This brings me to day 6 as, with bellies full of eggs and bread, we set off on a slightly different route to the one The Steak had intended, as our trusty van drivers knew a shortcut (my legs' new favourite word).
As a result, the ride was a good 25km shorter than we'd anticipate. For the most part, we were back on the gorgeous Ho Chi Minh Highway. With its smooth surface and consistently beautiful surroundings, this road has fast become a team favourite.
The terrain in this part of the country is very hilly, which affords great views but also fearful inclines. The road undulated almost the entire way and felt like good practice for the post-Hue mountains. The Steak had warned us the night before of entirely inappropriate ascent towards the end of the ride, however, due to the shortcut, we all had it in us to smash it like the brutes we're quickly becoming.
In other news, we saw our first Westerners today. The first was a young couple on a motorbike who approached us while we were eating breakfast to ask for directions. Naturally, after so many days in the countryside, we were all very much confused, as much by their appearance than their request for directions. The second instance was another couple, this time two lads with very white hair. I spotted these two only as I was very close to them, my brain having told me they were albino Vietnamese, such is the rarity of such a sighting in these parts. They were surrounding by locals who were helping fix their bike. Weirdly, they appeared to have joined the Vietnamese in waving excitedly at us as we passed, something I found very confusing and caused me to flinch embarrassingly as I waved back.
Good day, good hotel, good rest.
Words: Conor
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