As I sat sipping my extremely bitter coffee, little did I know what surprises mother nature had planned for me. The landscapes of dreams were only a short ride away. Todays destination was Meo Vac and plan was to do a quick border hop into china before reaching our destination.
We started out in the wrong direction for the first half hour damn google maps had done it again, always check your maps at a fork in the road. The terrain was wet and rugged, sometimes more pot holes than road . As we left the towns behind the vibrant greens began to fill the horizon and Vietnam did its thing and blew me away.
There is nothing quite like having the mobility to come and go as you please on your bike. Noticing other people going on a guided tours in the back of a jeep made me more appreciative of just what I was doing. I cant stress enough how unbelievable this ride is and the fact that almost no one knows about it makes no sense to me.
After a few hours we made it to the border. The entry to China was not the most welcoming, with rusted barbed wire trying to keep people out, well maybe cars. The local Vietnamese were carting metal across the border without a care in the world.
Once the novelty wore off we hopped back onto our bikes and made way to Lung Cu flag tower. When you arrive you will be greeted with hundreds upon hundreds of stairs, once at the top I only realised there is a road that leads to the top, don't forget that one.
The road from Lung Cu to Meo Vac was where things started to go from amazing to incredible. I am a landscape lover but this was ridiculous. Here are a few snaps, pictures don't really do it justice but I used all my photography skills to get as close to the real thing as possible.
It just kept going, I was in landscape heaven. The size of these great giants evoked humility inside me. There was no better place in this world I have found to clear my mind and just observe everything around me. You feel the sense of absolute freedom in the open road and with this great beauty all around you cant help but feel in a state of awe.
I don't know how people live in these mountains but it must be ever so peaceful. The simple life.
As we pulled into Meo Vac, exhausted and ready to pass out the sun set on another day. Our last leg lay ahead tomorrow. Worried that a 200km ride would be too much as we had only completed 120km and were completely ruined.
Stay tuned for part three.