Cycling The Road Less Travelled

A year ago today we put the last few pieces of our stuff in storage, grabbed our bikes and set off looking for adventure. To say that it has been an incredible year is not doing it justice. It’s been a whirlwind of beautiful experiences, life lessons, stunning beauty and inspiration, so much inspiration. We have met so many along the way, locals and fellow TDA riders, that have moved us beyond words; their lives testaments to dignity, courage and strength. I may still not know what I want to be when I grow up , but I do know I would to like to live my life with that same dignity and grace. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, succeeded, failed, been overjoyed, overwhelmed, infuriated and humbled. It’s been everything that life is meant to be.

We’ve been asked: “Aren’t you tired and bored yet?” The answer: A resounding “No”. I’ll admit, a new pair of socks would be nice but we’ll gladly go without. We miss our family and friends; our dream would be to share this with them. How wonderful it would be to give someone you love the magic of a safari or the beauty of the Sossusvlei sand dunes. That would be incredible. Has it changed our lives? That remains to be seen I guess, but it has most definitely changed how we think and what we believe know.

In a few short months, this beautiful journey will come to an end. I won’t call it “a trip of a lifetime”. I categorically refuse as that would mean we wouldn’t get another. I’ll call it “One of many trips in a lifetime”. Yes, I’m greedy and no, I’m not apologizing for it.

I will always dream of far away places.

We were in a small town, trying to buy bananas from a street vendor, when Binh, a teacher with perfect English, stopped to translate for us. After helping us with the purchase, we chatted for a little while. He asked us about our journey and where we were going from here. It wasn’t long before he graciously invited us into his house for tea. We accepted of course, these are the moments we cherish most. We sat in Binh’s courtyard, drinking tea out of beautiful blue and white, wonderfully chipped, porcelain cups; no doubt passed down from generation to generation. Binh spoke enthusiastically about his family, his life and his students. He loves his job. It’s awesome to hear someone speak passionately about their profession. He also spoke openly about what it was like during the war and the changes in his country since. He has seen so much in his sixty years.

Binh also spoke of his dream to travel, specifically to Montreal and Japan. I recognized the gleam in his eyes when he spoke of it, I understand that sense of wonderment; that overwhelming curiosity about the world we live in. We’ve been invited into people’s home countless times now on this journey. Sitting there and watching him speak of his dream, it hit me. This is just another form of travel. Maybe he can’t go out there right now, backpack in hand to “see the world”, but when the world shows up on his doorstep, he can certainly invite it in. I like it.

Cycling in Vietnam is not for the faint of heart. It’s chaotic, busy and loud. It is pure mayhem. If you’re going to brave these streets on a bicycle you need to forget everything you know and understand some basic guidelines.

Honking: The horn, (not the brakes and not the signals) is the most important safety feature of any vehicle in Vietnam. As such, all horns have been modified to be louder and much more annoying. The blare of horns, on any street, is constant, relentless, and unbelievably loud. It will make your ears bleed. You will to need to understand the different honks. There is the:

• “I’m coming” honk, used when the vehicle first sees you.
• This is soon followed by the: “I’m closer” honk.
• The “Even closer” honk follows shortly after that.
• The “I’m here” honk (the longest and most ear-shattering of them all) just as they come up to you.
• And finally, the “Goodbye” honk, just to be friendly. This is often accompanied by a wave or a thumbs-up.

White Lines: Those pesky white lines on the road are distracting, useless and therefore meant to be ignored. At some point, you will find yourself cycling down a road thinking you are on the correct side of the street when you spot a truck trying to pass, coming straight at you. Understand that you are about to engage in a friendly and exciting game of “chicken”. See “Right of way” and act accordingly.

Passing on a Corner: Trucks passing each other on tight blind corners is perfectly acceptable. See “Right of Way”

Right of Way: The biggest vehicle on the road always has the right of way, regardless of the situation. Since you’re a cyclist, that never ever means you.

Blind Spot: Why turn your head when you can leave it up to the person you are about to cut off to avoid the accident.

Busy Intersections: Busy intersections don’t necessarily imply traffic lights or signs. Just get on in there and figure it out for yourself.

Chickens: Chickens are incredibly stupid creatures and will dart out in front of you at the very last second. This is of course, is true in any part of the world.

We were watching a movie in our hotel room on a cold, rainy night in Hue when we suddenly got very hungry. So Spiros decided to go out on an emergency snack run. Within 30 seconds of leaving the hotel, a young man on a motorbike came up to him and started a conversation.

Young Businessman: “You want sexy, sexy?”

Spiros: “What?”

