March 8 - Getting Wet Again (better than in the tent)
Somewhat wet, I set off towards a highlight both of my guide books were raving about, also mentioned by Natasha at the bike shop, this is the Ba Be National Park. It was quite a long journey till there, I had a nice long summit right in front on me, the one I decided to postpone from the day before. After a while, I reached a T-junction leading to the park - it was a kind of a ghost town. I did spot a hotel, it was locked by a chain, apparently it wasn't the high season yet. Once again, it was time for a big push up a steep hill. There was a sign to the "Ba Be Ecolodge", up a very steep incline - this place had bungalows, a large outdoor restaurant - and to my surprise, was fully packed by Vietnamese tourists, a bus-load full. I tried, in vain, to get some information and some breakfast, no luck, so I just rode on.
This was an area which lacked the otherwise so vibrant restaurant/food stall/street food combination found in most of the country and I was getting rather hungry, especially with all the climbing. I reached a village and I saw a large crowd of men and kids, thought it was a restaurant, but they turned me away. Pretty much across the road, on the other side, was a wooden house, this one filled with women. I asked them for food, too, they accompanied back to their husbands and ordered them to feed me. Apparently, the villagers were preparing for some festivity and I guess there are not too many bikers riding through there; soon I was surrounded by the entire village, them looking and laughing at me, the kids teasing the big guy on the small plastic chair.
The men looking at me (in front, my breakfast)
The women sat oppostie
The children were having a blast (so was I...)
After a generous serving of soup and some pork, a plastic bottle appeared, filled with (what I think was) rice schnaps, it was rather alcoholic, and they would not be satisfied by me having just one glass, it was two, no, three, or four, or even more, am no longer sure.
A bit under influence, I thanked them for their hospitability and rode towards the park, there were still about 10 kilometers of a roller-coaster to go. There was a kind of a ranger station where I stopped - and guess what - I was offered even more rice schnaps. I then spotted a luxury resort at the side of the road, it was completely empty of guests, but out of curiosity I asked the receptionist what a night would cost - I think he said about $70. Mhhh, my accommodation the previous night was a lot cheaper, but somewhat more wet.
At the actual park entrance, there was a toll collected (about $2) and then it was a downhill ride to a large lake, which was pretty. At the same time, I guess I've been spoilt living in Austria, it was just like any lake in Salzburg or Upper Austria, except that this one had a rice field at the feet of the mountains surrounding the lake.
Very nice, but...
The road ended at the bottom and there were a number of smaller boats waiting for the tourists (or the folks living there). I jumped on a boat with another passenger, without knowing where it would go to, and for $1, I found out we were going to the other side.
There it was a scenic road of horrible quality along the rim of the lake to a small village, when I met the first of many many more tourist motorcyclist, a French guy, spending his half-year unemployment benefit riding around various countries South-East Asia. I would later meet a lot more folks from all corners of the world, them being on trips of various length, either riding in Vietnam or across it, on their way to Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines or China. The Frech guy had the same impression of the park that I had, yes, it's nice there, good for relaxing, hiking and kayaking, but it's not a place to bike.
I then reached the small village, each of which was turned into a so-called "home-stay", where, as the name suggests, you spend your time at the home of the family, getting a bed in a separate room, but dining together with them. Each house had Wi-Fi, some even without a code - this was the point I decided not to stay there.
The village turned into a tourist magnet, with a rice field at its feet
By this time, I had beautiful sunshine, and I decided to find a small beach, go in for a swim and to dry my stuff. It took me 15 minutes to hang all of my stuff, the tent, the sleeping bag, underwear, etc - I doubt it was a pretty sight, but then it wasn't exactly overcrowded. The swim was relaxing and by the time I completed my round, the sun did a good job of drying my things.
Good-bye, park, it was nice to see you for 2-3 hours...
I left the park and had to back-track, I though of hauling a tourist bus, but they declined to take me, so now I had to climb up the slope I rolled down a couple of hours ago, oh well. Soon I reached the village where they fed me in the morning and they would not allow me to pass without taking one-two-three-etc glasses of the rice schnaps. By now, the ladies were especially in a good mood, they were singing karaoke in the wooden hut. At the "alter" of the wooden hut was a statue of Ho Chi Minh, behind him a red flag with the hammer and the sickle.
HCM, hammer, sickle (on the left), karaoke (on the right) - I guess I must have been quite drunk when I took the photo, hence so crooked
Once I was "allowed" to leave, I rode back to the Ba Be Ecolodge and explained that I would want to camp on the lawn at the back. They said of course, free of charge, and I was served a large dinner (for about $10). That night I had better luck, it did not rain - but then falling asleep was a difficult experience - the guests at the camp were from a Hanoi beer factory (provided I understood correctly) and they were celebrating their sales success with loud karaoke. Yes, karaoke in Vietnam is pretty much everywhere, it is a very popular pastime.
I estimate to have done roughly 50 kilometers that day - with quite a lot of rolling hills. While the day had its highlights, especially being treated for breakfast at the village, overall, the tour to Ba Be National Park was also a bit of a detour - luckily, this isn't a feeling I have often. Oh well, one cannot change it in arrears and getting wet (not in the tent, but in the lake) was definitely nice.