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Plot (dictionary: Scheme, Conspiracy, a Secret plan to accomplish some purpose)
It must be a "plot" I was thinking today. Vietnam has been overrun and controlled by many nations over the last 2000 years, mainly the Chinese but later the French and the Americans who supported the south. China has invaded North Vietnam again in 1979 and it would not surprise me if they do so again in the near future. So what can the Vietnamese do about this? They can't stop the Chinese from crossing the border, but to travel the country you need maps. Aha...So lets work on that...they probably thought.
In the north many towns have new names; other places have names which used to belong to other towns. Different maps show different roads with towns in different locations. Of course you can add to this. Call a highway number 6 and put different road numbers on the small signposts along the road. Now to add some more challenges, you go along the road and see a road sign to a major town; you follow the sign and get to a Y junction mmmm...No signs; do we go left or right? The road on the right is wide and in good repair- the road on the left is narrow and broken up. So you choose the road on the right. After say 5 km this road turns into gravel/potholes etc or turns into a narrow track. The road on the left however starts as a narrow track but widens after a few km and becomes a really good highway. But wait there is more... Let’s put a large dot on the map so you think there is a large town or small city and where you find a major city let’s put a tiny dot. Top this off with giving towns names that are almost identical and spell them like (if it was say, Sydney) Sydney, Sidney, Sitnee, Sidnee, Sydnie. I kid you not.
Finally, let’s put some roads on the maps that don’t exist and leave some existing road off the map or in a different position. Good Luck!
But we have GPS! Yes right. Ok we type in our destination Ninh Binh, a city of over 200.000 people. Not in the GPS, but if you enter a small village close by you will find it listed. Now let’s make it difficult for foreigners. We release GPS maps only in the local language. So for example we type in Hanoi: the GPS showed maybe 15 different Hanoi’s; say Hanoi district, Hanoi Old centre, Hanoi West/East/South and North, perhaps some villages in North Vietnam and South Vietnam with same name etc.; the problem is that the additional information is in Vietnamese. The only way to plan is to look at a normal map and hope that the info there is..well...sort of right; then guess the distance. Enter the name in the GPS; (if it is there) take you pick at one of the names and if it shows about the same distance then hopefully you are right. We have a backup! Paul C’s I-phone and Google maps. Sometimes we check were we are and it shows: in the middle of a rice paddy with no road in sight!
This morning we had a look at Google maps and planned out ride from Mai Chau to Ninh Binh. Google maps showed us a fairly straight line and a distance of 140 km combined with a travel time of 3 hours. Just follow “highway” nr 6 and we should be ok. Soon we were struggling up the steep slopes in first and second gear with 100’s of twists and turns; Google maps did not show this.
We left at 9.30 am and arrived in Ninh Binh at 7 pm, in the dark. 9 hours! Perhaps we stopped a total of 30 -45 minutes today and covered, I guess more around 220 km. We were supposed to enter Nihn Binh from the north but found ourselves 50 km south west of the city but still ended entering from the north as the last roads we were on were again vastly different from what any map had showed us. Although we endured soaring heat of 36 degrees, dust, potholes, gravel plus I was hit across the face (lucky my helmet was closed) by a the ****** tail of a passing buffalo; we past scene of terrible accident what had happened perhaps a minute before us, where a person on scooter was hit by a light truck. The scooter and truck had come to a standstill about 20 after the impact; the person mangled and twisted scooter under the truck and body in the same condition beside the road (I will spare you the details). We arrived exhausted,dusty and dirty with the sweat running from our helmets at our hotel.
Another unforgettable day in Vietnam.
The pictures tell the story of the villages next to Mai Chau and the way south.
It must be a "plot" I was thinking today. Vietnam has been overrun and controlled by many nations over the last 2000 years, mainly the Chinese but later the French and the Americans who supported the south. China has invaded North Vietnam again in 1979 and it would not surprise me if they do so again in the near future. So what can the Vietnamese do about this? They can't stop the Chinese from crossing the border, but to travel the country you need maps. Aha...So lets work on that...they probably thought.