Young Businessman: “You know, sexy, sexy…girlie, girlie. Very cheap. $5.00”

Spiros: “Nooooo”

Young Businessman: “You want smokey, smokey? Very cheap. $5.00”

Spiros: “Nooo”

Young Businessman: “You want mushroom? I have mushroom. Very cheap. $5.00”

Spiros: “Noooo.”

Young Businessman: “Okay, Okay, you want bar dancing. I take you bar dancing.”

Spiros: “I don’t dance.”

Young Businessman, clearly now very frustrated: “Okay, okay, what you want then?”

Spiros: “Cake. I’d like some cake.”

Young Businessman, now very confused: “What you mean, cake?”

Spiros: “Cake. You know…marble cake, banana cake, chocolate.”

<long silent pause>

Young Businessman: “No smokey, smokey?”

Spiros: “No, just cake”.

Young Businessman shakes his head and drives off.

Five dollars can go a long way in Hue. Sadly, however, it can’t get you cake.

There were very noticeable changes as soon as we crossed the border into Vietnam. The chorus of “Saybadees” was replaced by “Hello, how are you?”, people seemed more outgoing and the calm quiet roads were replaced by the unbelievably loud and relentless blare of horns.

Our plan was to get to Hoi An for New Year’s eve, an achievable goal except for the fact that the weather got ugly, real ugly. From the border town of Huong Hoa, we cycled the 140 km to Hue in continuous rain. After 6 and a half hours we were drenched and so was all of our gear. Blow drying 4 guidebooks btw, takes a very, very long time. The two day ride between Hue and Hoi An is supposed to be some of the prettiest scenery in Vietnam. The prospect of spending two days cycling in the rain and missing the scenery because of the low clouds does not seem appealing so we’ve abandoned our original New Year’s eve plans and have decided to wait it out a few more days in Hue.

On our last day in Laos, we cycled past a large group of women and kids sitting on the side of the road. As usual, the kids were screaming out “Sabaidee”. We decided to stop. The minute we did, all but one brave little boy got frightened and scurried to the top of the hill. Once at the top, they simply stood and watched us.

Spiros walked over to the little boy and pointed to the camera. No reaction. Spiros took a picture. No reaction. Spiros then turned the camera around and showed him the photo. A big smile now appeared on his face. After a few more photos, he ran to the top of the hill.

We were getting ready to set off again, when we noticed that a few ladies were now coming down the hill. When they got to us, they pointed to the camera. When Spiros showed them the picture of the little boy, they laughed, smiled, and gathered in a little closer. The older one then took off her jacket, straightened out her shirt and pointed to herself. Okay, we were more then happy to oblige. One by one, they posed for a picture. Soon more and more people started to come down the hill.

One minute they’re running away, the other they’re posing with our helmets. Neat.

The day continued in similar fashion.

We just want to wish everyone a very, very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year full of happiness, love and adventure. May all your dreams come true in 2009.

As for us, we are in Savannakhet, Laos enjoying a quiet Christmas and missing family and friends.

Love to you all.
XOX

After pounding the streets a bit more and drowning our sorrows in banana shakes, we remembered a little shop near our hotel that we had seen a few weeks back when we first arrived in Bangkok. So, off we went, not really expecting anything to come of it but it couldn’t hurt to try. After looking at the wheel, the owner confirmed our suspicions and while he couldn’t fix it, he made a few phone calls and was able to locate the parts needed to build us a whole new touring wheel, strong enough to handle the load. Yeehah! We’re back in business…and we didn’t have to bop anybody on the head with a tire pump to do it (though that may have made for a better story ).

We don’t take plugging businesses lightly but these guys deserve it. Anybody in Bangkok in need of a really good bike shop should head for Velo Thailand, 88 Samsen 2, Samsen Road, Banphanthom.

As mentioned before, my back wheel has been throwing hissy fits so we decided to train it back to Bangkok to try and get it repaired. From the train station, we went straight to Bangkok’s most popular and well known bike shop. The shop is incredibly well stocked with high end racing and mountain bikes; rims that cost more then our bicycles dangle on display from the ceiling. Surely, if we can’t get it fixed here, we won’t be getting it fixed. To make a long story short, after some humming and hahing and going through drawers of spare parts, the mechanic concluded he would not be able to fix it. He took it apart and tried cleaning all the bits, but a quick spin around the park proved that wasn’t going to cut it. To make matters worse, buying a whole new wheel wasn’t an option either. In the whole shop, they didn’t have a 700 series touring wheel that would carry the weight of the panniers. Dang! We can’t complain about the shop, they did try and didn’t charge us for the service.

