here, there, everywhere

I was feeling quite proud of myself for not crashing during the two days we drove over horrible roads to get to Ba Be, so of course I crashed the day we left Ba Be on a far more reasonable road. It wasn't very interesting (though I think I horrified a bunch of little kids on the side of the road who saw me crash ... sorry, guys), nor was it particularly serious, though I did land pretty hard on my wrist (I got an x ray later, and it was OK). After driving a few more kilometers, it became more painful to make that revving motion you have to make with your right hand, and it became pretty obvious that there was no way I'd be able to get to Cao Bang before dark. Fortunately, because he is a hero, Iain managed to hire two random dudes on the side of the road to drive my bike for me to the next town, and then get me and and my bike both onto the next bus to Cao Bang. Literally - I was a bit alarmed by how readily the bus company agreed to take the bike, but, as you can see from the video, they definitely look like they've done it before.

So, long story short, I ended up finishing the second half of the trip ingloriously on the bus, meeting up with Iain in each town at their bus stop, and learned that rooftop is but one of many ways in which a Vietnamese bus is willing to accommodate a Honda Wave (other ways include dismantling it and shoving it underneath, or else carrying it inside and wedging it into the aisle, much to acute annoyance of everyone else).  Riding the bus itself was actually quite nice - I got to make small talk with people in my crap Vietnamese, and take in the scenery a lot more, as well as enjoy the godlike thrill of power that comes when your bus sounds a colossally loud horn and overtakes just about everyone on the road so it can whip that much faster around a turn. Good times! Fortunately for my ego, my last bus to Hanoi actually dropped me off in a suburb, which meant I did get to drive back into Hanoi proper triumphantly on my motorbike. 

... from Tuyen Quang to the small town of Na Hang...

... from Na Hang to a road that turned into a giant rock quarry with no end in sight, so we decided to double back, lose a day, and then set out via alternate route (and what turned out to be worse roads)...

... to get to Ba Be lake, where we spent 3 days lazing around...

... then headed further north to Cao Bang, where we spent a few more days visiting caves and waterfalls...

... then drove back down Route 3, spending the night in Bac Kan before driving back to Hanoi yesterday afternoon. Or, more accurately, Iain drove all the way back to Hanoi. I ingloriously crashed my bike and hurt my wrist* on the way out of Ba Be, and so actually the latter half of this trip was a bus trip for me, rather than a bike trip. Not the most heroic story, but well worth learning a) that while a Wave can drive over a veritable quarry of rocks, it is best to steer clear of a single rock lying innocently in the road all on its own, and b) that there are myriad logic-defying ways to wedge a Honda Wave into and onto a Vietnamese bus. 

Misadventures and all, it was an awesome trip! I can't think of a better way to have celebrated our three year anniversary together.