A Vietnam Adventure – “From child hood dream to the ramblings of an old solo biker"

destination or journey…whats important?

Yesterday was a rough day and the toll of covering so many miles in such a short amount of time is starting to get me down. By the time I got to the hotel yesterday, I was wrecked – 9/10 hour days on the bike for 6 days in a row is very different to a weekend of doing 9/10 hour days. Maybe it’s because I’m not as young as I used to be or maybe it’s because I haven’t done a trip like this in a long time – but either way, by the time I got to last nights hotel, I just felt like I needed a break from the 5am starts and 6pm arrivals.

The fact that the weather has taken a turn for the worse and I’m totally unprepared for it was also a factor in my reluctance to get up early today and head off on another long (wet) day…especially as my route was going to take me back into the mountains and, according the local weather forecast, more heavy rain!

Now, I’m not comparing myself to Euan and Charlie but I remember Euan saying in one of his trips that the constant routine of: up, ride all day, sleep, repeat, repeat, repeat……was too much and it took away from the enjoyment of the trips. You need time to rest, reflect and enjoy some of the places you visit. I totally understand what he meant. If I was to this trip again, I’d try to allow for between 15 and 20 days, so that I could spend a day on the bike and then a day enjoying the place I’m staying at (also giving me time to recover).

Therefore, it was actually a good thing that there was a problem with the bike yesterday and even better that there was a TIGIT shop in the place I was staying at last night (Da Nang). Furthermore, it was good that I arrived after it had closed yesterday. That meant I had to visit the shop this morning and as it didn’t open until 10am, I had time to sleep a little longer, take a walk around the town, grab a coffee at Starbucks and just slow down for a bit.

I was trying not to think about the impact this late start would have on my day’s ride, as I had already booked the hotel in Khe Sanh, which I knew was a long days ride away. I just wanted to enjoy taking it easy for a bit and besides, there’s nothing I could do until the bike was fixed.

After my relaxed start to the day, I completed what was becoming my daily routine – unpack the bags, repack them, load the bike – and then headed to TIGIT. The guys there were super-helpful. Not only did they fix the problem but they gave the bike a good service to make sure it was ‘healthy’, ready for the second half of the trip. I was also able to pick up some waterproofs – which I’m pretty sure are going to get lots of use over the next few days.

In our conversations, they asked where I was headed today and when I told them, they looked at me in amazement and said that it was probably going to take 10 hours (plus any stopping time). They advised that I do the Hai Van Pass (something I wanted to do anyway) and then stop at a town called Hue for the night, before heading to Khe Shan tomorrow. I nodded in agreement, but inside I was already stuck in my ways…..Khe Sanh tonight….I’ve planned it, I’ve booked the hotel, it’s in my head….so that’s where I’m going! That was definitely my autistic side talking.

But as I left TIGIT, en route to the first of the days destinations, the infamous Hai Van Pass, I looked towards the mountains which were still covered in dark grey clouds and, in a very uncharacteristic way, I decided that the guys at TIGIT were right. Given that I had a lovely calm and relaxed start to the day: ‘why was I going to spoil the rest of my day by trying to hammer out a 10 hour ride, through the rain and wind, just to arrive at Khe Sanh in the dark – tired, wet, disheartened. What was I trying to achieve?’

https://youtube.com/shorts/HwBj9IfI6FU

On the other hand, I could take a leisurely ride up the main Van Pass, stop as often as I wanted to, enjoy the view (and the experience), be in Hue by 3pm, where I could then spend the afternoon seeing the sights, grab a coffee and maybe even get a massage. It made so much more sense, yet so unfamiliar for me to change my plans and not feel like I’d given up.

Instantly, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Instantly I felt happier and more relaxed.

As a result, I had a thoroughly enjoyable ride up the Hai Van Pass and despite the weather still being pretty bad I just felt. a lot happier than I had for the past few days when I was trying to cover huge distances to the point that I was ending each day feeling so exhausted that I wasn’t really enjoying the experience as ,much as I wanted to. Besides that….9/10 hour days on that bikes seat leaves your ass in agony!

https://youtube.com/shorts/7kykhVbcQhM

It’s always been a problem of mine. This need to cram in as much as possible. I find it very difficult to slow down, take my time, rest. It doesn’t matter what it is…work, leisure, trips, it’s all the same….got to do more, got to see more, got to achieve more, got to experience more. I’m very aware of it and I’ve often wondered where it comes from.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’m very aware that I’m getting older and therefore have less and less time to do all the things I want to and to experience as much as I can.

OR, maybe it’s a way of trying not to spend too much time with my own thoughts, something that recent events in my personal life have left me struggling with. Keeping myself busy, filling every minute of my day and whizzing from one thing to another means that there’s very little time left to reflect on things that are just too difficult to think about.

What I do know is that today has left me seeing the benefits of slowing down, taking things easier, enjoying the moment and not worrying about changing plans. Besides, what’s the point of doing this trip if I end each day too exhausted to enjoy the experience. Will this change me going forward, I don’t know. But today has certainly left me thinking differently about the pace at which I do things and the constant need to fill every minute of my time doing something.

https://youtube.com/shorts/fDsaUHSozY8

As for the rest of my day….I did grab that coffee, I did have a massage and I even managed to get in some Billiards with a group of locals (but that’s a story for another day).