About 40km short of our destination, just northwest west of this podunk town of Be, we experienced our first motorcycle crash. As a group of motorbikes prepared to pass a slow lumbering (and smoky) truck climbing a grade, the truck appeared to move to the left side of the road, giving the motorbikes tons of room to pass on the right. After a few motorbikes went, I followed suit - only to have the truck driver change his mind, and veer sharply to the right, forcing us into the dirt/gravel shoulder. He took us out, and our front wheel caught the rear wheel of the motorbike in front of us, and off into the dirt we went.
Damage: twisted fork, bent front wheel, bent axle, and bent handlebar.
And the truck that ran us off the road? He kept driving. Like nothing happened. As you'll see in the later posts, some of these drivers have serious issues involving the life safety.
No videos or photos of the crash, but the guy I took out had significant road rash - likely due to the non-existent safety gear.
The locals saw what happened, and called for a 3 wheeled utility cart (think reverse Tuk Tuk, with two wheels up front, articulating at what used to be the handlebars, and motorcycle in the back. He took us about 5 km up the road to a mechanic, which pulled the damaged front wheel off, and straightend out the wheel to where it was "round enough", and re-laced the front wheel.
Shaken up, though the bleeding has stopped, they took us to a Vietnamese "hotel" - which we realized shortly was a place where you would rent hourly. Realizing this, we had to move to a hotel down the street, which afforded us some comfort as it was not a love hotel. How did we know the first place was a "love hotel"? Well, here were the signs: prophylactics on the table, red and blue mood lighting, no external door locks (only locks on the inside), a knob for music (which happened to be playing Boys II Men's "I'll Make Love to You"), and lastly, couples who arrive on motorbikes, and ride DIRECTLY into the room, motorbike and all.
Arriving into Cat Tien National Park a day later, we got settled in at Green Hope Lodge. The manager there was instrumental as a translator to the local to help us get our motorbike repaired. The place was nice, clean, and had AC in their new bungalows. They helped us reserve and sort out an early morning Gibbon Trek through GO EAST - which stands for Endangered Asian Species Trust.
The hike started at 4:30 AM at the Ranger Station, where we dawned our leech socks. Still dark, we hiked out to the the Ancient Tung Tree area of the park - well off the beaten path. I would not have trekked out there solo, as you can easily get turned around.
As we were trekking, you could really hear the gibbons howling, singing their early morning songs. These songs were sung by pairs, a male and female. You could hear the difference between the male and female parts. And this is how we spent most of our time - necks craning for a view of the elusive primates.
We caught a glimpse of a few, but they moved too quickly for my lens. On the way out, I was able to snap a photo of one near the canopy of the trees - this one even had a little one hanging on to mom. (All females have bright orange colored coats).
The Youtube video below was a quick recording we made of the gibbons we heard at the edge of the park. They sound like car alarms. Really loud car alarms.
After the jungle trek, we took a tour of the EAST rehabilitation center. These are not celebrity gibbons who have drug addictions. Rather, those who have lived in captivity, and are being trained to live out in the wild.
The EAST Foundation allowed us to get a closer view of these gibbons. And boy, can they move in these habitats. Here's a female below:
And a male mid-swing in his habitat below:
Later that afternoon, we took a motorbike ride out in the Cat Tien area. Visited with a few farmers, and watched them till their fields.
Here's an example of one of the traditional houses in this area. Despite the basic construction, nearly all of these homes have a satellite TV dish.
Just before getting back to our bungalow, we met some new locals who also work the field.
Notes on the drive to Cat Tien: Concrete jungle leaving Saigon. Lots of highway roads and divided highways. Once you are 50 km out of Saigon, the roads turn dusty as you get into the neighboring towns/villages leading up to Cat Tien. Lots of slow trucks. Pass carefully. Abundant fuel stations, so no worries about finding fuel.
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