Monday, 11/4/2024
Woke up at 6:00am, dressed and packed up stuff. Then walked over to the other building for breakfast.
Once done eating, went back to the room in the rain. It is predicted to rain most of the day.
Sat in the room for a bit to relax until it was time to take the bag down to the truck. I then sat in the lobby area till we got close to leaving as it was raining, so did not want to just sit on the bike in the rain.
We had discussed amongst the group during breakfast about taking the highway down and around to our next destination instead of the mountain roads of the Ho Chi Minh Trail as planned.
This would save distance and time spent in the rain as well as pose less challenges and risk.
But as we were about to leave, several had changed their minds and it was voted to take the mountain trail as originally planned.
This will mean it will take longer, but should have far less traffic which could actually make it less risky as long as we keep the speed down in the hills and curves due to the wet roads.
The route is not used by anyone other than locals and tourists, and with the rain, I do not expect there to be many other tourists out today.
We left town by a back road and went up into the mountains. The fog was drifting among the peaks and valleys, limiting visibility at times, and a light rain was falling.
We reached the junction with the Ho Chi Minh Trail and started along it. There was virtually zero traffic on this road, it was very hilly and curvy, and the rain kept up and even fell really hard for a while.
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| Rain made the steep, curvy road a more interesting ride! |
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| Views were amazing along the route though. |
As we went up in elevation, the fog increased, but was manageable and actually created some amazing views among the steep jungle mountain sides.
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| Pit stop in the rain. |
We eventually all stopped at a bridge over the river valley to wait as both Tan and Jerry has fallen behind for some reason, not seen them for quite some time and at the last stop, Long had gone back to find them.
This bridge was also a fork in the road, so was not exactly sure which way we would be going, though we suspected, but still better to wait.
They all showed up a few minutes later and we continued on our route, which we had guessed correctly.
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| View of the bridge as I came down the hill. |
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| View from the middle of bridge looking back the way I came. |
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| Waiting on the bridge. (Photo by Joe) |
We eventually reached a small village and stopped for our morning coffee/drink break.
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| Clouds really made the hills look cool. |
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| Just outside the village where we stopped. (Photo by Tammy?) |
At this point we were all wet and my right boot was soaked inside for some reason. Either the rain pants are letting water through, or the boot has sprung a leak suddenly. I had walked in deep water several times with these boots on the trip with zero leakage.
My lower shirt was also soaked as was the riding jacket, and because they were in the inner pocket of the jacket, my wallet and passport were wet.
So, the rain jacket is letting rain get in under the bottom side. So far not too happy with this gear.
I have a pair of larger snowmobile gloves that fit over my regular riding gloves to keep my hands dry. But they were getting impossible to put on as the inner liner was now getting all twisted up after I take them off and put them back on when a bit of water gets on the regular gloves. They are not working very well either.
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| Stopping for the break and taking off wet gear. |
I ate a few snacks, drank some water and even tried a coffee to warm up, but it was way too strong and tasted horrible.
While here we also fueled up the bikes using a funnel and pitcher to dispense gas from a larger can. No actual fuel stations along this route.
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| Fueling the bikes. (Left my helmet camera running during the break) |
The time came to get back on the road.
I zipped up the riding jacket, but forgot to zip up the rain jacket as I was doing something on my phone and got rushed to get going. I forced on the gloves, and checked that my tank bag was secure as they removed it to put in the fuel in the bike.
We got going and soon were moving at a good pace through this area and enjoying the ride on some really good surfaces, even with the water.
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| Moving along at a brisk pace in the rain, sounds like fun! |
We reached a nice viewpoint over the valley and all stopped to take photos. I opened my tank bag to get my phone and it was not there!!!
I checked my jacket and pant pockets as I do sometimes put it in there while walking around, also not there!!!
Panic is now setting in. I tried to recall if I had laid it down, but did not recall ever doing that, but only thing I could think of, or had I laid it on the bike while zipping the jacket and rode off without putting it in bag?
I started to freak out now. The shop was probably 15 minutes back the way we had come, so was getting ready to ride back there to see if it was still there.
At this time Tammy came walking over and had my phone. She said they saw it drop off the bike a few miles after we left the café and it bounced over to the side of the road where they stopped and retrieved it.
At first, I thought I had left it on the seat, but she said that we were way down the road when it happened, so no way it could have stayed on the bike that long the way I was cornering.
Checking my jackets, I noticed that the pocket of the rain jacket was a bit open and pulled up. I think in my rush to get on the bike I had put it in my pocket, not thinking it was the rain jacket instead of the riding jacket.
These pockets are very shallow and the flaps do not secure at the top. With the jacket not zipped, it was likely flapping the the wind enough to force the phone up and out, especially with the added movements I was making on the corners.
The phone case had several abrasions on it, but nothing too bad, and the phone itself seemed unmarked, thank you Quad Lock for making a rigid case.
Quickly took a few photos with it, then put the phone into the tank bag where I usually carry it, which was nearly overflowing because I had also had to stuff the Go Pro, wallet, passport and my microfiber towel in there due to the rain. Could barely zip it closed.
