Distance cycled: 34.5 km Ave: 16.4 km/h Max speed: 56.2 km/h Elevation gained: 396 m
On a day after a big day, the legs were like lead.We struggled to find a spot to eat our breakfast. Where are the public parks and squares when you need them?The riding was pretty… and we went pretty slow.The soil looks rich, but dealing with the limestone seems rough.
We were happy to have pre-booked ourselves 2 nights at a luxurious hotel with a restaurant and pool.
The hotel staff carried our panniers in for us on one of those little rolling carts, and they assured us the restaurant is open, even though it is Tet holiday.
View from our room
We showered off the sweat and switched to sloth mode.
Lounging by the pool was less slothful than expected… I skimmed the floaters out of the pool while Jeannie and Flis hauled chairs out from the changing room.
The views were grand, and it was deserted and delightful.
We said a prayer of thanks for the hotel restaurant.
In the morning, after breakfast buffet, we took turns occupying the toilet until everyone felt reliable enough to go exploring.
We visited the local museum, which covered from 30,000 yrs ago to the 1970’s. We used Google translate to read about the communist government’s relocation of “lowland” Vietnamese into the the apparently untapped (and quite inhospitable) mountains of this region, instructing them to create arable land and produce food for the nation. Basically … Stealing land from indigenous people to “make it more productive”. There is an echo of this government-mandated migration recently, as the Da river was dammed in the early 2000’s, forcing more than 100,000 people to relocate.
We drank some fresh-squeezed sugar cane juice and fresh coconut water, and then I tried to machete the husk open but wound up accepting help when it was taking too long and everyone was watching. It is common to see styrofoam freezer boxes reused as plantersWe carried on to an absolutely jampacked temple (seems like many people visit specifically on new year’s day).And watched as folks left offerings, bought lucky salt, lit incense and made prayers for good health, luck and prosperity in the new year. We found a much less busy alter at which to leave our own offerings.Up about a million stairs from the temple, there was a cave, so we clambered around in there for a while.Classic limestone features with lots of evidence of human interference.We also bought some lucky salt. Which I hope will protect us from any pursuing cave-monsters.Walking back towards our hotel, we stopped to ask a young man operating a massage gun a question, which escalated quickly when his father rolled up on a swish racing bicycle.They explained that they’d once cycled the length of Vietnam together in 14 days and proceeded to bring out the dad’s bedazzled travelling bike…… complete with rings, necklaces, a watch, leather saddle bags, and colourful flashing lights. There is bling EVERYWHERE. There are a total of 10 wine-bottle-sized speakers attached to this bike, and they were soon blasting a Vietnamese rendition of “Hotel California”.We were swept into a ridiculous dancing-on-the-sidewalk party.After a while, we noticed that the uniformed, armed (with assault rifles!) guards in the gatehouse across the street were watching, then videoing, and then dancing on the street in front of the gatehouse, too. I saw them doing something like the cha cha together!Now, to figure out where to go next…
BC by Cycle 