12 Months of planning and the moment has arrived, I'm about to ride the Ho Chi Minh. There is so much History woven into it's 6000Km's plus of trails. It was under construction long before the Vietnam war and would grow much bigger as the war went on, whilst this was going on there was a secret war going on in Laos. The trails where vital to the war in the South and where bombed beyond belief, and now I get to go ride some of it.
How hard can it be? what did the wife say?
Afternoon Trail
I really had no idea what I was letting myself in for....
One last look behind and where off
This is great..
Taking my time, taking it in..
And then the bike starts to slow down.....:confused1:
Easy fix and lesson no 1 learnt
Back on the road...
Nice Bridge..
It was good day and i was just about to do my first ever water crossing..:clap:
Here she is..
That was a big moment and I had come through it well, it may well of only been a puddle but it was a great warm up for what was to come. There were a few special places along the route, choke points, craters and some weird landscape. With all this fun It had taken me a long time to get to the road leading up to the Mi Gua pass, the wind had really started howling and after 1 gust nearly blew me of the road, I decided to make a break for the nearest Hotel, it had been a good day and I didn't want to spoil it with any heroism.
I had to double back on myself last night to find a place to stay, about 50k's, so I was up early and would give the Mi Gua pass another crack..
A nice looking morning..and the fast route back to MG Pass
Chatting up the Girls...
A great way to start the day..
As I got close the wind started to pick up again and the weather started to change..
As I hit the bottom of the climb up it was blowing a Gail, raining hard and bloody cold...the wind is blowing me every where, I would not make it to the top and felt lucky to get to the bottom safe, so I head back to the trail and start my quest for Ban Laboy ford.
It was about 10.30 and just over 100k's, no problem..
Here's a close up of the first section..
Looks like a lot of water, this would be no easy day
Ban Laboy ford is supposed to be the most bombed bit of Land in the world, it was a Major crossing for the Vietnamese, there are some photos on the net that show just how much it was Bombed, when bombing over Hanoi was suspended the Bombs where diverted into Laos, long before the B52’s started pounding the place.
The sky was getting angry time to get going.
More angry
If one of the reasons you do this sort of thing is to find the limit...I can tick that box!!
I noticed many cave entrances along the trails through the Mountains but thought it unwise to start poking around in the bushes.
The road conditions change all the time, deep ruts,sand,mud,loose gravel and water crossings, I would stop counting them...
And then I fell off :bash
First thing was to stop the bike as it was revving it’s nuts off, got it back up and looked it over, it was Ok just a broken bark buster, the GPS had come off and the battery cover clip had broken off, I tried it in it’s mount and it’s clipped back in closing the cover tight, this was a very important piece of equipment, it could tell me where I am and could find anything from ATM’s to fuel drums in tiny villages, my friend indeed.
My left thumb was not so good; I left the glove on and got some painkillers from my medicine cabinet Prayed it wasn’t as bad as it felt, all alone in the jungle soon sprung to mind. Best be on your way, time is getting on and I still have a long way to go, the trails snaked up and down and into the Jungle and my thumb hurt like hell, holding on was a problem, using the clutch lever was to painful.
The trails got harder and then the water started, this gave me a bit of a shock when I came up to it..
I sat and watched the locals for a bit then walked it..
This was the shallow end..
It had been graded to a degree but there was some big holes and rocks that had to be avoided, here we go..
No problem, with a sense of relief I pressed on, this would be next...
I would need to use the boat..
This was a little scary as the boat rocked from one side to the other..:helpsmilie:
Off the other side and back into the Jungle
Bomb Craters everywhere..
I met this guy coming out of the bush, scrap metal hunter..
Brave chap to go poking around in there..
We didn't understand each other but a few smiles is enough, the trails didn't let up and more water, I stopped counting them buy now..
walk it first, I'm soaked..
Another crossing and my confidence is growing..then another..
Walk it first..
Time was not on my side it was taking ages, the trails was just relentless, then I hit this little bit of mud and the front wheel just dug in and I'm off again..
This time I'm stuck, the handle bar has sunk right into the mud and the bike stuck, switch the fuel off and collect my thought, my thumb is screaming at me now, I physically cannot move the bike..
Two locals turn up and I'm rescued...
They got stuck and it was my turn to help them..they had pigs in the sacks on the bike, thanks fellas..
The bikes ok..
I'm not going to make Ban Laboy tonight so set a route for the nearest guest house.
The trail was still hard..the kids where hiding from me..
Soon it was all over and the guest house had rooms
Thank god for that. It had been an epic day..my feet where like prunes..
I had made it.
