Day 4: Yen Cat to Tan Ky

Day 4: Our first 90km day! So many water buffalo!!

Day four presented a big challenge for the team, it was our longest day so far, and was the longest distance some of the riders have ridden to date! 

The day started off with a great breakfast of egg fried noodles and veg with a coffee at the little cafe outside our hotel in Yen Cat. After a much-needed stretch session, we headed out towards Tan Ky. 

As we worked our way up and over the rolling hill with a bit of headwind we were able to enjoy some delightful views over undulating countryside. Around the 50km mark, the team stopped and regrouped for a much needed lunch break!

After lunch, the landscaped flattened out a bit and the wind had died down, the rice patties were amazing and there were plenty of water buffalo out and about. 

We reached our destination in good time and good spirits! After checking in and cleaning ourselves up a bit, we were treated to some music by some of the riders. After a while, an older gentleman came and played some music with us! 

Day 4 has been great! Cannot wait to see what the next few weeks have in store!

--Storm

Day 25: Lam Ha to Bao Loc (103km)

Day 25 started with a warm up in the hotel lobby to Gasolina, a 2004 hit with Spanish lyrics by Daddy Yankee.  With confusion on Chris Gallet's face, his first response was...

"Tim, what are they saying?"

Far right: Tim Gomez

We would like our readers to know, that Tim Gomez is from the UK and his heritage is from Guatemala. Not Mexico.

After getting the blood pumping, I decided to set of early from the pack. Not because I was treating H2H as a race but to visit my aunt who lives on the route. She lives in a town called Di Linh, it's exactly 60km into the ride and would be a great place to stop for lunch.

The last time I visited her, she cooked all this for me.

The last time I visited her in 2010

She even fed me.

I know what you're thinking... Look at the size of that gob...

So, I called my sister in law, to call her sister to tell my aunt that I was coming with 16 other hungry riders. 

My aunt is such a humble lady and really enjoys cooking for people. That morning I managed to sprint 60km in just 3 hours. With no break and no regards for any of the graded hills. I just wanted see my lovely aunt and make sure that she was fine with cooking all that food. 

When arriving there at 11am, I learned that there was some miscommunication. One of the sisters was using FaceTime and it mysteriously cut off moments before asking her to cook food. 

Blind panic! 16 hungry riders promised lunch only to learn that there was some miscommunication. Quickly thinking on my feet, I remembered the local town well and recommended a really nice restaurant to all the riders up the road. 

Instead of food, my aunt offered water, Pepsi and Red Bull. God bless her soul, she though that Red Bull is what we needed to get us through the ride. 

My Buddhist teacher was right. 

Compassion, without wisdom, is like a bird trying to fly with only one wing. 

Speaking of wings, Red Bull does not give you wings. Just a giant sugar rush followed by a comedown. 

With Carolyn being able to speak Cantonese to my aunt, the same questions came up. 

How old are you?

Are you married?

Do you want to marry Tat?

Was she really trying to hook me up with Carolyn? Love my aunt. Not the first time she's tried to find me a wife. 

From an early age, I've always made it clear with my mum and aunts.

"I would never let you choose my clothes, let alone my wife." 

Anyway, it was nice for the other riders, to stop by and show their respect for my aunt. Even if it was just brief. Just such a shame that my aunt never got the message in time. She would have loved to have cooked for everyone. 

For future riders, please see below for the location of the restaurant in Di Linh. 

The restaurant is at the end of Di Linh town centre. Just moments after the turning to Phan Thiet. 

It's the largest restaurant in the area

Lots of tour buses stop there and the staff speak English.

Words: Tat

Photos: Chris Tran

Day 18: Plei Can to Kon Tum 75km

You've just riden 75km in the tropical heat and what's the first thing on your mind when you arrive?

Cold shower?

Sleep?

Or fish and chips, sandwiches, pizza and pasta all complimented by donuts? 

The team was excited to learn from Trip Advisor that there was a pizza restaurant in Kon Tum. The capital town of Kon Tum Province that boarders with Laos and Cambodia.

BiBi Pizza reviewed the "Best Pizza in Town" by Trip Advisor member joanneandsteve4.

The bad news was that this place did not exist after numourous attempts to find it.

