Leaving Hanoi in a Baptism by Fire

Day 1: Hanoi - Pù Luông (180 km)

We left our hotel in Hanoi 30 minutes later than we intended. At 6:45 AM, I didn’t think that calling Sara in the morning would impact the first day of our motorcycle trip too much, but it turns out I was wrong.

After getting our second rabies shot, we grabbed our bags and made the sweaty 12-minute walk to Style Motorbikes to get outfitted with our semi-automatic motorcycles, itching already to leave this overbearing city. We opted for full face helmets, and total-limb protection: elbow pads, knee and shin pads, and riding gloves. Trying on Jonny’s library of helmets was like sampling head cheese - and not the good kind. I managed to find a helmet that was my size and didn’t smell like total ass, though it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Two and a half hours later, waivers signed, test drives complete, bags bungee corded to our seats, and sweating through our sun shirts, we were ready to hit the road.

Just one week into our trip, my first time riding a semi-automatic motorbike, no experience driving Vietnam’s roadways… what could go wrong? So begins the start of our two week bike trip through Northern Vietnam.

11:45 AM | 5 hours to go: We leave Hanoi. Changing gears was easy enough to get the hang of, as was getting out of the city.

3:00 PM | 2 hours to go: We managed to get to Hoa Binh with relative confidence and high spirits, stopping in at a cafe that looked like it was set up specifically for patrons to take photos in. And indeed the only people already in the cafe spent the duration of their time there taking photos of themselves and each other. I will say that the Hibiscus Peach tea I got there was 10/10.

4:00 PM | 1 hour to go: Stopping in at our selected place for dinner, we check the time and notice that we still have two hours left to go according to Google Maps. It’s taking much longer, and we’re travelling much slower than we anticipated. We decide to forgo dinner to make up for lost time.

5:00 PM | +2 hours to go: The dusty and unremarkable motorways leaving Hanoi finally give way to smaller district roads and farmland as the sun starts setting. We stop for a brief moment to take in our first countryside tableau: a woman farming in the quintessential Vietnamese cone hat; her water buffalo splashing in a small muddy pond, set against a low mountain vista. Small fires burn all around us, creating a warm pink haze. However, we’re nowhere near where we should be on this route, and the first spark of anxiety lights in my chest, knowing how fast it gets dark after sunset here. We press on, urging our scooters just a little faster even though the roads have become decidedly worse.

5:30 PM | +1:30 hours to go: We can hardly believe our eyes as we pass through this small farm town. Set against dramatic sheer mountains, the town and the rock faces are set alight by the final rays of sun, all ablaze in oranges and pink. As much as we want to stop to appreciate this scene, we continue on, well aware of how much longer we have.

6:15 PM | +45 minutes to go: Dusk is approaching twilight, and we’ve been climbing this mountain for the past 20 minutes. Around hair-bending switchbacks and a path that manages to degrade further every 50 meters until it’s just a suggestion of a road, up and up we go. I manage to keep my anxiety at bay by congratulating myself on how well I’ve managed so far, and convincing myself that we’re almost there. Our home stay is only five minutes away. Finally we reach the peak of this path, and I can just barely make out the valley spread before us. It’s a striking site to behold: a rim of indigo mountains just barely visible against a dusty blue sky, the shimmering lights of households dotted throughout the basin, and a sliver of moon to the north. My awe is tempered by the realization that we now have to make it down the other side of this mountain, and the poor road conditions haven’t changed.

Bike set in first gear, foot hovered on the brake, and eyes fixed on Jared’s light bobbing downhill, I tell myself: the only person who can get you through this is you. And at this moment, I feel incredibly grateful for my experience with mountain biking. We head down, but to my dismay, the road manages to get even worse. With construction obliterating what was left of large segments of the road, my greatest fear happens: I lose speed on a steep section that's' just red dust and come to an awkward halt. Without momentum keeping the bike upright and unused to the weight of the motorcycle, I lose balance and fall over, becoming pinned under the bike and spilling gasoline all over myself and the motorcycle. Fortunately a passing local helps me right scooter and set it to the side while Jared backtracks. But it’s too late, I have a mini-meltdown. It’s now completely dark and I’m terrified of how much longer we’ll have to continue on this shitty mountain road. Jared manages to calm me down, informing me that no, the gasoline that was spilled on the bike and my clothes will not explode if I turn on the ignition, and with no other choice, we continue on.

To my relief and slight annoyance, the road got better just twenty meters on– go figure. With the mountain pass behind us, deeper into the countryside we went, down narrower and narrower paths, crossing bamboo bridges set over river rapids, and past bungalows set on stilts. At this point I wasn’t sure if this ride was ever going to end. Having spilled the remaining gas on myself, I was also watching as my gas meter inched towards ‘empty’.

7:00 PM | arrival: Sore and exhausted from seven hours of riding and burnt out from the mountain incident, I almost cried as I entered our hut for the night. Everything that had been drenched in gasoline was lain outside. After a much needed shower, we feasted on cashews and dried mangoes, the adrenaline finally wearing off, and looked at reviews of the mountain pass we just rode - which all named just how challenging that particular road is. Apparently there's a stunning viewpoint at the top overlooking the basin, which we ironically weren't able to see. Although it was only 8pm, we tucked ourselves under the mosquito net and let sleep take us.