Beginning of something great, part 3 (I'm almost there guys, just a little bit more about the bike problems...)

The next morning mine and Nico’s ways a parted after the breakfast, or that is what we thought. Nico was trying to reach Ho Chi Minh a.s.a.p. and I was going to Laos. I have an multiple entry Visa so I thought that I’m gonna go to 4000 islands in Laos to spent the new year eve there and return to Vietnam after that. The border was only 20km away from the town where we spent our night so I was there quite early and hopefully before the biggest rush. After an hour or so I decided to stay in Vietnam :D

I totally lost my patience at the border even though I’m equipped with quite good nerves. 

The one thing that is totally different between Vietnamese and Finland (western) culture is the queuing in line. 

In Vietnam (Asia) there is no line where everybody waits for their turn. There is a mass of people (“häröpallo” in Finnish) trying to be the first in “line” and the Vietnamese just kept going straight in front of me and basically giving a shit about me. The fact that there was only one official checking the passports didn’t really help my cause so instead of getting closer of getting to Laos I was only getting more and more people in front of me. So after some time I turned on my heels and said a loud “fuck this” and decided to spent the new years eve somewhere in Vietnam. It was the weirdest border crossing place I have ever seen.

I sent a message to Nico and started chasing him because we were now heading to the same direction after all. I don’t know what happened but I didn’t not only reach Nico but also went pass him and we decided to have one last lunch together before final separation. Nico’s bike was a bit more powerful than mine and had a higher top speed so I didn’t want to be holding him back. 

Vietnamese hot pot and bbq cow tongue

Had a lunch in a place city Pleiku, said goodbye and continued driving. On a big hill about when we were just leaving Pleiku behind I saw Nico slowing down and leaving drastically behind. I suddenly suspected the worst. Pulled over and waited for Nico. His bike was coughing badly and I saw some oil coming through the seals. This was bad, really bad. I didn’t wanna leave a man behind so I offered to accompany him since I wasn’t exactly in hurry.  So begun the search for a garage that would be able to fix the bike. The problem was that the mechanics are really skilled here in Vietnam to fix the scooters and the kind of “Hondas” that I’m driving but Nico’s bike was quite unique and at least 3 or 4 mechanics just shook their heads and pointed us deeper to the city center. I saw a hotel and decided to get a room from there whilst Nico continued his “quest for garage”. I feared the worst but after 1hour I got a message from Nico. He had managed to find a garage that would/could fix the bike. Awesomeness! Soon came another sms saying he's drinking beer and that the guys at the garage want to take us out. Sounded like a invitation that you just can’t pass. 

Hopped on my bike and drove couple of kilometres to the garage and found Nico with a big smile and a beer. Before I had a change to say anything I also had a beer on my hand and some duck meat to eat. 

It was a beginning of a quite interesting evening which ended with a beatbox show an me giving a lift to a drunken vietnamese =) Lot’s of food and beer. Luckily I can handle mine…

They had a quite nice Harley at the garage with an remote ignition. Whoaaah

"No sir, don't like it." Nico's bike just spilled some oil...

These guys fixed Nico's bike and tried to get us drunk.
Mistake! Muahahahhaa!

The next morning a guy from the garage picked up Nico and me and we first headed for a breakfast and then to get Nico’s bike. It really was a full service that they did to the bike and now it sounded to be healthy and the test drive was a success. On the road again we went. 

The roads in Vietnam can be full of potholes, cattle, traffic, loose gravel and stuff but the scenery makes it all worth it. I had this echo in my head telling me that there might be road works between Pleiku and some other place. It's like some one told me about those in some hostel but I had been trying to avoid the memory mark of that. In the picture below you can see the result of those roads under works. My luggage rack broke from the both sides but we fixed it with cable ties and hoped it would hold until I would reach Da Lat.

Oh my. I just hoped it would hold until I would reach Da Lat.

We had the “last” lunch together again and then our ways really parted since now we had different destinations. Nico was still heading to HCM and I set my course towards a place called Da Lat. I knew nothing about the place other than that many tourists go there. Must be worth a visit then I thought…

A selfie taken just before our ways parted.

ps. Bare with me my dear friends and readers, I’m slowly but steadily getting to the point where I’m now on my journey even though the things written in this post happened last year =)

and last: thank you Nico, it was a pleasure to meet you. Hope to see you again some day!