We finally did it. We rented a motorbike. Thanks to Vietnam’s lax safety standards anyone can drive a motorbike. Especially tourists. We found one for $3US for the day. Gas was not included and of course we got ripped off. Braeden asked for a fill up and was told it would be 60,000VND. They took his money and gave him half a tank. Oh well, it’s still peanuts in comparison to what we pay at home. Also, we had a way out of the town and away from dishonest merchants.
I felt a little nervous about getting on the back of the bike at first; Braeden was a first time driver. However, the kid has confidence in whatever he does. I mean he is pretty much fearless when it comes to adrenaline pumping activities: he bikes down mountains and tears it up at high speeds on his snowboard. Knowing he felt safe with his motorbike abilities made me feel safe too.
We grabbed our map and headed for the seaside. We encountered no less than five different types of animals alongside the road. First up, goats. They were everywhere. It reminded me so much of driving through Banff to Panorama. Well minus the fact they were like five feet away and could have walked out in front of the bike if they pleased. Second up, cows. Dad, you were right: cows did end up blocking the road and we had to maneuver slowly through the herd. We also saw roosters, a goose, ran over a snake, and almost hit a dog. Dogs clearly own the road on the island; they know people will just go around them.
The scenery was beautiful. We cruised up and down hills alongside the water. The road twisted and turned- some corners had mirrors so you could see if traffic was coming. The corners were sharp, the grade was steep (6-10%), and signs depicting cars driving off the edge of the cliff greeted us at many turns. Braeden kept us on the bike and free of road rash. Okay, I’m being a little dramatic, it’s all true and wasn’t really that scary. In my opinion, this is the only way to see the island.
Driving inland was also amazing. There we dipped through valleys between green mountain peaks. The temperature was inconsistent and we were frequently hit with bursts of cold, crisp air. The air was so clean and refreshing. The smell of pollution was replaced with floral aromas. I really felt like I experienced my surroundings on the motorbike since I was in the open air and not traveling as fast as I would have in a car. A pedal bike just wouldn’t have cut it- we definitely wouldn’t have seen as much of the Island as we did.
Renting the bike also gave us the opportunity to visit that National Park on our own schedule. No tours. No guides. Just hiking. I am pretty certain that this was the best hike of my life. Tree roots and vines were everywhere and thank goodness for that since the humid air made the trail slick. I always had something to brace myself in case I took a tumble (I did not). I did get a picture in my head of me grabbing a vine only to discover it was snake like in the cartoons… thankfully that did not happen.
Our goal was to make it up to the observation tower. The lady at the park gate told us it would take an hour to get there and another to get back. We didn’t think we would make it since it was going to get dark by 6pm. We arrived a little late to the park at 3:45, but figured we would turn around within an hour just to be on the safe side. Getting lost in the “jungle” as we called it would have been terrifying. I say this because the sound of the creatures was like nothing I have heard. At one point I asked Braeden if someone was using a chainsaw and he said no that was a bug. Imagine that at night: I get the shivers just thinking about it.
We hustled up path and Braeden complimented me on the pace I set. I am extremely proud of that. Let me gloat a little! It was a fun ascent to the top: we climbed over rocks, roots, and up rusty ladders. The ladder part was awesome: there were three guiding us up a rock face. We are lucky we have long legs because some of the rocks we had to climb up onto were high. The final ascent was a killer. It was pretty much climbing a rock ladder. It lasted only 25m and it was fun using my hands and feet to get myself to the top.
The view, spectacular. I didn’t realize just how amazing the landscape is in Asia. I kept humming the Jurassic Park theme song because to me that is what this looks like. You all know the scene where they first fly onto the dinosaur island in the helicopter. That’s it. Braeden was brave enough to climb the tower. He said it was pretty rusted out and the platform was missing a few boards. As an aspiring photographer the kid will go anywhere to get the perfect shot. Most times it pays off!
Despite being in a tourist town, and the bitching of my blog post, this was one of my favourite days of the trip so far. To add a cherry on top we ate street food for dinner: fried rice and vegetable spring rolls accompanied by a bia hoi! Surprisingly the night ended peacefully: power to the entire town went out. Before the generators kicked in the only lights were from boats in the harbor and headlights on motorbikes. In the dark we were all equal: I finally managed to walk the street unnoticed.
No comments:
Post a Comment