Vietnam: Motorcycle Diaries, Day 3 (254 km)

This morning around 8:30 am, after gassing up, Erin and I were aboard the Minsk and heading out of Dien Bien Phu. It was another gorgeous day through the hills and valleys of Northwest Vietnam. Fortunately, the roads were much better on today's journey. We continuously passed elaborately dressed hill tribe women carrying heavy loads, children with their school uniforms and bright red woven bags, and men hearding buffalo and cows across our path. We did an extremely tiring long haul at the beginning of the day, going about five hours straight before finally stopping for lunch in the small village of Pa So around 1:00 pm.

After lunch (I finally gave up my month-long vegetarian plan and had my first meat, which is not making my stomach very happy right now!), we continued to head north to our intended destination, Sapa. Unfortunately, the roadside kilometer markers and my map began making less sense, and soon we found ourselves 15 km off the main course and in the village of Muong So, forcing us to turn around and take a different route (in which we came mere millimeters from hitting a dog!). As we were climbing up a large mountain just twenty kilometers from the upcoming town of Lai Chau, Gaston stopped dead still (we had to name our bad boy..."No one's slick as Gaston, No one's quick as Gaston, No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's"...Beauty and the Beast...?).

I was certain it was the spark plug, so after managing to figure that out, Gaston still would not crank! Finally, Erin tried to convince me that we were out of gas (I refused to believe it!), and we coasted back down the hill, all the way to Pa So. We filled the tank up with petrol, and sure enough, we were back on our way. Unfortunately, we had wasted three hours and were right where we had begun at lunch. It was then that we concluded there was no way we would make it to Sapa tonight.

We finally coasted through Lai Chau, and about an hour later, just as the sun was beginning to dip behind the mountains, we arrived in Tam Duong, an extremely remote village where the townspeople excitedly greeted us with smiles, waves, and shouts of "Hello" as we roared into the village center. We found a lovely guesthouse on the main road, made friends with the engaging owner, and found a place serving the most scrumptious Pho soup I have ever tasted! Finally! After dinner and a quick wander through the now-deserted town (it was only 7:00 pm), Erin and I crashed into bed, and were asleep by 9:00 pm.