Today we cycled 160km to Ben Quan - our longest ride yet. We set off from Dong Le very early with a goal of covering at least half the distance to Hué which would have been about 130km but by 9am we had done 50km and, feeling good from our rest day, we decided to aim for Ben Quan, where we knew we would find some accommodation.
It was a good day for riding and the road surface was great. From Dong Le, we headed east to the town of Ba Don, where we caught a glimpse of the ocean for the first time since Ha Long Bay. We could smell the seaweed and salty air and look forward to seeing it more as we travel further south. From Ba Don, we joined the busy highway that runs up and down the coast and while it was easy riding, the fumes and noise of the traffic was pretty unpleasant. As we approached the town of Dong Hoi, we headed back onto the quieter Ho Chi Minh Highway.
(Our first sighting of the beach since Ha Long Bay)
(There is no chance of going around this roundabout the wrong way)
After 100k, we stopped for lunch to see us through the final leg of the journey. We certainly are getting a brilliant variety of food in Vietnam and we have used the words "ngawn luhm" (meaning "it was delicious") many times to try compliment the cook! Although maybe our clean plates say it all.
(Lunchtime feast)
The rest of the ride took us through some very quiet, green areas. We had climbed a little to higher ground and were often surrounded by forests where there was a lot of evidence of logging and burning off.
(All the trees in this area had little cups attached to them, used to capture the sap we think)
(An unfortunate back drop for these people living in front of this factory)
(The little boy seemed to be winning when he saw him)
(Just a pretty view)
(Logging is swiftly destroying Vietnam's natural habitats)
We arrived into Ben Quan late afternoon. We passed one guest house on the way into town, assuming we would find more and then decide on a couple to take a look at. However, once we got into the town, a man stopped us to ask where we were going and pointed us back towards the guest house we had seen, telling us it was the only place to stay. Fortunately, it turned out to be one of the nicer guest houses we've stayed at - very clean, quiet and well maintained. The family also ran a restaurant out on the main road where we ate dinner.
As we've found on occasion, some Vietnamese challenge our sense of personal space and personal belongings and at dinner, we had another encounter that we found unusual. We have been prodded and touched by strangers who seem curious about our skin or Paul's beard. Kids will touch and test out the fixings on our bikes, almost to breaking point. At dinner this evening, the woman who appeared to be the grandmother of the family picked up our travel book that was sitting on the table and began to flick through, pulling out pieces of paper on which we had written a few Vietnamese words to memorise and reading them with curiosity. We don't mind any of this as it's all seems to come from a place of interest rather than disrespect or ill-intent but it is in stark contrast to the invisible boundaries that we are used to working with when around strangers, colleagues and even some friends. There is something nice about letting down those barriers and connecting with strangers. Even just shouting out 'hello' to people as we cycle by who give us such a warm response is a lovely feeling. We wonder what response we'll get as we ride around Sweden shouting "hallå"?!
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