Test drive and attacked by the cow
N 20°39'14.6'' E 105°04'01.5''
Date:
06.09.2016 until 13.09.2016
Day: 438- 445
Country:
Vietnam
Province:
Hòa Bình
Location:
May Chau
Latitude N:
20°39’14.6”
Longitude E:
105°04’01.5”
Daily kilometers:
70 km
Total kilometers:
18,416 km
Soil condition:
Asphalt / gravel
Maximum height:
180 m
Total altitude meters:
54.661 m
Sunrise:
05:51 h 05:54 h
Sunset:
5:44 p.m. 5:38 p.m.
Temperature day max:
35°C
Temperature day min:
24°C
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
Four weeks after my stunt on the cursed little bamboo bridge, I venture out on my bike again for the first time. I would like to test whether it is possible to support my upper body on the handlebars. It is important not only to hold it, but also to be able to perform jerky movements and absorb shocks if necessary. The first few meters are unfamiliar. “How’s it going?” calls Tanja, who is following me on her bike. “I’ve felt safer before. Don’t think I’ll be able to steer the bike with heavy luggage over a gravel or scree track any time soon.” “Don’t stress yourself. We’ll stay until you’re fit again,” Tanja reassures me.
The next day I feel a bit more confident and the day after that I hitch Ajaci’s trailer to the bike. Highly concentrated, I steer my bike along the narrow paths between the rice fields. The vibrations of the sometimes poor surface hammer into my shoulders, but I still manage the first few kilometers with a trailer. We take a break at a mighty bamboo forest that stretches its tips at least 20 meters into the sky. “Great!” I’m delighted with my success and throw my arms up enthusiastically. Ajaci seems to be happy about this too and jumps into the air next to me. “Ahhh!” I let out a sound of pain. “What?” asks Tanja, startled. “Raising your left arm in the air is not a good idea,” I reply meekly, rubbing my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. You’ll be able to do that again in a few weeks,” Tanja encourages me.
We continue our journey through the bamboo grove. Reasonably satisfied with my recovery, I steer my bike over the gravel and clay track. I’m trailing behind my thoughts when suddenly Tanja’s warning call hits me in the limbs. “Denis! Watch out! A cow…!” “A cow?” I ask myself and hear the wild stamping of heavy hooves and a loud snort that seems to come from the nostrils of a bull rather than a harmless cow. In the rear-view mirror, I recognize with horror how an obviously crazy cow wants to take us on her horns. Escape, my brain signals. As if struck by lightning, I stomp on the pedals. Thanks to the turbo mode, acceleration is rocket-like despite Ajaci’s trailer. “Wow, wow, wow! Wow!” barks Ajaci, towards the horned cattle. “Show her where the hammer hangs Denis”, I translate his doggish. The cow is as stubborn as a goat and sticks close behind us. She’s about to ram us off the road. However, my massive acceleration quickly takes us out of the danger zone and luckily the stupid cow runs out of air. “We showed her,” I understand Ajaci’s barking, who is standing in his caravan wagging his tail and holding out one of his paws to the out-of-breath cow. “Phew, that was close,” says Tanja as she stops next to me. “Absolutely,” I reply, panting heavily. “These cows are obviously so aggressive because of their little calves and want to drive Ajaci away,” I ponder. “Strange, even though he was sitting in the trailer?” wonders Tanja. “They obviously have something against dogs and the cow must have smelled him. That must have been the reason for the attack.” “It’s just as well you reacted with such presence of mind.” “Hm, sure. The only option was to give chase.” “How’s your shoulder?” “Good, really good. It was a little involuntary test.”
We park our bikes to play his favorite game of ‘catch the ball’ with Ajaci. Ajaci has to sit next to me and wait for me to bolt his red ball away. As soon as I put my foot down, he races off to chase the round thing. We are in the middle of the game when the crazy horned beast attacks us again. “Get lost and leave us alone!” I shout at her. Ajaci doesn’t give a damn about the attack and storms after his ball. The cow runs out of breath again during the chase. “We should leave it alone for today,” I say, so as not to provoke a cow conflict with a bad outcome. “Ajaci, in the box!” I shout, whereupon he jumps into his favorite caravan and sits down, panting loudly.
Our tour continues through the villages with their beautiful rice farmers’ stilt houses. In front of some of the huts are looms with which the women earn a little money in addition to growing rice. They spend up to four months working on one of the beautiful, colorful silk scarves, which they then sell to tourists for 200,000 dong (€8). Their hourly wage is only a few cents. It’s unbelievable how the gap between rich and poor in this world is widening.
During our test drive, we repeatedly encounter cows that want to get their hands on Ajaci. They protect their offspring and see our four-legged friends as a threat. Strange, as there are many dogs in this area to which the cattle show no reaction. Is it because of Ajaci’s size? Perhaps because of its strange smell? We do not know. He, on the other hand, is not at all bothered by this and does not take the attacks of his horned animal colleagues too seriously. On the contrary, he seeks contact with the calves, which are sometimes even smaller than he is. They sniff each other curiously and the calves are just as interested as Ajaci. In the twilight of the hot and humid day, we cycle past the women weeding their fields or driving their water buffalo home from work in the fields. Some of them know us and give us a friendly wave. “Xin chào!”, (hello) we shout and raise our hands in greeting…
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
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