The first triple digit day...

Day 5... 102km... FINISHED :)
This morning after a long night's rest Jeff and I decided to wake our butts up early so we could take one more walk down the beach before sitting on a bike for the next 6 hours. As we wandered out we saw a couple of other H2Hers had the same idea and that the peaceful beach I had in mind was actually full of activity! Wandering down a bit towards a large crowd we saw all the boats coming in and baskets and baskets of all kinds of seafood being taken off and sorted on the sand for people to come by. My favourite part was when I turned around to see an eel jump out of the basket of the old man who had just bought him's bike and the old man calmly pick up a rock, beat his head in a couple of times, then toss him back in and bike away on the beach!
An exciting morning of stretching because our dear friend in the leather vest decided to come out and join in on the stretches- although his versions were more dance than stretch and WAY more sexual. So we set off, only for poor Angela to discover a flat before she even began! But most of the crew trudged on. THe first 63km were on Highway 1 again, not the most scenic or relaxing of highways. But we powered through and most of the gang was pedaling hard despite our sore rear ends. Unfortunately today was not the luckiest of days and quite a few people had flats, some even with multiple flats (shout out to Jas, 4 in one day... OUCH) But we finally got to the town of Dien Chau where we could make a triumphant right and get off of Highway 1 and onto the smaller, prettier Highway 7. At the corner most of us stopped to grub up because it was about lunch time and ate some delicious pho bo (beef soup) and some juicy oranges before heading off. The last 35km were much more scenic and interesting and from there it felt like a cruise. I even stopped to take some pictures and had a couple of kids take my bike for a spin until I had to calmly walk over and lightly grab the bike from them so I could continue.
We're now in the lovely town of Do Luong and a guesthouse down a quaint little alley. No hot water for the shower, something I'm beginning to realize is as precious as gold on this trip, but wifi in the hotel so certainly one of the nicer ones we've been in. Delicoius ca fe sua da (iced coffee with milk) on the main road was a nice post bike relaxation. Tonight will most certainly be an early night but tomorrow looks bright because we will find our way back to the Ho Chi Minh Highway!! Let's hope it's as gorgeous, and peacefully quiet, as it was 2 days ago.
That's all for now... I've created quite a commotion at this internet cafe because the were able to read the Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City at the top of the webpage so they obviously think I can speak Vietnamese... not the case....
Until tomorrow..... Hen Gap Lai!

-Sasha