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So, after some serious cycling and trudging up and down ridiculous bedrock
tracks (that are supposed to be minor roads) in scorching heat we finally made
Sapa, a hill town in the northwest of Vietnam. We had planned on cycling the
37km road from Lao Cai to Sapa, all of which is uphill and steep, taking you
from around 280 metres to 1,650 metres and involves a series of 10+ % ascents.
However, given a problem with my gears I seemed to pick up on the way from
Tuyen
Quang whereby I could not change the front derailleur without getting of the
bike and manually manipulating it, it seemed unlikely we would ever be able to
make so instead opted for the minibus. After a friendly negotiation in which the
driver went from demanding 500,000 dong (around $25) we finally settled on the
correct amount of 50,000 each and 50,000 for the bikes, still a good deal for
him and as we were leaving immediately, one we were happy with. Sapa is a
delightful little town much loved by the French during their period of
colonialism here, and seemingly also now, and rightly so. To me it came across
as a mix between Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama in India, and Pokhara in
Nepal. It had a refreshing coolness about it which was a welcome relief after
the heat we had been experiencing of late. The town begins around a lake and the
spreads down and around the hills providing beautiful, when not under cloud,
views of the surrounding mountains and the largest in Vietnam (in fact
Indochina), Mount Fanispan standing at 3,143 metres; unfortunately we never got
even a glimpse at the peak of the mountain due to perpetual mist which, I
suppose, cannot be too much of a surprise given we are deep into the monsoon
period.
We checked into the Sapa Luxury Hotel which, whilst perhaps not being the most
luxurious of hotels, by far met our needs and expectations and presented to us
the most hospitable of of hotel staff we have found on our trip thus far (with
Hanoi Rendezvous hotel running them very close). That first afternoon, as could
be expected, revolved around hot showers, lounging in bed, drinking beer,
watching movies, getting massages and eating pizza; Sapa could wait,
particularly as it was raining.
The next day was bright and sunny giving us some great views, though none
unfortunately of
Fansipan. Either way we were able to wander and explore the
town; though somewhat labouriously as we had energy reserves to replenish . We
found the delightful 'English' pub called the 'Red Dragon' which we thought
should really be Welsh but the mock Tudor woodwork, English beer mats and bar
signs gave it a somewhat 'English' feel - of course we had to have a pint (of
local Lao Cai - 3.5% so you can drink all day). We then went for lunch in a
French cafe highly recommended by the (crap) Lonely Planet. After ordering a BLT
sandwich (a welcome reprieve from the twice or thrice daily Pho or noodle soup)
you can imagine my surprise when, after receiving my somewhat empty looking
baguette, I looked inside to see only bacon. Upon inquiring about the the
absence of both lettuce a tomato, somewhat key ingredients of a BLT, I was told
to use the garnish, the exact same garnish that Sophie had on her tuna salad
sandwich. I have course, hitherto, sworn never to eat in the place again and I
feel I will be able to live up to this one.
Our final day in Sapa was reserved for getting my bike fixed which I now believe
may have been a folly and should have been done immediately. We took it to a
local travel company that specialise in mountainbiking having inquired on their
ability to fix it. "Sure my mechanic can fix it, bring it in tomorrow morning" I
was told. After one guy, supposedly a mechanic, looked briefly at it he said the
geared were screwed and I needed to buy a new gear shifter. "Oh really I
thought" and asked how long it would take to arrive . 'Luckily' they had one in
stock. The one they tried to sell me was a combined gear shifter and brake lever
made for mechanical brakes and not compatible with my hydraulic brakes.
Seemingly the mechanic had not noticed this small issue instantly raising my
suspicions. However with little option if the bike was going to the ready for
the Tram Ton Pass and the mountainous route back to
Hanoi, I left it with them
so they could look at, and keep the current gear shifter. On receiving a call
from the company to return as the mechanic needed to speak with me I went back a
few hours later. The mechanic was a new one and readily explained to me that the
gear shifter was broken and not able to be fixed whereby he presented me with
exactly the same gear shifter/brake lever as before. Eying the disassembled gear
shifter on the floor, and taking in the apparent inability of the 'mechanic' to
recognise what kind of brakes the bike had I now seriously doubted their ability
to fix, or even put back the gear shifter back together. The feeling was
compounded when the manager, apparently noticing my concerned look, tried to
appease me by saying "this is not a simple job, very difficult. But you can see
how good we are by all the tools we have". Jesus Christ!!! My confidence in them
shot to pieces I told them to just get it back together and call me when it was
done. An hour or so later I went back and they were just completing it. They had
managed to get it back together but now the shifter did not work at all, not
even manually, and I would have to ride with the front gear set in position for
the whole ride . This would be a bit of a problem given the route we had planned
to go over however, after some discussion with Soph we decided to give it a try.
