Shiny White Hotels, Dirty Grubby Us
Distance: 102km
Temperature (max): 36°C
View the stats on Strava (Nhà Trắng to Phan Rang)
Total distance to date: 1,564 km
The thermometer read hot, 36°C today but we barely noticed because we were sporting perma-smiles all day due to a strong tailwind, propelling us southward. We finished the day in a little city that has flown under our radar, Phần Rang. Our hotel is in a super cute neighborhood, surrounded by restaurants with big-people chairs (vs itty bitty plastic ones).
We always feel a wee bit guilty when we arrive at a hotel and wheel our grubby bikes onto the shimmering shiny floors of the lobby-parking-zone, leaving behind scuffs & dirt as evidence. But that’s how it’s done—guest’s bikes and motorbikes are parked indoors. It’s mildly embarrassing to check-in all sweaty, probably smelly (well, maybe Randy), but it’s how we travel and hotel proprietors are always gracious. Sometimes we wonder if they are secretly cringing at our presence in their little white Hotels.
In a country where very few own cars, we have observed that car owners keep them as shiny and polished as their glistening floors. People wash cars daily (or so it seems), on sidewalks, at the side of the road, gas stations—anywhere! That, along with horn honking, seems to be a national pastime.
Things aren’t always shiny & white. Oh, no no no…..we regularly see rats scooting the streets at night and they are as big as squirrels. We see giant cockroaches crittering their way across sidewalks though not as often. Giant is not an exaggeration—they are about 2-inches long. But we have made peace with the rodents. They are, afterall, just making their way through life. Now we just smile with amusement—as long as they stay outside—and so far they have.
Our hotel tonight is just 400VND which converts to about $22. Our room too is all polished and shiny, even the woodwork. Hotels are a bargain in Vietnam. Rarely have we been disappointed, and never have we paid more than about $52. We are probably averaging about $37 a night but we have been splurging on nicer places.
We rode through Cam Ranh Bay today, considered one of the most beautiful bays in Vietnam, located just 45 kilometers away from Nha Trang. All the big brand, fancy schmancy ultra luxurious hotels are there, far from the busy beach-city scene of Nhà Trắng. The airport located at the southern end once served as one of three aerial ports locations where United States military personnel entered or departed South Vietnam for their 12-month tour of duty during the Vietnam war. Despite the proliferation of ultra-lux hotels, there stood what might be yet another behemoth hotel project that seems to have stalled.
Our lovely hotel in Nhà Trang. It wasn’t wide, but it was tall and the room was spacious & grand.
Another large hotel that looks to be possibly abandoned—or at least on hiatus.
The shiny floors we feel guilty about messing up with our grubby bikes.
Touristing in Nhà Trang
We’ve been two-legged rather than two-wheeled tourists for a few days. Funny, most people want to do stuff—bus excursions, snorkelling, zip-lining. Not us. We succumbed to an overwhelming need to not do a gosh darn thing. Even too lazy to find lunch, we just sat on lounge chairs, overlooking the odd hunger pain in favour of watching big waves come crashing in with the tide. Sure, we bounced to and fro in the salty warm water a few times but it was so peaceful on the beach, we wanted to savour it. The honk, honk, honking of buses, trucks, cars & motorbikes of the past weeks, forgotten, the sun’s heat kept at bay by a beach umbrella.
One of the few times we did manage to lift our lazy bums up & outta those loungers we walked a bit to get massages. Heck, why not! $15 for 60 minutes. Impulsively, I also stopped to get a haircut, curious how the experience might compare to Randy’s elaborate coif experience a few weeks ago. Chop, chop, snip, snap, bing bang boom and I’m done in about 14 minutes and 30 seconds. I was scanning, prepared to defend myself in the event deep-ear-cleaning instruments came out—but they didn’t (thankfully). Guess that’s a guy thing. Sure, the guy was pro and all (even if he did look a little gangsta/bouncer), but really? It was three times the price of Randy’s hour long extravaganza.
Just for amusement, while out and about we snapped a few pics of some signage that maybe lost a little in translation.
