February 10, 2017

It rained throughout the night, and was pouring with rain when we woke up at 6:00. We tried to go back to sleep but the constant beating of rain on the tin roof does not assist in sleeping.

We had breakfast and asked for more hot water from the owner so that we could have coffee. We slowly got our things together and eventually had to head out in the rain at 8:15.

I have been reading an Australian’s blog who did this route in 2012/2013 and I remember he said he stayed in Bong Son. My calculations had this town at about 40 kms. We had decided to head for this town and quit for the day. We had even considered hopping on a train here and heading straight for Saigon! It is supposed to be the dry season and we have had more rain in Vietnam in 24 days than we had in 28 days in England in 2014!

Ralf took some photos from the Nha Nghi before leaving this morning.  View from the back of the guest house.

The ride would have been very scenic and enjoyable if hadn’t been for the constant rain. There was not much traffic on the A1 and there were a few little hills to go up and over. There are no photos today, although I could have taken some if I had put the waterproof camera in my pocket.

We arrived in one town which I thought might be Bong Son but was a bit short on the distance. I asked at a hotel what town we were in. Not Bong Son another 10 kms down the road. The hotel owner did offer us a room for five hours for 70,000 VND – about $4.00. Ralf’s comment was “five hours these guys have some stamina”!

We carried on to Bong Son, cycled past a few Nha Nghi and then asked at an “Apple” store where a Khach San was – Khach San is hotel and generally has better rooms. We went past the same Nha Nghi’s and found a small hotel tucked down an alley. The room is very large with a double bed and a single bed. The bathroom actually has a bath-tub in it, but I think it would take forever to fill it with the little hot water heater above the tub. It costs $14.00 and has air conditioning, a fan and cable TV and it is clean.

After we had showered and warmed up a little we headed out for lunch – Bahn Mi with eggs and a green tea. It started to rain again while we were out so we waited until it had stopped before heading down the street to find some milo, fruit and beer – what a combination. We also bought a tensor bandage for Ralf’s wrist. I think I might have put it on a little tight the first time as Ralf was complaining about his fingers turning blue! Hopefully it helps, any suggestions what to do with a sprained wrist will be welcomed.

The “restaurant” set up in Vietnam can be rather strange. Usually there is a cart of some kind set up with various food and then inside are a few tables and chairs. You choose what you want from the cart and then sit down on plastic chairs and a metal table. The first place we went in only had one portion of rice left and a few scraggy bits of meat. We headed down to the main street where we had lunch. A stall holder indicated that we should eat at her stall. There were three different dishes to choose from – prawns, mystery meat with an egg and some other mystery meat, all came with rice and beans. Ralf and I had the same, but I opted not to have the mystery meat just the eggs, she gave me an extra egg and some more hot sauce, which wasn’t very spicy. Rice made a change from the noodles, but it would be nice to sit down and have a nice meal with proper chairs and a menu. Ralf spotted the big bread dumplings we had once before. He bought one and ate it on the way back to the hotel. Big fluffy white bun, with mystery meat and a quails egg inside. My tummy is doing a few flip-flops at the moment, I hope it settles down.

Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be a little clearer, we have 80+ ks to do if we follow the highway or 100+ if we follow the coastal route. If it is raining – straight down the highway, if not the more scenic route, of course it also depends on how Ralf’s wrist is feeling. Forecast for intermittent showers.