top gear part I
one of the reasons we made the trip to vietnam was because we were inspired by top gear, and while on the trip, i met an english man/boy who spent 5 weeks traveling across vietnam, his only research being that top gear episode.
so in the spirit of top gear, we hired a guide and some bikes for our own motoring adventure. we rode from about 9-6, covering some 120km including a 16km trip up and down a 400m hill. a minor accident and some (very) close shaves aside, everyone returned in one piece, and more importantly, no one fell down the cliffs.
honestly i never thought i would end up riding in vietnam, because i was completely sure that i'll die. but well, i thought fuck it, and it was perhaps rather foolhardy, considering my riding mates had about a few practical lessons and ZERO riding experience respectively.
we were both shaking our heads in disbelief as we watched our zero-experience friend produce a pathetic attempt at 'testing the bike' only after we had paid the deposit (1.5 million dong). we thought he would die, but then we thought they wouldn't give us a refund if we pulled out, so we went ahead anyway especially after he very confidently said "i think it was alright."
of course, the traffic there is mad, but i really felt a thousand times safer riding there than back home, because the people there actually seemed to respect the lives of each other, much unlike in singapore. it's strange, don't you think, that singaporean road users do not understand the fact that their actions could kill someone?
our trip took us through the motorbike-filled city streets out into the 'expressways' flanked by miles of padi fields and thundering trucks and buses, and then to the rural areas populated by cows and bicycles. things started out ominously enough, when mr confident 'tested' his brakes by jamming them and going on nice long wobble in the middle of the road. but he stayed upright, and on we went.
so in the spirit of top gear, we hired a guide and some bikes for our own motoring adventure. we rode from about 9-6, covering some 120km including a 16km trip up and down a 400m hill. a minor accident and some (very) close shaves aside, everyone returned in one piece, and more importantly, no one fell down the cliffs.
honestly i never thought i would end up riding in vietnam, because i was completely sure that i'll die. but well, i thought fuck it, and it was perhaps rather foolhardy, considering my riding mates had about a few practical lessons and ZERO riding experience respectively.
we were both shaking our heads in disbelief as we watched our zero-experience friend produce a pathetic attempt at 'testing the bike' only after we had paid the deposit (1.5 million dong). we thought he would die, but then we thought they wouldn't give us a refund if we pulled out, so we went ahead anyway especially after he very confidently said "i think it was alright."
of course, the traffic there is mad, but i really felt a thousand times safer riding there than back home, because the people there actually seemed to respect the lives of each other, much unlike in singapore. it's strange, don't you think, that singaporean road users do not understand the fact that their actions could kill someone?
our trip took us through the motorbike-filled city streets out into the 'expressways' flanked by miles of padi fields and thundering trucks and buses, and then to the rural areas populated by cows and bicycles. things started out ominously enough, when mr confident 'tested' his brakes by jamming them and going on nice long wobble in the middle of the road. but he stayed upright, and on we went.
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