13/5/25
The temperature of our box fluctuated overnight. We had to keep adjusting the air conditioning by a degree up and down. When we woke up it was raining. Hurriedly, we checked the radar. We really didn’t want to be trapped here for the day. Fortunately it was due to abate soon. They’d refused our offer of paying for the rice, vegetables and bananas the night before. We left a token 50k Dong on the side table before we left.
We continued to be flanked by beautiful jungle covered karsts. The morning mist floated over them. The first cafe had run out of coffee. Lucky for us really. We managed to get coffee made with actual beans at the second stop. Frankie nipped off to get some soy milk from a nearby shop. Coffee often seemed to be a male affair in Vietnam. It would make us hark back to the days of Turkey. There were some young men playing pool.
Slowly but surely, as we headed downhill, the karsts faded away. We’d earnt our descent the day before. We were back down to less than 100m. It was an excessively friendly place. Children came out of their houses and sprinted alongside our bicycles. A child went past on the back of a scooter giving us the middle finger. We just laughed and he laughed back.
There were three spikes of elevation to go up today, nothing as dramatic as the day before. As we began the first climb, a group of boys were waving a Vietnamese flag at us from the other side of the road. One of them had a huge corn plant and they offered Jonathan an uncooked cob as they jumped on their scooter. He managed to resist the urge to take it. There were trucks on this part of the Ho Chi Minh Road. The hills were covered in plantation. There was no jungle here.
As we descended, we were pleasantly surprised by the reappearing karsts. We spied cave entrances in the beautiful towering stone. We crossed two rivers and then began ascending the second of the climbs. It was a windy route round the hill. The trucks persisted but it was generally a little easier than the first. The gradient soon petered out.
We rode through a town as school was ending for the day. It was hilarious watching all the kids ride off on scooters. Then we took on the third and last ‘peak’. We were riding at about 5km/h and a lorry passed at 10km/h an hour. Two Western tourists on motorbikes close behind. Near the top, a lorry went past tooting. Jonathan matched the tune with his hand and the driver obliged. He played a really funny tune with his horn, culminating in a final loud blast that could surely be heard for miles.
At the bottom of the descent we met the railway track. As we passed through the settlement we were waving ‘hai’, two fingers, for a long time. Irritating lorries went past. They were full of stones and dropping them all over the road. The surface was already in a sad state. Bumpy and full of potholes. We don’t know why Uncle Ho has let his road deteriorate so much!
At least it was basically flat now we were in the base of the valley. There was no dramatic scenery anymore. Some hills were visible in the distance. We stopped for a homemade mix of peanuts and salt. Without any oil it really didn’t stick. Fortunately, we passed a roadworks encampment and the road improved.
We took money out of an Agribank ATM. The first time we’d tried was the day we entered Vietnam and we’d been nervous it wouldn’t work. As we approached Hương Khê even more church spires rose up. It was very surprising how many churches there were in this part of Vietnam.
We stopped for lunch. A delicious pile of rice noodles, fried tofu and leaves that looked suspiciously like nettles. The super friendly lady was extremely keen to practice her English. We tried to help her the best we could. Simple things like ‘plate’. Which has the same word as ‘disk’ in Vietnamese. We reflected on the fact they ate a lot of rice. We were shocked to find that Vietnam has some of the lowest rates of obesity, in the world.
The road through the town continued to be hilariously bad. It was all dug up and incredibly dusty. They’d attempted to spray it with water to keep the dust down. A boy stood with a hose spraying down wheels as they passed. It was hellish, especially with the large trucks powering through.
Thankfully it didn’t last more than another 5km. Then the QL15, and the lorries, peeled right and the Ho Chi Minh went left. The road quality immediately vastly improved. It was obviously the heavy trucks that wrecked the roads. We spotted a tangled cow and managed to get a local to “free him”. He could at least have an easy time while alive. It was a peaceful road with plenty of lush scenery. A sprinkling of rain arrived. It was unreal to be cycling at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
It felt like we were deep in Ho Chi Minh territory. There were lots of the classic circular green army hats being worn. Lots of rice farming too. We had gorgeous views. Well, the hills were covered in plantation, but it could be worse. We were in good spirits and were on track to break our distance record.
The last 10km was easy. We’d seen so many people on the way in to Vũ Quang and we already felt very welcome. We saw a ridiculously big staircase. It led to a monument for Phan Đình Phùng, a Vietnamese revolutionary. We rolled through the town and found the somewhat rundown hotel. The owner said it was 250k for the night and we went up to the second floor of the towering structure.
We didn’t waste time and walked to the market soon after. It was a nice evening and many of the locals were out riding their bikes, using the racetrack or even playing volleyball. After our discussion about the lack of obesity in Vietnam it was all becoming clearer. There were very few fast food restaurants, if any at all. Freshly cooked, vegetable heavy meals were their preference.
However, we bought some sweet treats. We’d become keen on the ginger-peanut-molasses sandwiched in crispy rice. We also bought more bananas. The locals seemed very entertained with our presence. When we got back we snacked and watched Four Seasons and Shield. Then we looked at our route for the next day. We could either head to the coast and the city of Vinh, or stay west on the HCM.
Interestingly, we were on the edge of Vũ Quang national park. Established in 2002, it has recently been subject to the creation of a large reservoir. Sadly, all our attempts to see if it was accessible led to dead ends. Only 500k Dong boat rides seem to exist. It is particularly of note for the finding of the Saola. Or Asian unicorn. One of the rarest large mammals. It’s been attempted to keep one in captivity, but they always die within weeks. We’d have to let go of any dreams to visit this presumably magical place.
Surly They Won't Make It 