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Ride 3: 70.3 km and 1158 m ascent

Today we start our journey toward Luang Prabang in earnest, leaving Sapa and riding to Lai Chau. Thao decided to change the route so that we would have more time to deviate into the Hmong villages along the way. This meant that we cut out the 400 m climb up to the high point of the tour. I was a bit bummed, but it still was a big day of riding and I was definitely more interested in riding through the villages some more.

It was foggy in Sapa when we piled into the van, but as we started to climb up toward the pass it cleared out and we got the first real view of the rugged mountains that surround the area. It was stunning. We stopped at one point and took some pictures of some workers in the tea fields framed by clouds and mountains. I had to climb out over a big mud field to get a better shot, but I think it was worth it.

We got to the top of the pass where there was a big parking lot and a lot of various tourist attractions including a gigantic hand of Buddha. It was the highest point of the trip at 2000 meters. The big mountain nearby is over 3000 meters, so these mountains are no joke. The view was stunning with the mountains and a layer of clouds down in the valley (cover photo).

We got on the bikes and got ready for the long descent down into the valley. The traffic wasn’t too bad, but you had to proceed with caution as the road was a bit tricky in places and slow moving trucks on the other side created a line of impatient drivers.

Just then a woman on a scooter showed up dressed in traditional garb and with black stained teeth. There is a complex history around black stained teeth.

“The history of black teeth in Vietnam dates back to at least 400 BCE, when it was a significant cultural practice believed to signify beauty, maturity, and protection from evil spirits. It was a respected marker of civilization, as white teeth were associated with animals and ghouls. The tradition, known as răng nhuộm đen, was widely practiced by both men and women for centuries but declined with the influence of Western ideas and was largely discouraged by the 1920s although it is still practiced by ethnic tribes in Northern Vietnam”

Again Thao shouted “get her picture!” So I did. She was great and very happy to get her picture taken. She wanted us to join her as well. A bunch of crazy foreigners in bike kits.

I was so grateful to have Thao with us . He really wanted to help me capture some images of the local people. I don’t know exactly what he would say to them, but he was the master of getting them to laugh. I get the sense he was quite the jokester and I say this because he had a great wit in English which I think really reflected his personality. He made us laugh all the time in a language that he was not fluent in, so I can only imagine how funny he was in his native tongue.

We turned onto a small road that wound its way through some villages and tea plantations. It was bit hard at times, as it was under construction, but it was a worthy detour off the normal route.

The nice thing about this day is that we were now into full support mode. We had a sag wagon that had snacks and water, and a truck that carried the bikes. They would follow along pretty close by, so it was good knowing that if anything happened support was just a few minutes away.

After our detour, we intersected the main road again and Thao pulled us into a restaurant. There was a young kid there eating a watermelon. He was beyond cute and I had to get a picture. I pulled my camera out and the kid just lit up. He was a total ham and loved the attention. During lunch, he proceeded to show us every toy he owned, which was a lot. I do not think this young boy will have trouble making friends in the future.

The food at the restaurant was some of the best we have had on the trip so far. Way better than the restaurants that were gearing themselves for Westerners. Our truck driver evidently knew about this place and had told Thao about it. Beyond the seriously cute kid, it was an awesome lunch!

After lunch, Thao wanted to take us over to a place where they made Mién dong (glass noodles). We walked over and there were a number of small facilities making the noodles. It comes from the starch of the Canna plant. The process involves grinding the plant into a flour, creating a paste with water, and then drying and cutting it into thin noodles.

It was pretty cool to see and like so many things here it was very labor-intensive. The only real production machine was the one used for putting the slurry on the drying racks.

After lunch we headed up the big climb of the day. It didn’t look that bad on paper but the weather had gotten pretty hot. I took off ahead as I felt like riding on my own for a while. The road was pretty boring; it just slowly ground its way up in a straight line. At first the grade was pretty easy, but it kept increasing until it was a pretty consistent 7%. I could feel I was starting to overheat, so I backed off the pace a bit.

I was starting to fade from the heat and I cut the pace back again. It was one of those climbs that just seems to keep going and going and going and going. I finally reached the summit, got some water, and headed to the shade. I had not expected the climb to be that hard, but it was, and both Roland and Anne agreed. Gerard and Thao showed up a few minutes behind. The good news was now it was mostly downhill to Lai Chau.

The rest of the ride was pretty easy and we were all happy to get to the hotel. We were also happy that we didn’t do the 400 meter climb at the start, as it ended up being a big day anyway. Lai Chau is a provincial capital and there were a ton of government buildings, the streets were huge and well paved; there was definitely some economic might in the town.

The hotel was quite nice but it was a bit odd. It was quite big, but it did not seem like there were more than a few of us staying there. It reminded me of some hotels that I have stayed at in Russia. Huge places with 2 people in them and a bit of a creepy feel. This one wasn’t overly creepy, it was pretty nice, but it was just odd.

Another oddity was that it had a sign for a spa and massage place, plus karaoke. Now maybe it’s just me, but when I think about getting a massage, the last thing in the world that I would want to tack on to that is a karaoke session. Well, I can’t really imagine anything where I would want to tack on karaoke.

It had a beautiful pool that was shaped like a heart and was almost 30 m long so I went and took a dip. There was nothing around the pool. No chairs. No tables. No nothing. Actually, I lie. There was one table and 4 chairs over by the spa/massage/karaoke place with what appeared to be the staff sitting in them. I guess there wasn’t a huge rush on massages or karaoke at the moment.

It felt good to cool off in the pool and I stood there drying off (no towels) for a while taking it in and thinking about how lucky I was to be able to do a trip like this. We met at the bar and had a couple of beers. There was a bottle of wine in the back of the bar and we speculated how long it had been there. I certainly had no desire to try it.

We had dinner in the gigantic restaurant … only 4 of us. The food was ok, but not great. I headed to bed and was happy that we had the first big day in the books. We were truly in remote Vietnam now.