Up early in the morning, we were to backtrack on the Western Ho Chi Minh Road/Trail to Khe Sanh.

Our two vacation days were over and we were in a serious mood, much like preparing for a difficult hike or mountain climbing. This time, we knew exactly what to expect. 

We bought a 1.5 liter bottle of water and dumped the water onto plants. We went to a gas station, filled the bikes, and filled the empty 1.5 liter bottle. Gas stations are not self service and I wondered if there would be any objection to filling a plastic water bottle with gas (strictly off limits in the U.S.). It was no problem and the attendant filled it as if she had done the same thousands of times before.

I was in a somber mood, going back into what is essentially wilderness. But I was at peace and once again felt like I was exactly where I needed to be.

The kilometers rolled by. As described before, the road with little or no banked curves, pea gravel, water buffalo poop, and water buffalo demands undivided attention. The often repeated and alternating left and right leans into and out of the curves has a hypnotic, entrancing effect.

We saw same sites as before, yet from the opposite direction they are just as wonderous. Beautiful. We saw the same obstacles, fallen banana trees as from 3 days earlier which says to me there had been hardly any traffic since we previously passed.

We were unexpectedly traveling through the wilderness without food and water reserves.

We stopped for lunch. But the lunch food and water stowed under the bungee cords on the back of my bike were gone! Our sandwiches and bottled water had fallen off somewhere, presumably making some Ho Chi Minh Road scavengers very happy. Plan on some adversity in your adventure.

Sure enough, we needed the gas. The only gas station on the Western Ho Chi Minh Road, at least the only one we knew of, turned out to be closed. The gas in water bottle gambit was a lifesaver.

Knowing what we knew, we had to make time and kilometers, staying on the bikes.

Fatigue sets in, nothing like driving a car. Eventually posterior pain becomes an issue and time off the seats is the only remedy. Sometimes that can be accomplished by standing on the footpegs, but that dos not work for me on curves … and the Western Ho Chi Minh Road is nothing but curves. So we have to stop for short breaks to get some relief. As the day goes on and the kilometer count climbs, these breaks become frequent.

We walked 20 minutes to a restaurant found on Google Maps. A bust. No one was working there and it was clear that it would be a mistake to order food. We ordered beers. They are served room temperature, which is hot, with a large ice cube. It was my first iced beer. Maybe it was my beat-up body, but it was fine. I enjoyed it.

We walked to a corner store as Lauren wanted some chocolate to recharge her depleted energy. Food and snacks are inexpensive and often unrecognizable. Shrimp crisps, anyone? Near the register, we found a Snickers bar and bought it. Western candy, obviously imported from far away as we were, is more expensive by Vietnamese standards and closer to parity to U.S. prices, at least pre-pandemic prices.

We tried to get a ride back to the hotel using the Grab rideshare app, but alas no cars and no motorbikes would respond to our request. So we walked.

Lauren walked ahead to the hotel and crashed. Dead tired, I stopped at the little family-run snack joint near the hotel. By now, I knew my way around and went to the little frig for a self-serve beer. I sat in my tiny chair on the street at twilight, noting how the traffic headed to and from Laos had disappeared. 

Again, I was at total peace.

By this time of day, the U.S. was now awake. January 20th is my brother Ken’s birthday. Happy birthday Ken.