Solo Ride – Vietnam

I woke up at 6am in Ta Xùa, just in time to catch the sunrise. Truth be told, I hadn’t had the best night’s sleep. The little wooden cabin I was staying in was quite remote, and with no one else nearby, it felt pretty isolated. In the early hours, I heard something scuffling around on the roof – some kind of animal – and I’ll admit, it gave me a bit of a fright!

But by morning, all was calm with Ta Xùa exactly as described in the travel guides – an ocean of clouds with the mountain peaks rising above. I skipped breakfast at the homestay and wandered to a local coffee shop to take in the view.

I then set off for the long ride to Mù Cang Chải, one of the most famous mountain regions in northern Vietnam.

The road out of Ta Xùa was both breathtaking and tough – a long, winding descent that kept diving in and out of the clouds. It was magical to see the mist swirling around, the valleys opening up below, and the clouds actually rolling down the mountainside as I rode. Sometimes I was above them, sometimes below, and sometimes riding straight through.

As beautiful as it was, it was also deceptively dangerous – as I soon found out. About thirty minutes in, the clouds thickened, and I had to take off my glasses because the condensation made it impossible to see. Then, going only about 5 mph down a steep incline, the bike suddenly slid out from under me. My right knee took most of the impact – ouch – but thankfully, no serious damage to me or the bike. The shock, though, made me crawl down the rest of the mountain at an even more cautious pace!

For miles, the road continued to wind through clouds and past the scars of recent avalanches – often right beside work crews and heavy machinery clearing debris and repairing the road. This area must have been hit be some pretty bad weather recently.

After about four hours of riding, hunger set in, and I came across a small roadside stand selling bánh mì trứng (Vietnamese fried egg baguette). Simple and exactly what I needed.

I eventually arrived  into Mù Cang Chải around 4pm and found a homestay through Booking.com for just $10 a night. It’s very basic – just a mattress under a mosquito net – but the view is incredible. I’ll explore the area properly tomorrow.

As night fell, I headed back out on the motorbike and rode a couple of kilometres to a small local town in search of food. This place is well off the tourist trail, and the restaurants are as local as it gets. I found one serving beef with fried noodles – absolutely delicious, and just $1.

While eating, a group of locals waved me over. They were drinking rice wine (or at least that’s what I think it was) and insisted I join them. I tried to politely decline, but that didn’t get me far – before I knew it, I’d had two shots! After that, I had to be quite firm (but still friendly) in saying no more.

The group were dressed in traditional clothes, and as we chatted through Google Translate, I was intrigued to discover that they spoke Chinese, not Vietnamese. That really surprised me – I’ll have to do some reading to learn more about the ethnic groups in this region.

By 7pm it was pitch dark, so I headed back to the homestay and tucked myself under the mosquito net. Tomorrow’s plan: an early start for Vũ Linh, about 160 km away, near Thác Bà Lake.

Sore knee aside, I’m loving every moment of this part of the trip and already feeling a bit sad that it’s nearing the end.