Augie Gets an Idea

Several weeks ago Augie asked me if I wanted to join him for a portion of his 'gap year' of travel. "You want to meet me in Saigon and ride motorbikes up to Hanoi?" It took me about a millisecond to decide that I probably shouldn't pass this one up. Having been married for almost 30 years, and not wanting to repeat the same mistake made by Pop some 50 years earlier, I knew that I'd need to consult my spouse first. "You can't pass this one up," was Nancy's response. By the time I got back to Augie he'd already found my round trip ticket for $477 and found a reputable place to rent our motorbikes.

So in two weeks we're off on a new adventure. So far Augie has made all of the arrangements. We're planning to stay in Saigon (yes, that's what most people still call it) to acclimate, visit a friend from his days at Hampshire College, and collect our motorbikes. The plan is to spend three weeks riding 'Uncle Ho's Road' up to Ha Long Bay. We'll then spend a couple of nights sailing on a junk and kayaking around the islands. The last day I'll fly back to Saigon and Augie will continue on into Laos.

Should be fun. Will definitely be an adventure.

Here are some links to a few of the sites he's used for trip planning thus far:

http://vietnamcoracle.com/ho-chi-minh-road-the-…

https://www.tigitmotorbikes.com/

https://youtu.be/rLUp_wkkTYM

http://halongphoenixcruiser.com/

In the meantime we were able to get up to Bolinas to visit Sophie and Jacob in their new digs. They're settled in nicely in one of the most idyllic places on the planet with free housing and money thrown in. Sophie's already seen Francis Mcdormand walking around the Commonweal conference grounds where they work. Here's a link to the place and you can see some photos below: https://www.commonweal.org/program/nat/もっと詳しく