day 6

had set the alarm for 6 a.m. quite dark when I woke up, good excuse to stay in bed till 7. around 7 could hear the thunder and rain that followed was quite something, considered setting out but pointlessly getting soaked as well as poor driving conditions was not a good idea. Waited for a while for the rain to clear but there was no let up. Went outside on the balcony and walked to the both ends. One end overlooked the railway track, 2 rooms and a stairway away from my room, and the other overlooked the street passing the hotel. At one point there were absoluteley no body to be seen even though about 6 a.m. I had heard lots of beeping and general traffic noise. The street was awash with water and a small boat rather than a bike would have been more suitable. One option I consider is hopping on the train with the motorbike and travelling towards Hue, where I will be collecting the bike papers. About 9 Oclock I decided to have a rest as there was no point just sitting there. Woke up to a little lighter sky about 40 minutes later and feeling refreshed. I had  packed earlier and set out to get some Paracetamol (pain killer) and a rain jacket/poncho. I have discovered that if you prepare for something like rain, it is unlikely to rain, like the times you take an umbrella with you, and vice versa. I was sold some Paracetamol substitute and got a big plastic poncho in bright purple too. My map is looking really torn and tatty but could not find one easily so gave up and left HuongKhe about 11. Picked up a small bottle of tea as the woman had no water and headed south. I had been given two very thoughtful gifts by Josephs sons;  Ben a compassChris had given me a fire starter (hope I wont need that). I dug out the compass, attached it to my ignition key so I can keep an eye on my general direction due south, dont want to be heading to Lao again, just yet.

The roads are great, clear of anything as far as the eye can see and some times I ride for many miles without any company. Hate to be stuck in a train in this weather (cool due to slight haze covering the sun). A number of trains pass along as I am travelling near the track for some time. I am hoping I wont need them. I feel sorry for the passengers on these trains as well as the ones on the bus/minibuses that go by, they remind me of chickens I see crammed into cages on the back of some mopeds or in some of the kitchens. That reminds me; here it is very easy to see where your food is coming from.

There are the usual hazards at times though, like stray water-buffallos, calves resting in the middle of the road, mopeds doing sudden U turns in your lane, debris on the ground as you corner. I did stop once when it was safe to remove this big lump of rock... on I stop a number of times to take photos of some Karsts that I have been riding through most of the day as well. These have such magnificance for me, one place I name the Valley of the Kings, the kings being the Karsts of course.

I pull into the forecourt of a truckers cafe and get directions from a mechanic, with two middle fingers missing. They have a little room and sitting on their bed watching TV, in front of the place is his tyre changing equipment. He comes out, bare top, very fit guy and gives me directions including a little drawing. As I was entering the forecourt I had spotted a police group a little further up. When I pulled out onto the road I am called over, I better comply I guess. They just want a little banter and English practice, "Vietnam Police" one says and I make a fuss of their superb Cream coloured uniforms. At one point one in the middle (three of them) says something and is rubbing his fingers together in form of money which I ignore. This little chat continues to name of cities in the Uk and football teams. I decide it is time to go, make a little more fuss of them, shake their hands and on my way. I am happy they did not question me about the motor bike.

I havent had a meal since yesterday, needed a rest from food. Over the last few years at times I have felt bored with eating. seems such a pointless exercise; you eat and you are satisfied temporarily, then you get hungry and the merry go round continues. It is like most desires we torment ourselves with for a temporary fix and then yet another desire arises.

I stop by a cafe and all I can get is a coffee. the forecourt is gravel, the bike slips a little and my left shoulder complains trying to stop the bike falling, it is not going to be healing anytime soon or properly. Some cockerels and chickens invade the cafe picking at sunflower peels on the floor. Meanwhile the lady serving me has moved onto her domestic chores at the house next door to the cafe, about 15 meters away, I wonder if she thought I will be staying for some time. I pull out 6000, and I am charged that by another woman who comes over, having seen me ready to settle the bill.

Around 1.30 I manage to find somewhere to eat and while I am chatting to two young men and a woman, the lady of the place takes about half an hour to prepare food. It turns out to be a 5 course affair: rice, fish dish, half a chicken, cooked vegetables and a broth. I get stuck into the fish, not bad, the eldest son offers me another piece which I decline. Then I attempt the chicken which is an amazing imitation of a rubber chicken, I cant rip it up by hand, or even cut it properly. The eldest son points to "it is perfect" in the phrase book, dont know what to say not to be rude. It is taken away and chopped and returns as chopped pieces of rubber chicken. I make a poor attempt at eating it without luck. I request another piece of fish which turns up immediately.

I close my eyes for about 10 minutes while at the table, I have not had my mid-day rest today and been riding quite long stints. I am charged 100000, a lot, hope her pride is restored by it. I see them ripping the chicken with their teeth in the kitchen as I visit the toilet.

I get back on the road, the direction I confirm a number of times. There is a slight problem though, the number of Kms is going up on the distance markers instead of down. It started at DHCM 944 (HCM is Hochiminh) and has got as far as 985 by the time I pull in at Dong Hoi. I am hoping this is showing the length of the road from its start. My compass is generally showing due south, everyone I speak to confirms I am travelling towards Saigon and that I am on HCM road, so I hope that is where I am going.

At Con I decide to stop having done over 145 km. I have left the sleeping arrangements too late and end up in a hotel for 160000, highest so far. I have my own room which is good, having changed rooms once due to damp smell and also ended up showering in another room as mine was not so good. I spotted a wasp looking insect in the room, about twice as big as I am familiar with and helped it out of the premises. I will definitely use my mosquitto net tonight, but as the man said "we are going to need a bigger boat" or in my case a stronger net.

The hotel owner asked for my passport and when I went down to get my room changed was filling in the registration form. In the nationality section he had entered Ukranian
because he had seen UKPA which is the United Kingdom Passport Authority as the issuing authority. I decided to fill the form myself.

I have an interesting experience sometimes, like a premonition. I used to have it while driving too where I suddenly used to reduce my speed and soon afterwards I would be facing some kind of a hazard. The converse is also true, every time I get evey slightly distracted (this used to be very common whenever I mentally criticised anothers driving!) I would be facing a serious hazard to myself. It is as if something within me tries to teach a quick lesson by reminding me of my own falibility. As a self prservation method I stopped judging others actions long ago.