Fortunately for me, he was not only incredibly friendly, but he also had a retired motorbike sitting in a shed. The tricky part was trying to explain my situation to him in a way that he could understand. Through hand gestures and miming I managed to make some sense to him. Once he realized my situation, without hesitation he grabbed an empty wine bottle and drained his spare motorbike's gas tank into it. It was quite embarrassing for me to realize at that moment that I only had 20,000 Vietnamese Dong on me (about $1 US). I had been thinking, "this guy deserves everything I have in my wallet!" but he completely refused even the idea of me taking out my wallet. I was already blown away on my second day in Vietnam.

With a liter of petrol in my hand and renewed spirits, the last thing to do was explain that not only had I been out of gas, but I was also lost. I kept pointing in different directions and saying "Sapa? Sapa?" hoping he would clue in and understand that was where I was headed. He got the idea and pointed me in the direction, which happened to be in the same direction I had been heading. After returning to the bike and filling up the tank, I was back on track and more determined than ever to make it back before the sun set. I was fairly sure this was not the right path that the guesthouse owner told me about, but I had no choice anymore. I was in it for the long haul.

It wasn’t long before I ran into the next obstacle: a steep incline covered in slick mud. I tried several times to make it up, turning the throttle completely over, but continued to get stuck half-way up and kept sliding back down. With a final attempt I managed to make it half way and then jumped off and pushed the bike to the top. All of the failed attempts combined with this last valiant effort from the bike had unfortunately used up my remaining precious liter of petrol and I was stranded again.

By now it was getting dark and things were getting serious, it was time to start running to find help. I ran for 30 minutes before I arrived at a small village with roughly 5 houses. Someone had seen me coming and rushed up to me, but they were telling me to leave! I tried to explain to him that I was lost and needed petrol for my bike, but with the black and white language barrier between us I just caused more confusion. I couldn't understand why this person was so adamant that I leave their village.

Someone had seen me coming and rushed up to me, but they were telling me to leave!