When we were suffering in the cold in China, we dreamt of the days when we’d be in Vietnam, and even if it were to rain ‘I’d love to just have to deal with a bit of rain’; well, Chris and Stu of a couple of months ago, you’re idiots. Since we left Hanoi 6 days ago it has rained EVERY day, without fail. And fair douse, it isn’t as bad as the cold, but it’s just horrible because all our stuff is constantly wet. Even when we get to the end of the day and into a guesthouse, our clothes don’t dry because it’s so muggy and humid. Arghhh! I mean look at this…
After a long tough day in the rain though, it’s nice to sit down with a Vietnamese family and watch some Mr. Bean!
But, anyway, we were quite glad to leave the touristy streets of Hanoi behind. Since Europe we’ve been pretty far from the beaten track, and in fact, since Bishkek, we hadn’t even seen another Western face. It was a cool place, only I think we’d become too used to the feeling of being the only Westerners. So in short, we were glad to be back on the road. And soon enough we were feeling special again, being ‘holla’d’ at by boys and girls of all ages. In particular, they like to give us the V’s – a little something like this…
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We’re also learning that Vietnam is very very populated. Highway 1, which is the road we’re following all the way down to Ho Chi Minh is littered with towns and villages all the way down. Very rarely are we on a stretch of road without being able to see at least a house or building. It was proper hectic for about 200km after Hanoi, and it really wasn’t nice (especially as the driving standards haven’t improved at all since China), but after we got past Vinh, which is where the road splits to go to Laos, it quietened down and it has become much more bearable.
But we’ve picked up some very fashionable dust masks to stop us from choking on all the lorry fumes. Stu’s got a genuine Gucci.
Two days ago we also reached the South China Sea. It felt like quite a monumental moment because this was the first time we’d seen open sea (besides the Black Sea) since we crossed the channel all the way back at the beginning of August.
We had initially planned on having a day or so’s rest around here – maybe a day also in Da Nang or Hoi An. But the problem is the weather is so bloody shoddy that there isn’t a lot of point as we’d probably just be inside anyway. So, we’ll be on the road for at least a few more days to see if we can find somewhere not rainy. We’ll be blogging again before we reach HCM, which is only 1050km away now!!! Back of the net.
cyclingforteach 