February 12, 2018
Day 42: Cao Lanh - Sa Dec
Routing: #848
Have I ever done less than 30 km on a full day of cycling without having any health or mechanical problems? I don´t think so but I am determined to have more short days like that while here in the Mekong Delta. That´s a result of me sitting down in my room last night after deciding I should have some sort of strategy how to spend my days before going back into Cambodia. I started the brain storming session with reflecting on my first few days of cycling here in Vietnam. The amount of traffic, motorbikes in particular, is crazy. Full stop. The corresponding noise level (engines and honking) as well. Their way to just pull out of a side street without checking for other traffic requires high concentration all day. But I never felt unsafe as such. The traffic coming from behind will look after you and if you do the same it miraculously works without any incidents. Permanently being on alert is tiring though and that´s why I have decided to reduce the length of my stages dramatically. Like today...
I probably wouldn´t even have considered going into Sa Dec but when the Nonhoff sisters rode through here last year they called it a "..town which could be nice to stay in". What I still had to decide on was how to get there. The most logical way from my hotel in Cao Lanh would have been going down the QL 30. So I started on it but after two mad kilometers on that triple carriageway I turned round and decided to rather backtrack to the ferry I came on over yesterday and then continue on the #848. Well done, Frankie! The remaining 20 km into Sa Dec were busy too but very nice at the same time. I had plenty of photo and coffee stops and 10 km before arriving I knew what Ruth and Ute had been talking about. A never ending string of colourful nurseries right down to the river at my destination. Where I found a buzzing genuine local produce market as well. I really liked this town instantly.
Another experience of my first few days is that I don´t have to put a lot of energy into the search for accommodation. The standard hotel rooms suit me fine and have so far been between 200000 and 300000 dong. The latter price is what I pay today in the Khach San (=Hotel) Sa Dec but that includes breakfast. Happy to be here!
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Today's ride: 28 km (17 miles)
Total: 3,424 km (2,126 miles)
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