to Pho Rang: muddy roads

November 15, 2016

For the second day rather than starting out with a hill to climb, we have road construction and muddy roads.

Yesterday, we hardly noticed the undulations in the road. Today, they became more pronounced as we make our way to Quang Binh in an off-and-on drizzle. There is road construction and with the rain the roads are muddy in sections especially the first 20km, then improves briefly until we start the climb at 30km.

At the top of the climb we leave Ha Giang Province and enter Lao Cai Province and the road becomes a good surface with white painted lines. We are now following the Song Chay river downstream. We see rice fields, banana plants, corn, traditional houses along with newer style houses built of concrete. We rode through one town just as school was starting or the kids were going home for mid-day meal. Kids in this area are still predominately on bikes rather than mopeds.

There is one more climb of about 4km that was steeper. It's been slow going today, Patrick is not feeling well. We arrive in Pho Rang around one o'clock and look for a guesthouse. At the intersection, first we go right toward Lao Cai but don't see much. So we go back to the intersection and go toward Bao Ha. There are a string of Nha Nghi and we stop at Ha Thanh. We can pull our bikes right into the lobby. Patrick spots two touring bikes and notices they have a dutch lock and agu bags...so they must be Dutch.

Quickly getting gear up the two flights, Rachel goes out to find some cold drinks. As she leaves, two other cyclists are riding by slowly, obviously looking for the name of a guesthouse. Rachel says hello, mentions that they must be Dutch and points to the hotel where the other cyclists are staying. Lots of shops have closed for lunch and most don't have cold drinks, but she manages to find some coca cola, beer and even yogurt.

We read our books for the rest of the afternoon and find a nice Pho Bo for dinner. "When I say nice I mean this is one of the better Pho's we have had, but we are sure getting tired of the basic North Vietnamese fare," Patrick says. That didn't take long, our palates are used to more variety. Looking forward to Thailand and its street market food.

The Polish cyclist warned us yesterday, there is road construction on our route and it will get muddy.

People seeking shelter from the rain. Notice the fish.

At a roadside shop. We take a break and buy some soft drinks. The girl running the shop takes our photo and shows us a photo of another cyclist that stopped here.

More muddy roads. It rains off and on, the mud is very slick but not too sticky.

Cinnamon bark drying by the side of the road.

We find a Nha Nghi in Pho Rang. There are two other touring bikes parked in the garage and by day's end another Dutch couple shows up. We must have hit a well used route.

Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 24,696 km (15,336 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0