We take off into the night in silence. We both know its a far drive and it is clear we are both tired. If only we would've taken the possible offer to stay in the town.
The road is dark but my flashlight is helpful. Morgan and I drive next to one another so that she can use my light to see. The silhouettes of the mountains around us have a magical and powerful feel to them. They are a black outline against the beautiful starry sky overhead.
For the first hour we talk about anything and everything. Laughing about what just happened, making fun of my bike, comparing travels of the past and discussing the future. We begin to notice our similarities and differences. The number of kilometers u too the next town slowly dwindles and so does our conversation. Exhaustion begins to takeover and we drive in silence once more.
Beeeeeeeeep....beep..beeeeeep...beep...beep.beeeeeeeeeep!
What in the world!!!! My heart almost jumps out of my body. I look over to see Morgan laughing. She had been falling asleep so she decided blaring her horn would wake us both up! Well it worked along with driving me half way to a heart attack.
I confess to her that my mind can't help but wish that we could see these beautiful views in the daytime. However I also state that we were so lucky to have been able to find a town to fix my bike and I should be happy for that instead of greedy. Then our running joke begins. Many people rent bikes in Vietnam.Some bold backpackers buy bikes in Vietnam. A few of those decide to take the Ho Chi Minh trail. Then even less than that take the stretch referred to as the west Ho Chi Minh. To top it all off, out of the number of people left actually doing what we are only a tiny percentage of those are girls. Add on top of that that we are driving in the middle of the night then we may be the only ones to have experienced it that way!
More than half way to the town the sleepiness sets in once more. Then I hear it, Morgan singing Disney songs. From lion king to Aladdin and everything in between the two of us sing at the top of our lungs. We don't stop there. We begin to hit up musicals, rap, pop, classical, and whatever pops into our head. Of course the kindergarten teacher comes out in me and I compose a rhyming song about our bad luck on the Ho Chi Minh.
In this moment I realize I have not only met a friend but an amazing friend. Although we are different we have our many similarities. And while singing in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, on junk bikes it hits me that I am blessed to have gotten this opportunity to meet a genuine nice girl.
Less than ten kilometers away we hit our first hut. A few guys around a pool table turn their heads as we drive past. Clearly no one is on the roads this late. With our goal so close we pray there will be a clearly marked guesthouse for us to stay in. We pull over to check the map. As we start to go a dog comes chasing after Morgan barking. Ahhhhhh! Gasping for breath and speeding away I can not stop laughing. I turn back to her and she has a terrified look on her face. There was no way to see that coming.
As I turn around I have just enough time to see a herd of cows sitting in the road and slam on my brakes. We navigate around the car to only be greeted with more dogs. This time the dogs are on my heels and I scream at the top of my lungs and I give it full gas and my feet lifted up. These dogs are going to be the death of me.
Morgan and I cheer as we see a one kilometer sign until the town. One kilometer, two, and then three....where is the town?!? Morgan thinks she saw some people on the road a little ways back.
We turn around only to be chased by dogs again. I have never hated dogs as much as I did in this moment. Their ear splitting barks pierce the silence of the night and I never fail to scream as they chase me.
When we see three people sitting on the side of the road I can already tell that this isn't going to yield anything productive. Sure enough they do not speak any English and seem perplexed as to why we are even there. A joint decision leads us to race back to where the pool table people were.
On the way there you can tell our spirits our down. We had seen so many signs that we never imagined it wouldn't be a major town. I mean who puts distance markers for a twin that doesn't exist? In our minds we were ok with the adventure because it was never an option that the town would end up a failure.
Fingers crossed we drive avoiding cows and dogs. Then we pass it. The lights are off and the doors are shut. Defeated we stop in the middle of the road. Nooooo. Now what? The dogs from the house run after us barking but keeping a distance. Then a light comes on and a lady walks out. Morgan greets her and begins to mime what sleeping is.
No luck. Confused the lady looks back no forth between us. She points to us, then sleep, then her, and then the town. We think she is asking if we want to sleep there for the town. Not willing to make the same mistake as the last time I eagerly point to her and make the sleeping motion.
The dogs quiet and her husband joins us to help us store the bikes under a shelter. We are led into their small house. There is a tv, concert floors, and massive ceiling to floor curtains. Behind those will be the beds and it appears to have at least four areas. How many people usually sleep here? It's hard to explain how these houses are set up but we've seen it before. They have minimal but they make it work.
She shows us to a bed. Wooden slats greet us from behind the red and blue curtain. I mean beggars can't be choosers. She sets down a rug type mat to cushion us slightly. We crawl into bed and wish her goodnight after she sets the fan on us and closes the curtains.
Biting our hands we try to suppress our laughs. Unbelievable. Our lives are getting better and worse at the same time. This is everything I could have asked for. I'm realizing that I thirst for adventure and to be in real culture. How much more could I ask for than this? Still giggling we whisper about our situation to each other. We agree to wake up in three hours and get on the road at sunrise. If we do we may be able to make it for our caving tour. Sweet dreams!
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