Good morning SE Asia!: 26/10/13 - Pho Rang to Bac Ha

Leaving the small town of Pho Rang, we stopped after only a km or so to ingest sugar and caffeine at a cafe before heading off again. The road had a few small climbs along the way. We followed the main QL70 for 30km or so. We had been warned that this road was a real busy thorughfare for trucks and other traffic heading up into China, and was a bit too busy for comfortable riding by Frank, the German guy we met in Meo Vac. In fact it wasn't that bad. There were huge trucks as promised, but the road was wide enough and they were slow enough not to put us off ease. Again the side of the road was used as drying fields for the plywood sheets we had seen yesterday, but today it was pretty much along the whole length. Tons and tons of the stuff, using up every spare metre of road edge and spare ground. We found a place that was processing ghe sheets so I took the camera for a closer look, to confirm what it was. They were putting the logs into a big percil-sharpener machine, which spat out a thin sheet from each log. They then chopped it into the right length before laying it up to dry. At least I think it is plywood sheets, could be something else though! We have noticed through our travel that there seems to be a local speciality to each area. We were obviously in the heart of the region that produced this wood product, it went on for miles.

My SPD shoes were playing up again, the cleats loosening themselves on the right foot again, despite generous doses of loctite threadlock to stop them doing so. I locked them again and decided to work out the root cause later on. The worst thing is that when they are loose, it is almost impossible to get your foot out of the pedal as the cleat just spins instead of releasing. Not great. I might invest in some new pedals and cleats soon if I can find them. Or just get a set of normal pedals and convert back to normal shoes. Its not worth the hassle at the moment to keep fixing the cleats all the time.

We were headed for Bac Ha, a well liked hill station town that features in every guide book on Vietnam. The reason is that it is the centre of commerce for several hill-tribe ethnic minorities who live in the area. They are called minorities as they live fairly separate lives to the rest of the Vietnamese, remaining culturally different despite the close quarters. They speak locally specific languages more akin to Chinese derivations. They also dress in a very colourful way - especially the H'mong and the Red Dzau. The different tribes descend on Bac Ha every Sunday for the local market where they dress their best, bring their most impressive livestock, produce and other goods and and generally enjoy themselves for a morning. Of course they also come to buy the more mainstream products that you get everywhere apart from in the mountains also. The market is extensive, probably the size and complexity of Borough Market if not larger. The town is now very touristy, lots of French people there (2013 has been designated a French-Vietnamese relations celebration year).

The climb into Bac Ha was another challenge. After 45km we started climbing and ascended 800m in about 12km. We always like the positive responses when we are climbing, and on this one there were plenty of buses ferrying tourists to the top that passed us and gave some encouragement through the looks of disbelief that we observed! It was a hot tough climb, and there was nowhere to hide again from the rays. Lots and lots of water was consumed. We were running low on water halfway up and desperately looking for a café or shop to get more fluids. We spotted a load of empty plastic bottles and rubbish outside someone’s house and when I went in to get some water (they only had coke and green tea and stuff though) I realised how overheated I actually was as the sweat was running off me in rivers, leaving pools under my feet in the shop. The two women looked startled and concerned by my hideously red and leaky state but Johanna reassured them all was normal by regarding me with amusement herself which seemed to ease their worry. I have never sweated that much sitting in a sauna before.

We stayed in very well reviewed hotel, there were loads to choose from. We had a cursory look at the town and did some people-watching in the main square. Tomorrow the market was on and we wanted to get there early, before the hordes arrived on day buses from Sa Pa.