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 “After the rain, the sun shines again” goes as a Vietnamese saying. It had been a few days in Hanoi with cloudy sky and summer rain, and the weather forecast said there would be a spell of heat in the coming week. It had been ages since my last holiday and it was just the right time to do it now.

The motorcycle tour embarks you on an adventure journey to the less visited Central Highlands and the scenic coastal region in southern Vietnam in 10 days 9 nights.

It is the middle of the winter in Hanoi now, but so strange that the beautiful weather makes it more like beautiful autumn days. Everyday the sun sprinkles down precious golden particles that make the temperatures so pleasant! The breezes make the air dry and fresh, nothing of the normal cold winter winds. The whole world is definitely having the best moments of the year...

Bac Ninh On The Back Of A Motorbike is a one day adventure tour that you ride pillion on a scooter/moped zipping through the scenic country roads of Bac Ninh Province. The highlights include country life teeming with farming activities, ancient pagodas and temples, handicraft villages and lunch at a family's home. The trip can be customized to be a photo tour upon request, on which you will be guided by a professional photographer.

Can Yen and Can Nong Communes of Thong Nong District are close to the Chinese border. The area possesses beautiful mountains and valleys. Trade at the border is not busy and the roads are just quiet. There are new governmental buildings, clinics and schools in every community. Life here is improving definitely.

When the sunlight starts getting weaker and the mist starts lifting up, the road starts going down. Further ahead, it is under construction again.

The closer to Dong Van, the road goes down and I can feel the air is dry again. Still, it gets colder and colder in the afternoon. Then it comes to the intersection with Road 4C, the main route from Ha Giang City to Dong Van Rock Plateau. There is a road sign saying Sa Phin Valley is 12km to the left and Dong Van Town is 10km to the right. I take the right and travel on the familiar road to Dong Van Town.

Out of Mau Due, the road goes up and travels along mountainside to Dong Van. It is small but the condition is good. The ride is easy, except that it gets colder than in the morning. My guess earlier was right that the cold wind is coming...

The tour is to experience the daily life of farmers in a vegetable village just on the outskirt of Hanoi. The trip back and forth is by motorbike/scooter on which you ride pillion. The highlights of the trip are an authentic country market, working in a vegetable farm, a hands-on cooking class instructed by a farmer. The trip takes over half a day.

As I leave the restaurant after lunch, the gentleman shows me how to get to Dong Van via a back-road. I thank him for the information and for the great meal, then dash off into the fog that is getting thicker. It is about mid day now but the fog makes the atmosphere just like late in the afternoon. It is very cold, but luckily the air is very dry.

It was the my last morning at Mu Cang Chai. I had got a wonderful adventure amid the mesmerizing rice terraces of this land. Today my motorbike adventure would continue on a road that I had not been to, though I had traveled to all destinations in the far-north of Vietnam several times.

It had been extremely cold lately and I had a few days off from work. It was about Vietnamese Tet in over a week's time and my schedule would be hectic busy after. Well, it was just good time to head out to get some fresh air then. The forests in Vietnam's north-western mountains were full of blossoms and the land is always my favorite destination…

The rice festival had started in Mu Cang Chai and I still had quite a few things to complete at the office. Then it rained for a couple of days that my motorbike adventure to Mu Cang Chai was delayed further. Then came Wednesday that a typical autumn day returned to Hanoi and I felt ready to be on the road again.

It had been so mild a winter in Hanoi that I felt as if it had been in late spring and that summer would have been just around the corner.

I didn't sleep well and woke up at 2 or 3 in the morning. It was not that the cocks in the village were having a crowing race in the early morning. That was strange because everything else was perfect. The temperature was pleasant and the bedding was comfortable. Everyone in the family was deep in sleep. I kept lying in bed and dozed off for some time...

Leaving Hill A1, I proceed to Hills C1 (Eliane 1) and C2 (Eliane 4). The two hills are on the 2 sides of a road running from the east to the west. There are not many vestiges left of the horrendous battles in the past here. Trees and grass cover most of the hills making it not possible to stray from a paved path to the top of each hill.

It is late in the morning now and here I am nearly on the top of the Pha Din Pass between Son La and Dien Bien. It is quiet all around. I'm by myself taking the old route on the pass. The new road is in great condition, but it is lower on the mountainside, the old route is deserted but it goes higher. Taking the old route, I hope to have a nicer view of the surrounding nature.

 It is spring time in northern Vietnam now. The official long Tet holiday has just concluded. In cities, people are flocking back for work. In the countryside, things are still slack: holidays here are normally longer! This is the time of flower blossoms and village festivals. The temperatures in Hanoi are around 20-25 Degrees Celsius. It is breezy, dry and sunshine every day. 

All of a sudden the road leads me out of the forest into an open area without big trees around. From here I could have a great view of Dien Bien Phu City. I can't see rice fields in the Muong Thanh Valley though, as it is too hazy. In the front, the road meanders along the mountainside into the city. By my side, there are scenic rice terraces dropping down to ethnic villages. 

It is 1:30 P.M now and I have just crossed the bridge over the Da River (Black River) between Dien Bien Province and Lai Chau Province. It was a great time visiting the former battlefields in Dien Bien.  I look forward to a great adventure in Lai Chau which is known for sublime mountains and idyllic hill tribe villages.