Word: smoke
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...East Timor: Up in Smoke...
...East Timor: Up in Smoke...
...Vietnam's highlands are renowned for their spectacular scenery, waterfalls and rich hill-tribe culture. But there's another ubiquitous sight along the north's twisting mountain roads: the smoke-belching, gear-grinding, Eastern bloc motorcycle throwback that Vietnamese call con trau gia (the old buffalo). First imported from the Soviet Union in the 1960s, the Minsk's two-stroke engine and body have hardly changed over the years. Northern Vietnam has undeniably become Minsk country, and the old buffalo are used for everything, from personal transportation to hauling pigs, cows and chickens to hill-tribe markets...
...East Timor: Up in Smoke...
...Vietnamese are mystified by the large number of foreigners riding around the capital on the ungainly, smoke-billowing "peasant bike," which offers an unwelcome reminder of Soviet domination. But the foreign devotees don't care. "I may never get a Vietnamese girlfriend riding this bike," says Minsk enthusiast Digby Greenhalgh. "But I can get up any mountain." Armed with a Minsk, a tool kit and a good map, few places are out of reach for the adventurous weekend warrior; those with a week can take in an astonishing array of landscapes and locations of historic and cultural interest. The "Grand...