The good news was that we were able to find an amazing place that served fresh rice noodles with barbecue pork and spring rolls. Known in Vietnamese as Bun Thit Nuong.

They say that money can't buy happiness, but it can buy you Bun Thit Nuong which is the same thing.

Above: Our Bun Thit Nuong cooked by this lovely lady.
Left: Our hungry riders ready to eat. The next 5 minutes was dead silent.

With another drama free ride out of the way, we moved closer to Ho Chi Minh City. Spirits are high and moral up, Keith Lamburger hosts a second culture night. 

Here's the game. 

1 team member gets blind folded and 3 other team members are drawn from a hat to have their face touched.

The blind folded team member has to guess the face he/she is touching.

After two successful attempts from Carolyn and Claire we had time for one more. 

However, this time Tat is blind folded and funny man Zak, Isaac and Chris Tran believe it would be hilarious to turn around and allow their bums to be touch. 

Funny when it's not you having to touch the bums....

For the full video, please watch this space. 

Having a sense of humour is about being able to take a joke.

Captain Chris Rolls happy he's just finished the day. 

Rider Isacc Luchini lining himself up for a finishing hi5

First finisher Jack Kimber welcoming last rider Kim.

Jack Kimber watching the world go by allowing his Bun Thit Nuong digest.

Finally,  rider Keith Lamburger caught in a candid shot practising his impressions of the legendary Bricktop from Snatch.

 "I don't care if he's Muhammad "I'm hard" Bruce Lee. You can't change fighters."

Words: Tat Lay
Photos: Tat Lay and google images

November's Charity Murder Mystery

60 guests - 1 creepy mansion - 1 Victim - Who dunnit?

Saigon Murder Mysteries - my project that I've been working on since August 2014. It was from living in a creepy over sized mansion that led me to running 3 successful mysteries. So for this reason, I decided that it's time to give something back to the community by donating all ticket sales to the Riders of H2H 2015. 

I'm suspecting that not everybody knows what a murder mystery is. So let me sum it up.

60 guests, 1 murder victim and one murderer all socially interacting to guess the murderer. Like a real life game of Clue or Cluedo if you're British.

The night was a great way for new riders to forcefully break the ice by completing tasks given to them on a task sheet of their character.

All guests came as characters that were sent to them before they arrive. Some went all out in costume, some came in smart work wear (which is fine) and 1 person changed gender (which is also fine...)
The truth being told, as the organiser I had a hard time filling female main characters as many of the guests wanted to be a sub character in the plot or found that the flirty personality of their character did not match their own nature. 

The solution?
Beg an actor from the Saigon Players to change gender for the night. 
Photos of this legendary character will follow, but just to pre warn you... 
There's no way these photos can be unseen.

We've had 3 murders at the mansion before. Some where dramatic and some were painful to watch. You can add your own meaning to the work painful. 
The victim on this occasion was Mitch Maverick, a Poker tournament winner about to claim his winnings before being shot dead. 

Victim - Mitch Maverick, a Poker tournament winner shot dead moments before collecting his winnings. 

Thank you to Lucky Dog for providing the catering, complimentary drinks and for your generous donation towards our campaign. Sorry, had to mention them. OK back to the murder.

Meet David, or Sheriff Sam. A general all round nice guy who some describe him as a gentle giant. David works in HR who's job is to interview people everyday. But tonight, interviewing people has just been taken to another level. 

All guests are now suspects and everybody is encouraged to conduct their own investigation into finding the murderer while proving their own innocence. 
Sheriff Sam on the other hand used his positional authority to get information out. 

The following images you are about to see are not for faint hearted. 

Sheriff Sam interrogating a potential suspect

The suspect stood right next to the Victim as the gun shot went off. Was it him?

We warned you that there's no way you can unsee these photos.

Thank you to everybody who attended Murder at Deadwood Saloon. All ticket sales were donated to the riders of H2H equalling a total of US$750.

A great start to the campaign and a pleasure to see so many kind hearted souls on the night. 

For all photos from the night, and details of future murder mysteries visit the Saigon Murder Mysteries' Facebook page. 

https://www.facebook.com/mysteriesinsaigon
or
www.saigonmurdermurdermysteries.com