On January 22nd we left Phong Nha, heading north along the Ho Chi Minh Road. We drove past great karst mountains!
Still happy, warm and dry We were still hoping that the rain would stop soon... Unfortunately it started to rain at some point. We got wet and cold. Grumpy (at least I did) we arrived in a town where we took a room in an inn.
The next day, after some hot soup and fresh air on my rear wheel, we continued on the Ho Chi Minh Road. It was super cold on the scooter. You just sit passively on it and let the wind blow on you. Despite several layers of clothing, we arrived cold at a hostel by a lake. A young woman (named Ida Johanna!) was already there. Someone else arrived with us. It turned out that we were all 3 Germans. Later we met Achim! We met him two weeks ago in Tuy Hoa. There were 3 others arriving on their scooters. But not German.
In the evening, over dinner together, we talked about how cold it was today, what we are planning and what we have already experienced.
Ivar and I slept in a drafty bamboo bungalow. After a hot shower we slept under 3 blankets and with 2 plastic bottles filled with hot water.
On January 24th we left the Ho Chi Minh Street and drove towards the Laotian border. We found a hotel in Co Cống. Our most expensive so far. Others it was warm!
Craziest hotel so far. Think there were more staff than guests. On the way to Co Cống, Ivar's tank was empty. The boys stopped and drew some gas from their tank. So we made it the rest of the way to the gas station. Ivar warms his fingers on the gearbox.
In Co Cống we ate goat and bought warm gloves. The hotel is huge and Co Cống is not. We were the only ones at the breakfast buffet. Everything was delicious, except the coffee, the first was cold and the second was unappetizing. We drove to a waterfall in Pù Mat National Park. Since there were two landslides that are easy to get over with a scooter, we had the waterfall to ourselves. Apparently there are fish in the water that eat the cornea. I put my feet in the water, Ivar even went for a swim (at around 12°C)! But the fish were probably too cold. Or we were too unsavory for them. A pity. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr White Thai village in Pù Mat National Park Ivar's new gloves
Before we continued, I had to have my tube on the rear wheel repaired because I was losing air again. There was a small hole in it!
We drove a little further west to Hoà Bình. There we stayed again in an inn. Everything was so cold! And unfortunately there are no heaters! If you're lucky, the air conditioning can not only cool but also heat. Ours couldn't do that. But we were given 2 more thick blankets and together with 2 plastic bottles filled with hot water we were still warm. We didn't know how many gas stations there were in the sparsely populated mountains. So it's better to take some petrol with you! That would be illegal in Germany. It doesn't matter here.
From Hoà Bình we drove up to a village of the Hmong people. To do this we had to drive through clouds, which was exciting and mystical! The village, Mường Lống, is located at 1,500m. The village was correspondingly cold and cloudy.
In the clouds Mường Lống Hmong clothes
We stayed with a family in a homestay. The house had a second floor. There were 3 chambers that were open at the top. We got a chamber. There was a mattress on the floor and thick blankets. The toilet was behind the house, but not far away, just a direct dismantling.
Family is very important to the Hmong. Having lots of children is important to them. In addition, many family members live under one roof. There were definitely 2 adult women and 2 adult men. I couldn't figure out what the family relationships were like and which children belonged to whom. There were definitely a lot of kids running around and wanting to take photos with us.
After the photo session we brought our things into the chamber and then walked around the village. When it's warm it's definitely nice here!
Our chamber. It wasn't anything more than that. The cat is sitting in the fireplace! In the evening one of the women offered to cook a chicken for us. But a whole chicken would have been too much. So we went for soup instead. I felt a bit sick anyway and wasn't very hungry. A man from the family told us by the warming fire that we had to go to the police and register. For security reasons, you would have to report to the police if there are more than 12 people in a house. Since it was already evening, we thought the translation app had translated strangely again. Now get out again?! To the police?!
After some back and forth we realized: We actually have to go to the police again! The man took us there. In a village these are not long distances. But cold ones. And the policeman wasn't there! We waited outside the police building, freezing. The man was talking on the phone back and forth. At some point he said we were going back. Hey! Back to the fire!
We warmed ourselves a bit at the fireplace, sitting in front of the fireplace and the man sat directly into the fireplace. Everyone slowly went to sleep. So we went to bed too. The family divided into the remaining two chambers. Only the older sons (I think they were 8/9 years old) slept in the hallway. Luckily I was able to find out where I could get hot water for the plastic hot water bottle. But despite the warming bottle, 4 blankets and the hat on my head, I was still cold. I bravely went back to filling the bottle with new hot water and added a second bottle. That brought a lot!
The night was still restless. I was worried that the little children would take turns crowing at night. But nothing there, they were quiet! Somewhere there was a celebration that echoed across to us, the father of the family was snoring, it kept raining on the wooden roof, some cell phones were not on silent and made noises, at some point the roosters crowed and (from here Ivar thinks, would my list becomes unbelievable) then Ivar snored.
However, I was warm! Hey! But I think I have some temperature. Nope. :( I already notice my tonsils.
No matter, we wanted to get back down from the mountain. We didn't feel that comfortable either. So we continued driving past some very spectacular scenery!
We drove through the valley back there Our cold outfit: several layers of clothing and the rain poncho and plastic bags as wind protection.
We got warm again further down. We left on January 26th. according to Kim Son. However, we had to drive a bit over the mountains again, so we got really cold again.
However, we found a nice new hotel. Although without warming air conditioning, which means the room temperature is the same as the ambient temperature, but with a hot shower and hairdryer.
Ivar went out to eat in the evening. I just wanted to stay in the warm bed. At his dinner, Ivar made new friends, had to drink "happy water" (rice liquor) and eat lots of delicious things. So much that he was still full the next day.
We spend Sunday, January 28th, in bed. Firstly, it rained in the morning, which we interpreted as a sign to stay, secondly, I needed to cure my cold a bit. We'll definitely go for some soup later :)
