Here are the picture, in chronological order, of the tour Rich and I did of North Vietnam in May 2003. It took us about a week to ride from Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu (near the Laos border) to Sapa (near the border with China) and then back to Hanoi. We went with two guides, Hai and Hung.

It started out fun: stunning scenery, fascinating hilltribes, strange mountains - and the added thrill of being on a motorcycle. It seemed as though the road was being "fixed" in many areas. Often, we'd come upon a roadblock, in which the entire face of a mountain was being blasted away. After a long while (sometimes up to five hours) we'd be allowed to pass through the freshly dynamited road - consisting mostly of rubble - which, of course, was a complete nightmare for a motorcycle. When stuck at long roadblocks I would attract huge crowds. I started passing around my Discman (Pink Floyd always did the trick) and watching the Vietnamese shake their heads in time with "Another Brick in the Wall."

One time, after a three-hour roadblock, we rode twenty minutes only to encounter another roadblock. During those twenty minutes a wasp had somehow flown into my shorts and bitten me on my inner thigh. Upon reaching the second roadblock I was in serious pain - a wasp sting really hurts!! There I was, on the ground, moaning in pain with nearly 100 Vietnamese gathered around, all talking to each other and staring at my crotch. Not one of my finer better moments.

The next day we had a mild crash - the previous night's rain had turned the road into a deep patch of mud. Luckily we weren't going fast.

Shit really hit the fan when both motorcycles (mine was a little 250cc Russian Ural) started to fall apart. We broke down countless times and spent a couple days stranded in small villages. Although we'd pay half before the tour, our guides insisted that they had no money, and that we should pay them the other half so that they could the bikes repaired. That, or they couldn't fix the bikes.

So we paid a bit more, but the bikes still fell apart, and because of all the stress, Rich and I really weren't getting along with our guides. Long story short, eventually we just gave up and hitched a ride to Sapa this massive truck carrying rotten fish sauce. The driver was drunk on rice whiskey as we climbed a 17 km steep, one-lane narrow road up to Sapa, which was pretty scary.

Despite all the trouble, the tour was amazing overall and I would highly recommend it. (Not sure if Rich would). On my whole round-the-world trip, I'd rate this experience second only to the month-long trek to Everest Base Camp.