7 of the guys hire motorbikes, at only 100000 dong (£3), a bargain. Justin, me, Sam, Tim (German), Watsu (Holland) and 2 Israeli's Hitai and Michael head off and pick up petrol at the corner of Sapa. We then head down past the park and the large pond onto the mountain road.
The road winds and snakes down the mountain and 4 of us stop to take a photo, the other 3 not hearing us honking our horns. We catch up with Watsu, Michael and Hitai. Michael has fallen off his bike and cut his leg and hands. He has never ridden before and forgot to lift the kick stand. Iodine, antiseptic and plasters applied, we sit till he is more relaxed and head up to the waterfall that is only 5 minutes away. We sit at a local food stall eating pork on sticks and herbs wrapped in bacon. Local tea to wash the tasty food down. Michael and Hitai decide to turn around and go seek medical aid. We watch the waterfall for awhile and the 5 remaining riders push on through staggering mountain ranges dotted with paddy fields. Water buffalo blocking the road at sections and we steer round the docile beasts. Large trucks are the bigger danger, especially when snaking round tight mountain corners. We form a precession, honking to signal incoming traffic. The vista is staggering with large mountain peaks clearly visible. Today we are lucky as the cloud remains high up. We try going off road across a bridge but it leads only to a paddy field. Laughing we head back to the road. The further we head down, the warmer it becomes. Waterfalls slice into the mountains as we weave around the mountain. We eventually reach a small town at the bottom and stop at local cafe for some beef pho(pronounced fa). Delicious broth with spring onions. I add some lime, mint and chili. With the added noodles it restocks our energy. The heat of the area an unusual change and we turn a fan on in the corner. We follow the same route back up the mountain, roughly 40km. My fuel getting low I am happy to make it back. I drive round the town to explore further seeing the old catholic church, kids playing football in the park and others out on boats on the small lake. A mentally exhausting ride, but one of the best(LT). An English guy Nick and 2 Scottish girls have been on a week long insane journey round the north of Vietnam. They show me their route on google maps. I laugh as the only 2 Scots I have met other than Craig on this trip. We play cards and sit up with Justin for a while. Ally takes a well deserved break. For an Aussie it amuses me she is going to catch up on EastEnders and Coronation Street. A young American lad just out of school joins us at mamas for some rice wine, the excellent fried chicken and a large plate of pork fried rice.
We stay up talking for awhile and call it a night.