Friday, November 18, 2011

Part II

After recovering from the shock of Felicity’s accident, we got back on the bikes and headed to the beach road where we would only have to make a couple of turns before being on the road out of town towards the waterfalls. It still hadn’t dawned on us that this place was bigger than we thought, had WAY more traffic than we thought and that the trip out there wasn’t going to be along some pleasant country road. We slowly and carefully made our way through the city and out onto the highway where the shoulders are wide enough to ride a bike on without directly being in the right hand lane. This however doesn’t account for people riding both push bikes and motorbikes the wrong towards you down this shoulder!
The scenery was beautiful. Lush hills rising gently to the left and rural dwellings, rice fields and a beautiful temple to the right. We were in a groove and feeling relatively comfortable now. The sun was warm on our arms and it’s just a thoroughly visceral way of travelling and experiencing a landscape at the same time. My speedometer and odometer weren’t working so having not seen a sign to the waterfalls so far, I was hoping Flic would have an idea of how far we had travelled. After about an hour Flic signalled that we were pulling over at small stop offering refreshments. This was little more than a tin shed with plastic tables and chairs, drinks and a TV playing on the back shelf. Through broken bits of English and Vietnamese were we able to ascertain that we needed to go a kilometre or so back in the direction we had come.
We found the turn off and then found ourselves blessedly free of the highway and onto a tiny country lane with rural shacks on either side, giggling children, cows and chickens by the roadside and the odd bike or two moving from house to house. Part of the dirt road was quite flooded and I tried to think back to how Ewan and Charlie dealt with these conditions in the Long Way Round. Flic was moving quite slowly through them and I pointed out that the water and mud wasn’t deep and that it was better to give the bike a few more revs. This seemed to do the trick once I had already come off gently because I’d come up too quickly behind her.
This quieter, country road was such a relief from the highway and a lovely way to take in the clean air and the faces that greeted us as we meandered past. We parked our bikes at a shelter where the trek on foot to the waterfalls begun.  It was so quiet and tranquil walking through the jungle with the noise of the water beckoning us from down the path. They weren’t so much waterfalls as a river cascading and bubbling over a series of giant boulders crating little rapids, pools and streams. In attempting to cross, Flic fell in up to her knees to which helpfully, I couldn’t resist laughing. She changed into some spare shorts she had and I offered to take her jeans and socks back to the last remaining patching of sunlight further back. On the return trip I discovered what I was convinced was an easier crossing point but judging the leap across incorrectly I endeed up in the rapids up to me waist. With both of us now wet, there was nothing to do but laugh, take photos and just chill out for a bit in the surrounds of lush and tranquil jungle with nothing but the noises of the river and the birds.
I was anxious to get moving back home in order to arrive back in daylight and to avoid any peak hour traffic. We achieved neither. The trip back home along the highway was nerve wracking as buses overtook buses who were overtaking buses and if you weren’t looking far enough ahead, you could quickly end up with two or three trucks or buses all moving towards you across the road with other motorbikes trying to overtake you as well. It was on a climb up a hill that the second accident of the day happened.
A guy on a motorbike with a girl on the back overtook myself and then Felicity but then swerved in and out erratically in front of before for some reason slamming his brakes on. Flic broke hard, lost control and came skidding off. Again, I quickly pulled off as far out of the path on the traffic as I could and looked to make sure she was ok. She was on her bum, throwing her helmet to the ground and screaming “What the fuck?!?!?” I saw that her jeans were torn at the knee and that she now had a decent graze on the other elbow to match her earlier one. I looked up to see the offending motorcyclist who had stopped and was looking back at us. “What the fuck is with people driving in this fucking country?!” Fic exclaimed. Her knee didn’t look to bad, just more grazes. Sore, no doubt but no serious injury. I looked up again and more motorcyclists had stopped to see if we were ok but the dickhead who had caused the accident had sped off. Seeing that she wasn’t badly injured, the anger in her eyes and the tall guy with sunglasses on and a bandanna over his face probably prompted him to get the fuck out of there. Just as well for him for having made sure Flic was ok, I was ready to put my fist through his face.
Having moved the bikes further out of harms way and retrieved her side mirror from the middle of the road, I then unpacked the antiseptic wipes and band aids from my backpack. I hadn’t looked closely but the ones I bought in Singapore are 70% pure alcohol and mostly used for cleaning an area before an injection. On open wounds, they burn like hellfire and poor Felicity was in tears and screaming as we tried to clean her up. With the sun setting and the traffic heavy, I was even more anxious to get back home. When we were ready, we got back on and rode into town as slowly as we could without causing further accidents by being too slow. The truck and bus drivers coming towards need to be seen to be believed and if we weren’t so intent on keeping our already tired and now aching bodies on the road, would have hurled abuse at them for sure.
Riding back through town as it became dark was so nerve wracking. I took the lead this time as even though I preferred to have Flic in front of me where I could see her than loosing her in my mirror behind me, it hadn’t worked out well so far so I went first. The traffic was thick and fast with riders weaving in and out constantly and even guys walking out into the traffic to spruik cheap drinks at their bars. I don’t know if one of them actually caught my “Get off the fucking road!” but I dout it would have made a  difference. Miraculously we made it back to the quieter side street where we rented the bikes from and handed them the side mirror which I couldn’t get back on and retreated home. Later the bike hire operators turned up at our backpackers with a list of damages to Flic’s bike. Tired and exhausted, we promptly gave them the cash they needed for repairs (bugger all in $AUD) and then headed into town for some dinner. Incredible clay pot ginger chicken and seafood dishes and several Saigon lagers later, we were laughing and giving silent thanks that we were alive and well. Poor Felicity has some horrible grazes but every time she got up and knew that she had to get back on the bike. Today, she was my hero. She is one tough little bugger and though she hurts and understandably broke down once we got home she remains one of the toughest women I have had the pleasure to meet and one with whom I want to continue to have many many great adventures with. And she wants to keep riding!
We have however, decided that we are not doing any more biking in populated areas, just quiet country roads! Seriously, it’s just insane here. This morning we encountered some young Dutch kids about to set off on bikes who clearly had no idea what they were doing and were in shorts and singlets. We implored them to be careful and to go home to at least put some jeans on. One look at Flic’s arms and legs seemed to convince them of this as we saw them conferencing and pointing at us as we walked away. Biking is great fun but fuck, not in this traffic!

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