The Motorcycle Diary I

Well, I guess number II, if you count the vote. The vote which at the moment is dead even, not counting one write-in vote for a bicycle and one intrepid voter who decided to flood the ballot. Both of those over-ruled by the election commission... Anyway, I decided to rent a motorbike last weekend, to get a taste before actually buying anything. Saturday I went to Tam Dao hill station. About 80 km outside of Hanoi, it was rather a long ride for initiation day, but it all worked. A few bumpy muddy spots, and a few large trucks with over-zealous egos, a few roadside coconut milk stands, a lot of kids staring at the nguoi nuoc ngoai on a motorbike, a lot of noise coming from the chain which was about to fall apart, a large hill (thus the 'hill station' idea I suppose). A large hill which was a bit much for a 100 cc bike with two people on, one of whom is roughly equivalent to two Vietnamese people in tonnage terms... Anyway, Tam Dao is a sort of northern futile attempt at copying DaLat, for anybody who has been there. It's on a mountain, the weather IS cooler, there are jungles and waterfalls and endless bamboo dragonflies for sale... Now that I think about it, this is the first time that I have been out to the countryside since I got here to Hanoi. Nice. Mostly a flat ride, through, well, rice paddies of course, also a lot of flower fields - roses etc. And a few field/paddies with lotus plants. Dog restaurants and bia hois. Lots of people who generally gave good directions. A couple herds of water buffalos. The friendly kind. A lot of dust. It didn't rain though, that was good. I rented, of course, a Honda not a Minsk. That's my current inclination. And next are a bunch of photos from Tam Dao, and other countryside shots. Although I saw a lot more that would have made nice pictures - driving a motorbike and taking pictures don't really mix, do they?