I have to confess, as the riding has gotten harder, and the weather has gotten hotter, the photography has taken a serious back seat in priority. I have been reduced to mostly iPhone shots and the occasional OM5 shot. The quality of the framing and thought process has also diminished significantly. There you have it.
RIDE 4: 106.5 KM AND 1456 M ASCENT
Today we are riding from Lai Chau to Muong Lay. This is truly remote Vietnam now. Very few tourist venture this way, which was really what I was hoping to experience. On paper, this kind of looks like a flattish stage. Think again. It involves a lot, and I mean a lot, of small sharp climbs over 106 km that add up to a big day of climbing.
The day started with a climb up out of Lai Chau. It was a pretty easy climb of only about 270 meters. Near the top, we stopped for some pictures. There was a woman selling taro there, so I walked over and asked if I could take her picture. She adamantly said no, so I thanked her and started to walk away. She then pointed at her teeth, of which there were only 3 left, and started talking to me in Vietnamese. It was clear she didn’t like the way her mouth looked. Totally get it.
We got to the top and Roland led the way down. He is a great descender and it was fun to follow his line. I was completely prepared for absolutely hideous road conditions on this trip, but this road was nicely paved and well-engineered. The camber on the corners was perfect for descending. Even though the road was in great condition, you still had to be very much on the lookout for the usual hazards: chickens, dogs, people walking on the road, scooters randomly pulling out, and a few big trucks. But mostly it was 900 meters of fast, steep, and technical big fun descending.
At this point we started riding along the Nam Na River (Black River). It gets its name from the very dark black slate that makes up the mountains around it. I guess it is used to make floor and bathroom tiles.
The road was nice, with very little traffic. We moved at a pretty decent pace along the river. It was starting to get really hot … and humid.
I was really starting to suffer in the heat. The coolness of Sapa was now long behind us. I could not imagine what it must be like in the summer. The road was beautiful, but the canyon got narrower, causing it to become even hotter.
All along the road people were working in the hills harvesting bananas, and cutting wood and taro. The slopes were crazy steep and I saw one woman with a backpack full of wood heading up it as if it were flat (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but it was impressive). Thao stopped at a small house were a man and woman had a huge load of bananas on a scooter. Thao chatted with them and they let me take their pictures. I showed her the image and she asked Thao if he would mail her a copy. He said he would; that was nice.
We were at the 62 km mark and still had not stopped for lunch. Thao said we would stop in 10 km. I was really getting tired of being in the heat and wanted a chance to sit and cool off as soon as possible, so I decided to just take off as fast as I could, in time trial mode. I figured I could bang out the 10 km quickly and then get a cool drink. The support cars finally passed me after about 5 km and then I saw them at about 8 km. I thought I was there, but they waved and told me to keep going. I got to the 10 km point and decided to stop in the shade since I had no idea where we were going and the support cars were now behind me. The last thing I wanted was to blow past the restaurant. I had totally hammered the 10km at the end of which there was nothing. A time trial to nowhere.
Anne showed up and we chatted about what was happening—neither of us knew. Finally, one of the support vans went by and waved for us to continue on. So we did. I picked up the pace again and tried to stay somewhat cool by pouring water on my head. 11 km, 12 km, 13 km, 14 km, 15 km, 16 km, 17 km. This was a much longer time trial than I had wanted. To add insult to injury, there was a big climb right at 17 km. Ugh. I was hot, tired, and getting crabby. I got to the top of the climb and there was a fork in the road and no sign of the support vehicle. I had no idea which way to go. I sat on a post in the shade by the side of the road and waited. Anne showed up. We groused about it. Finally the support van went by and waved down the correct way. Just up the road was the restaurant we were having lunch at. We were at 82 km for the day.
I complained to Thao that “that was the longest 10 km I have ever done; it was 18km!” Thao had jumped in the van at some point. The party line was that the original restaurant at 10 km had been closed (probably true) and he got in to find us a new one (probably partially true).
Anyway, we made it, got some cold drinks and just sat there trying to cool down. The food came and we all half-heartedly picked at it. Eventually, we all started to perk back up and could see the bright side was that we only had 20km left on the day.
At one point, the lady from the restaurant and our truck driver were chatting and looking at the my bike. She was amazed at how light it was. Then they picked up Gerald’s and grimaced.
Thao told us that she thought we were nuts for paying all this money to ride a bike around. Why, if we were on vacation, wouldn’t we hire a car or a motor bike? Way faster. At that moment while sitting there recovering from near heat stroke, I was having a tough time finding a flaw in her logic.
Somewhat refreshed, we headed out for the final 20 km. I just took it easy and mostly rode in the back. It was super hot and I was already dreaming of the pool at the hotel.
The scenery was lovely with big mountains surrounding the lake.
We got to a bridge that took us across the lake and to the hotel. Below it there was a big slate tile making operation going on and of course, water buffalo, which made Anne very happy.
We got to the hotel and I quickly rode over to where the pool was. The water level was down about a meter and it did not look particularly healthy to swim in. Ack. I really wanted a swim. I had Roland look and he confirmed “negatory—no swimming.” Bummer.
We were staying in the middle of nowhere. Usually the guide and driver stay elsewhere, but tonight they stayed with us. As odd as the hotel in Lai Chau was, this one was even odder. It was pretty run down and we were definitely the only people staying in it.
We had some drinks and then dinner. The food was actually better than in Lai Chau, but it still felt totally creepy being in this huge, run-down hotel by ourselves. The one big plus was that they only had a thin blanket on the bed, which for most, might seem a negative. However, when I used to travel to Europe all the time, I always carried a sheet with me. The Euro style is a bottom sheet and a thick comforter. Even in Norway this was way too hot for me. Unfortunately in Asia, they have adopted this standard. So it might be a billion degrees and 100% humidity outside, but you still get a thick comforter and no sheet. I think it was my best night’s sleep in a while.
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