A long day of cycling

Deserted resort

I think I will stand for a while. By bicycle ride to Ba Ho was a good and long one, but my rear end is not yet up to the task. Today’s 60 km ride was the maximum I can handle at the moment. As is becoming normal, we suffered a hot day with no power. Here are a couple of links to the current situation if you are interested.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/reports/201006/Foreign-newswires-comment-on-Vietnam’s-power-crisis-918866/

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/201004/Power-cuts-loom-again-this-summer-throughout-Vietnam-902927/

 I took the opportunity to take a long bike ride in the countryside back to Ba

A small jungle road

 Ho where I had visited last week. Ba Ho is an excellent destination on a hot day for a person to cool off. I posted last week about the destination itself, but today I will write about getting there by bicycle. The road started out quite pleasant and flat until the most northern part of NhaTrang ended. The climbing began and in 1st gear I started the long climb around the mountains past a deserted half built Russian resort. The climb took perhaps half an hour of so, and the temperature was in the high 30’s. To my total relief, there was a drink stand along the way where I was able to find a bottle of cold water to keep myself  hydrated. The road is little traveled and the speedy coast down the other side was a welcome relief. As I got to sea level, I approached a small fishing

an old town

village and decided to take its main road off the highway to see the place. It as a very old town and I was enjoying the old structures. I passed by a group of teens and received the familiar hello’s, but then it was followed by a F*** you…. Huh?? I spun around and returned but the offending youngster had fled at my approach. I told his friends how impolite he was and hoped they had more manners. I left them wide eyed as I left, totally surprised that I could understand them. A little further up, I received the exact same again….. Hmmmmm I think the people in this Village are poorly educated. That might explain their crude behavior. Not all of them were crude though. The girls and many women were full of beautiful smiles. Only the boys and

Another old town

 men seemed to be a bit gruff. I passed the village and ended up on the dreaded highway 1. A slight tail wild pushed me for the final of the 30 km into another small town where the entrance to Ba Ho was. A final couple of kilometers of bouncing along dirt and gravel roads and I had reached my destination. It is a shame that Carl could not share the sense of accomplishment with me, but perhaps another time. I only stayed long enough to cool down with a cold drink and rub my sore bottom. On the tiring ride back, I encountered a group of kids crowding an ice-cream vendor on a bike. These same kids tried to stop me and charge a road tax earlier. I

a shot down the track

had laughed them off but this time I stopped and paid for all the kids ice-cream. I was showered with excited jabbering and giggles. It was worth the 1.25 it cost me. I was about 45 minutes into my ride home when I was becoming fatigued. Lucky for me that there was a hammock café on the way. I stopped for a cold bottle of water and a short rest. I had almost drifted to sleep when

A shrine, and a Thanh long tangled tree

 a nearby resident decided it was time to start cutting ceramic tiles. Oh well, off I went again slowly climbing the mountain home. I had a head wind that made things a bit more difficult than they needed to be. I was relieved to reach the highest point and happily coasted for the next couple of kilometers into the same cooling headwind. I arrived back at the hotel at about 4 pm, laid down on the sofa, and immediately fell asleep for an hour nap. What will tomorrow bring? I do not know……. But BRING IT ON!!

A jungle stream

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3 thoughts on “A long day of cycling

  1. The tree has the flowers, but the vine is feeding from it. The Vine produces a delicious fruit you can find in stores by the name “Dragon Fruit”.

  2. I wonder if that village had a bad experience with westerners, like the ones that go for the kids, or someone who ripped them off? It could explain the attitude.

    Is that the tree itself blooming or some kind of vine/plant on it, the orange blossoms in the shrine picture?

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