Geoff Jones

Inveterate dabbler in business, travel, gadgets & life

Posts

South East Asia bike tour- Dien Chau to Vinh – Day4

What a paradise beach looks like on a miserable dayThe route I worked out for today using Bikemap.net was perfect on totally traffic free roads and hugging the coastline. However, the weather was far from perfect! Incessant cold rain, more like an English winter ride than a sub tropical one.
The beaches all looked very sad & desolate even though I’m sure they are idyllic in the sun.

I arrived in Vinh at midday a totally a drowned rat, frozen & shivering. I tried warming up on some broth but that didn’t work as Vietnam places have no heating or even doors. So I decided to give in for the day and find a hotel.

I ended up at the Thien Tan Hotel which looks OK from the outside but the room is basic in the extreme. After closing all the windows and using as much hot water as there was (hint:not much) I wrapped myself in the thin duvet with all my clothes and fell asleep.

Now debating on how I’m going to cross the mountains in a few days time, the forecast is more rain but warming up a little. I’ve bought a wooly hat in the market today but I’m beginning to think more may be needed.

Here is the Strava for todays pathetically small  36 miles:

Dien_Chau_to_Vinh___Strava_Ride

A few pics are here

 

South East Asia bike ride day 3 – Thanh Hoa to Dien Chau

Quote_by_Eleanor_Roosevelt__Do_one_thing_every_day_that_scares_you_With a snore score of 18% and above mild intensity I think Sally’s idea of a low snore score been due to the adrenaline from yesterday’s excitement wins over my hard mattress theory. I remember reading once you should aim to be scared at least once a day 🙂

The breakfast offered by the Sao Mai is the same stuff as dinner, I’m sure the Vietnamese eat the same whatever the time of day. They fried up a couple of eggs for me with some bread to make it more Western I added noodles 🙂

The weather was diabolical raining and really quite cold. I supposed I looked a bit silly in my shorts with everyone else wrapped up. I eventually left at 9.14, although if the hotel had been nicer I would probably have stayed.

Highway 1 on one of the better stretchesI started, like Dave, on the much maligned Highway 1, which to begin with was really quite good and with a tail wind I was wondering what all the fuss was about as I bombed along. Matters quickly got worse with dreadful road surfaces ,excavations for new carriageways etc etc The buses as always charging along  heading straight for you as they overtake cars plus people travelling really slowly on mopeds and even school kids two on a bike, making it a real challenge.

Warming up with a cuppaWhen I arrived at the junction where Dave turned of for the hills I stopped to warm myself up with a cup of tea. & ponder.  The old lady kept pointing to my knees and shivering. I finally decided to stick with Highway 1 due to the weather and especially the rear wind.  This would  also mean I should see the coast and also cover the distance quicker.

1-IMG_9430The road was awful, narrow, potholed surface & incredibly busy in places but I made good time and it was flat. An interesting thing I noticed as my gears were complaining about lack of oil is that all the little bike shops have disappeared in the villages, replaced by new bike/moped shops. Eventually I scrounged some oil from a 5 litre can in a garage workshop.

For lunch I found a cafe and discovered a new technique for ordering food. I walked around the tables with the waitress pointing to the stuff on unfinished plates that I liked  🙂 when it came to pay the waitress pulled her wad of cash out and showed me the note she wanted,

I decided after 64 miles I had enough so pulled into the very grandiose Muong Thanh hotel in Dien Chau which after some negotiation came down to a respectable price.

The Strava report is here (click the image for all the stats):

Thanh_Hoa_to_Dien_Chau___Strava_RideNot to many pics today due to the weather 🙁 but they are here

 

Hang Tram to Thanh Hoa – Day2 biking

1-IMG_7997With a new low snoring record set for the night of only 11 minutes and an intensity of lower than mild according to Snorelab, it appears that rock hard mattresses are good for me! (Although Sally thinks it was my frightening experience). However, with that and what I could swear was a Hare Krishna mantra wafting through the window it led to me to making an early start at just after 7.30

The sky was still very overcast with very low cloud making for another rubbish sightseeing day 🙁 I found a cafe for my first noodle breakfast. Made with a couple of raw eggs tossed in which then poached in the hot liquid with the greens. Looked disgusting but surprisingly tasty and I guess there was no alternative, except to go hungry.

1-IMG_9383I followed Dave’s day 3 route to Thanh Hoa, the first part of the road is a nightmare unpaved track full of huge potholes etc, through fields of what I think is sugar cane, but with the immense language barrier it could be anything! The surprising thing to me is just how labour intensive it all is and backbreaking work to. With all the vibration my back mudguard stay broke free – but 5 minutes later a bike mechanic fitted a new bolt for free including a decent cup of tea 🙂

Should have stopped and got one freighted back to the UKAfter 20 miles I hit the hills, only 300ft but quite steep. At the summit there were some gorgeous deeply coloured eroded rocks on display. after that it was through endless noisy villages with the frenetic red buses dashing about this with the increasing traffic levels and honking vehicles made me seek sanctuary in the military cemetery for a break.

I made for the same hotel as Dave, The Sao Mai, it’s glory days being well in the past. The bed is fractionally softer than last night, so we shall see what happens to the snoring! I found a neighbouring co-op supermarket (first supermarket I’ve seen in Vietnam) to stock up on some junk food to go with the hand of bananas I bought today.

According to  Strava I did 68.6 miles  (67.8 on the Etrex) today:

Hang_Tram_to_Thanh_Hoa___Strava_Rideand the other exciting images of the day  are here