Day 37! Probably the worst ride yet… but I made it through! Very excited to continue this motorbike journey north and keep pushing myself to ride on!

With an exhausting couple of days of biking, no cell service, no Valentin, or any other travelers for that matter, I went to bed at 7pm!

For the first time this trip, I got 11 hours of sleep! It was wonderful!

Unfortunately though, I woke up to a wet and cold day ahead.

It was still fairly dark out when I set out since the sun was behind the clouds (iPhone photo magic makes it look pretty bright already), but I quickly got ready and hit the road at 6:30am!

Now the night before I paid the hosts with the remaining cash I had since they didn’t take card… so the first goal of my morning was to find an ATM.

So with no service and no money, I set out to the next town over which my hosts said might have an atm. Since it’s almost Tet there’s no guarantee they would be open.

After driving 25 minutes through wet dirt roads and getting rained on I arrived and asked a local for directions to the ATM. Funnily enough I was 20 feet away from one!

Thankfully it was one that worked with western debit cards too! So after pulling out cash I got back onto my 4.5 hour drive to Ninh Binh!

I took only one picture on this pretty miserable ride. I tried keeping spirits high, but it was cold, rainy, and windy.

I passed through many bustling towns all shopping last minute for Tet. Whether it was fruit stands or the countless oversized balloons for sale, they were all packed! And it was only 7/8am!

At one of the towns I pulled over to check my directions. A lady next to me noticed how soaked I was and had gloves for sale and insisted I buy some.

I ended up caving and getting a pair for 22,000 Dong. Honestly, it was the best decision I made for this ride! My hands thanked me and I kept on going.

Every time I stopped locals would point out how wet I was, I’m not sure if it was sympathy or poking fun but they all made sure to let me know.

I did have some nice chats with locals along the way as I pulled over a number of times to stretch my cold wet legs. This ride was a grind.

But after 5 hours I arrived in Ninh Binh!

But… I ran out of gas.

So I started walking my bike to a gas station 8 minutes away and that’s when a friendly local pulled up besides me to ask what was wrong.

I told him it was my gas and he told me to get on my bike! I was a bit confused but as I did, he put his right foot on my engine and revved up his motorbike and started to push me to the gas station!

I’ve seen people do this but never understood why! It was insanely kind of him and just adds to my love for the people of SE Asia and more specifically, Vietnam.

With one final push they said goodbye and I coasted into the gas station.

While at the gas station I finally booked a place to stay, which was actually where Harry and Grace were staying, and then headed there to take a nice warm shower!

In the moment of driving I sometimes question what I’m doing, especially when it’s cold and the sights aren’t that great… but the reward and relief of getting to my destination just adds to the experience!

After my long hot shower I went out to find my first meal of the day.

Just down the road there was a highly reviewed soup restaurant which was just what I was looking for!

The restaurant was called Tam Coc Noodle Soup Restaurant and I’d highly suggest you go if you’re ever in Ninh Binh!

The food was delicious, warm, and cheap! The owner and his son were very sociable and goofy too.

After eating, and just like always, I was craving some desert. So I wandered towards a Banh Mi stand and noticed they had Nutella and banana Banh Mi!

Even with it being chilly out, I ended up sitting here for a while chatting with some other travelers! I met Nick from New York and Natalina and Alina from the Netherlands.

It’s always nice randomly bonding with people and then never seeing them again. But most likely I’ll randomly run into them in the future!

Also at this Banh Mi stand I met a guy bicycling across Vietnam! He was a very nice man from Belgium and he told me he’s been biking all across South East Asia. Crazy!

I wandered back to my hostel to curl up in my warm blankets and on my way back, the owner from the soup restaurant gave me a big wave!

While laying in bed I did some research for crossing with my bike into Laos and I think I’ve figured out where and how to do so! So as long as I’m still up to keep riding, the adventures of Kilby and Elie won’t end with Vietnam like I originally believed!

I laid in bed, wrapped up in my blankets, until dinner time and then received a message from my new friends Harry and Grace! They wanted to get dinner so we met up and started wandering around.

(They actually tried to scare me by jumping out from around a corner 😂 they’re my type of people!)

We found a cheap restaurant selling all the classic Vietnamese meals. We had such a nice dinner together and I’m so glad I got to hang out with them again!

It was another conversation diving into everything from our families to politics to conspiracy theories. It’s felt like I’ve known them for ages but truly this is the second day getting to spend time with them.

I guess I’m starting to collect British friends and I can make a whole tour of the UK by the end of my travels!

After dinner we were all in the mood for a sweet treat (I don’t know what it is about the food here that makes me crave it). So we made our way to a Winmart and got some snacks.

Then we found a fruit stand that sold mangosteen and they had never had it before! So I bought us 2 for 15,000 Dong and let them have their first experience with it!

I’ve really loved introducing people to it since it’s one of my favorite fruits and it’s fun watching them crack it open and try it for the first time!

We then made our way back to the hostel to play some games, Grace felt like we had unfinished competitive business to attend to.

And guess who finally made it to the same hostel as me, Valentin! So now we can ride Vietnam together on our motor bikes!

(For those of you who don’t remember, Valentin and I met a few weeks ago in Ho Chi Minh City and he was supposed to meet me in Nghe An but plans got changed last minute)

We got so into playing games that the owner of the hostel got a noise complaint and told us to quiet down. Then we quieted down (to a whisper) and the guy who complained came to tell us himself… so we moved into the dorm where Valentin and I were staying to finish out the night of games!

We played till midnight laughing our butts off playing Uno and chit chatting about various different things!

I’ll get to see Harry and Grace in the morning for breakfast and a few more games but it’ll be sad to part ways. But I’m sure I’ll see them in England soon enough!

Tomorrow Valentin and I decided to meet up with another biker friend, Merel (who I met in Phong Nha), on Cat Ba island to celebrate Tet!

It’ll be nice to settle in a place longer than a few days and the island seems like a good spot to do so!

– Elie