In the north many towns have new names; other places have names which used to belong to other towns. Different maps show different roads with towns in different locations. Of course you can add to this. Call a highway number 6 and put different road numbers on the small signposts along the road. Now to add some more challenges, you go along the road and see a road sign to a major town; you follow the sign and get to a Y junction mmmm...No signs; do we go left or right? The road on the right is wide and in good repair- the road on the left is narrow and broken up. So you choose the road on the right. After say 5 km this road turns into gravel/potholes etc or turns into a narrow track. The road on the left however starts as a narrow track but widens after a few km and becomes a really good highway. But wait there is more... Let’s put a large dot on the map so you think there is a large town or small city and where you find a major city let’s put a tiny dot. Top this off with giving towns names that are almost identical and spell them like (if it was say, Sydney) Sydney, Sidney, Sitnee, Sidnee, Sydnie. I kid you not.
Finally, let’s put some roads on the maps that don’t exist and leave some existing road off the map or in a different position. Good Luck!
But we have GPS! Yes right. Ok we type in our destination Ninh Binh, a city of over 200.000 people. Not in the GPS, but if you enter a small village close by you will find it listed. Now let’s make it difficult for foreigners. We release GPS maps only in the local language. So for example we type in Hanoi: the GPS showed maybe 15 different Hanoi’s; say Hanoi district, Hanoi Old centre, Hanoi West/East/South and North, perhaps some villages in North Vietnam and South Vietnam with same name etc.; the problem is that the additional information is in Vietnamese. The only way to plan is to look at a normal map and hope that the info there is..well...sort of right; then guess the distance. Enter the name in the GPS; (if it is there) take you pick at one of the names and if it shows about the same distance then hopefully you are right. We have a backup! Paul C’s I-phone and Google maps. Sometimes we check were we are and it shows: in the middle of a rice paddy with no road in sight!
This morning we had a look at Google maps and planned out ride from Mai Chau to Ninh Binh. Google maps showed us a fairly straight line and a distance of 140 km combined with a travel time of 3 hours. Just follow “highway” nr 6 and we should be ok. Soon we were struggling up the steep slopes in first and second gear with 100’s of twists and turns; Google maps did not show this.
We left at 9.30 am and arrived in Ninh Binh at 7 pm, in the dark. 9 hours! Perhaps we stopped a total of 30 -45 minutes today and covered, I guess more around 220 km. We were supposed to enter Nihn Binh from the north but found ourselves 50 km south west of the city but still ended entering from the north as the last roads we were on were again vastly different from what any map had showed us. Although we endured soaring heat of 36 degrees, dust, potholes, gravel plus I was hit across the face (lucky my helmet was closed) by a the ****** tail of a passing buffalo; we past scene of terrible accident what had happened perhaps a minute before us, where a person on scooter was hit by a light truck. The scooter and truck had come to a standstill about 20 after the impact; the person mangled and twisted scooter under the truck and body in the same condition beside the road (I will spare you the details). We arrived exhausted,dusty and dirty with the sweat running from our helmets at our hotel.
Another unforgettable day in Vietnam.
The pictures tell the story of the villages next to Mai Chau and the way south.
- comments
Rob Hahahaha Witzig...as always
Rob And yours is a traditional Western Male outfit!
Rob I had a serious good laugh about The Plot, Richard! I guess you're right. I goes to show that under these circumstances, GPS and Google Maps are as good as a s***ty (paper) map. Just use free navigation using the Sun and a timepiece as reference.. This far I'd say that you are having a great trip!
Stefan Bulea Morning Paul, nice to see you smiling again...
Stefan Bulea Hi Richard, I see... you still haven't got the courage to ride with no rear brake. And what is wrong with their honey (got any small birds in it)?
Stefan Bulea Richard der Frauenheld?