hue rider III, final day..

Last day of our little adventure. My ass was getting more and more sore by the day and I didn't really mind it was the last day. But ahead of us, still a few things to do and another 200km journey serpenting through the mountains till we reach the temples of My Son first and later get to our finnal destination, Hoi An.

Same uneventful early morning: oily scrumbled eggs and black coffee, watching Quy delighting himself with a noodle soup.

Gabriela cravo e canela... Canela...
Cinnamon!
I actually never really thought where cinnamon comes from. I kind of guessed it would come from a plant but never really put my mind on this subject because it's something you take for granted. It is actually the skin of a tree. As we were driving past this wood sticks this intense smell of cinnamon filled the air. I asked Quy were the smell was coming from and he pointed out the to the wood! Of course...
And the next few Kms I could only think of Pasteis de Belém... aiiiiii...












Back onto the Trail











A few minutes into our journey and Quy stops the bike to start climbing this steps without any notice. 'I guess he's going for a fag (cigarette) with a view' I thought. So I followed him.









And damn, he was right!! What a view...








...but not for a fag...
There's nothing like the good old morning relief to get rid of all the body waste and start the day light and fresh! But this one was special... with a terrific view!

'U ok there, mate?'














1 hour into our ride and this gentleman and waving at us, flagging us down, so we stopped. I don't know how old he is but he looked old... very old... On a bycicle. Quy explained me he wanted to check wether he was on the right way: the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
This man was cycling the Ho Chi Minh trail on his own...
And he looks dead old...
Miguelito was gobsmacked!! Amazed...











We drove past him and after a while pause for another fag and wee. Quy smokes like a chaminee.


The old man cycle pasted us so quick I didn't even had the time to switch my camera on to get a snapshot. We took our time, some good 15 minutes and when we got back on the road I was sure we were gonna pass him again soon so I had my camera ready. But it took more then expected. 'Maybe he got off the road, maybe he had a stroke and fell off to the side, why are we not getting any closer to him?' I thought.
After quite long time there he was... No wonder we took so long to get close to him: he was Flying!!!










And smiling...
I think I want to be like him when I grow old! Seriously!
















Crossing this river, Quy noticed something unusual and stopped...



'Look!! See those trees floating down the river..? They are stealing wood from the forest! Its forbiden to cut trees without a permit here' Quy explained me.

Wood smuglers! The man dressed in black blends with the black rubber.













But a few meters ahead we found a few more riders, dressed the same way as the old man earlier. So I got a bit confused. Well, at least the old man was not on its own... Just in case... But he was well behind. Tha's why he asked stopped us to confirm he was on the right way!
Quy told me that were probabily war veterans...


I din't know what they were... I only knew it was about 1pm and it was baking hot and these men were climbing hills on their bikes... Pushing them up! Brave.
















When we got to the top of this massive mountain there was already one of them there... also pushing his byclicle slowly slowly...
'STOP here!!!' I asked Quy.

He was dripping wet, breathless and smiled when he saw us stopping.
This old man could actually speak reasonable english so I chat a bit with him. After I have shared my water with the old cyclist, he explained me this was a group of 10 veterans that was cycling across Vietnam, not just the Trail. They where now cycling the Ho Chi Minh trail but would proceed south...
He fought in the war, used the dirty Trail during war times and was now back to cycle its asfalt...
Long hair and a guitar hanging on the back! Un-B-lievable... What a spirit!!! People like this should be a truly source of Inspiration! They are mine for sure...
His age..? 75...
Take that!!













Still quite a bit to cycle... but the scenery makes one forget the pain!






















This man was having a nap in that sort of box thing whists being pulled by his buffalos. The funniest bit was that he would wake up grumping at the animals (as an old man grumps to his old wife) to move faster and the next second would fall asleep again...





















Pinapple region!
Pinapples are the main source of export from this area! Everybody seemed to grow and sell them.

















Of course Miguelito could not go without trying this delicatessen! And after a few hot hours on the bike, a pause for a home grown fresh juicy sweet pinapple sounded like the perfect idea indeed.






























D-f**n-licious, my friend!























Back on the road we where now heading towards the temple of My Son.





















On this secondary road a big truck loaded with sand coming our way didn't stop for us. Quy had to make an emergency brake, the front wheel got stuck in the sand, the bike tilted over and we both fell of it... :( The truck didn't stop to check if we were ok. We were both covered in dirt. Quy was fine, Miguelito got a minor injury on the foot and the camera got a few scratches, but ok. Here the moment just after we lift the bike back up.







The whole way Quy had been the most responsible driver. Sometimes even I felt tempted to tell him to speed up a little of so slow he would go, but never say anything in respect for his good behaviour on the road. And now this silly driver pushed us off the road.
This bike means Quy's life and he keeps it imaculate and is very careful with it. I learned it from the days I spent with him. He bought it new and is the tool that puts the food on his children's plate so I was not surprised when he changed his mood by noticing a crack on the front light.
Couldn't really say much to confort him! No one got hurt and the bike was still working sharply...














So time to clean up, regroup and keep moving!











over the river










































through more villages and rice fields






























till we reach My Son!











My Son is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples built between the 4th and the 14th century A.D. by the kings of Champa. The ancient kingdom of Champa was situated in the central coast of Vietnam. The temples are dedicated to the worship of the god Shiva. Hinduism prevaled before nowadays Buddhism.

From the 4th to the 14th century A.D., the valley at Mỹ Sơn was a site of religious ceremony for kings of the ruling dynasties of Chamopa , as well as a burial place for Cham royalty and national heroes.

The Mỹ Sơn temple complex is regarded one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in Southeast asia and is the foremost heritage site of this nature in Vietnam . It is often compared with other historical temple complexes in SE asia , such as Borobudur in Java (Indoensia), Angkor Wat in Cambodja, Bagan in Myanmar and Ayutthaya in Thailand.

At one time, the site encompassed over 70 temples. Many historical buildings were destroyed during the Vietnam War . United States B52 aircraft carpet-bombed the region in August 1969. The surrounding area is still rendered dangerous through the presence of unexploded land mines.

In 1999 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site.



































































Miguelito meets Osvald.
Osvald is a 50 year old austriac fellow who lived in Hanoi for 1 year during his studies of Antropology. He is back to Austria but still keeps friends in Vietnam and comes back occasionaly.
He founded an amateur club with friends of Minsk motorbike riders. Minsk is a ex-soviet brand of motorbikes. The kind made to last. The kind of machine that gets better with time. Nowadays people come to Vietnam, buy an old second-hand Minsk bike on one end of the country, ride it through to the other end and eventually sell it to another adventurer. That's how reliable this bikes are. Built in times of war!
One day the russian owner visited Vietnam and incidentally discovered this club he was not aware of. Pleased with so many followers he made an offer to the club of a few brand new Minsk bikes. Sweet!!
Anyway... Walking in My Son, Miguelito met Osvlad, one of the founders of Minsk Club Vietnam. Needless to say he was ridding the country on his Minsk bike his vietnamese friends still keep spotless for him.
http://www.minskclubvietnam.com/index.htm





















Tobacco leaves



On that afternoon, towards the end I felt a little rushed by Quy. I could tell he was upset with the bike crash and wanted to go home. He still had a 3 hours drive back to his family. I didn't blame him. When we finnaly got to Hoi An, he dropped me and soon was back on the road to Hue. Back to civilization Miguelito had a glourious meal and a rewarding rest.