! $4 is all it costed to wield a mosquito death dealer!!! I actually got to use it already!!! Can't wait to assassinate the filthy beasts at home!
So we made it to Hoi An. Our hotel is nice but a little far from the city. After some hiccups with our AC we showered and then headed into town to get some clothes made!!!!! We've started off small so far: 1 dress, 1 pair of pants, 1 pair of shorts, 2 shirts, 1 pair of khaki pants, 1 jacket. Oh and we also got 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of sandals and 1 pair of a sneakers. It wasn't cheap but it's tailor made for us!!!! So we have to go back tomorrow for our first fitting. Hopefully it all goes well!!!!
Pics:
1) frontier land. About 17 km from here is the Laos border.
2) Relaxing with some fresh pineapple.
3) Chinese Viagra.
4) rice paddies in the mountains. So green!!!!
5) a short break.
6) Carolyn getting measured for her boots!!!!
7) Carolyn and mr young on the runway at Dak To.
8) Hoi An at night.
9) us with the village chief ... After we played our 'rain' song :)
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