Pork Noodle Soup pho Breakfast
Distance: 67km
Temperature (max): 33°C
View the stats on Strava (Van Già tổ Nhà Trang)
Total distance to date: 1,462 km
Days start out hot & humid. Low 30’s at 9am and no cloud cover. Riding along, we scan roadside stands for bánh mì and a place to sit for a reprieve from sun. Found! The lady didn’t speak English (and we still don’t speak Vietnamese) but we delivered our entire vocabulary. “Xin chào! bánh mì?” Her face lit up and she talked a mile a minute to us, pointing and revealing she had pork noodle soup in the cauldron. We scored some pork Pho for breakfast (plus the bánh mì we sought). She was so excited about our presence that she took pictures of us from all angles, and sat directly in front of us eating some bread herself, giggling the while. We were her only two customers and we are certain she videoed us while eating too, but it’s okay. We understand—we are a novelty. She laughed with delighted encouragement when she saw we knew to drop the greens & sprouts into the soup and stir it around. She proudly assisted us by spooning in a little of this & that to season the Pho.
We knew there would be some climbing today (there always is on the “scenic” route) so this time we were prepared—green oranges (cuz they are the best), plenty of water, some Oreos—and we stood at the beginning the climb under the cool shelter of a tree waiting for some sweat to dry off and psyching for it. Hydrating. Making sure we’ve covered all the essentials. Then we went for it—slow & easy, just keep moving, walk if necessary—we were underway, up the ascent. “Just go to the top! Whatever you have to do to get there! I’ll meet you up there!,” This climb will not defeat us! Up, up, and then…. Hey! What? Its over? That was it? We’re done? Easy peasy. Much ado about nothing.
Typical throughout the country, are narrow, elongated “tube houses”—as was our hotel last night, and most nights as a matter of fact. They are a result of limited building space and property taxation policies assessing only the first floor width of a building. Appearing to have only three rooms from the front, what it lacks in width it makes up for in depth and there was a long hallway and several rooms on each floor. It’s always an odd sight to see tall skinny houses reaching up into the sky. Sometimes one wonders if a fierce wind could blow them over.
Nhà Trang—We’ve reached what will become our three-day “beach vacation” where bikes stop rolling. There have been far fewer tourists than expected in Vietnam outside of Hồi An and Phòng Nhà and Danang. Yet, we continue to see mega-building projects underway in what could be perceived as a developer’s utopian dream, or hopeful optimism about the future of tourism—or big money gone horribly wrong. Having become accustomed to half-full (or near empty) hotels we don’t know how to feel when we see dual 35-storey buildings partially built and not a soul in sight—tourist, worker, or otherwise. No matter—this is a busy city with lots of cultural vibrancy to take in. We will just bob up & down in the waves while we contemplate it all.
Our “tube house” hotel in Van Gia. Typical Vietnamese architecture.
Typical Vietnamese breakfast, Phố can be found on every street corner.
Massive pond of lotus flowers blooming
One of many large cemeteries
Yet another building project may or may not ever reach completion
Pre-inspecting the beach at Nhà Trắng to decide if we stay, or go
Yes, that’s a large propane tank balancing on the back of a motorbike.
View of Nhà Trắng from our 14th floor hotel room
View of Nhà Trắng in the wee hours of night
Ain’t no Mountain High Enough
Distance: 76km
Temperature (max): 32°C
View the stats on Strava (Tuy Hòa to Vẫn Giá)
Total distance to date: 1,395km
We got a late start this morning anticipating an easy ride —whooooahh, were we in for a surprise! You know those run-on sentences your teacher taught you to avoid? We had run-on mountain. Up, up, round the bend, up some more, repeat. Weren’t quite expecting that—but hey, that’s how you see the good stuff. Dripping sweat? It’s a given.
It’s true. Vietnam has endless, unspoiled beaches and it’s easy to find one to call your own. They are literally untouched so it’s a BYOBC (Bring Your Own Beach Chair) situation. The further south we travel the bluer the water and the whiter the sand. Riding through the mountain pass afforded us spectacular views of the ocean from above.
Food is also an adventure. Prior to the unexpected mountain pass we stopped roadside to get a bánh mì. We merely pointed at bread, then eggs—she knew what to do! Blender? We pointed again. Pinepple. Orange. Blender. We also scored a freshly squeezed pineapple orange smoothie on ice. We are winning today! While eating, a local resident man came and sat about two ft away from Randy. He proceeded to scrutinize Randy’s every move—stared unapologetically, studying Randy’s face, mesmerized. Upon leaving we tipped the owner who then handed the tip money to Randy’s staring-man who subsequently took it and quietly walked away. We realized afterward that he was likely less-fortunate.
