Here's some of the photos from my ride in North Vietnam from April . I started with a three day boat tour to Halong Bay. I'm new to this whole posting thing, bear with me when I goof. I'll let the pics do most of the talking.
Fresh water boat makes trips daily. ever seen a concrete boat? Our anchorage for the night Your truly
A wedding party happened by and posed for a few pics on our support vehicle, a side car mounted Ural. Rice paddys a couple of hours out of Hanoi Yours truly, on a genuine Russian Ural. This is not a sissyfied western model. The tires still say "made in USSR" on them. Finally, some limestone baby!
A white Thai or "Thai Chou" village, straight ahead, our accommodations for the night. Note textiles on the right. The loom on which the textiles are made.
The best food of the trip. A blend of Thai and VN, fantastic, everything fresh, grown on site. Roasted stink bugs are used as a condiment to impart a smoky flavor to rice and veggie dishes. Water buffalo, they are everywhere. A bike shop, they are everywhere, just look for a sign that says XE May, pronounced she may, you have a bike fixed in the remotest parts of VN VN butcher stand
In VN teamsters are real teamsters. Everything is smaller and cuter even the horses Imagine your favorite mountain motorcycle road, only it goes on for days. Lunch in a Zhou village
Zhou rice paddys did I mention it was hot! Some Zhou girls at a scenic look out the girls next to Glenn, our guide The view
One of hundreds of waterfalls. These are a major challenge for VN road builders. did I mention it was hot? Lady in a small Zhou village, she was really friendly. Hey mister! Want to buy a Civet? 20$, we set him free. Hmong Market Micro hydro electric power. The unit is upside down. One end goes into a flow of water, the other generates electricity. Brilliant!
City of Sapa, populated by european tourists and relentless Zhou and Hmong people who sell them stuff. Nick and Effy are from Greece. Note how the hawkers glom onto the women. photo of VN construction techniques. Note bamboo mold in foreground. Russian SUV The view from the vertical hotel in Sapa 14 floors straight up. Restaurant is on the 8th floor.
Nice pictures & narration hahmule! I shared this post with my wife as she is originally from Vietnam (HCM City/Sai Gon) and she enjoyed them as well. About 2 years ago, we both traveled to Ha Noi and visited Ha Long Bay, Lao Cai and Sa Pa. My only other wish at the time was to have access to an enduro motorcycle so I could have done more "exploring" as you had done. How was your experience on the Russian Ural? Look forward to more pictures & stories! Best regards,
We spent a night at a Zhou village. our accommodation for the night our hosts, good food, and prodigious amounts of ziel, pronounced zeal, VN for moonshine, usually made from corn, but here made with casaba root, (nasty tasting), and rice, (very nice). Our sweep rider, medic, mechanic, translator, all round magnificent guy, simply goes by Kung. The two in the middle is a couple from Australia The Ziel was a flowin
The ziel making operation. This one with casaba root, it is grated, dried, pounded and then fermented. http://hahmule.smugmug.com/photos/544079133_EeN4L-M.jpg I tried my hand at the grating operation.
The local swimmin hole Hey mista! you want to buy a cobra? The girl on the right is Leung. She is 15 and five days per week she works on the family farm. Five nights per week she makes stuff to sell to tourists two days per week. Despite constant hard work, she is sweet as can be. We are truly blessed. the border with China at Lao Cai and the defacto end of our trip. We board the train along with our bikes and take the overnight back to Hanoi. We returned to Hanoi to a light rain at 5:30 in the morning. My trusty steed after 7 days riding. I hope you enjoyed the photo trip to northwest Vietnam. I enjoyed reliving it.
