Biker by Day

Central Vietnam has been one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.

Took this picture my accident
while hanging on tight!

We only stopped in the town of Hoi An, but it was a great stopping point for a few days.  There are bicycles everywhere (likely enough said).  There is a little river that flows through the town.  The streets have long strands of lanterns hanging from buildings on one side of the street to the other.  There's even a little covered bridge.

Surprise, surprise - I haven't exactly done a lot of hard-core motorcycling in my life.  But regardless, this is the picture I had of myself in my mind:

A real bad-ass just cruisin the open road.  Wind through my hair (maybe some bugs stuck in my smile).  Revving the engine.  Getting to see the real Vietnam.  I even considered purchasing some leather gloves with the finger tips cut off.... you got to look the part, right?

Me and my driver

The real way it went down?  I was sitting on the back.  Hanging on for dear life for the first hour of our 8 hour trip.  Pigtail braids (I think those went out of style when I turned 12....) flapping wildly behind me.  Not. Exactly.  Cool.

Oh - and I majorly burned the side of my leg on the exhaust pipe about 2 hours into the ride.  As if it wasn't obvious enough that I was an amateur.




I would do it over again in a heartbeat - an awesome way to get outside the cities in central Vietnam.  I just may try to look a little cooler next time.

Forcing a smile RIGHT after burning my leg
(with my awesome driver... I mean, look at his stance for photos!)

I'm sure stopping on a
bridge is safe

Many rice paddys to be seen

Stopping for lunch.  Hill the US Marines controlled during the war

Great travel team (though we missed Matt!)