We stopped at the mountain top after endless climbing hoping to find cold water. The proprietor pointed to some coconuts. Not sure what she meant we just said “yes!” And waited to see—she pulled out a cleaver—chop chop chop—off came the tops, in went a straw and just like that we were sipping fresh coconut milk. In an unrelated observation, Coconut Lady also had “pet” monkeys—one in an impossibly small cage in a tree and the other secured by a short chain. They were very cute, if not a little squawky, and we couldn’t help but fantasize about liberating them to the jungle right across the road….
Most coastal restaurants are of the seafood variety—we’re talkin fresh, caught-today squiggly squid, jellyfish, snails, crabs, & oysters. Thinking a little more exotic? How’bout yellowfin tuna eyeballs? We decided to give it a go (no, not the eyeballs). We have Google translate so requested “noodles with seafood”—then waited to see what materializes. Serving Girl was excited at the prospect of communicating with the foreigners, and out came her Google translate. “You want clams or snails?” (Clams, please) “You want steamed or cooked?” (Ummm…cooked, please). Out came a big bowl of hot broth loaded with clams, greens, & delightful little star shaped things that tasted citrusy. Pleased with the outcome, we dug in. Delish & yummy! Then came another plate full of noodles, bok choy, squid, shrimp & perhaps calamari (but who knows). We dined sitting at teeny tiny tables on miniature chairs big enough only for pre-schoolers. A young girl came by selling bags of waffle-type biscuits. Sure, we’re in. Then came some freshly cut pineapple. Again, in!
Our hotel room is in a fantastic new building in a little town, that didn’t appear on any hotel booking sites. Gleaming white floors, sparkly white walls and all the modern fixtures. We just took our chances and appeared unannounced. $21 for the night. Sometimes it pays to wing it.
Just a typical construction project that appears abandoned. They are everywhere—this is a small one.
Three Bánh Mì with eggs, cucumber & fresh herbs, and two fresh pineapple & orange juice on ice = approximately $4
Sand dunes—the ocean lays just beyond.
Sandy beaches spread endlessly
Dragonflies on the mountainside
The swastika (chu van in Vietnamese) is a good luck symbol from Hinduism and Buddhism
Tailwinds and Orange Juice
Distance: 125km
Temperature (max): Not sure! forgot to look
View the stats on Strava (Phường Phi to Tuy Hòa)
Total distance to date: 1,319km
The purgatory of persistent headwinds is over. We had breeze! Tailwind breeze! Due to availability of accommodations it would be either a short 45km day or a long 125km. We went long. Not long after we started our route took us over rather than around a mountain. Steep, and twisty turny—we had to push the bikes up. One of 5 climbs for the day. At the top of one particularly long climb a well situated cafe appeared and we needed water. Their menu listed “orange juice” so we waited in excited anticipation at a table in the shade overlooking a beautiful mountainside coastal village below. Orange Juice Girl dropped off two glasses of pale yellow somewhat-orangey liquid that was not orange juice. We rationalized—maybe it’s an orange herbal tea? It’s cold, so let’s just drink it and get out. Down the hatch! Minutes later she drops off two giant size glasses of freshly squeezed, luscious, divine orange juice on ice. That was the highlight of our day! We ordered up two more highlights, pleased & thrilled for the little liquidy treasures.
It’s a gamble when we book a hotel sight unseen but this one in Tuy Hòa delivered! With a big day of riding behind us we were starving. A ten minute walk took us to Pizza Bobs. Oh yeahhhh baby! Lay it on us! We have experienced a few Vietnamese interpretations of pizza so our expectations weren’t high. Coulda been the starvation, but that pizza rivalled anything at home and the garlic bread—a 14” pizza crust smeared with abundant fresh garlic and ooey gooey cheese. Pure heaven, eclipsing our earlier orange juice highlight.
