Sầm Sơn

September 25, 2024

We were on the road soon after six o'clock, mostly on the QL1A for the first part of the day but with a nice quiet road for the last twenty odd kilometers to Sầm Sơn. It wasn't an interesting ride but neither was it particularly onerous with the QL1A being surprisingly quiet.

We got to Sầm Sơn soon after ten o'clock and spent a while cycling around to case it out and select a hotel for the night. Sầm Sơn is very much a tourist town but I'm guessing most of the tourist are locals. There are so many hotels and restaurants, most of which seemed to have no clients, that making a decision took a while. We eventually settled on a budget place a street or two back from the beach. Two hundred and eighty five thousand Vietnamese đồng sounds a lot but it is the equivalent of $12 US.

Later in the afternoon we wandered down to the beach. It is pretty littered, I am assuming because of what has washed down the rivers after all the heavy recent rains, but there were municipal workers busy cleaning up.

There are a lot of small fishing boats at various points along the beach. Seafood is the main item on offer at the many restaurants along the beach front and we had a number of women trying to sell us fresh fish and crabs. I'm not sure what they thought a couple on bicycles would do with them.

Then it was off to find some supper. Leigh is eventually feeling a bit better- I keep saying she will be fine tomorrow but this time I think I am right - but she still wanted something simple so we picked up some bánh mì and a few beers.

Leigh helping kids practice their English while I wait for the bánh mì to be prepared. The three standard questions are "what is your name", "where are you from" and "how old are you".

"That's my husband over there" is what she was saying at this point.

We carry on down the coast again tomorrow with the town of Hoàng Mai being our probable target.

Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 274 km (170 miles)

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