Day 27: Bao Loc to Gia Kiem (110km)

Our penultimate riding day! I felt strong but fatigued, and very much settled into the routine of cycle, eat, sleep, repeat. There was a sense of the ride coming to an end, and of anticipation to reach our final goal of HCMC safely the following day. 

The hotel in Bao Loc was one of the better ones of the ride, opposite the poorly named ‘Trump’s Coffee.’ I was sharing nice little room with my mum and Thao. We had air con and even a kettle - my mum was thrilled to be able to make her own brew in the morning (Yorkshire tea, obvs!) We’d been out nhau-ing with the DHL drivers the night before so it was a groggy morning. When I woke up, Thao excitedly announced that the hotel included breakfast - YES, winning 💪🏽. The news was spread on our group chat and everyone was suitably delighted.

We’d had a few consecutive 100km+ days so we were all wincing a bit when climbing the stairs to brekky on the 1st floor, but it was worth it. I had some bo kho & sticky rice; a break from our usual banh mi tradition. All the DHL drivers were present and chirpy despite being out nhau-ing it up last night and jokily claiming ‘no DHL tomorrow!’

Bao Loc Breakfast!

I collected my laundry to realize I’d accidentally had my headphones washed and dried, oooops. Miraculously they still worked fine- it was a H2H miracle!

On the route to Hue we’d bumped into Ruth and Ben, a very friendly and free spirited couple from the UK on their own epic cycling trip from Hanoi to Bangkok and beyond. We'd recently crossed paths with them again, this time because of a bike issue they had which our mechanic was able to help them with. We affectionately refer to Ruth and Ben as ‘The Hippies.’ I.e. Did anyone pass The Hippies today? Are The Hippies staying in our hotel? Etc. They had breakfast with us and joined in on our morning stretchy stretchy and pep talk.

Ruth and Ben aka The Hippies

As I mentioned earlier, we were all feeling a bit worse for wear muscle-wize, so the massage train I’d introduced into our morning stretching routine was very well received, and our achey groans echoed around the hotel car park. 

Massage train

The first part of the ride today involved a dramatic 20km white knuckle descent down a steep mountain road, leaving the alpine Dalat vibes and heading towards the busier and more familiar little towns closer to HCMC. You’d think such a long descent would have been sooo much fun to swoosh down after all our recent uphill climbing, and it would have been if there were no trucks and buses, or fear of falling off the side of a mountain. However, there were trucks and buses honking their horns and making risky decisions to overtake each other, and there was a possibility of imminent death off the side of the mountain. Zak had been having issues with his front tyre and rim, so sensibly decided to ride this short stretch in the van. Even Thao, our ‘Downhill Duchess,’ descended with much more trepidation than usual, breaks clamped on. It was tough on my hands to keep using the breaks with such force for 20km, and after a while they’d cramp up and give me a serious case of ‘claw hand,’ so I had to keep stopping to jump in the gutter and wiggle them around. Eventually, we all arrived safely at the bottom, windswept and a bit shakey.

Nice to see a warning for a 10% decline instead of a 10% incline!

Hellooo from the hill

After the descent I acquired my 4th (and final, phew!) puncture of the ride. Luckily Thu wasn’t far away and he was able to change it for me and also gave me a new tyre so my front and back ones now matched. All good and back on the road. 

A little later, Kacey had an unfortunate collision with a family on a motorbike. We found her sitting on the side of the road with a big family gathered around her. Luckily no-one was badly hurt, and both bike and motorbike were fine. Kacey had some bruises and was a bit shaken up. We got her a coke and gave her hugs and she rode the rest of the day in the van. We’ve been so lucky this ride to not have had any serious injuries, accidents or hospitalizations. This was a reminder of how easy it is to accidentally collide with someone in traffic. Glad you were ok, Kacey!

The face says it all! :(

With over half the mileage done for the day, it was an acceptable time to each lunch. Andy had scouted out a nice Pho Bo place. They also had 7UP in glass bottles, which was a retro novelty. 

Lunch!

The afternoon was absolutely swelteringly hot. You can see from the pictures how exhausted everyone was at this rest stop - collapsed in hammocks and downing various liquids. I passed around some of the dried mango we acquired in Buon Me Thuot, drank some cold orange juice and I took the opportunity to charge my phone by plugging it into a tree. 

Again, the faces say it all!

Collapse o'clock

Sleepy Tan

Hammock life

Hydrate hydrate hydrate!

Looking much more zen than the previous photo after cooling down with ice cubes down her top!

Phone plugged into tree

We eventually peeled our sweaty selves out of the hammocks and willed ourselves to plough on through the heat. Many of us stopped at some floating villages and had a little photoshoot. 

There was some really crazy traffic on the approach to Gia Kiem. James and I almost got wiped out several times in a row by buses with no regard for cyclists’ lives, kamikaze motorbikes and teens on scooters not looking where they were going. We did lots of shouting ‘HEYYYY!!!!’ to compensate for having no horn. 

We were very happy to see the familiar sight of the DHL van, and Zak returning from his usual beer and ice mission. Niiiiice. 🍻 

Yeaaaaaaaah

We made it! Cheers!

Our hotel rooms were very bright and floral, and some had no bed frames, just a mattresses on the floor. Nobody minded much though, we were used to this by now, and it was our last night before being reunited with our comfy beds in HCMC.

Sleeping situ in Gia Kiem

In the evening me, mum, Zak, Dennis, James and Patrick went on a mission to find a pizza place, before reconvening with the whole team for our final evening meeting, (sob!) Justine brought along the stack of Polaroids she’d taken during the ride. We all had fun looking at these, reminiscing and thinking about all we’d experienced together over the last 28 days.

After chilling and chatting with Thao, Andrea and The Hippies for a bit, I took my tired legs to bed to get ready for the final ride into Saigon the following day.