While savouring our pizza across from the neighbourhood park we noticed people swinging, pushing, twisting & bobbing up and down on outdoor exercise equipment, groups of youngsters playing ball games, others roaming on scooters, teens jamming some music, a few youngsters circling the park on fancy road bikes, girls mingling, giggling, and bopping to the beat. Young mothers & fathers were out with their babies socializing with each other. It’s just what parks were meant for—freestyle recreation. This is not an X-Box culture.
The area across from our hotel is still lit up in celebration of Chinese New Year, Year of the Dragon. It’s a linear walk through a magically lit wonderland. Larger than life beautifully ornate gold dragons sprawling, millions of flowers carpeting the area, lights glowing & sparkling. Families wandered up and down its length, basking in the wonder of it all, taking photos and just being happy. We tried to capture it with photos but there’s no lens wide enough.
Being Slugs
It was a day off, waiting for headwinds to shift. The location of our hotel is really something to write home to your Momma about! As with most we have stayed at (other than Hỏi An), we seem almost alone here. There are three large separate buildings in our hotel complex nestled on the mountainside. Ours alone has seven floors. Randy noticed the “No laundry” rule, but we are cycle tourists. We have needs. We were hoping for incognito-laundry-drying but not so sure we achieved that. (see photo—we hope nobody rats us out).
When travelling by bicycle, days off don’t resemble that of a typical tourist. We spend the day hydrating. Guzzling water. We stare out the window and scan only for shady spots at the pool. We eat food. Plenty of food—servers probably think we are binge-eaters (which we are). Spaghetti and french fries. We plan routes, sleep on pool loungers, lube bike chains. We went to the nearby village to buy water but only after hitching a ride with a Polish film crew’s van headed that way. We are too lazy to walk. We looked up at Big White Buddha and considered the 600 steps—we’re not doing that! We were slugs today. Tomorrow we are promised tailwinds, slightly overcast for part of the day and we’ll be well-hydrated, ready to give’er.
Each morning we wake up and never know where we will lay our heads that night. We pedal, pedal, pedal and when our gas tank is about to run dry we look on Google Maps, Booking or Agoda for a hotel room. Google maps would lead one to believe that accommodations are a dime a dozen, but many have no more reviews as of four years ago and in fact, they no longer exist. Our conclusion is that COVID might have decimated many businesses. What remains are very vacant. Perhaps it’s low season, and our hotel will be hopping in summer, but for now it’s likely there are far more employees than paying customers.
We sit by the gigantic, gorgeous pool in this huge capacity hotel all alone. Likely the only person to have entered the water in recent history is Randy. The beach beckons, with its clean, white sand that stretches from here to eternity but it’s too windy. Plus, there are no beach loungers, or infrastructure of any kind, save for a lifeguard tower where an employee, dressed as though expecting snow, keeps watch over the waves. It’s truly a pristine, unspoiled beach. Bein’ a slug today has been all right!
Our hotel nestled in the mountain.
Ssshhh….don’t tell anyone which room is ours.
The million dollar view from our $37 hotel
Distance: 84km
Temperature (max): 35°C
View the stats on Strava (Tan Thành tổ Phường Phi)
Total distance to date: 1,194km
Another hot one! At one point we found ourselves in a particularly long stretch of road with no shade cover and we were desperate so we stopped side by side on the roadway in the tiny strip of shade that the electricity pole provided.
Some of the infrastructure here makes us wonder. More than once we have cycled for 20km+ on barren roadway, four lanes wide and nicely paved. Honestly we could have sat in the middle of the road and had lunch & not be disturbed, there were so few other road users.
Traffic Police stand at the side of roads, blowing whistles & flagging down random vehicles. Today their target was a car right in front of us. In the skirmish of activity we thought perhaps they wanted us to stop too, so we did Big smiles, and high fives—they were just curious about where we were from. Curiosity isn’t exclusive to children.
Traveling down the entire coastline of a country we are fortunate enough to see the varied climate. In the north it was rice planting season—in the south here it’s harvest time. Rice paddies are now tinted gold and we can see the rice pods bending over. There’s rice drying on tarps, in peoples front yards, on roadways and other public spaces—wherever they can spread it out enough to dry in the sun. The remaining rice stalks are piled up alongside the road or made into gigantic piles similar to haybales. We must also be in peanut country because those too are drying on tarps on the road.
