In April of 2000 I made a trip to North Vietnam to engage in some controversial high risk activities. One element of the work I was involved in on the trip got me arrested. Now for the sake of not detracting from the motorcycle aspect of this story I will leave the rest of this story to rest at this point and convey and ally any fears that though my activities were illegal in a Communist nation, they are
NOT illegal in the US or the majority of the free world. That part of the story will remain closed.
My adventures in Hanoi, North Vietnam were multi faceted and I could never have planned for a single one, nor would I have traded them for a moment, having walked and rode through them. But at the time, it was more than I thought I could handle yet some how managed to plod my way through.
I encountered two separate adventures on my scooter that as a grown man and an accomplished motorcyclist with 30+ years of experience, I would never have thought I would do.
In the Mountain areas north of Hanoi in the city of Sa Pa and Lao Cai near the China - North Vietnam border, I had the opportunity to spend an entire day riding on a rather interesting scooter called a Minsk, a Russian made single cylinder, two cycle gutless piece of machinery. Given choices anywhere else in the world, I would have declined. But hey! I was in North Vietnam!
The winding roads from the mountain top, to the drive to the valley below, we encountered a spectacular view and navigation of this remote region. It was incredible!
I need to paint a picture of the main roads here. 11 feet wide and drivers take what they want (or need) for a majority of the roads are cut into the side of a mountain, there was maybe, if you were lucky, 24" of shoulder that dropped abruptly off in to nothing. At least from my perspective a 500 ft drop is close to nothing! Now at a particular spot in the road, the folks I was traveling with decided to stop and gander at this un-official "Over look". All I could say was, "WOW". Problem was that after I saw what was below the shoulder, I was not able to get back on my bike for fear I was going to be sucked off the planet into that "nothingness" which was actually full of every kind of rock and bolder, but the air between was what was so disconcerting!
I walked the scooter for about a half a city block, repeating to myself, "I don't need 11 feet of road to ride a bike, I don't need 11 feet of road to ride a bike!"
My courage slowly embraced my heart again and straddle my ride and with great fortitude and boldness did I also pull over for every on coming mountain vehicle! An 8 foot wide truck seems like it occupies all of the 11 foot road at this elevation. I am certain now, it was all an illusion generated by the high altitude!
But survive it I did! Now for a city adventure in beautiful downtown Hanoi! Having never been in an Asian city, my sense of "normal" is somewhat skewed and western based. Having traveled and lived in Europe during my tenure in the US Navy, living for two years in Italy, having traveled in Spain and France, I thought I had seen all that could be deemed by American sensibilities as "crazy driving". Even NYC could not have prepared me (and it did not) for what lay ahead of me in Hanoi!
While we had been up in the mountains, the Airlines had tried to contact me about my missing luggage. My presence was going to be required to advance the cause of rejoining me with my luggage. A scooter ride to the Airline office was required and my friend afforded me the transportation and that his 15 year old daughter would drive me. I responded, "The heck! I am not riding behind no 15 year old on a Scooter!" After all, how tough could it be? A lot tougher than I thought!
There is no way that words can describe traffic in Hanoi. These guys go into intersections and no one stops they just...flow. Ever see The new Star War's Movies and the space traffic in the city? The place where Anakin Skywalker jumps out of the vehicle and plummets between multilevel of three dimensional traffic narrowly avoiding collisions? Well, it was just like that! I don't know how they do it but they do. It was clear in the span of two city blocks that I was an accident statistic waiting to happen, that clearly, the "Force" was not guiding me and I was a hindrance and an obstacle to that flow! I pulled over and let the girl drive!
Yes, I stuffed my pride in my socks, got on behind her and white knuckled the luggage rack and closed my eyes because I could not watch. Now I am not afraid of many things in this life, especially when it comes to motorcycles, heck I can climb boulders with one!
Yep, I was worse than a little girl! Never drove another scooter in that town again!
Now the adventures of the motorcycles may sound humiliating to some, maybe even right out there but they paled in comparison to what I encountered in this country. I could go on, but this was about on the road and I'll leave it there.
