Day 27 Bao Loc to Gia Kiem

Bao Loc is a lovely city, we stayed at possibly the best hotel of our trip thus far, and had decent pizza for dinner. To top that we met up with Storm in Bao Loc, a rider from last year and a good friend whose enthusiasm for the ride actually encouraged me to do it in the first place!

So the next morning with heavy hearts we got out of bed and trudged upstairs for breakfast. The heavy heart was because a. the beds in this hotel were mega comfy and b. we were only 2 days away from Saigon, GAH.

After a leisurely breakfast and some stretches in the hotel lobby we set off! We were told, by our navigational boy scout wonder Davide, that the road started with 1 LONG downhill (oh, the joy) and then 75km or so of flat until Gia Kiem.

Saz and Alice do some gentle stretching

At the top of the long downhill. Felt weird to be doing this without a big, sweaty climb beforehand 

This section of the route was absolutely beautiful. We were told it would be the last of the true hills and lush landscapes before we hit HCMC, which was another reason to take this one slow and easy. I was listening to the Norse Mythology audiobook written and narrated by Neil Gaiman, which really set the mood for cycling through a stunning, winding valley.

Today, I realized why we didn't cycle from HCMC to Hanoi, if we did, we would have hit this hill on Day 2, without any experience of being on the road, and we would have suffered for it. 

Here's Isaac using his DIY expertise on Ray's bike chain

At the bottom of the downhill, we stopped for the usual nuoc mia, cashews, and hammock time. And cycled on - Saz got a flat tire and had it fixed. We saw a strange installation with horse statues. We caught up with Isaac, Alex, and Kristy for more hammock time, lamenting about the heat, and leftover pizza. It was a regular, relaxing day on the H2H.

Until lunchtime. This year has seen the most rain on the ride and it usually rained in the afternoons. This meant we had to cycle in flimsy ao mua-s (rain coats) and wet shoes. On the other hand, it wasn't so hot. Linh and I decided to wait the rain out and have some Bun Bo Hue for lunch. That was good idea because the gentle rain soon turned into a torrential downpour. Thunder struck so loud it woke a man sleeping deeply in a hammock. The road turned into a river. Linh and I knew it was going to be a while. We sat and chatted on and on about everything under the sun, I'm really going to miss this. Having no agenda but to just sip on a cool beverage and enjoy the company of a good friend.

Here she is, Linh the Legend, 3-time winner of Mr. Sexy Time and my constant companion on the ride.

The rain finally slowed down and we set off for the last 35 kms to Gia Kiem. Another realization from today, human beings just weren't designed to cycle over 100kms in a day. Your brain just can't deal after a point. Maybe I'm overgeneralizing here, but those last 15 kms were A SLOG. Boy, was I glad to see the DHL van when I did. 

Andy and Moe got to the hotel first and could resist gloating. 

After a quick shower and kit wash, we headed to Lazy Town, one of those confusingly themed restaurants that all little towns seem to have, where the menu is overambitious and the food underwhelming. Nevertheless, we probably gave them the most business they've had in months. 

Oh, Lazy Town also had a dude in a rabbit costume. He was highly entertaining and had some impressive dance moves.

We had the best team meeting yet, led by the hilarious and sassy Kristy Himmler.

For 'fun time' we each wrote each other nice things, like a grown up version of a slambook. If the slambook was pages torn from a child's notebook and the notes were mushy motivational quotes. That page lives permanently in my wallet now. With that we headed off to our hotel beds, for the last time. Tomorrow, Saigon.

-Sabrina