Just Another Landscape Photo

Loas has afforded us views of some of the most spectacular landscape I have ever seen. I am a landscape photo junkie... so no I am going to inflict on you a few of my fav's from the last few days...

The New Yard Stick

Before I blew my fufu!

I would like to announce that I have a new yard stick for the hardest day on the road. http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/95761645

The ride from Vang Veing to Phom koun was 108.6 km long (based on Odometer reading), and pretty much all up... we climbed around 1800m, finishing with an epic 20km or so of relentless climbing. (to put this into perspective; Ohakune ski road climbs around 800m in altitude) To make things more exciting, I made the stupid decision to have a massive feed of fried rice and Omelet at the 60km mark. I was so hungry and hadn't had much for breakfast after we went caving for a couple of hours in the morning. I hit the wall pretty hard at around 63km... don't worry only 1000m left to climb! Geepers! Stripped of everything, I met the little guy inside... and thankfully he said yes because the next 40 or so km were pretty interesting. On a rare and very short decent, a truck came up behind us and blew a tire, I was convinced I was going to go for a dive! Then, as we got near the top (by that time me and the little man inside were managing a blistering 6km/hr) we discovered a number of very strategically placed patches of oil.... this was followed by 2 young men perched in an OP with AK47's... (I sunk a red bull at 95km in an attempt to break down the wall. Team, red bull DOES NOT give you wings!) We did reach the summit and our guest house safely, but did not feel we could guarantee the safety of the road the next day. We took the arguably safer option of the local ute/courier truck to get to Lang Prabag.

Prior to this ride I thought Day 1, Tour de Timor 2011 was an epic ride... this ride had 600m more elevation and 20kg or so more weight on the bike! I don't really want to think to hard about the other challenges posed that day... Lucky Frank Jr is an awesome bike!

Sabaai-dii

One of the best things about Loas is that the word for hello, good bye, and how are you is the same. Hence, within minutes you feel like you are at home!
Despite the friendly reception, our entry into Loas was a little strained after we were stuck in a no-name village 30km this side of the Loas/Vietnam Border (Lak Soa) for 10 hours, after the bus broke down. The locals immediately grabbed their stuff and scrounged isle seats on local buses. We, on the other hand were left with 25 hormonal, winging 19 year-old gap year kids from the UK, need I say more? Such a fascinating study in human behavior, images of the movie 'lord of the flies' sprung to mind. I spent most of my time trying to figure out which one was Piggy. Lucky for them the bus got fixed and no-one was pushed off a cliff!

Can you see the Arc De Triomph?

Once we finally arrived in Vientiane we found a city with a mixture of Asian and french colonial archituture and people that were friendly, laid back and equipped with cherub like faces... quite a contrast to their Vietnamese counter-parts. We spent the following day looking at a few of the sites and planning our next leg

Nek Minut

So I was walking down the street in Hanoi and I broke my Jandal. (Lucky I'm from Reporoa).

Nek Minut...... A lady rolls past with a cart full of Jandals!!

I BOUGHT A NEW JANDAL!!!

Picture Blog

Please do not take photos (that's what that little white sign says)

Ancient Door Gym Work-Out

Wallace; Conqueror of the World

Word

Fold away the SB-GPS when not in use

Once upon a time...

Na Trang

Grrrrrrrr

grrrrrrrrr

Look! a Kiwi!!

Caught upside down and eye-level with the curator. (see cyclerose.wordpress.com)

Aotearoa

Planking

Freaken Hungry! Soup in a Bag...

Life on the Road is Good...

Dragon of the Mystical Orient... Hoi An

New Zealand!!!! (Top of Har Van Pass)

Another Kiwi!

The Wisdom of 1000km

They say you can see most of what there is to see in Vietnam by travelling the AH1 between Dalat and Hue.
We've done it in 9 days... The most riding I've ever done in my life and it feels surprisingly good! Don't worry Mum, we're having a few rest days before we start the next leg of riding which is between Lang Prabang and Vientine in Loas.

Here is what I've learnt so far; Finding your way is like sussing out a man. A few years ago I learnt that you have to ask a man 4 times before you'll get his true marital status... turns out the same goes for asking directions. Make sure you ask more 3 times where to go, otherwise you'll end up heading in the wrong direction!

Introducing the Mark 1 SB-GBS system

Navigation can be a serious problem whether at home or abroad. A cycle tour should have at least two internal systems for navigation. 1. Map reading skills: BT reading device 2. Internal homing device: the Mark 1 SB-GPS system. (See adjacent picture).  The SB-GPS will generally run smoothly however, if you find your SB-GPS system has switched off here are some useful problem solving strategies. You will know the system is not working when the SB-GPS cannot tell you which direction is home, in which case, use the following procedure:


1. shake GPS system,
2. insert 2 x Iced coffee into cake hole,
3. wait five minutes for the 'Iris screen' viewer to flicker,
4. proceed towards target location.

Tickets to See the Show

Today has been a bit of a show stopper... after taking the time to entertain the staff at the resort we stayed at last night (see video above) I also created entertainment by getting a nail through my tyre and changing it on the side of the road. They were very kind in passing me the tube and checking to see if my tyre was pumped hard enough before I was allowed to put it back on my bike.



