day 250, Tam Son

Michael’s bike wasn’t going to be ready till 11ish so we slept in and chilled out in the morning. We checked on his bike, it’s looking and sounding good, then went off to find the permit place. Found it really easily though is closed till half one, so we went off to the travel agent that was recommended to us though that was closed till three. We asked the hotel lady for a good restaurant and got pointed a little way off town, went there and there was a row of restaurants, we picked the busiest and had some decent food that wasn’t pho before walking slowly back to the hotel. Waited for half one to roll on, then went to the immigration office to get the permit to go north as it is a military zone. We read that you can have a couple of problems getting the permit, that you legally need a guide with you though we got it very smoothly for the price it should have been. They didn’t care that we had motorbikes with no Vietnamese license, and after quarter an hour we left with permit in hand and petrol’d up. Stopping off at the mechanic where Michael got his bike fixed I asked him to tighten my chain as it keeps loosening, he immediately got a new sprocket and gave me an quote, agreed and he set about dismantling it and putting it back together, with a new chain. It’s amazing to watch them work so expertly, was worth it just for that, plus my bike runs a helluva lot smoother now, you can hear the license plate rattle! So with healthier bikes we set off for Tam Son, only 43kms though a tricky ride, plus the sun was not around and was a bit cold. Arrived in a nice hotel and going  ride to Lũng Cú tomorrow, the most northern part of Vietnam, and hopefully get to Meo Vac.  After an incredible shower we went off for dinner, for anything apart from Pho and we were rewarded with some excellent food, a minor feast which was great, then as it was Michael’s birthday we got some cake from the convenience store and wasted away the evening.