At the moment we are in Hue - central vietnam - johney (the bass player) has his birthday tomorrow and i think i will carve him some ice pants - he is very very bothered by the heat. I am bothered from the lack of sleep because johney wakes me up at 4am to cycle - he is right that it is too hot to cycle between 10 am and 4pm and the cycling so early in the day is very beautiful, the trouble is i drink too much DELICIOUS vietnamese coffee and am tense with imsomnia - i am seeing stuff and getting paranoid and act with exaggerated behaviour - reading Rigadoon by Celine may not be helping!! We did cycle at night before, but now we are on the main vietnamese 200 year old north south road and it is very scarey with the huge trucks zooming past with the loudest horns i have ever heard- even in the day time - at night it is almost suicidal!!
We crossed a big pass between Dannang and Hue - it was a tough climb through fantastic tropical vegetation with vistas of islands out to sea, golden beaches below, waterfalls and tiny sailing ships in the opal coloured water. It took us a long time and we hung out with some police/road guards??? (see photos left) for about 6 hours on the way up to pass the hottest part of the day - sleeping in their beds. They cooked rice and some water grass for us which was very very bitter - it was a very basic meal indeed but what they lacked in comfort they made up in good cheer and hospitality! They were so generous and kind! They tried to make us drink some spirits but not much luck - but they were delighted when i brought out my chinese chess set - they play it a lot here - but i think i was disappointingly easy to beat AND they seem to have different rules! Some dudes here in vietnam play chinese chess with all the pieces except the king mixed up and covered with bottle tops and after the first conventional move for whatever the piece in that position would be they take off the bottle tops and reveal the true piece and continue the game from there! WILD!!! (Below: View of the China sea on the pass of the clouds - Danang - Hue old road)
When we finally made it to the top of the hill we had no time to enjoy the view because we were set upon by the sunglass, water, coke, watch, postcard - you name something useless they sell it -vendors. It was like we were seeds thrown in a pen of hungry chickens - they were all over us - Johney flipped out and i had to scare them away with the old oily hand mad hairy troll tactic. It was really crazy! They were utterly relentless. Vietnam is really great and all in all i think I prefer it to the other south eastern asian countries i have seen for the cooking and people and countryside but they are for sure the most cheeky people i have ever met - you settle one price for a meal and then at the end they charge you way more - if you dont settle the cost of the food or drink before you buy it they will ask for double the right price and they rampage all over you to get you to use their services - one rickshaw asked us if we wanted a ride incessantly while we were cycling on our bikes - he was totally earnest and pestering. Very strange! I think i will be relieved when i leave in a week or and johney is really looking forward to going somewhere cooler.
Triin is as ever pretty cool - perhaps too nonchalent - a few times after we have eaten at a restaurant on the road she sets off back the way we came because she has lost her sense of direction since we paused in the restaurant just one hour before!!! But she is as ever constant and kind and pretty much always positive which is a very rare and GREAT quality!!!! I am very proud of her going over all these big hills!
We will hang out in Hue for a couple of days to get our visa extension then onto Hanoi - probably by train. for some more money earning there and concerts so we have some funds for china and the boat to Japan!!! Going to be an exciting and hopefully cooler summer than the spring in the tropics. The music is going well but no acts unfortunately! Coming, coming!!
We crossed a big pass between Dannang and Hue - it was a tough climb through fantastic tropical vegetation with vistas of islands out to sea, golden beaches below, waterfalls and tiny sailing ships in the opal coloured water. It took us a long time and we hung out with some police/road guards??? (see photos left) for about 6 hours on the way up to pass the hottest part of the day - sleeping in their beds. They cooked rice and some water grass for us which was very very bitter - it was a very basic meal indeed but what they lacked in comfort they made up in good cheer and hospitality! They were so generous and kind! They tried to make us drink some spirits but not much luck - but they were delighted when i brought out my chinese chess set - they play it a lot here - but i think i was disappointingly easy to beat AND they seem to have different rules! Some dudes here in vietnam play chinese chess with all the pieces except the king mixed up and covered with bottle tops and after the first conventional move for whatever the piece in that position would be they take off the bottle tops and reveal the true piece and continue the game from there! WILD!!! (Below: View of the China sea on the pass of the clouds - Danang - Hue old road)
When we finally made it to the top of the hill we had no time to enjoy the view because we were set upon by the sunglass, water, coke, watch, postcard - you name something useless they sell it -vendors. It was like we were seeds thrown in a pen of hungry chickens - they were all over us - Johney flipped out and i had to scare them away with the old oily hand mad hairy troll tactic. It was really crazy! They were utterly relentless. Vietnam is really great and all in all i think I prefer it to the other south eastern asian countries i have seen for the cooking and people and countryside but they are for sure the most cheeky people i have ever met - you settle one price for a meal and then at the end they charge you way more - if you dont settle the cost of the food or drink before you buy it they will ask for double the right price and they rampage all over you to get you to use their services - one rickshaw asked us if we wanted a ride incessantly while we were cycling on our bikes - he was totally earnest and pestering. Very strange! I think i will be relieved when i leave in a week or and johney is really looking forward to going somewhere cooler.Triin is as ever pretty cool - perhaps too nonchalent - a few times after we have eaten at a restaurant on the road she sets off back the way we came because she has lost her sense of direction since we paused in the restaurant just one hour before!!! But she is as ever constant and kind and pretty much always positive which is a very rare and GREAT quality!!!! I am very proud of her going over all these big hills!
We will hang out in Hue for a couple of days to get our visa extension then onto Hanoi - probably by train. for some more money earning there and concerts so we have some funds for china and the boat to Japan!!! Going to be an exciting and hopefully cooler summer than the spring in the tropics. The music is going well but no acts unfortunately! Coming, coming!!
Bamboo boat south of Hue and Jimmy meets his role model at a funeral ceremony in Danang!