We now had to go back to the hotel as the managers had invited us to join the
staff in a kind of staff dinner they hold 4 or 5 times a year. Initially we
didn't really want to go but were very glad we did. All hotel staff had been
exceptionally friendly and helpful and, as we were to find out later in the
night, we had been invited particularly because we were easy guests and had not
complained at all (Sophie was amazed by this because of my apparent continual
complaining which I would somewhat contest. However when this was stated to us I
did have to think about this and Sapa Luxury Hotel has been the only hotel we
have stayed at - within a certain price range - that I have not had any call to
complain: quite amazing really!). The food seemed to be a side issue when
compared to the drinking. There were deep bowls of what looked like water but,
when the guys dipped shot glasses into them we soon realise this was local
moonshine. Not especially strong (compared to others we have had) and not at all
foul, we did our duty and lived like Romans. Shots ahoy and shaking hands at
every demand; roughly every 1.5 minutes. Soph was privileged to sit with me at
the men's table - when given the choice she decided so based on the amount of
drinking being done on our table as the women were not drinking so much - she is
her mother and father's daughter :) . We were also wrong in our assessment of
the gender segregation as the women probably drank more than the men but were
not so noisy about it. When we got to the food we could see why it was a side
issue, in our eyes at least. Along with the usual copious amounts of meat fat
attached to any piece of meat, cartilage and other delicacies, was a dish
neither of us had seen with a bright red, jelly-like surface. When we asked
about the guys explain, with wide smiles, that it was a local delicacy made of
fresh pigs blood - hence the bright red appearance and the daring smiles. Not
ones to shirk a challenge we both tucked in. After eating locusts etc we thought
no problem but the texture forces some kind of gag reflex. We both kept it down
and nonchalantly managed to appear as if it was no big deal while inwardly
hoping we would not empty our stomachs on the table of our gracious guests. We
succeeded to much aplomb and continued into the night. As the night wore on we
got into an interesting conversation on the relationship between Vietnamese and
Americans and Vietnamese and Chinese. It was the first time we had really got
the chance to sit and talk with Vietnamese and we shall forever be grateful to
the staff of the hotel for welcoming us at their table. It just goes to show,
for all the cliches, if you go with an open heart you will receive more than you
expected.
In morning, Sophie with a hangover and me laughing at her, we got really for the
day of hard riding ahead of us . As we were getting our bikes loaded up we spoke
with one of the managers, Chin who we had been speaking with the night before.
He told up part of the road had not been completed. This threw a spanner in the
works and, after much deliberation, we decided it was too much of a risk given
the dire condition of my gears and opted to return to Hanoi on a similar route
as the one we came but on the other side of the river. This was to prove a wise
choice as not more than 10km into our 37km descent back to Lao Cai my rear brake
shot out. I heard a noise like a blown tire and the hydraulic stopped working.
Thankfully the section of road I was on was not a 10%er and was relatively flat
and I was able to stop. On examining the brakes I could see that the metal
spring which holds the brake pads in place had snapped. The brake now kind of
worked but I was not sure if and when it may fail altogether and we now had to
descent the steepest road we have been of so far. I was nervous as too much use
of the brake may make it blow out for good and to little may mean when I did
need it when moving at high speed, it would not be there. After a nerve racking
hour we descended the final 25 km into Lao Cai where we, again, wisely made the
decision to take the bus to Hanoi and get my gears and brakes fixed up.
So there were are, another night bus to Hanoi to get my brakes fixed. We waited
for the best part of the day in Lao Cai for the bus the left around 8pm to
arrive at 5am . The obligatory valium and we slept through although this trip
was not nearly as easy due to the twisty roads. In the morning we again arrived
at a bus station outside of town but this time with a better idea of where we
were going. The problem was the bus people had put the bikes in the hold rather
roughly and when pulling them out tore my rear tire as I was to find out around
200 metres away when my tire went flat. Not happy. I pushed the bike for a while
until we found a guy at the die of the road who was fixing bikes and rapidly
approached only to be waved away and refused help. Well as you can guess my mood
was not the best. We walked further until we managed to get it pumped up then
cycled for a while until it went down again. In the end I had to do a repair on
the side of the road (all the while desperate for a number two) which entailed
lots of gaffa tape on the tear. Finally we could move again and after about 15
more minutes got back to Hanoi Rendezvous hotel where we had a booking and what
a warm welcome back we received, our room all ready and hot shower to wake us
up. |
