Possibly one of the most spectacular places you could ever hope to visit. This truly magnificent and awe inspiring place evokes a real sense of spirituality and humbleness.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_Nha-K%E1%BA%BB_B%C3%A0ng_National_Park
I don’t have photos but I do have some amazing movies of us riding through the mountains and valleys and towns. Which like the rest of my videos are still in the process of being converted and upload to this blog.
The region is a limestone mountain range which is home to some really big caves including the largest known cave on earth; Son Doong.
I have been here twice now, the first time we looked out the window of a cab as we drove to touristy cave destinations. This time however we had it right and we had it all!
The freedom and elation of riding a bike through this heaven on earth and the feelings it evoked were staggering. I can’t speak for the others but as I rode along on those roads, through the valleys and up into the mountains I truly felt alive, even though I may have been in reality inches from a mistake and death it didn’t matter!
I am not at all a bike rider and before my trip here I had very limited experience riding (though it would seem that Vietnam is the place where the whole world of non- bikers come to be converted) and truth be told I have had a tough time with bikes here;
– both mentally and from a comprehension perspective, understanding why I am doing this and why others do it.
– The roads are crazy dangerous and there have been many times where I have felt my nerves frayed to braking point as a truck swerves out or a corner is too tight.
– The emotional rollercoaster ride that was Ivan the terrible. I both loved and hated that bike in an emotional relationship that Freud would have loved to study.
– the subsequent and eventual abandoning of Ivan on the side of the road after days of useless slugging and boundless mechanical issues.
– the new relationship with Henry and his first mechanical issue and the four flat tyres over four consecutive days.
– Consistently feeling cursed on my bike and seeing only mine fail.
– Even seeing myself and my emotions about riding reflected in the worn tiered faces of a poor Dutch couple, who after a day of motorbike issues including a blown engine culminated in a screaming, crying, worn and tired Dutch woman breaking down on the street in front of us, and I knew her pain and frustration.
The riding through the Phong Nha has left me wanting more. We went there to search for caves and after that first ride into the valley I couldn’t care about caves any less. I simply wanted to ride. It didn’t matter that my ass and testicles were caught in the vice grip that is my useless seat on Henry (definitely replacing that seat in Hanoi), the pain and discomfort could be forgotten as I sped through wonderland.
It’s hard to describe the elation, but it’s a mix of adventure freedom and danger. You sit on this smallish contraption placed between your legs and positioned on this two wheeled beast you simply look forward and you see everything of the world and yet nothing of the vehicle itself. It’s like having a front row seat to life as it speeds past, It feels like you are the GoPro camera just taking in everything first hand and you forget you are man and machine and you blend into one fantastic moment where you simply soar, and with spectacular scenery like we had it just takes over in the most awe inspiring way.
I have been left with a desire for more and may even return to the Phong. Nha Ke Bang. I now cannot wait to ride off from Hanoi to reach the northern mountains of Vietnam and the mystical town of Sa Pa and see what else this amazing country has to offer. I want to see how far I can take this bike and what we can do! Where we can go and how we get there.
Searching 4 Stan 