Vietnam Adventure with RTP Part Two: Camp Squalor

The first part of the trek to CP 2 was easy. We were in a jeep. But then we came to a river that had no bridge. It would be on foot from there, which was something over ten miles. But first we had to get across the river. That was accomplished on a small steel "boat" that was pulled back and forth across the river using ropes stretched across the channel for that purpose. It was about 70m to the otherside, with a pretty stiff current. David, Emma, Larry and I crossed first, followed by our Hmong porters, who were carrying the water, tarps, and other equipment for the checkpoint. So far, so good. But not for long.

The trail we were following was mostly ankle-deep gooey mud with an occasional stretch of fairly firm footing. And mostly uphill. The going was very slow. We passed through or by a few small villages in the first few miles, but after that, nothing. As dusk approached it became obvious that we were not going to get to our CP location before dark, so out came the headlamps.

We trudged on in the muck, which was getting worse because of the drizzle and fog that had settled upon us. Miserable conditions by any normal standards, but experienced "RacingthePlaneteers" such those of us engaged in this operation did not measure misery by any normal standards. We simply endured.

It was well after dark when we started getting close to where the checkpoint needed to be located. We were on a slick, muddy, trail on the side of a mountain, in the dark, in the rain and in the fog. The fog was so thick that we had to hold our headlamps down below waist level just to see the ground. We had just about decided to to stop where we were, lay down a ground cloth and sleep under our tarp (less than optimal conditions but our options were limited), when David said that he had seen a light go off and on somewhere ahead. We decided to check it out. We trudged on for maybe 200m when we passed by a big truck. We guessed that it must have been the headlights that David had seen. But who turned the lights on and off? A bit further on we came to what can only be described as a tarp-covered shanty on the side of the trail. Our guide yelled something and was apparently invited inside to chat with whoever was inside. A few minutes later he came out and said that we had come acrosss a work camp for a crew that was doing repair work on the trail and that there was room inside for Larry, Emma and I to sleep. That would work, because our porters were going to leave the gear they were hauling and head for Pha Long. David was also planning to go straight through to Pha Long, which was another ten miles up the trail. So, rather than sleeping on a ground cloth laid out across gooey mud and using a tarp for shelter from the fog and drizzle, Larry, Emma and I slept on a raised platform in a shack that sheltered us from the fog and drizzle with several tarps.

I woke up very early the next morning to make coffee. I had been wise enough to pack my camp stove and fuel along with plenty of coffee, tea and food. I had just gotten the first kettle of water to a boil when one of the workers came over and, using gestures, invited us to have breakfast with them. Larry and I, both being the adventurous types, thought that would be really fun. Emma, who had yet to crawl out of her sleeping bag, decided that more sleep was in order. So, Larry and I headed for the "mess tent". The mess tent was another tarp shack with a wooden floor and small, low table in the middle. We were truly honored guests, being given the best seats in the house and some pieces of old carpet to sit on. We had very low expectations about what we would be having for breakfast and could not have been more surprised. It was an absolute feast! Hot coffee, fried eggs, grilled strips of meat we assumed to be pork (but which could have been cat or dog), boiled greens, bread, cheese, sauces of all kinds and, best of all: HAPPY WATER! Everything else is self-explanatory, but perhaps not happy water. It was locally distilled "rice wine", which was much closer to being vodka than any type of wine. It would have been rude of us to decline our hosts' hospitality, so Larry and I joined them in several rounds. The crew wasn't going to be working that day (too wet to work on the trail), so they were in a partying mood. After a few rounds of happy water, the local guys challenged Larry and I to a "pick up the peanut with chopsticks" contest. It was hilarious, with peanuts flying everywhere as Larry and I tried to clamp down on them with our chopsticks. We would get an apparently good grip only to have the peanut slip out and go zinging through space.

After breakfast, and with a couple of good buzzes going, Larry and I found Emma up and dressed back at our shack. It was only then that we realized that our shack was cantilevered out over the edge of the trail and that the platform we had slept upon was literally hundreds of feet above the nearest ledge below. It's a good thing none of us stepped "out back" to take a leak.

 We got the checkpoint set up long before the first competitor arrived, which gave us plenty of time to do some exploring. The fog and drizzle had finally abated, giving us our first good look at the trail that had brought us to "Camp Squalor". That we had made our way on that trail in the dark, wet fog was nothing less than incredible.

The original plan was for Emma, Larry and I to pack up after the last competitor came through the checkpoint and head to the location of the next checkpoint at the village of Pha Long, about ten miles down the trail. But Emma was called upon to accompany a distressed competitor back to the river, leaving only Larry and I to make our way to Pha Long. It was late afternoon when we set out on that journey and we both knew that we would not be arriving in Pha Long until well after dark. So, another ten miles on a wet, muddy mountain trail. But when we got there, a jeep would be waiting to take us to real tents and dry, warm clothes at Camp Two at Ben Den. Or so we thought. More about that in Part Three: So long, Pha Long.