Thrilling 30 - Part 1

Thrilling 30 Hours Part 1 of 3

And here we are. Stranded. Well technically I'm stranded and Morgan has a way to keep moving. Lucky for me she does not abandon my sinking ship but sticks by me, a decision she will soon come to regret. 

So now what? Two white girls are stranded on the side of the road in the middle of no where. A quick look at the map sends a lump to my stomach. The closet town according to our handy dandy map is over 80 kilometers away. 80 kilometers!!!!! Ok stay calm we can figure something out.

The sun reaches the horizon and its lights out. 

Well we can't stay here. I mean we could but we would get eaten alive by bugs. We can go back up an down the hills or just keep going forward and pray for a small village. I voice my ideas to Morgan and we decide on the latter. Better to keep moving forward.

I stand next to my bike and begin to push uphill. Morgan and I walk in silence. I'm not sure what is going through her head. I'm laughing in the inside. When we bought our bikes we hoped that something crazy would happen. Everyone said it would without any effort and sure enough here we are.

 At that realization I know I am now currently caught in the middle of a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. No matter how I look at the situation I'm stuck In it so I might as well laugh. 

I let out a chuckle.

Morgan lets one slip as well.

Before we know it we see both laugh hysterically in the now pitch black sky. With no light pollution the only thing guiding us is the very dim broken headlight Morgan's bike possesses. 

As if rewarding us for our great attitude the mountain levels off and gives way to a spiraling downward path into a valley. Could this be true?! Could luck really have delivered us a way out of our mess on a silver plate.

I hop on my bike tentatively not taking my eyes off the road as if it would disappear If i looked away. Pulling the clutch I glide downward I to the darkness. Then I remember the flashlight! The flashlight! Thank goodness I thought to buy that small green metal guiding light back in Pleiku.

I fumble around my pack and find it. Attaching it to the handle of my bike using a ponytail holder to have a small beacon, and I mean small, to guide me. Ecstatic that I am able to glide down the mountain with my light I take off. I call to Morgan that I am going to go full speed in case there is an upward patch.

The uphill never comes. For many kilometers I glide joyfully down the path thanking my lucky stars. Then in the middle of the road I see a snake. I swerve to the side just in time to miss it but hit a bump instead. Bang! There goes one of my gas bottles and my only water bottle. Ugh. Oh well I can't stop now!

After what seems an eternity in darkness I spot lights down in the valley. Yes, there is a town and its below me which I presume means ill be able to ride all the way to it. As we get closer we can hear a voice on what seems to be a loud speaker. I'm eerily reminded of the walking dead when they reach terminus. Then I see it, up ahead on the left is a giant projector. They are having village movie night!!!

As we reach the town a few young boys spot us. And they gather, more and more by the minute. I point to my bike and mock that its broken. They point to the gas. I point and show them I have gas. 

With no other choice I try saying help my bike is broken in English. 

I'm met with a few of the boys mocking me "help my bike broken" clearly not having an idea of what I said. Whatever came out if my mouth they repeated.

Before I knew it upwards of twenty young boys had gathered. Ummmm where are all the girls and adults? I felt like I had been transported to never never land with the lost boys. Finally a boy jumps on my bike and gets the problem. They stare some more. In the meantime I walk around playing with some of the younger children and girls that had emerged from their houses.

We play we with my camera, look at the stars, pass out lollipops, and Morgan and I laugh. What have we gotten ourselves into. The bike is eventually pushed to to a nearby house where a mob of children follow. For the next hour and a half they work on it trying everything they can. Some children lose interest and leave while other join in on the fun. The only woman to be found is a Lady looking from her window at the house we brought my bike to.

While two guys frantically work on the bike we begin to ask the older boys questions. We pull out a map and ask where we are. I have a general idea but not an exact location. These villagers clearly don't even have a clue. A few point to the north and a few point to the south. Then an older man walks over and insists that we are in Nha trang! These guys are so cut off from the developing world they don't even know where they exist in it.

Unbelievably cool. Around 10:30 the bike is almost fixed. At this point the only semi English speaking boy arrives and chats us up. We make some basic conversation and we think he invites is to spend the night but not totally sure.

Vrrrrmmmmm! Vrrrrmmmm!

My bike starts! Thank you Vietnamese you are a blessing. 

It's late and we are tired and very hungry. We declined our possible invitation and were now stuck with nothing to do but drive on. So with empty bellies, no water, a flashlight, and tired bodies we jump on our bikes.

The villagers that are left for the final result smile and wave goodbye. Such wonderfully kind people.

Morgan and I drive off into the night unsure how the next bit will play out, but hey I have a working bike!

And that is only the first of the series of events....