Finally got around to investing in one of them GoPro cameras and decided to head out to Antelope Island, Utah to what it was all about. To my surprise it was impressive in every way (except that it lacks a built in lcd screen). Managed to arrive on the island during the sunset, which was breathtakingly beautiful.
The most surreal place. An adventure where dream comes to reality.
Many of the great advantages of living in Utah are the spectacular landmarks, such as the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Salt Flats is famous for being the home to the Bonneville Speedway.
Worth the every moment
Mickey Thompson became the first American to break the 400MPH (644 KM/H) speed barrier in 1960, which took place at this very Speedway. Ever since, many land speed records have been recorded and broken on this magnificent wonder.
Fortunately, the Speedway is only an hour and a half away from where I live so I figured it was about time I took my bike out on a weekend adventure to the flats. My initial intention was to head out there in time to capture the sunset, camp overnight on the Slat Flats, and capture the sunrise in the morning. But an adventure wouldn’t be an adventure if everything turned out the way things were planned.
Initially planned to camp out on the salt flats so packed my camping gears.
I headed out there with minimal camping gear packed onto my Thruxton, but managed to get to the flats slightly too late to set up my camera equipment to capture the sunset. Thanks to my handy iPhone, I managed to get some quick shots of the beautiful sunset scape.
Capturing the final minute of the sunset with my iPhone
The last minute of sunset at the speedway
Missed timing was just the beginning. One very important factor about the flats that I didn’t consider was the lingering soft mud below the salty surface. I had been out on the flats before, but with a car with four wheels and never on a motorcycle. I learned very quickly that street motorcycles don’t handle well on soft/muddy surfaces. The lesson came unexpectedly when I rode onto a patch of slushy mud, and the next thing I remember is my bike and I taking a bath on a field of mud and salt… Hold on, let me back up a little bit.
Normally I would wear my bomb proof Belstaff Trophy jacket to moto trips such as this (why? because it’s bomb proof); however for some reason I figured it was time to break out my leather Belstaff Brad jacket and wear that to this trip. Ok, just remember the “leather” part.
My Belstaff Brad Jacket. Maybe I should have just wore my Trophy instead.
Back to taking a bath on the salty mud field. So the next thing I notice is that the entire right side of my bike’s surface is buried in this mud, as well as my entire right arm (because I fell off to the right). Fortunately because the surface was soft with mud, it didn’t do any damage to my bike, and I really didn’t mind my arm being buried in the mud, expect that my arm happened to be wearing my favorite “leather” Belstaff jacket!!! Last thing you really want to do with your premium leather anything is soak it in salt-saturated mud…
After managing to lift my bike upright (which wasn’t easy since I was standing on a surface with ankle-deep mud and the bike does weigh 500+ pounds), and wiping off the mud from my bike and myself, I headed to the nearest town Wendover, a casino town just across the Nevada border. Stopped by the town’s supermarket, bought some cleaning materials, and spent the rest of the night scrubbing mud and salt off my bike and my jacket at a motel parking lot.
Managed to clean off the mud and started heading into Wendover.
Day two. After such a failed first day and spending the night at the motel instead of camping, I couldn’t be bothered to get up early to catch the sunrise. I took my time and headed back out to the flats in the later morning. Once I got out there, I made sure to take my time and stuck to the path leading out to the Speedway. Once I made it out to the Speedway (the only way to tell that you are on the Speedway is the two orange cones placed some distance from each other, lining up the path), I realized I failed to take one more thing into consideration.
Made sure to be careful when going out onto the Speedway the second time.
Northern Utah starts to get hot this time of the year, which translates into very hot out in the Salt Flats. I didn’t realized until I was out on the flats that I would feel like an egg frying on a pan. Because the salt surface is so pure white (i.e. light reflective), it’s almost like having the sun shining from the top as well as from below. Imagine having one of those reflecting tanning screens people use on the beaches, expect that this reflector is the entire floor you’re standing on. Big fail number two.
The blinding salt surface was hot. Quickly unpacked and set my gear up.
Realizing that I wouldn’t last very long on this surface, I quickly unpacked and set up my camera gears. It’s very hard to focus and take photos when you are cooking in the sun, and every corner of the place is blinding your eyes. Despite the heat exhaustion, I managed to take some shots, although it was about a quarter of what I initially planned to shoot, and quickly got out of the salted frying pan.
Hastily taking shots.
The photos turned out better than I had hoped for, and just from looking at it, you would never have guessed about the bathing in salty-mud and frying under the ruthless heat experiences. What you would see through these photos is the pure essence of an adventure, a dream becoming a reality. The Bonneville Salt Flats is definitely one of the most surreal places I have been in the world, and an experience that’s worth salt-mud bathing your prized possessions in. The photos speak for themselves.
Through the viewfinder shot with my Hasselblad. Love.
The photos turned out better than I expected.
