to Yen Minh: karst and terraces

November 10, 2016

It is still raining some this morning. We pack up, move our gear down the elevator and load up in the parking lot. We backtrack to the restaurant where we had dinner last evening. They are supposed to be open for breakfast, but the shutters are still locked. As we ponder what to do next the lady opens up. Banana pancakes and Vietnamese coffee!

The road out of town starts climbing right away. After about 5 km we turn on a smaller road that will take us closer to the Chinese border and into the terraces. The scenery is awesome, but the road is very steep, either up or down, there is no flat cruising today.

After reaching the first summit it is steeply down to the bottom of a valley, then back up to the next ridge. This keeps continuing. At about 19 kilometers we rejoin the 4C road. The final summit is at about 32 km, from there we have a twenty kilometer downhill to Yen Minh.

At about 10 km, Patrick has a front tire blow-out on the downhill, fortunately at slow speed. The tire has developed a small tear and the innertube has worked its way through. A "boot" or liner made from a choco pie wrapper gets us down the road, a more permanent fix is called for though. Our tires are getting old after 14,000km. They will have to make it to Bangkok where new parts are waiting for us.

From 10 km to 7 km from town the scenery is stunning. At 5 km, we are in the valley floor and make our way into town. In Yen Minh we check out one hotel, don't like it and find another. Much better, even though the beds all seem to be hard in Vietnam. It is only about 13 degrees and damp. The hot shower feels great.

Morning coffee, Vietnamese style. The bowl of hot water is new, it keeps the thick coffee warm as it percolates into the condensed milk below.

A climb, a downhill and another climb. Nothing is flat today.

Karst mountains as far as the eye can see.

Karst. In between every square foot of dirt is used to grow something.

Village at the bottom of another downhill. This landscape is not your typical valleys and ridges system we are used too. Here many valleys are just bowls with no exit for the water. The limestone is so porous the water just percolates in and creates caves in the process.

At the top of another hill. These girls and their baskets with greenery are a bit to picture perfect. We suspect they hang out at this parking area for tourist photos and possible hand-outs.

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 24,469 km (15,195 miles)

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