I took the morning slow. I had a comfy bed and a nice private room for 8 dollars. I got to do some pushups, stretches, and abs. The owner of the homestay told me a route to take to get to my next destination. I followed his advice, hoping to see some stunning views.
I drove for about 30 minutes through very remote villages. It was so cool. I drove until I noticed the road stopped. I was in a local village and tried to ask for directions. I didn't know if I should keep going or turn around. Sometimes you have to drive on unpaved roads to reach the good views, and I thought this was one of those. I managed to communicate with a local farmer. She told me to turn around. I did so and checked the map to see where I went wrong. I'd gone down the wrong road. The journey is all about getting lost anyway.
Before I started driving again, I stopped for some coffee. I was sitting on a beautiful patio overlooking rice fields. I ate crackers. Some local guys invited me to sit with them. I joined them, and they made me drink beer. I obliged. It's fun laughing with each other when you have no idea what the other is saying. I thanked them and headed off north.
I continued to drive and passed through the terraced rice fields the homestay owner had talked about. I took out my drone and got some awesome footage. I noticed my drone's battery was dying, so I plugged it into my portable charger. The drone slipped from my hand, but the charging cord stayed attached. When I grabbed it to store it, I noticed the USB-C port had detached. I could no longer charge my drone. I was actually really sad. I've been loving flying the drone and want it for my biking adventure. I didn't know what to do.
I redownloaded WeChat and asked the DJI rep. Long story short, I spent the rest of the afternoon driving around town, trying to find a place to fix it. I went to local electronics stores to see if they could help. I know it's an easy fix, having soldered many PCBs before. I used a translator to explain the issue. People were willing to help. The problem was that the screws connecting the case, which covers the internal circuitry, were very small, and nobody could find the right size bit. Someone eventually found the right bit, but after messing with it so much, they ended up stripping the screws. So close, yet so far.
I contemplated what to do. I researched and found a DJI-authorized drone repair shop in Hanoi. I decided tomorrow I'll wake up early and drive 4 hours to get it fixed, hopefully. I found a homestay near the beautiful terraced rice fields. The owner wanted 150,000 dong, or almost 6 dollars. On Booking.com, it was 3 dollars! I showed her, and she gave me the three-dollar price.
Tomorrow morning, I'll start my mission to fix my drone. Nothing can stop a man on a mission. I hope they can fix it and that it's worth it so I can take amazing footage throughout northern Vietnam.
