Rain and more rain...In fact, rain all day long.
My pre-ride inspection was foreshadowing of things to come later in the day. I tried to inflate my rear tube because it looked as though it were going flat. Unfortunately, the tube tore at the stem and I had to replace the tube in the pouring rain. Fortunately, that tube didn't cause me any grief for the remainder of the ride.
Leaving Quy Nhon, we took the coastal route. The Coastal route had less hills (not that it mattered much) and, more importantly less traffic. Although it was raining hard, it was a fantastic 18 miles of coastal riding. At first the road was rolling as we road along the cliffs near the ocean. The rain was falling hard, but it really didn't matter because the scenery was so nice.
While Terry was taking a pit stop, I sat on the shoulder of the road. A local beer truck came along. Wondering why I would be riding my bike in the rain, he offered me a ride. I had to wave him on, because I planned on continuing to ride.
Today marked the beginning of the end for Terry's bike. He blew one tube during a heavy downpour. It was nice to take a break from the rain. We pulled into a local gas station to hide from the rain under the awning and to give time for Terry to fix his tire. We discoverd that the blown tube was caused by a tear in the sidewalk of his tire. I had the same problem coming into Hue. So he took out his spare tire, which was a narrow racing tire. There was a problem. The only tubes that he had were too big for the tire, but without any ohter choices, Terry chose to put the larger tube in the tire.
So with the tire and tube repaired, we travelled on. But no more than 5 kilometers down the road, the tube gave way. It turns out that the larger tube would not work in the smaller tire. So I rode on as Terry fixed his second flat.
As I entered the northern part of Tuy Hoa, I was shocked by what I saw. I saw at five kilometers of newly graded land that was bare and ready for development. Electrical poles were placed along empty avenues awaiting new houses. Pump stations for water or sewage were also placed at equal intervals along the avenues. This was just one example of the roaring economy in Vietnam. Houses, buildings, and hotels are being built everywhere.
Tuy Hoa - Empty Lots Awaiting Development
Looking to the North
Looking to the South
As I sat around admiring the empty lots that would soon have new buildings sprouting from them, Terry rode up. He had fixed his tire. As we rode through town, the roads were flooded. We turned towards the ocean to find a hotel. As we did, we passed an old American Huey helicopter placed inside the wall of a government compound.
It was windy and wet at the beach, but we were able to find a nice hotel, Nha Khach (03 Duc Lap) across the street from the beach. After cleaning up, we went to dinner. The restaurant was actually very nice. It was the type of restaurant that large groups or families come to celebrate, drink, and eat seafood.
A neaby table was eating a flat bread that intrigued me. At this table were a young group of Vietnamese. I was interested to know what it was, but I was hesitant to approach and ask. Eventually, I walked up to the table and pointed at it. The people at the table told me that it was "Bun", a deep-fried flat bread. It was one of the friend's birthdays and they were celebrating. They spoke some English and were interested in having a beer with us. However, we had to ride the next day, so we didn't have time to spend time with them.
Day 57 - Qui Nhon to Tuy Hoa - 105 Kilometers
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