A Tough Road

Even with the right permission and a plan of where to begin work, getting to a study site can be difficult. Sometimes it involves flat tires and engine trouble like we experienced on our way to Cao Bang. Other times it involves steep mountain terrain that can be difficult to climb. Either way, one has to be prepared for the trip taking a bit longer than originally planned.

	A Flat Tire
	A flat tire was just one example of car trouble we had on the way to Cao Bang. Though our Vietnamese colleagues spoke English, sometimes we had trouble understanding small details. You can imagine our surprise when the driver unloaded all of our gear and took off down the mountain, leaving all of us by the side of the road. Later we realized he was just going to get the tire patched and couldn't drive on a flat tire with all that extra weight in the car!
	Overheating
	The road was steep and the temperature hot. We had to stop several times during the 8-hour drive to allow the engine time to cool off.