Vietnam: Motorcycle Diaries, Day 5 (200 km)

After a lovely day of rest in Sapa, we awoke this morning yet again to the sounds of heavy raindrops on the roof. Once again, it let up as we were preparign for our 10:00 am departure. Fortunately, Erin gained confidence during her Minsk driving session yesterday, so once I got us safely out of town, she took over, and soon I was the one praying in the back!

Miraculously, Erin got us to our lunch stop alive and in one piece (I do not know how she seemed so cool, calm, and collected while I was driving...I thought I was going to wet my pants at every suicidal, high-speed move she made!). We had another meal of Pho, this time with a strange mystery meat whose taste resembled bacon, before I gladly took the reins and drove us on to Yen Bai. About 15 km from town, just as I was realizing that this was the first full day of driving that did not involve a "hitch," I went to downshift and realized my foot was hitting air...somewhere since I was last in 3rd gear, I managed to lose the clutch pedal!

With a laugh, we rolled to a stop just outside a home where a family of about fifteen people were watching us with curious, toothless smiles. Some of the men came over, carrying babies, of course, and observed our situation. All I have to say is, I am an extremely independent person (too independent, I have been accused by several ex-boyfriends), but I do love it when a man comes in, takes charge, and saves the day! We trustingly gave one guy money before he jetted off on his motorbike, and within minutes he was back with a new pedal. The men gathered 'round our bike, and soon Erin and I were saying our farewells and heading off to Yen Bai.

We found a lovely, fancy pants hotel beside a huge lake in the country, just on the outskirts of Yen Bai, where we quickly found that we were eerily the only guests. The staff was very friendly, and after checking in, we rode into Yen Bai for dinner and to stock up on a huge box of cookies (Why, oh, why do we keep doing this to ourselves? We are such GIRLS!), which we polished off over a few games of rummy in our moldy room.

Tomorrow is our final leg of the trip, as we battle through the last 180 km into and around Hanoi.