It was great to clean up and get a chance to check my thumb out, I was getting worried that I might have to rest up until it got better but nothing was broken so the trip must go on, I had plenty of painkillers.
I looked at my GPS and found a place that said best food in town, walked up there and got stuck into some food washed down with a couple of beer Laos. I talked to a young lady who worked in the Goldmine up the road, my motto is Talk to anybody that will listen, you never now who your going to meet, made some great friends over the years doing this, it would turn out that I would soon make some more.
Before I went to bed I checked all the kit and made ready for a late start back up to Ban Laboy, I had lost my water filter, must have came off when I crashed, bugger. I planned to stay here 2 nights and do short Journeys for a couple of days, go see some war stuff.
I was up at 10 am and headed back up the road to get some breakfast, I saw 4 Farangs in a Bike shop and we said hello, they where having bike problems, they had a lot of them. They where doing the HM trails and had been up at the MG pass the morning I didn’t make it up, they had travelled to the same place as me but buy a different route. I told them that I was going back to BL and they where up for it, lets go fellas
With all the messing around that occurs when you are in a group we didn’t set of until just after 1, I was already getting worried about the time. These guys apart from 1 had lots of experience; they had ridden in Laos, Cambodia and rode dirt back in Australia.
Meet the Thunder from Down under.
The Sarge (Doug)
He was the group leader and had planned the routes, itinerary. Even for me….
Harold steptoe (Graham)
Good rider, quiet bloke that also loves the war stuff. Great riding with you.
Buddha Craig (Craig)
The calm man, we laughed man…even though you picked on me…
Uncle Sam. (Sam)
The wisdom you bought to the Table was inspiring, a great man indeed.
With kind permission from the above, these are some of the photos they had taken on route.
Glad I didn’t go that way.
Locals waiting for it to go wrong....
Jeez man
it went wrong
fantastic stuff....They thought they had a hard day!!!
Today's ride would see that change
We set of for BL I’m leading the group, promotion already hey, this was one hard trail. It would take us 2hrs to go 30k’s I had done it the day before, and was loving it second time round I knew what to expect, I even new where the big rocks where in the river crossing. I’m having a ball.
We arrived at this village; I had passed through yesterday but not seen all the old bomb casings lying around. These trails didn’t leave much time for sight seeing; it was 100% concentration all the time, time to stop and have a look around. We where amazed to find all this just laying around, the scrap value must be good, I’m told that 3-4 years ago we would have seen much more, every now and again a big 6 wheel drive truck would come through the villages and buy it from them.
Buy this time we still had 15k’s to go, once again I would not make BL, it would be dark on the way back and the trails where to nasty to start taking risks, so we spent some money in the local store and decided to head back to the hotel, we managed this just before the sun went down.
A few last shots of the village..
Beautiful kids
We had some food and few beers and reflected on our day..
Doug had written about his trip, this is what he said about our trip to BL
"we met Chris, a Pom on the same mission, heading south on HCMTrail. Chris had a GPS(Gizmo), so after Sam’s bike was fixed, we decided on a short tour to a village, 20km out, that holds the title of the ‘Most Bombed Place’ on earth. 10km from town we turned into a goat track, for the next 20km(1.5hrs) it really was ‘Hell on Two Wheels’, deep ruts, mud, sand, deep rocky water crossings, and yep more offs, we still had to get back yet! We came across bombs, even used as gluts to stack timber on, of varying shapes and sizes scattered throughout a 4-5 hut village"
It was the hardest couple of days I had ever had on a bike, this was another planet. I was Exhausted, I struggled with the heat all the time I was drinking loads but it came out as quick as I put it in, I had gained a lot of respect for the trails there not to be taken lightly any thing could happen out here.
Survival gear was a must. I had bought with me.
Hammock
Spot messenger/Whistle/Compass/Mobile phone X2/GPS
Medical Kit/Hydration packs
Camel back/water filter/Food.
Fire lighting Equipment.
Rope saw/4 meter ratchet strap/Swiss army knife.
We where all worn out, but happy with what we had seen. The Villages are some thing else, no Electric it’s like going back in time, the rivers where used to bathe and catch food, life hasn’t really changed that much for them, they still have to put up with all the Legacies of the Secret War. Children run and hide from you as you come tearing round a bend on a big dirt bike dressed up like a storm troopers, they dart straight into the bushes where all the UXO are some are terrified of you others just stare, but It’s never long before there smiling.
Even the local bike wash..
Food as well
The day had left us all with a lot to think about.bier
Tomorrow would be a frustrating day for me, the great thing about travelling alone is you can do what you like when you like, my plans always change, half the time I'm lost and half the time I don't care. The good thing about travelling in a group is you have people to share the experiences with, and lots more photos
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