We bought green oranges the other day. They’ve been floating around in our bags just waiting for the right time to try them. Today we learned—green oranges are way better than orange oranges! Juicy, sweet, big—so far, our favourite discovery here in ’Nam
We splurged on a nice hotel for the night. $37 places us in a gorgeous, luxury hotel located on a mountain side, close to a monastery and the tallest sitting Buddha in the world (so we hear…). Our room is a new, one-bedroom king sized suite with a kitchen table, kitchenette, and large balcony But the best part is the view! Absolutely stunning, from our 6th floor room, peering out massive panoramic windows that go floor to ceiling. Down below we see a beautiful white sandy beach and rolly polly waves. They provide a tram to deliver us up the intensely steep climb to our hotel room, part way up the mountain. We struck gold in this hotel! Tomorrow—we swim! (cuz yeah, it’s got a gigantic pool too!)
Our hotel, part way up the mountain.
View of the big white Buddha up in the mountain (from our hotel room!)
Daytime view from our balcony.
It’s 35°—Do you really need fleece?
Distance (yesterday): 108km
Temperature (max): 33°C
View the stats on Strava (Hỏi An to Quang Ngai)
Distance (today): 78km
Temperature (max): 35°C
View the stats on Strava (Quang Ngai to Tan Than)
Total distance to date: 1,110km
It would be nice if we could say that every day had stunning scenery and glorious riding—but we can’t. For two days now we battled headwinds that slow us down to a painful crawl, requiring stops every 5k just to relieve our aching everything. Those overcast days with pleasant temperatures? Gone. Nada. History. We are into the hot weather now! A thermometer is installed on the bike so we can confirm what our dripping selves already know—it’s stinkin’ hot out there and we are melting. 35°C today. Not a cloud in sight. It’s too hot to even take pictures. Instead we just file the sights into our personal memory banks. As we reach breaking points we start scanning for ice cream opportunities which don’t present nearly as often as desired or needed. Today while hovering on the brink I saw it. “STOP!!! ICE CREAM!!”—we both screeched to a halt, did a U-turn on the highway (anything goes here) and positioned our hot sweaty selves in the teeny tiny chairs of the roadside ice cream vendor and we slurped—Coffee-flavoured ice cream. Then, orange creamsicle. Then, watermelon flavoured popsicle thing. We were not leaving that spot in the shade until our mental & physical states improved. We noticed a local girl slide on up on her motorbike looking cool as a cucumber—in her heavy sherpa-fleece jacket & pants, with her hood up. We couldn’t help but notice how many locals are out and about with puffy jackets. Hoodies. Ski-type coats. Its 35° folks—really??
We are in Central Vietnam now where the climate has changed from temperate in the north, to tropical. The scenery is also changing a little. We are seeing more coconuts. And house geckos. And the sounds at night are more tropical sounding. New, unidentifiable squeaks, chirps, & warbles. And there was a gigantic black june-bug type beetle flying around our room last night.
Yesterday’s ride took us along very long, straight, barely used palm-lined roads. For as far as the eye can see there were cemeteries. Burial sites scattered literally for miles & miles. There was plenty of time to ponder—Why so many? Why so spaced apart? Were some of these veterans from the Vietnam War (American War as it’s referenced here)?
There a lot of time to ponder things while riding a bike for upwards of eight hours a day. Like, What’s all that grain doing on the side of the road? Why are all the chairs in restaurants kindergarten-sized? What’s in all those square-shaped lakes we see? Why are there random goats at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere? What are those round puffy things that look like meringues that vendors are selling? Why is our hotel only $8 a night? We have questions for which we don’t have answers yet. But we still have time—800km more to reach Saigon.
Our $8 a night hotel.
Hỏi Ăn—Bursting with Authenticity as well as Tourists
As we walk historic streets steeped in history and culture we hear Gordon Lightfoot’s Sundown on the left, Prince’s Purple Rain on the right and we see KJU (Kim Jong Un) portrayed on T-shirts in the likeness of Colonel Saunders. It’s a real East meets West vibe. The epicentre of tourist activity is along the river, cram-packed with people, and vendors hustling for sales—greeting cards, sunglasses, and whirly-light-emitting-spinny-things. It feels like the CNE.
