Facing fears

I am not sure even how to write this blog my as feelings and emotions were abound and so much happened. But, I’ll do my best. As this day deserves a story. There’s not many pictures because honestly I was gripping my handle for dear life, I don’t dare to let go!! 

I was excited, happy, free, Anxious, frightened, enlightened, celebrity and a death defying adventure. Stay with me, it gets good.  Up for quick breakfast and we wanted to be on the road by 10 Am. Candy packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese/crackers, grapes etc. (she takes care of us) The Gypsy ‘gang’ rented 4 motorbikes and Luann rode shotgun with Trinity. This was only mine and Davinas 2nd time ever on a motorbike. The plan was to drive 20 minutes according to map and be out of the city and to a craftsman Village,  Davina and I in the middle of the pack. Well, it didn’t end up that way, we drove near trucks and buses and people for hours. I looked up once had refrigerator to my right,  looked up again and I had a dresser to my left. How these people do this is to my amazement. I have to remember tho they have been driving two wheels all of their lives.  I had two hours of practice in Thailand before coming to Vietnam.  I had a hard time getting going because my legs are to short to touch the ground. (Imagine that) more on the short leg problem, keep Reading. In the first 20 minutes, Trinity’s bike broke down twice and had to be rescued, so then our timing was off from the start. The owner brought her a different bike and syphoned gas from one bike to the other using a plastic soda bottle! 2 hours later, finally we were off. Down the alleys, roads, next to people, big trucks, buses and small spaces.. horns, horns,horns!!! Very Frightening actually when you are just learning to control your own bike.finally driving/dodging down the road. Not every part was awful, just other vehicles.2 hours later..... We were almost there and stopped at a coffee shop, we ordered drinks and Candy brought out the goodie bag. We were hungry! That was the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I’ve ever had! There was a really nice, clean swimming pool there and I almost said y’all go on, I’ll be right here. But I don’t give up easily, I got right back at it and we arrived at this village. It was the most inspiring, intriguing area of Vietnam that I’ve seen so far. But first a little info about it. (I did not write the following, bit of info.)

Da Sy forge village is in Kien Hung commune, Ha Dong city, it was from the 18th Hung King, a place provided weapons to Lac Hau, Lac Tuong protected territory and made agricultural tools for farmer. Experiencing the upheaval of history, forging in Da Sy still persist and grow. They were more than willing to show us each of the knives that they were making. 

Currently, Da Sy has about 900 families who are blacksmiths; products are focused on two major items as knives and scissors of all kinds. Forged products of Da Sy village are sold everywhere, from north to south, presented in every family, contributing greatly in the manufacturing or professions.

This village was most inspiring, as I felt like a celebrity lol. families coming out smiling and welcoming and so very friendly. We went to several shops and was welcomed with smiles and open arms. So we obliged. Photos galore were taken. (we had 5 people, one is a professional photographer). We were enjoying it.

This beautiful guy turned a another Page for us...as we were goo gooing over the dog,the family invited us in for tea. They Loved being photographed and they photographed us too!!  The green tea they served honestly tasted like boiled grass but, we obliged and did not let them know that we didn’t like it and He kept pouring us more cups. The 1 woman was busy sharpening knife blades while the men were sitting down drinking tea and smoking when we arrived. The work ethics is none I've seen before. Very hard workers. He even taught Candy how to do “something” with the blade. You’d think the language barrier would be tough. None of us understood each other AT ALL. Smiles and laughter. We visited a few more shops and was invited into more homes/shops. This little lady was tickled about us being in the village and she was all smiles and giggles and she targeted me right out of the crowd. Didn’t understand a word she said .  Family even came and got in the picture. This village was very inspiring! very happy people and welcoming five American women into their homes to photograph whatever we wanted. My perception of Vietnam has changed a little bit.  Then we head out to the next village and as we get closer we stopped and discussed about going to the Village or going home through rush-hour traffic so, we opted to go out of the way a bit to the village but, by the time we even got halfway there it was already getting dark And they probably were not working anymore. We headed back home 34 kilometers or so.....It was long torturous adventure on the motorbike, I can’t even explain the cross crossing, no rules traffic. It was awful.so we were sorting traffic and locals were going up on the pothole sidewalk to get by, well,we followed suit, slow but sure. We came to the end of the sidewalk at a street, cars/bikes were turning left, going straight ..well damn!! .The motorbikes that were on the sidewalk had to get down a big curb. When my front tire went down this big curb, my legs were too short to reach the ground to stabilize myself and I dumped the bike. within seconds I had Trinity and some local man helping me pick the bike back up and get on my way through the traffic. I’m not hurt, just a bit of my pride. Shortly after that we stopped at a coffee shop and relaxed and chilled out a little bit, while we wait for traffic to die down. Then we headed on our way slow but sure. Still a good bit of traffic. We were starving so we opted for dinner. We stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner about an hour later. We park the bikes on one side of the street and had to walk across the busy street. (what would be five or six lanes of traffic, if there were any lanes.) Then we headed on our way home, right around the corner from our house,  Candy made a right turn,  I was second in line, I could not get over , so the rest of The gang followed me and Trinity took the lead , we had to go up and then back through a VERY busy, congested market and I got my right calf smashed between my motorbike and another bike carrying food and it threw me into a truck that was going across.. I pushed off the truck and inched I mean inched my way thru.... luckily we were barely moving, there was sooo much traffic .... again I am not hurt. At this point I was so over it, we were two minutes from the house. 

I was knocked off the road more than once today by big buses or fast moving vehicles. And it scared me when A motorbike went by me with children/families riding on it without helmets. Riding a motorbike in Vietnam is definitely not for the faint of heart. And you really need to be extremely alert and have some mad driving skills. 12 hours.... I’m sore and exhausted. Would I do it again? It was exhilarating and alot of emotions came and went. Maybe I’ll do it again but,  prolly not in Hanoi or Saigon. 

The gypsy gang did a phenomenal job today and I am very proud of everyone of us. Even though I’m the only one who dumped my bike , I am very proud of myself. 

good night!