Day 48: Vi Thanh - Rach Gia - Frankie goes to.....Indochina

February 20, 2018

Day 48: Vi Thanh - Rach Gia

Routing: #DT933, QL 61

Four days in a row! Cycling beyond my expectations that is. Once again directly along the canals where life is buzzing on and off the water and not one second of boredom all day. The traffic was again still rather dense - scooters in particular - but apart from the related noise no problem.

Leaving Vi Thanh in the morning started with good news. Directly next to the Phong Nhã Hotel is an excellent restaurant where I already had dinner last night and was delighted to see they were open for business in the morning as well. I would have called their delicious bowl of soup Pho Bo too but it was actually some different name. I have given up on trying to learn all the different soups on offer - they all have been good so far. If I see the bowls in their glass cabinet I stop and point at the type of rice noodles and meat I want. Works well for me.

There was really no need for any extra food after this delicious soup but when I came down to the waterfront I saw that Banh Mi stall (directly next to the Pho Bo stall I posted last night) obviously selling crunchy baguettes with the pate I like so much. So one of that right there and one for the road -lunch brake secured! I like stopping at one of the million cafe´s half way through my ride and have something to bite with my frappe.

I actually did do some cycling too! The#933 was as lovely as the whole last two days had been and once I came to the village where it bends 90 degree to the left I decided to continue north on the small unnamed canal road. Just go across the bridge after that turn and then immediately do a u-turn to the right and you will be back in cycling heaven. Eventually I had to go back onto the #61 just a few km short of Rach Gia, knowing that the remaining 90 km to the border should be nowhere near as nice as what I had over the last four days.

But, gosh, did I enjoy my cycling since leaving Ben Tre! Mind you that permanent noise pollution is a serious stress factor and I am keen to be somewhere without being penetrated non-stop by that sharp motorbike beeping or the compressor horns of the larger vehicles. I am determined to draft one separate page on my experiences in Vietnam so I will leave it with that first statement for now and see what Rach Gia has to offer apart from the decent Kim Co Hotel with large and immaculate rooms for 350000 dong.

I had to stop! You can see on the photo how nice their stuff was, can´t you????

If there is enough water, just a few paddle strokes will take you over

If flora has taken over you have to work a bit harder. No more men to be seen...

No need to say this guy was offering organic honey

Chapeau! I would have had second thoughts

This means a lot to me! Thumbs up from a man who tries to make his living the hard way by selling fishing traps

Further up on the road with no name where all the steep little bridges required....

....some rest. I had to do it eventually! Look at the professional hammocker in front of me though, extremely well balanced with only his snoring giving him a gentle swing

I wouldn´t have thought my first sighting of the Gulf of Thailand would be that emotional

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 3,786 km (2,351 miles)

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