Sunday, July 27, 2014

Three times a broken tire to Pongour Waterfall


Pongour waterfall was the main reason I was visiting Da Lat as it is the closest town to it (where I can scout a guesthouse); Thus, it was the first thing in my list on my first full day in Da Lat.

I am staying in Da Lat with 2 other guys, Moa, a swedish backpacker I met back in the Philippines, and Dave, an Irish holiday maker, we met at boarding in the bus from Saigon to Da Lat.

It was nearly 11am when we finished breakfast and coffee that day. From there, everything ran smooth, with Me and Moa on one bike, and dave on the other; It was around an hour drive to get to the village jumpoff.

When we were about 500m (as I estimate from the map), I felt something wrong with the bike; It wasn't as easy to steer, so we stopped and check.. we got a flat tire.




I was telling my folks we can probably leave the bike there, and walk, since we're that close, but Dave sugggested that we better get it worked out first. He volunteered to drive back to the highway, probably about 6kms away, and try to pick up someone who can repair.

Meanwhile, as we wait for Dave, a drunk local came walking towards us; He came with a bottle of wine, which I thought at first was water. I kept nodding and smiling and saying Yes to him, while he continues talking some vietnamese.. none that I can decipher.



Then, David came afterwards. He said the tire guy won't agree on going with him, and is asking us to drive the bike to his shop where he'll do the repair. We did as suggested.

The interior of the tire has exploded, and it is so worn out that it is better off being replaced. It took about 45 mins (and 100K VND) to complete the replacement.



I was starving too at the time, and I asked MOA and Dave to drive first to a local eatery before heading back to the Falls. We drove further way, til we got to a Pho stall.





After that, we proceeded to the Bogour waterfall.  The waterfall wasn't really that deserted as I thought. The local administrators have made some fixtures in the vicinity, including toilets and walkways, and there are also restaurants around; Had we known, we would have really been better off walking the bike through, and taking the tire repair afterwards.







On the way back, we thought of checking out the Silk Factory; Then again, just about 20mins of driving, our tire has exploded again. Luckily, there was a tire shop just next to where it happened, so it was convenient (20,000VND to plaster).



We drove further towards the silk factory. After about another 20-30mins, our bike was wiggling. It's flat again. We asked for where we can get a repair, and were asked to drive further about 500m.



This time, the interior had to be replaced again (and thankfully it was only 65,000VND this time).

We eventually got into the Silk Factory though it was closed, so had to postpone the visit to the following day. We went straight instead to guesthouse to rest.





This post is part of the #limbonisASIA tripSee link for more stories, detailed expenses and itinerary

2 comments :

  1. Motorbike adventures and misadventures! =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep. Sabi nga ng mga iba travels friends, may sumpa daw ako. Im en route to vang vieng now, from vientianne, and ayun, nasiraan nnman ang van

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