Thursday, 16 January 2014
We were up early to enjoy a final walk along the beach this morning followed by the buffet breakfast bonanza. If you hadn’t already guessed, we enjoy our food just as much as we enjoy our cycling and the breakfast at Avani was certainly a real highlight of our stay! While in the restaurant, the hotel manager, Sylvie, approached us to ask a bit about our experience on the bikes. We learned that Sylvie, originally from France, also enjoys cycling and was kind enough to recommend a good bike store in Ho Chi Minh City where we would be able to stock up on some new parts for the bikes.
At 9.30am, we set off to our next destination, Tuy Hoa, 84kms away. It was good to be back on the bikes and to feel fresh and rested. As we headed further along the highway, we passed through lush tropical surroundings with coconut trees in abundance and roadside shacks with inviting deck chairs out the front.
(A barber at work. Not a bad location)
After a couple of hours, we remarked about what great progress we were making. Big mistake! We then discovered a puncture. We pushed through to find a shady spot and were lucky enough to find a small shop selling coconuts to drink with some seats in the shade and space to disassemble a bike. It didn’t take long to find the small piece of glass that had caused the puncture but to be certain, Paul went to a nearby mechanic in the hope of being able to run the tube through a bowl of water to check for any other holes. The mechanic’s son took the tube from Paul and immediately patched up the hole, and then checked it for any other damage. He did a great job and only wanted 25c for his work. We paid him more, grateful to be given back the time that would have been needed to patch it this evening. The tread on the tyres has become very worn and we’re concerned we’ll get more frequent punctures so buying new tyres will be top of the to do list once we get to Ho Chi Minh City.
We arrived in Tuy Hoa mid afternoon and made our way to a hotel we had done some research on. The staff were friendly and we were given a nice room. We had a little wander around the town. There is something a little strange about the place, as though it was a developing city that then came to a halt before it was complete and now there are many decaying buildings and overgrown sites. That may be an unfair assessment as we haven't explored the whole town. We certainly encountered lots of friendly locals and it does seem to have a good cafe culture and lots of interesting little food stands where we saw people gathering around to enjoy the freshly cooked dishes.
(Local men playing football in a sports complex)
(Love the old picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Mr Universe days hanging outside this gym)
(Com Phan, which means workers meal, for dinner)
(Billiards appears to be very popular in Vietnam and
even the smallest towns appear to have a billiard table available for use)
Tomorrow we will make our way to Nha Trang where we will spend Saturday too. Nha Trang is Vietnam's beach capital, and as a result of it's popularity, the coastline is heavily developed with high rise hotels and apartments. However, the town itself is meant to have retained it's sense of identity and we have hopes for a sunny day on Saturday and of finding a small quiet stretch of beach to enjoy.
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