We all got back on the bikes and headed onward. The rain had started to let up some, though still some sprinkles now and then, and the fog was still heavy in many spots.
We later pulled into a wider shoulder along a straight section of road going up the side of a mountain with amazing views over the valley below. This was where we would be having our picnic sandwich lunch as soon as the truck got there. It was usually a few minutes behind the last bike.
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| Lunch Stop |
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| Views during lunch. |
We ate, talked and took photos of the waterfall across the valley and several smaller ones we could see, that were probably there due to the rain.
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| Zoomed in on the waterfall across the valley. |
Long oiled all the chains and even adjusted the chain on Jerry’s bike as it was loose.
We took off and I started hearing a clunking sound on the bike. I slowed, sped up, stopped and tried to get an idea what it was and finally fell to the back of the group.
I could not pinpoint where the sound was coming from as it was inconsistent and I could not easily see anything as it is hard to watch the back wheel while riding.
The truck slowed down behind me, as I was starting off again after looking the bike over on the side of the road. The sound was still there, so stopped again. The truck stopped behind me and soon Long came up on his bike and stopped.
I explained what I was hearing, he said it was the chain and proceeded to adjust mine as he had on Jerry’s bike.
I took off and after about a minute the sound went away and bike rode fine after that.
We rode rest of the afternoon, sometimes in the rain, sometimes in the dry, with a few pit stops now and then to take photos or a restroom break.
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| Pit stop along the road. |
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| Riding in the rain. |
The road was starting to dry off now as the rain had stayed very light or stopped, so we were able to make a bit better time and have a bit more fun on the curves.
We soon arrived on the edge of Khe Sanh, our destination for the day. We turned off onto some small side roads and drove past some small coffee fields and stopped at a coffee plantation office. This was also the site of a Vietnam War Memorial.
This place had been built on the same location as the former Ta Con marine airfield just outside Khe Sanh.
We met with a local guide who talked about the history of the place and then took us to the small museum. Using a giant wall map, he explained a bit more about the area and how it was used and fought over during the conflict.
We then went through the museum and read many of the signs and viewed the artifacts, all of it from the Vietnamese military. This museum chronicled the war from their viewpoint.
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| Some of the items in the museum. |
We then went outside and viewed the 2 helicopters on the site (A Huey and CH-47 Chinook).
There was also a small field with a few tanks parked up along the fence, and in the distance was a C130 plane.
There were also a few reconstructed bunkers and buildings, a huge number of restored bomb casings, and a monument to those who lost lives in the conflict.
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| Recreated buildings like those that would have existed when base was originally built. |
The C130 was parked up on some metal runway plates along the edge of what would have been the original runway for the airfield. It was nearly gone now and overgrown, but you can still tell it was there.
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| Plane was given to S. Vietnam when U.S. left, later used by the new government before coming to this museum in the mid 1980s. |
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| From aerial photos, think this might be part of original airstrip or a taxiway. |
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| Getting ready to leave and head to the hotel. |
We then got back on the roads and went across town to reach our hotel for the night.
We parked in the garage under the hotel and went up to get our keys and went to our rooms. The room was small, but actually quite nice.
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| Khánh Phương Hotel - Khe Sanh |
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| Room for tonight. (Taken near end of the night after putting stuff out to dry). |
I got my bag so I could change clothes, and then laid out the wet gear around the room. I put the batteries on the chargers.
I took a shower to warm up, let myself dry a bit in the AC since the humidity was still very high, then got dressed for the evening.
I then used the hair dryer in the room to try drying the inside of my boots and riding gear. I also used it on the still damp socks I had packed up that morning, and other things that had got wet today.
I laid out all my money, the passport, and other documents on the bed to let them dry. Thankfully the passport cover I used protected the passport well, so it was only lightly damp.
I used the hair dryer on the wallet and some of the wetter US and Laos bills that are still made of paper versus the Vietnam bills that are made of plastic.
The tried the gloves and helmet as well.
Many of the items are still damp, but should finish drying overnight with the AC on.
When done, I went down into the lobby to meet the rest for dinner. we walked over a few buildings to a restaurant owned by the hotel and had the same foods as all other nights.
Mark also paid me back the 100,000 Dong he had borrowed that morning to pay his laundry bill at the hotel. I did not know about the laundry service, so did not use it, but wish I had known.
Mark and I then walked up the street to find a shop to get some drinks and snacks. We made two stops at places that did not sell what we needed before reaching a store about 1 km (2/3 mile) away back on the main highway.
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| Street view. Many towns have these arches that are lit up at night. |
After walking back to the hotel, I sorted the bag, moved some of the wet stuff around, and put away stuff that was now dry. I moved stuff off the bed to continue drying if need and then wrote the day’s events in the journal.
Another long day of riding tomorrow as we move over to the coast and eventually reach Hue, but will make several other war related stops on the way.
It looks like we will get a good amount of rain again tomorrow, maybe even worse as we get close to the coast.
See how it goes, I guess.
Goodnight!
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