We tried another well stocked bike shop and again no luck. Okay, we have a real problem now. We’re confident the wheel won’t make it and from the research we’ve done, these two shops were our best chance in the area to get it fixed. Crap!

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<cue dramatic music>…pa pa pa paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam

With a failing back wheel, dwindling options for bike repair and depleted funds, what will Spiros and Maria do? Will they:

• Pack up the bikes and go to some island to spend the remaining time lounging in hammocks?…possibly but unlikely.
• Pack it up and go back to Canada early?…ain’t gonna happen.
• Figure something out using electrical tape and duct tape?…possibly, that has worked before.
• Sell the bikes and use the money to go to Vang Vieng to watch endless Friends reruns for the next three months?…not bloody likely, maybe if it was South Park.
• Find and befriend another cyclist, lure them into a false sense of security and then bop them over the head with a tire pump and steal their wheel?…quite possibly.
• Drown their sorrows in banana shakes?…very likely.

Stay tuned for another exciting episode of “Cycling the Road Less Travelled”.

<cue cheesy soap opera music>

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Apparently, since we’ve been gone, the world economy has collapsed, unemployment is rising, stocks have plummeted and the American auto industry is in peril. Oh, and the Jolie-Pitts are up to six children. Hmmmmmmmm…It’s not looking too good for two unemployed bums that have been turning the pedals for the past twelve months does it? So we’re sending this out as a feeler. Anybody out there in cyberspace needing to hire two fun, lovable, cute and cuddly but somewhat weathered souls to doooooooooo…something…anything. We can cycle, we like to eat, have our own duct tape…will travel. Let us know. If we don’t hear from anybody, we may just keep going. We hear cycling in Siberia is cheap.

It appears we are having yet another little hiccup in our travel plans. My back wheel started making a lot of noise a few days after getting into Laos. We’re not 100% sure what she’s complaining about but we suspect that the pawls and the bearing in the hub have worn out (Okay, okay…Spiros suspects that the pawls and the bearing in the hub have worn out). Judging by how much louder and more frequent the noise has gotten, we expect that sooner rather then later, the hub will stop engaging the wheel. Meaning, cycling finished; which could be a problem for us seeing that we are on a cycling trip and all.

We limped into Vientiane yesterday hopeful that the only high end bike shop in town would be able to fix it or at least replace the wheel. We found the bike shop and good news! Judging by the bikes and stock we could see through the window, they should be able to fix it. Bad news, the shop is closed from December 10th to 22nd for national races. That would mean we would have to sit around in Vientiane for at least 11 days. Not an option we fancy too much, so it’s back to Bangkok on the train for us.

Oh, I forgot. We also think we may have found a small crack in my frame…a small crack in the carbon part of my frame. We have taped it and decided not to think about it. If this trip has proven anything, it’s that duct and electrical tape can solve 99% of your problems. The other 1% is, unfortunately, hub-related.

Well…we said we wanted an adventure.

P.S. Please no comments about carbon frames and cracks. I am comfortably in denial right now and wish to remain that way.

I bet you’re sitting at your desk right now, wondering what cycling in Laos is like. Is it hard? How’s the scenery? Would I enjoy it? Let’s see if we can help answer some of those questions.

Cycling in Laos, looks a little like this:

And this:

Through scenery like this:

Bring your climbing legs; the hills are long and tough.

Don’t dismay though, you will get more then enough encouragement from the “Saybaidees”, thumbs up and high fives from the smiling faces on the side of the road. Don’t be surprised when the little ones try to run alongside you for awhile.

Pass through hundreds of villages and witness a Laos far away from the tourist buses and backpacker hangouts (particularly on highway 3). Watch people going about their day; doing laundry, cooking, weaving, talking, sitting and playing together…always, always together.

Watch these beautiful children play and marvel at how much fun a bucket or on old tire can be. Remember what it was like to have an unbound imagination.

If you are lucky you may even happen upon a Hmong Festival; music, dancing, games and traditional dress. Don’t hesitate when you’re invited to go watch or join in.

Sometimes the roads are good, sometimes they’re not.

Skip the falang food for awhile and enjoy big bowls of noodle soup or platefuls of laap. Don’t forget to throw in some chilies.

In need of some R&R? Consider a detour to the small riverside villages of Nong Khiaw or Muang Ngoi where you can spend a couple of days soaking up the atmosphere, swinging in a hammock and reading a book.

Lounge for a few days in beautiful Luang Prabang.

Meet other cyclists and share tales from the road.

Cycle Laos and feel like a most welcome guest in a beautiful land.