Day 34 - 31st dec
Today we are up at 8 and eager for a early start.... Today we are going to spend the whole day on highway 1 heading south...
We grab a large breakfast in preparation for the day ahead.... Finding good food in Vietnam is proving a little tricky so we eat whilst we can.....
Whilst shiree's packing up the last few things in the room a take myself off to get some fuel.. The fuel gauge on the bike doesn't work properly and neither does the speedo so we have no way of keeping an eye on the fuel used so we fill in the morning and again around lunch time... Today's trip is 205km from Ninh Binh to Vihn and will take around 6 hrs
Before we go a sort out a top up for the phone and off we go.... Much later than expected at around 10am.
The trip south goes well, the sun is out so the going is good... We just travel all day, rice paddy after rice paddy, mile after mile we just keep on going... We have not found obtaining food easy along the roads.... They produce a lot of natural products here... Working closely with the ground.... All you'll find for sale along the road is raw meet, rice or vegetables.... There isn't really such a thing as a corner shop and so far we have seen no supermarket...
The roads long, dirty and horrible so when we finally role into Vihn in good time we decide to push on to a town around an hour further south of us....
Around 15mins south of Vihn we pass a cow looking for food... Its got its head buried in one of the many piles of rubbish by the road side and it strikes a cord for me...
We've used Highway 1 for around the last 260km and I've had enough.... The idea was to travel down Vietnam on the Ho Chi Minh trail where the cows roam free looking for food in relative clean...
Highway 1 runs the length of Vietnam on the coast side and the Ho Chi Minh trail runs the length inland....
We've been very focused on getting south because if the temperature.... We were not expecting north Asia to be so cold, but in out pursuit of warmth we risk missing this opportunity to use this iconic road....
Vihn is widely regarded as the start of the Ho Chi Minh trail ( a Vietnam war supply's route ) so I turn the bike in the direction of the trail and we head away from highway 1. I'm assuming that on such a long road there must be somewhere to stay.... We have no hotel booked for tonight so will have to find something soon as it's around 16.30. We are soon on the trail and looking for a sign that says "Nha Nghi" which is a guest house.... 30 mins pass but no joy.... The Ho Chi Minh is rural... It's populated by simple housing living from whatever they can grow..... It really is survival farming with a plough pulled by a cow....
We stop to ask advice on a guest house but draw a blank.... We basically get sent back to the main cross roads that we left highway 1 on.... Its dark when we get back here and with the bike loaded so much on the rear the headlight lights nothing but the stars as we desperately try to find somewhere to stay.... The first Guest house we find just sends us away... We have a translator on the phone but some people we've tried to use it with just don't want to know.... On reflection we are not 100% sure that they can read..... Either way there's no room for us here... Reluctantly we head back out onto highway 1.... We can barely see a thing, combined with our poor headlight, everyone drives here with full beam on permanently so your aways blinded, We have no choice but to ride to the next town... Some 2hrs away and judging by our current speed this could double easily as we try to dodge all the trucks and coaches..... This is going to be a very long day.... We set off.... Slowly as we are not unable to view the road directly in front of us.... The potholes are huge and our suspension sits on the bump stops 90% of the time..... One pothole at the wrong speed and we'll ruin the rear tyre...... Then we really would be in trouble..... I notice in the light of passing vehicles a sign that's not been cleaned in years that reads Nha Nghi........ and thankfully we are in luck..... We find a room and we now have a bed for the night in a dusty little roadside town called "Huyen Can Loc".... Its 180000dong with is around £3 for the night....
It's awful.... Cold, and there's no hot water.... The bedding is dirty and ripped but its a bed.... It's got a plastic base sheet and a wafer thin duvet.... Its a hell hole....
We make a reasonable assumption that these rooms are most likely rentable by the hour, but its a place to stay so we climb into bed for the night fully clothed and wish for a quick nights sleep.....

We learn a valuable lesson today...... Prebook your accommodation and dont ride at night....

Happy New Year !!!