Day 57 - Qui Nhon to Tuy Hoa (October 25)

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

Rest Day - Qui Nhon (October 24)

This rest day was spent shopping. Bike touring involves a lot of shopping, mostly shopping for food to eat along the way and snack food for a rest day. But sometimes, we buy breakast, lunch, or dinner food.

Putting finishing touches on columns (by hand!) at the Buddhist Temple.

For breakfast, I found some raisins and a box of corn flakes. Adding some soy milk and I had breakfast for a few days. We stopped by the Quy Nhon trade center where I found some peanut butter. A few days later, I would find some jelly and I now I would have the perfect cyclist lunch food - PB&J. I was also able to find some vegetarian noodle soup in a cup. Now I had dinner because most hotels provide their guests with hot water.

Terry pointing out what he wanted at a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant (Co'm Chay).

Day 56 - Quang Ngai to Qui Nhon (October 23)

A random statue to the Revolution.

Terry and I had gone separate ways in Hoi An, but we ended up sleeping in the same city, Quang Ngai. I decided to get up early to ride and just 30 meters down the road, I saw Terry. So I did my best to keep up with him for this ride. With the wind at our back, we were able to complete this 180 kilometer ride before dark.

Terry Truckin' Down the Road.

The scenery began to change during today's ride. I think that riding from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City is a better idea than riding from Hanoi to Hue. There is really not much to see between Hanoi and Hue except for one not so remarkable Vietnamese city after another, but futher south the scenery gets more interesting. For example, on today's ride, there were rolling hills near Bon So'n and between Phu My and Binh Dinh.

The Beach at Sa Huyen

Drying Grain on the Shoulder of the Road.

Taking the Piggies to Market at Bon So'n.

The Vietnamese carry everything on their motorbikes. I saw pigs in cages, ducks (still alive) tied to a 2 by 4 by their feet, and even puppies. When the puppies passed, a dog sitting on the side of the road took up the chase, until it discovered its tail and started chasing its tail instead.

The Bull Speaks: I Own This Paddy, Buster!

This was a good day of riding because we had the wind at our backs. This really helped us to get into Quy Nhon. Before too long, we were within 10 kilometers of town. Before we entered town, though, we made a detour to look at some of the nearby Cham Towers. An effort has recently begun to rehabilitate these towers. Many towers are covered in scaffolding.

We turned off of Highway 1A at a sign that said "Cham Architectural Treasures, 300 m." At 300 meters, we found a Buddhist Pagoda, but no tower. Retracing our steps, we saw a tower off in the distance, we saw a tower. If we just stayed on a road on the edge of a rice paddy, eventually we would come right to the tower. One problem though, the road ended at someone's house. In our confusion, Terry tried to cross a very narrow path through a paddy. I decided to try to find a better route. Fortunately, a person who lived nearby the tower, led us to the tower on his motorbike.

Terry Blazing a Trail to the Cham Towers

The tower and our guide.

Finally, we entered Quy Nhon. What a great city. It has a nice beach, with no one bugging you like in Nha Trang. We tried to stay at Barbara's Backpackers, but Barbara, a Kiwi, has only a bunk room. We stayed instead at the adjacent hotel, the Lan Anh at 19 Duong Xuan Dieu right on the water. We were able a nice room rate. Although Barbara is out of the hotel business, she still makes good muffins and Western food. Yum!

View from the Wrap-Around Balcony at our Quy Nhon Hotel.

Day 56 - Quang Ngai to Qui Nhon - 180 Kilometers