Day 09 - Biker boys from Europe

Well the bikes were definitely a good idea! They've all got some little quirks, but they work, and they are soooo much fun to drive around - really the best way to see this country! The helpful chap who helped negotiate the bike deal gave us some directions that proved to be very helpful.

The following day we packed, loaded the bikes, and set off on our first big road trip. It was an absolute delight! The south of the country is pretty flat, and vast areas are coated in dessert-like sand-dune systems that stretch for hundreds of kilometres inland. The roads on this section of the journey were pretty new and mostly deserted, so we could really tear it up and take in the fantastic views. Stopping in small villages were a sure-fire way to become the instant focus of attention, especially to young schoolchildren, who were all too keen to practice the English they'd learned in school. A few hours later and we were on the highways (scary at first!) looking for our secret turning to take us on a scenic mountain tour to our final destination.

Scenery from the surrounding area

There are practically no road signs, and the few you encounter are pretty useless. The roads twist and turn with such irregularity that a compass is not that helpful either... we took the turning when we thought we were upon it, and probably drove 15km down this road that got ever smaller until we were at the foot of a mountain and the path was now hidden by overgrown jungle. We admitted defeat and returned to the highway. After repeated this exercise a few times, it was 2 hours till nightfall and we were still nearly 200km from our destination. So we decided to rest up at the first reasonable looking/priced place we could find. After asking around we found a nice little place on the coast that cost us about $3 each for the night. Crashed early and woke up at 6 to leave by 7 hoping to reach Dalat this time. We decided to take a longer way around, and stick to the highways to avoid getting lost. The highways have incredibly high volumes of traffic, and the shear amount of crap in the air that you're breathing in can be unpleasant. It makes your clothes filthy!

After a few hours midday rest to avoid the hottest part of the day, we arrived safe and sound in Dalat, have checked into a nice hotel and eaten a decent meal. Now we off to bed early to start exploring this new part of the country - hoping to see waterfalls, jungle, lakes and possibly more... stay tuned :)

Fun we’re having out on the ‘roads’ over here.

Amusing parts of the journey so far include:

My bike has no speedometer, and the fuel gauge is very unreliable. Suffice to say I ran out of petrol and my bike just stopped. Without a working horn either, the lads teared off into the distance without me, having to double back once they realised a few kilometres down the road. Even more fortunate I stopped 200m from a petrol station, so pushed the Pony in and filled her up. She sure is a thirsty beast - the other guys seem to be using a lot less fuel than her...?

Had a few minor accidents where we nearly get driven off the road by larger vehicles. There's this invisible 'middle-lane' that they all seem to use, and a large number of heavy vehicles moving raw materials around, that other large vehicles like to overtake, pushing all other traffic off the road. There really are no rules. But we're careful and feel safe enough.

All our shock absorbers are knackered now. The road quality is very poor here, and when it’s not poor, it’s about as bad as you could imagine. So it's not a comfortable ride, and with the bags on the back we have 25% of a seat designed for two bums, you can imagine where most of the impact is directed. So we're pretty glad to have a day off tomorrow and use our legs again for a while...

My rear-seat grab handle I use for bungee-ing my pack to the bike got completely sheared off (the aluminium simply shattered), so had to get that fixed. Lukas' bike fell over (while at a standstill), and he snapped his front-brake handle, so we had to get that fixed, and my pack tilted over to one side, so when I stopped it pulled the bike over, and threw me into a patch of thorny plants.

Peter has been lucky so far. We think he got the best bike, as he's had no problems and it does seem to be the best behaved. But he's also the most experienced biker - could have something to do with it...?

Regular fuels stops are needed as the tanks are quite small

But all in all it's been well worth it! When the roads clear, and the road becomes challenging (like ascending the snaking mountain paths to reach the highlands), the scenery and weather make it all worthwhile. We've seen some amazing sights along the way, and we'll see many more in the weeks to come! We absolutely love it!!!!