I wake up early and walk through Cam Thuy, scoring some fresh baguette and cheese and yogurt (managed to find one without gelatin). Kids ride their bikes to school and I see a few familiar faces from the previous evening. We exchange some hello's and I keep on trucking around town. I've still been waking up pretty continuously around 5:30 or 6:00am, but I like the calm interlude before the day's calamity. And I know arriving in Hanoi won't be a stroll through town like this.
I walk out to the field where a few cow-herds are congregating and women are laying out beans to be dried in the sun. One man, bewildered by my size, makes an effort to lift me up and then guesses my weight by drawing "100kg" in the dirt. He's just about spot on.
We made it so far the previous day that our last stretch into town is just a measly 150 kilometers. Looking back at our first day of 80 kilometers, we've come a long way in terms of getting comfortable with the roads and riding through some chaotic traffic at times. It feels like we're no longer skirting the sidelines of death on a daily basis, but we don't press our luck. The ride into Hanoi takes about four hours with one brief stop on a stretch of highway I am calling Milk Alley.
We drive through this town and see easily at least one hundred or more establishments dedicated to the sale of milk. Unfortunately for us and our set ways, hardly any of these rest stops refrigerate their milk—warm milk on a hot day, anyone? Yeah, that's what I thought. I manage to find *one* place that chills their milk and we stop for a delicious glass-full with, yes, more Oreos for lunch.
The rest of the trip is uneventful, but full of mixed feelings. This journey was quite an undertaking, and I'm happy that we've almost pulled it off. I like my little bike, but I'm really looking forward to slowing things down again. Maybe we'll stick around Hanoi for a while. We have to spend some time looking for someone to buy our motorcycles, so there's no hurry to split!
Twas quite a trip.
Next stop (eventually): Laos. Maybe I'll be able to find some rock climbing if it's not too rainy!
Stats:
Cam Thuy to Hanoi. 153 km. Total distance covered: 2100km. I'm over it!
I walk out to the field where a few cow-herds are congregating and women are laying out beans to be dried in the sun. One man, bewildered by my size, makes an effort to lift me up and then guesses my weight by drawing "100kg" in the dirt. He's just about spot on.
We made it so far the previous day that our last stretch into town is just a measly 150 kilometers. Looking back at our first day of 80 kilometers, we've come a long way in terms of getting comfortable with the roads and riding through some chaotic traffic at times. It feels like we're no longer skirting the sidelines of death on a daily basis, but we don't press our luck. The ride into Hanoi takes about four hours with one brief stop on a stretch of highway I am calling Milk Alley.
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| Superliminal messaging putting crazed thoughts into our heads! |
Twas quite a trip.
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| Our luck picking up back on Day 3. |
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| Triumph! |
Stats:
Cam Thuy to Hanoi. 153 km. Total distance covered: 2100km. I'm over it!
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