Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City: Day 3 & 4

Sorry for the delayed blogging, we haven't had the internet everywhere.

Day 3: Vi Ban to Quan Lao (79.15km)
I think it's safe to say everyone was happy to leave Vi Ban. The hotel had stuffed animals, various animals in jars and the rooms had strange stains on the walls where something may have been violently killed at one point. Combined with the lack of good food, we were ready to hit the road. The first 12kms out of town were muddy and bumpy but after we passed that we got our first chance to ride on the Ho Chi Minh Highway, which is quite smooth and good for cycling.

After lunch, we set off again on our way to Quan Lao, passing through many smiling & waving children and farmers. I think the total distance for the day ended up being 85km, different from what we were expecting which is a trend that we've started to notice with mapmyride.com

Morning stretching

A farmer looking after his buffalo

Day 4: Quan Lao to Tinh Gia (68km)

The weather so far hasn't been ideal. It's mostly been grey, cloudy, misty, drizzling and very much lacking any warmth. Today was the first day that brought us our first glimpses of sunshine. It also brought us our first glimpses of Highway 1, the main highway between Hanoi and HCMC. The highway itself is flat and pretty smooth. The lack of scenery and constant horns blaring from trucks, vans and buses can become a boring/irritating.

Much of the motivation for getting to Tinh Gia came from the hopes of a good seafood meal as our guesthouse was right next to the beach. We were not disappointed and we got some much needed nourishment from our seafood feast. We've eaten some pretty flavorless food from the previous day(s) so this was nice to eat something that you actually wanted to eat. After that it was cards, a frisbee game invented by Chris Allen, some football with some local kids and off to bed.