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.