It was my second solo day of the trip today. The first was on day one to Saraburi. Miles is getting the bus to Sapa to maximise his time in China, whereas one of the things I wanted to do on this trip was to ride some of the hills of northern Vietnam so I am continuing on with the original route. We’ll probably catch up in China somewhere.
It was a rainy start to the day and I was expecting to get quite wet on this ride. I delayed and delayed the start, hoping that the weather would change. In the end, I left in drizzle just before 10am, and rode through town (stopped at the bakery for some donuts.
By the time I’d left the town, the light drizzle had stopped, so the poncho disappeared, not to be seen again today. Up the first climb, the jumper came off, and after fearing the weather worst, I was in shorts and T-shirt for all but the first 15 mins. It’s rare that the weather is as bad as predicted especially when you’re on the move.
I followed a sandy banked river for the first part and then the river surrounds got steeper and more interesting. There were rice terraces, new constructions, minority peoples, simple slab dwellings and of course, there were motorbikes.
The road went through a gorge and it was easy cycling – downhill. Towards the end of the gorge, Miles’ bus came roaring past with his bike strapped to the roof.
There was a village where I stopped for coffee and pretty soon after, I was in Than Uyen where I knew there was a supermarket. Not that I bought much. I was looking for some of the ginger tea that I got earlier in Vietnam but haven’t seen it since.
As I left the supermarket, I noticed some bikepackers waving to me from across the road. Nathan and Fabienne, who live in Luxembourg had stopped for a meal and were going in the opposite direction. I went over and chatted for about an hour. What a lovely couple. They gave me a million tips for China and since then, Fabienne has sent through more details. I really appreciate the help. Bikepackers eh ? What a wonderful breed of people, we are !
We said out goodbyes and I made the short journey to the Pine Forest resort where I’d booked a room. Unfortunately, it was at the top of a very steep hill which required walking.
What a nice but strange place. I had to wait for the room to be ready and while that was happening, the day trippers thought I was a novelty. Ladies kept feeding me and taking selfies with me. It was fun, but became a little too much. So I went.
I had a slow leak in my rear tyre today. I pumped it up three times in the 43 kms of the ride, so I checked it at the hotel and found the tube had failed near the valve. I’ve been experimenting with TPU tubes for a year. They’re very light and compact so they’re ideal for bikepacking. However, I perhaps should have purchased some more expensive ones rather than these ones from AliExpress. When they work, they work exceptionally well, but I’ve had a couple fail in the joins or reinforcing near the valve.
Again tonight, I got the “sorry, restaurant is closed” message and I was quite frustrated. The on-site restaurant was the reason I came here. Eventually , they agreed to make me some fried rice with eggs, and that was very nice of them. I thanked them profusely, had my dinner which included a bowl of soup, then toddled off to bed.
And then the karaoke started up. They love it loud in Vietnam and tonight they were going for it. There were soloists and duets. It was amazing the noise that less than ten people needed to create. One of the joys of bikepacking is that when you’re tired, you simply fall asleep regardless – and that’s what happened tonight. I woke up to hear them getting into their cars and leaving. Good riddance
