Welcome to Son La...

Hey everyone--I am sitting in a small internet cafe in Son La, one of Vietnam's most North-Western cities, surrounded by young Vietnamese playing computer games. Ah, cultural similarities....;) Frustratingly, I can't access tons of normal content, like my ualberta email, or CBC, or even google.ca...so bizzare, cause I could get all of it in Hanoi...is there some strange information restriction that only applies to Son La? Whatever, I was surprised enough to find an internet cafe up in the middle of nowhere. I have completed day 2 of my mountain ride...what an incredible couple of days it has been. I'll give you a brief synopsis...

Day 1: I woke up at 830, determined to make an early start on the journey to Mai Chau, which lays about 150 kms west and slightly south of Hanoi. In spite of the seeming short distance, remember that I was riding a Minsk 125, and so could expect to average at best 40 or 50 km/h through the winding mountain roads. Also, I first had to escape from Hanoi itself, a city whose traffic makes Bangkok's rush hour look like a leisurely sunday drive through the country. After grabbing some supplies, I walked over to the bike rental shop. I was outfitted with my bike, a battered red Minsk, ran over the basic maintenance and refuelling routine with the guy from the shop, and then strapped my pack to the back. The guy from the shop had agreed to lead me to the outskirts of Hanoi and point me in the right direction for Mai Chau (very thoughtful) so I wove through the thousands of scooters that speed through Hanoi like schools of fish, tailing my guide as best I could. By some miracle, we reached highway 6 unscathed, where my guide gave me a wave, a thumbs-up, and took off.

The ride itself to Mai Chau was stunning--it began through townships that exist outside Hanoi, moving into more and more remote territory, until by mid afternoon I was climbing up into my first mountains. At a particularily beautiful lookout point, I stopped for some pics, and was joined by two other Canadians from montreal, who were doing the loop with a guide. At their guide's reccomendation, I followed them to a village near Mai Chau, which was only another 45 minutes away, and secured myself a place to sleep with one of the local families that opens up there house to travellers. Their place was a traditional Vietnamese stilt house, pretty much one big room with bamboo slats on the floor. I enjoyed an incredible meal with my hosts, Ling and Te, and met their two sons--then I spent the night walking around the village, doing a quick ride around the county with the Canadians I met, and reading my book in the stilt house. It all felt very authentic, and I was glad to have been their guest.

This morning I left at about 730 for Son La, some 200 kms away from Mai Chau to the North West. I made really good time, and despite a couple of stops for food, rolled into town at about 1PM. The ride was incredible again--much higher, and a little cooler. Not many others on the rode, leaving me to fly along while listening to some tunes on the old Ipod...a highlight of which was cresting a particularily spectacular pass and having the Beatle's "I've got a feeling" as covered by Beck come on...dave, les, if you read this, you'll know what I mean.

Anyways, i've found myself a place to sleep at at quasi-hotel/guesthouse, and am now exploring the town. I'm not sure if there will be more internet as i continue north, but if so I will send another update. I wish I could check my email, cause I'm sure it's brimming with mail from my friends and family. Am i right? Eh? Am I? Hahaha, love as usual to all.