February 16, 2017

I was awake early (6:00 a.m.) with a little tummy ache, I think I ate too much last night, or maybe it was the paint stripper Hanoi Vodka that upset me!

We packed our stuff ready to go and went downstairs for a lovely mushroom omelette and some good coffee.

After leaving the mayhem that is Nha Trang, we followed a quiet road to the A1. 

They have built some big resorts in this area.  This one had two or three entrances and the property was well over a kilometre long, I am not sure how wide it would have been, but there was a golf course and driving range located on the property.

There was a small climb to connect us to the A1, with some nice views over the water.

The A1 took us past an old airbase, where cows were grazing on the overgrown run-way and between the old bunkers.  I think this may have been left by the Americans – it was near Can Ram.  We could see buildings on both sides of the road, the A1 runs through the middle of what would have been the base.

The ride on the A1 was uneventful, we were cycling between two mountain ranges along a very wide valley. The valley had some rice paddies but not a lot of growing seemed to be happening.

The Towns are further apart as we head south and the A1 is getting quieter as well. This section indicated who could ride on the shoulder, bikes are number 1.  The motorbikes tend to ride in the slow lane, but then get honked at by the cars, buses and trucks.

We stopped at a rest stop, and noticed this strange structure, it was concrete and there were speakers blasting out bird song.  There was no-one around that we could ask what it was.  Although this area is quite famous for the birds nest, that you can make birds nest soup with.  The island opposite Nha Trang, has lots of natural nests.  We weren\’t sure if this was to encourage the swallows to make nests here, where it might be a  little easier to harvest.

We came across these two buildings they are the Thap Hoa Lai. This is a cluster of towers that was built in the ninth century. Hoa Lai tower group is from the Cham architectural style.

It was really hot again today, even the water buffalo were trying to keep cool.

The variety of houses we see on the road are quite amazing, from something that wouldn\’t look out of place in North America to someone who may not have wanted waterfront property.

We had tried to book a place in Phan Rang last night but couldn’t get hold of the cheap and cheerful hotel we had planned on staying. We asked the receptionist at the Souvenir Hotel if she could call them this morning. Unfortunately, there was no answer. We knew there were a lot of hotels to choose from in Phan Rang, but it can be a bit of a pain trying to find a hotel when you are already tired after a long ride.  When we arrived in Phan Rang the cheap and cheerful hotel was closed, we quickly looked at the iPad and found the other hotel that we had been looking at on bookings.com, but we knew it was going to be more expensive.  The Ho Phoung hotel looked very grand from the outside.  I asked to see the room, it is lovely, nicer than the one we stayed in Nha Trang.  Big room, good shower and helpful staff.  I asked for the standard room at 250,000 VND but I think we have got a much nicer room than the standard.  We might be paying 300,000 VND – $17.65.  We asked the receptionist where to get some food,  the receptionist said she could order pizza for us.  We went out to get some beer and water and check out the local eateries – only street food available, it looked pretty scary. We had pizza and a couple of beers in the room.