The night had been a good introduction for the day, it was so stormy that the sound of the waves was my sleeping music and the wind came into the windows with a whistling noise. I wanted to leave early (but the reason to avoid the heat of the day is not valid anymore, it had 14°C at noon!) and the host had invited me for breakfast. I was ready to leave at 5:30 and went to the kitchen. I thought I would just leave a note and go but he was really there and started to prepare banana pancakes! Also guests from China were ready to leave and after preparing the pancakes, my host said he would go to the market to get some food for them, I could simply leave after eating. I am not sure if he had expected any money and only the situation was a bit stressful for him. For me it was better to leave some money in any case.
I went out in the windy cold early morning. After some kilometres, I had the feeling of going uphill all the time, but it was quite flat, only the wind made fake-hills for me. I came through a kind of nowhere land with a big road but nearly no traffic, no houses, only graves, but many of them. In shops for tomb accessories, I had seen stone-coffins with open cover and wondered what this is for. Still I don’t know, but it is filled with sand.
Later, in another nowhere-land, you could see a kind of Vietnam-Disneyland. Fake sailing ships, pagodas, hills and palaces. Two busses with tourists at the entrance seems small and the tourists couldn’t do a lot against the impression of loneliness. Please, note what the wind does with the trees. He did similar things with me.
Now, I should be used to that phenomenon that on certain places, you get something special and that in masses. And later and before simply not. Here it is: bricks.
The rain was not heavy most of the day, but after 1-2 hours, my jacket couldn’t prevent from the moisture. I wanted to take my rain-cover as late possible, because it increases the drag and limits the freedom of movement, but I started to feel cold although I had to work hard to move forward. To compensate my slow tempo, I had decided to make less breaks. In my had the thought to reach Hue in one day had started to work 2-3 days ago. It was 166km according to the route-planner and first, I had found a place to stay in Lang Co, ~60km before Hue and had thought, ok, the next day, I would reach Hue early enough to have some time to visit it. But I know that also after 60km, I can be too tired/lazy to walk around in a city, be it too hot, too cold, too rainy or another “too”. So, the thought was to win a day by reaching Hue in one day. After 80km, I thought, “so it is half done, only 20km more, than it is 100, and then 2x 30km and you are there!”, and similar games with numbers. But then, everything became different, not only different: much harder…
there was a hill and the route-planner had suggested a route with 180m going up and down within ~14km, what is ok. But when I came there, there was a barrier and a man who sent me back. I tried to persuade him to make an exception, no chance.
I had to go back 3km, what is hard enough, but what was even harder, was the route lying ahead of me: 23km and 540m to climb.
Suddenly, my tour was not hardly manageable 165km, it was 180km ☹
Many busses, cars and motorcycles went up or down that hill or better little mountain, many with their cameras filming the tour and the scenery. I was the only cyclist, and many cheered me up what indeed helped me to stay motivated. I had not known how high that climb would go, thinking, maybe 100 more than the shorter on, so, after each bend, I was shocked to see that it still goes up.
On top, it was foggy and had only 9°C, not enough for my short trousers and t-shirt + jacket to feel comfortable. I went down fast, hoping it would be again better there. Maybe it would have been, but the wind was again stronger.
I reached Lang Co, I saw hotels and I don’t know why, but I went on.
I had enough time to regret this, because I had to go on 5 more hours. At km140, I had promised to make a break for some warm food, but then, I thought it is better to go on as long there is some daylight. This was one of the more reasonable decisions on that day, because so I had won one less difficult hour of riding. When it had become dark it also had started raining stronger and I had to put off my glasses, now seeing less but that better or seeing more but worse. The last 20km were a bit easier, because the street was lightened, and I could see where my lane was and if there are some holes. My main motivation to go on was, that there was no alternative and to know that after 20, 19, 18…km I would reach a dry place. I reached Hué. Reaching the desired town, is always a relief. And the situation where Mr.G can show what he can. It was a mixture….
I should go right, didn’t find a street, went back, tried it again. There WAS no street! I went on on the existent road although Mr.G protested, and I hoped to find back to his route. It was raining too much to use my phone and my fingers and the display of the GPS were too wet to use it well, always came something else, the route was lost, I had to re-start, etc.
I had the choice to sit down somewhere and cry or to go on and find the humorous side of the situation. I found it and went on with some energy reserves stored somewhere for such situations. Mr.G became active in his role of the leader again and showed me a way to a street out of town with less and less lights and houses, a good place to die and never be found. But he was self-confident and proudly presented “400m to final destination”. You can interpret this in different direction, but 400m is less enough to go there. “There” was exactly: nothing. But 100-200m ahead, I found a sign, and that clearly said “soleil hostel” (what a name!!). I followed the sign and soon reached a house, a lightened house, to be more exact: Soleil hostel!
To make my arrival more dramatic, I fell with my bike 5m in front of the entrance, because it was so slippery. I survived and what is more, I could park my bike under a roof, get down my bags, try to lock my bike with clammy fingers (succeeded finally). As usual I took of my (wet and dirty) shoes and after the formalities tried to go to “my” room (a 4-bed dormitory but no one else there) without slipping at the stairs in wet socks (again succeeded!)
I definitely was ok with the shower providing warm water (but only became warm step by step when I – not much later! – lay in bed.
Good night to you, year 2018!