But turn the corner and it’s a whole other world. Children are playing with each other, practising badminton, leaping & laughing with each other and puddle-jumping on bikes. There are a lot of splendid children here and it appears they entertain themselves the old-school way—playing games in the street till bedtime.
Yesterday we noticed a yellow tent-like structure had appeared outside of a home on our street with an increasing number of people mingling around wearing white headbands & overclothes. Occasionally a few large gongs and a large, deep sounding drum are sounded. Chanting is heard in the background and we noticed an altar inside appears to be central to the activity. There are a few black & white flags flying. Our hotel hostess confirmed our suspicion, that it was some sort of ritual to honour the life of someone who passed away yesterday. Traditional Vietnamese funerals are multi-day events and involve elaborate rituals. Further reading on the subject proved fascinating, not the least of which:
“When a Vietnamese person passes away, it is believed that one’s life does not end but that the afterlife begins. The afterlife requires basic necessities, such as food, clothing, and money, all of which a family must provide for its deceased loved ones.”
It’s truly a cup-half-full way of processing life & death.
This afternoon we planted ourselves again in front of a family owned restaurant sipping drinks. The owner’s little girl, quite an engaging extrovert, was practicing her drawing skills on the hands and arms of another guest. Thrilled and delighted with her artistic expertise, Randy also offered up his own hand for her to decorate. Her English skills were splendid, her laugh was infectious, and she’ll never know how much joy she spread around today. Memories for us, just another day for her.
Dog. Napping, of course.
Preparing for the afterlife.
Hội An—and Toads on Sticks
Distance today: 3km
Total distance to date: 924km
Hội An, a UNESCO world heritage site, is a city of about 150,000 and known for its well-preserved Ancient Town. Its historic district is a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port dating from the 15th-19th century. So of course we have to stick around for a few days. Tourists have discovered this town and at night its standing room only along the canal, but it still retains its authentic culture and we could go for a little “touristy” food!
Our day started out with the discovery of another flat tire. Number 3. A slow leak. This time we inspected it in the comfort of our hotel room under some good lighting and found a micro-sized staple just a few mm long embedded in the tire. It couldn’t be felt from the inside and likely pierced the tube when the tire was under impact. Hopefully the problem has been solved
There’s street food here in Hỏi An! But we walk the straight & narrow and only indulge in banana Nutella crepes. We were initially intrigued by a BBQ food cart we spotted until we noticed those twisty turns things were big octopus legs on a stick, sitting next to jumbo toads (maybe frogs…who knows) all flattened & crisped up, and full-body quail-on-a-stick—crepes were looking mighty fine!.
Today we met Hannah. Hannah met Dane (yes, Dane!). All four of us met up and over a few drinks we wiled away the afternoon sitting across the canal in Lily’s Pancake Restaurant watching the world go by, talking bikes, routes, bike shorts, food (or lack thereof), cockroaches, traffic, dogs, and the mental lows that can sometimes grip us when touring. Hanna is from Seattle and on a year-long cycling tour having already done Europe and South America. It was nice to share the commonalities of our experiences in Vietnam and inspire each other. Both Hannah and Dane are rolling out of Hỏi A tomorrow while we stick around an extra day.
The alleyways of Vietnamese towns are where the undiscovered treasures lay. They are narrow—you’d think nothing of interest would be taking place—but a little stroll through reveals tiny restaurant gems, kids flipping about at taekwondo classes, little tailor shops with sewing machines abuzz, stores that just pop out of a hole in the wall, and kids playing with friends on their bikes.
Hỏi An has a LOT of buzzing sewing machines. It was once rated as having the fastest and cheapest tailoring services in the world. You can walk into any number of tailoring shops, get measured up, choose fabric, design your look and return hours later to pick up your custom garment for a fraction of the price at home. We noticed a lot of snazzy shoes too. While snapping a picture of some we were advised “No photos, please” then noticed a sign saying that you can design your own shoes too and they’ll custom manufacture them for you. You can also just walk in with a sketch—they’ll make it happen.
There’s more to see here in Hỏi An so we won’t roll out tomorrow either, opting instead for another day of off-bike adventure.
Checking into our hotel, there was a notice about day trips we could book—for the cost of two nights stay in a hotel we could have signed up for the “Countryside Bicycle Trip” for a day—ahhhhhhh hahahah—that’s not happening!