The Aftermath: I had no idea how adhesive the salt would be. Chunks of salt were clayed to virtually everything: shoes, pants, jacket, helmet, bags, especially to my bike (engine, frame, handle bar, battery, exhaust, wheels, and more), and etc. Since, I’ve detailed washed my bike twice but still find white salt in hidden corners, and hand cleaned my Belstaff jacket with special leather cleaner, which will do for now but will likely have to send it off to get it specially cleaned soon. Worth it? Every moment of it. Would I do it again? We’ll see…
Bike filled with salt. Still getting the salt off after two washes.
Chunks of salt were caked onto everything.
Need coffee in the morning? Traveling with coffee lovers make mornings an interesting and delightful experience. Here are some photos of Joon Lee and Rick Poon preparing their morning coffee during out camping trip to Big Sur, CA.
Feel free to check out my Instragram for more photos from the trip: Nostalgia Memoir
Motorcycle ride up Highway 1 (aka. PCH) is a pleasurable experience, but adding camping to the experience just perfects it. We were lucky enough to get a last minute camping spot at the Pfeiffer Big Sur camp ground, and the rest is history.
For more photos, you are welcome to visit our Instagram: MySelf, JBL, Rick Poon.
It was great to see our bikes parked at our campsite, seeing them in their natural setting.
First priority, setting up our home for the weekend.
Once our rides were parked and living quarters established, it was time for us to start preparing for dinner.
First, get the charcoal going.
Prime Ribeye Stake and Corn on the Cob.
Not sure why we bought canned corn, but it was delicious!
These enamel bowl and cup from Best Made Co. can’t get any better for camp cooking!
The hand of a master.
The darkness came sooner than we were expecting so we ended up enjoying our beautifully firewood-smoked stake in dark. To our surprise, it was a great pleasure eating under our headlights, which also happened to produce some beautifully lit photos.
Steak and Corn on the Cob looks irresistible.
Such a surprising delight eating under a headlamp.
Quick Video of our Cooking Delight:
During random motor scooter ride with a couple of new backpacker friends, we came across this spectacular view of this mountain range blanketed by the amazing cloud formation.
I decide to get up one early morning in Sapa to explore a local villages. I geared up and got on my 200 cc motor scooters and headed out. No tourists, and not even locals started their day yet, but I was greeted by the morning sunray painting the rice-field landscape. Result being a breathtaking scenery at every turn.
This photo was taken at the hallway leading to my $5 a night room at Green Valley Hostel in Sapa, Vietnam. This ended up being my cheapest, and probably the least clean/comfortable places to stay, but ended up meeting the coolest people at this Hostel. Not only that, Sapa became my favorite place out of all the places I visited in Southeast Asia.
Who needs luxury to have fun traveling? That is the beauty of backpacking on a budget, you learn to see past the unclean sheets, sharing rooms with random people, and many more discomforts, and start enjoying the true purpose of traveling. I think this single photo portrays all that.
After visiting the Bac Ha Sunday Market, the tour guide took us to the nearby village, where the locals live. It was beautiful to see how simple the lifestyle of these villagers were.
VSCO 2 Lightroom presets were used for all the photos on here. I just got them and thought I’d give it a try. Not a bad result.
ABOVE: These buffaloes play a crucial role in the lives of these local villagers. They are essential tools for rice farming, transportation, and food. I heard that once the government provided the locals with tractors for their rice farming but the they returned the machines because they would break down. The locals preferred the buffaloes, because they didn’t break down and were more reliable.
ABOVE & BELOW: There are a lot of corn drying at this village so I assumed that they used them for future meals/cooking, but soon learned that they are used to fee the livestock. I love how the corns maintain the beautiful color even when dry.
ABOVE: Ducks? I’m not sure. But plenty of them wondering around the village.
ABOVE: Children at the village playing and minding their own business. I’m sure they are used to random obnoxious tourists walking through their villages and taking photos
ABOVE: This is the inside of the clay house that they live in!
ABOVE: Basket? Not sure what this was for.
ABOVE: Yes, this is a beautiful place, with beautiful things to take photos of, but sometimes you just gotta step back and appreciate the photo-craze tourist, as I am one of them.
One thing I couldn’t keep my camera off during my trip to the Vietnamese highlands was the beautifully crafted and colorful dresses of the women. I don’t know how to describe it but everyone of their dresses are unique in their own way. I don’t think my photos do any justice.
ABOVE: Group of local ladies minding their own business at the market. I’m sure this is a great place for them to catch up on their week’s gossips, and friendly chats.
ABOVE: This young girl was waiting at the center of the market with her mother. I was quite far away when I shot this photo of her, but I guess she managed to see me take this picture. Love her stare filled with emotion.
ABOVE: Mother with daughter (I’m guessing), out by the market selling fresh fruit/vegetables (I’m not sure what they are). The girls clearly look bored, and probably would prefer to be somewhere else playing.
ABOVE: More ladies catching up on the week’s gossips and chats.
ABOVE: One thing I noticed in the highlands of Vietnam is that all the women seem to do the heavy lifting work. Men are off on the sides drinking or smoking bongs, while women do the farming, cooking, shopping, and carrying heavy goods.
ABOVE: I think she had a good day at the market today. Was able to get this shot while leaving the market and always great to see someone with a nice big smile.
Nostalgia Memoir 