Let's play tuctuc.

Another day of playing tuctuc. Meaning we went around Bangkok, stopped at some shops, and got a tuctuc for free. Eventually we made our way to the train station to figure out where were going next. North, East, or South. We found a ticket to Cambodia for 48baht (1$50cents)  for tomorrow at 1 pm, so I guess we're going East. Since its our last day in Bangkok we wanted to do something big... Like Muay Thai. Took a while to get to the stadium since it was downtown. After getting off the sky train we hear a commotion below us. Right under us, in the middle of the protesters was one of the leaders of the political party. Afterwards we made our way to the stadium and experienced some insane fighting in the perfect atmosphere. It's Friday so we got to see the champion fight. He lost.

Learning Bangkok

Budget budget budget. Barter barter barter. Trying to save as much money as possible and in doing that means every price is a negotiable price. Had an interesting talk with a tuctuc driver named Mr K. I wanted to get around Bangkok, and he wanted to make some money. I asked him how much he made for taking me to shops along the way and he told me 100 baht. Mr k brought me to 4 shops along with all the destinations I wanted, and I got a full day of tuctuc for free. Pretty sweet deal for the both of us. Went to a lot of temples that I saw yesterday, but they were worth seeing again. Last stop was siem square, the heart of the protest to get some good shots.

Goodbye Vietnam. Hello Thailand

Early morning flight to Bangkok. Awoke around 545am, and made our way to the airport. Check in took extremely long, but everything went smoothly. I even got put in a window seat with extra leg room and had nobody in my whole row. Layed down, and Got a good rest! Landed around 11am,and got to koahsan road. Met a guy on my plane named Chris, from Australia who we shared a a taxi with, and got a three person room for cheap. Met a nice Vietnamese man name Wiscshal, who explained the price of tuctucs, and more importantly the political situation. All the temples were free today because of the Chinese new year so we got a tuctuc to take us to them all and split it 3 ways for 40bhat (30 bhat is 1$).

Thailand, or should I say Bangkok, is much different than Vietnam. More modernized. The people are used to tourists. I don't feel like a celebrity here, but we're in Bangkok after all. The food so far, delicious. IV figure out fast that you need to know the prices, it's incredibly easy to get ripped off on a lot of money.

The pollution here is undoubtedly much cleaner than Vietnams big cities, such as Saigon and Hanoi

Day 30. Ha Noi

Walked around the city, and explored the Ho Chi Minh museum, and the museum of literature. The place was packed. We've been spoiled from Phong Nha, there are just too many people here. We went through a couple markets, and  later Lucas got pretty. 

HANOI!

We awoke at 7am to get an early start to the day. The morning was full of fog and light rain. We knew the last ride to Hanoi wouldn't be easy. As we drove, my bikes exhausted started to sound more like a helicopter, but I had to keep going. We found that Lucas 's oil started leaking again, meaning we didn't have time to stop. We needed to get to Hanoi as fast as possible. The ride was beautiful. Rocky mountains, rice fields and a misty fog. We arrived in Hanoi around noon, as planned, but the bikes were sounding worse and worse. While searching for the Hanoi backpackers hostel Lucas 's bike has a problem. A wire connecting his engine detaches. Luckily we made it to hanoi, and we were right near the hostel when it happened. We made it!

We road between 2000-2500 km. 4 flat tires, 2 run in with the cops, 2 crashes, getting lost multiple times, getting chased by dogs multiple times, running out of gas in the middle of nowhere multiple times, meeting amazing people with extraordinary stories, and experiencing something well never forget. Thank you Vietnam.

The last stretch.

We left Phong Nha at 9am. As I awoke the area was filled with fog, all I could think of was Phong Nha trying to get me to stay, but I knew it was best to leave. We road onto the Ho Chi Minh and started the last stretch to Hanoi. Around 550km. As we got out of Phong Nha the sky cleared up, and it was a cloudless day, perfect for riding. The start of the ride was beautiful, through windy mountains and valleys, which then turned into hills and rice fields . Of course it's not going to be easy to finish our last bit of road. While driving I hear my exhaust crack, and yet again the popping sound starts. With tet in progress everything is shut down, including mechanics. I have to keep riding it out. Next, Lucas 's oil starts to leak. His bike starts sounding terrible. We keep riding. We find a place to get the oil changed. We finish over 350 km. Less than 200km to go, we should get there by noon on the 2nd.... If the bikes survive.

We found a small town to spend the night, and while looking for a place for food, a man invites us to his house to eat with his family. We had a big feast and tried to understand each other for a could hours. We ate a variety of meat, which we could have been anything, and then sat around drinking tea and eating fruit.