We've had a short day in the saddle, only 66km! We also popped out to see the site of the My Lim Massacre. I saw a documentary about this when I was at OCS, but never imagined I'd ever get to visit the site. The story goes that a bunch of US soldiers rocked up and went nutty, killing unarmed civillians, most of them women and children as the men were out at work . (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre). I tried to imagine what it would be like to be given orders to come to this village to find targets... then what it would have been like to hear the commotion and look out your kitchen window to see all of your neighbors murdered. ALL OF THEM! Then it would be over...

Halfway Harry

5 days and 577km down, we're over half way through our Vietnam leg. I think we've got a pretty good routine going; Get up just before 5am, eat our breakfast, ride 50km, second breakfast, another 50km, Lunch then finish it off by riding to our destination.
Today's accommodation was the best yet, a beach side resort with a lovely clean beach, a fully fitted restaurant and a masseuse. I think we've earned a sleep-in!
I have attached a video from yesterday...

The Law of the Jungle

It can be a bit of a jungle out there on the roads but I think I have figured out 3 cardinal rules for sharing the roads here in Vietnam;
1. Courtesy by the tonnage. By using the law of momentum you can increase your tonnage by increasing your speed. However, if you choose to use this law in order to gain right of way, it will hurt allot more when you fall off!
2. Know your 'jungle cry'. Every class of vehicle has a different jungle cry on these roads. The appropriate cry for a bicycle is a Bell. Initially I tried a squeeky turtle... unfortunately this cry is reserved for rubbish collectors... doh!
3. Live and let live. Everyone has their place on the road and you've got to share. 

We're in Qui Nhon tonight after a slightly easier day... still hot... still a little burnt... still lovin' it!

Frank Junior's Big Day Out

A big day for Frank Junior today, 126km in the heat and over the hills to Tuy Hoa, it got a bit emotional at times. There were amazing adrenaline rushes with sweeping 3-5km downs and massive endorphin release from equivalent ups. Frank loved the down and just wanted to race off, unfortunately the trucks conducting three-a-breast overtaking maneuvers prevented him from getting too excited! The highlight was getting the truck drivers, cleaning their trucks, to spray us with their water as we went past.

Sarah and I are both a little burnt, we attempted to apply Alovera.... SOAP! This was a result of an exercise in poor communication.... I think it was the foaming action that gave it away... the stuff just wouldn't rub in!!!!

How much you pay?

So far we have sampled a number of different accommodation facilities... the following is a list of things you DON'T get when you pay just $3 each for a night; sheets, air-conditioning, toilet paper, towels, cleaned shower... BUT we still have WiFi... God bless Vietnam.

Today was a hot ride from Phan Rang to Nha Trang, 115km and it has taken me around 6 hours to fully hydrate. The reward was a lovely seaside city with thriving markets and plenty of dragon fruit (Sarah's new favorite) Some of the scenary was breathtaking and the little people in the picture blew us kisses as they worked the field, and we took photos. The other dude tried to race us on his bicycle... what you didn't see was the cigarette poking out the other side of his mouth as he grits his teeth, and shows us that men are the same the world over!

There is a first for everything...

Today has been a day of firsts; First decent ride, first puncture, first crash (me), first time putting pannier holders on... upside down (Sarah)... a day of firsts.
We cycled around 119km from Dalat to Phan Rang with spectacular views of the vietnamese country side as it transitioned from the pine forest highlands (around 1000m above sea level) down to the shore.
So far morale is high, stomachs are full and bikes have been adjusted for another ride tomorrow; 105km to Nha Trang.

Phnom Penh: 10 things I love about you

This last month as been crazy and I have been geeking it up (even more than usual). Weekends have been spent getting numb buttocks crunching numbers, and trying not to blow the power supply by cranking the air-con! The result is that we have been able to show a significant increase in the quality of life of the children we treat when we go out on mobile clinics, and we have been able to show an association between stunting and severe decay in pre-school children (Watch this space for publications!) Despite all of this excitement, I would like to share 10 things I have enjoyed about Phnom Penh

1. I love it every time I get home from work alive!! Dodging the traffic on Frank Jr. has been the closest thing I’ve found to mountain biking… yesterday I did a swift 90 degree turn with one hand!

2. I love that the people can’t help grinning a pearler when you smile at them… even if they look grumpy!

3. I love the central market, the Russian market, the orrsey market, the Olympic market, the Toul Kourk Market….

4. I love that I can buy mangos and watermelons on the way home from work

5. I love that you all dance around a table (anti-clockwise) at parties… not just any table, a table with either fruit or flowers on it. Llast night is was a table with a pyramid of apples.

6. I love it how your philosophy on life is the same as the way you drive; live for the moment!

7. I love that I can’t stay grumpy at you even when you do the craziest, most out of this world things; like screwing in posts with IRM and making five unit acrylic bridges or trying to make excuses for being late… there is always a good reason!

8. I love that everything is changing and that the youth are so confident they will be different from those in power today.

9. I love it how everything ‘weird’ that I do is acceptable because I’m a foreigner!

10. I love that I’ll be back soon….

Some of my favourites (awwww... who am I kidding, they're all my favourites!)
From left to right Lynda:Nurse and leader of the slum children project,
Phally: Dental assistant and leader of the prison dental service, Yours truly,
Sokhan: Doctor and leader of the Medical team.