Motorcycle Diaries

The Ho Chi Minh trail is infamous for its role in winning the war for the Viet Cong. Mia, Corinne and I decided that it would be worth seeing for ourselves. So we found a tour group that would make the trip all the better; we decided we wanted to ride with the Easy Riders. Who are the Easy Riders you ask? They are men who fought in the war and were left without family or work after the war ended. So they started giving tours to tourists, telling their personal stories as they took eager listeners on a blast to the past. Sounds pretty sweet, right? Riding around Vietnam with old guys? Come on that sound flippin’ AWESOME!

Enter Papa Hanh. Corinne did some research and worked hard to find a bona fide Easy Rider. After listening to his story, she confirmed he was authentic. When the big day came for our departure and we immediately noticed that Papa Hanh was not strapping in with us. His sons and nephews, we learned, would be the ones taking us. BAMBOOZLED AGAIN! (This unfortunately happens a lot in Vietnam. Even with my ability to speak and understand Vietnamese… it seems unavoidable).



Regardless, we spent four days on motorbikes listening to the recanting of 2nd/3rd hand war stories (some which had blatantly been tweaked/aggrandized in the victors favor… but what can you do?).

Day 1: Our butts are numb.

Vietnam Airlines flew Mia nearly to Nha Trang and then decided to fly back to Hanoi, effectively delaying our trip by 4 hours. But we were on the road by 2pm from Nha Trang headed toward Buon Ma Thuot. It isn’t easy sitting on a motorbike for hours on end. Even with the frequent stops, we had little feeling in our dariares by the end of the day.

Day 2: Our butts are more numb.

We went from Buon Ma Thuot to Kontum. We got to see pepper farms, rubber trees and bee farms! By the end of the day we were beat and we, again, did not having feeling in our bums. That night we were taken to a “Jungle Grill” where they sold deer, wild boar and other various types of exotic meat. The riders then insisted that we go out karaoke-ing with them. Corinne charmed us with her rendition of “California Girls” along with some other classics. By the end of the night Corinne was rocking VIETNAMESE SONGS!

Day 3: Our bodies are numb.

Our last full day of riding, we rode from Kontum to a small ethnic minority village*. Highlights of the day included spending time at a local orphanage, 6 nuns and nearly 200 children**!!! These kids didn’t speak Vietnamese, they spoke their native language. At first I tried to talk to them in Vietnamese… nothing. Then I realized they said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. They knew more English than Vietnamese***. (HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!?!?!?!) I fell in a love a boy here, Ave. He is such a sweetie pie! His mother died when he was 2 weeks old. The tribe does not believe men can care for children so he was given to the orphanage and his father just visits when he can.



Day 4: Our bodies hurt; its time to go home.

We went to Da Nang and flew home… EXHAUSTED!

Overall, it was a good trip with good friends. I got to see a lot of the country I would not have had a chance to see otherwise. Even though I was almost constantly preached to about being proud of my Vietnamese heritage and despite the fact that a lot of what we heard from our drivers sounded like propaganda, it was a great experience in current Vietnamese culture and perspective.

* Did you know that… there are 54 ethnic minorities in Vietnam; each one has its own language. That’s 54 additional languages… if you were counting.
….NOOOOW YOOOOUUU KNOOOOOOW!!! (Bill Nye the Science Guy anyone?)
** There are a lot of strange customs from this tribe. Some of these traditions are more horrific than others. For example it is customary for a baby to buried with its mother if the mother dies (even if the child is still alive) because they do not believe that men can take care of children on their own. The lucky motherless children are abandoned/given to the orphanage. Other customs involve twins. The family will choose the healthier of the two babies to raise and abandon/give the other away because it is bad luck to raise both. The list goes on…
*** The orphanage is a project sponsored by Switzerland, so the volunteers often speak English and teach English.

**** These last few posts are REALLY poorly written, but I wanted to write them before I forgot everything.