Day 12 - Kham Duc to Plei Can
We knew that today's ride would be pretty tough with in excess of 100ks combined with some serious climbing, so after a good nights rest and food at the Khach San Be Chau Giang we started riding just after 8am. We replenished our water supplies and bought some bananas on the edge of town and settled into our ride down the HCM southwards, destination Plei Can. The first 25ks was rolling concrete road through pretty much wildernous with the odd house here and there and virtually no traffic apart from a few motorbikes and a seldom truck now and again, but we were riding two abreast through lovely country side, the sun was shining bright at 26C and we felt great. We carried on riding taking a few photos now and again, one of a young guy at the side of the road brushing his teeth who gave us a wave and tried to say hello with a mouthful of paste, and a few small water falls and rivers. We also stopped for a chat with a guy called Alistair from New Zealand who was traveling on an old motorbike the opposite way to us, he was on his way up to Hanoi.
We hit the first climb of the day at around 26ks south of Kham Duc after riding for just over one hour, the temperature had risen to 29C at this point with the sun beating down on us and we endured a 14km slog up the mountain with ramps of 10%, there was no let up and the road uphill seamed it would never end. After about 8ks we stopped for a quick rest, banana and for a drink with our water supplies not far off empty we wished for a shop. We didn't get a shop but two kilometre further up the mountain someone had rigged up a large piece of bamboo which was funnelling mountain water into a bag which made a huge drench shower. Alex, sweating like hell jumped off his bike and was under it like a shot to cool down, I just had to get the photo.
Back on the bike a couple of kilometre up and virtually at the top by now we were rewarded with a large restaurant that serves the buses and trucks going up and down the HCM trail. Both of us dripping wet, me with sweat, Alex with sweat and water decided to stop after the climb and we had a superb lunch of fried chicken with garlic & lemongrass with a bowl of rice and vegetables. It was perfect and after we had finished we had almost forgotten about the hour and half slog we had just done to get to the top. We refilled our water supplies and hit the road again. After a steep decent of about 4ks we hit another climb of only about 3ks but it had ramps of over 10%. We weren't bothered because we knew it was short and the hardest part of the day and tour so far was over.
We carried on with another large decent then it was rolling road with absolute beautiful scenery for the next 50ks. We stopped off loads of times to take pictures and just enjoyed the ride. We later stopped for a quick coffee and water intake again before carrying on through different villages. We came across a gang of kids and one cool kid of the village on his skate board. I think he must of got the idea from Marty McFly from "Back to the Future", I just had to have a go with his mates pointing and laughing at me. I don't know what it is with kids in Vietnam but they are all happy and smiling, and so happy to see you going through there village. I think it's because they haven't got a lot of material things or wealth they are just happy and content with what they have which isn't a lot. Maybe western kids should take note.
Further down the road we clocked the guy who comes round the villages in the afternoon selling steamed buns filled with vegetables and an egg. We have seen this all over Vietnam and we first tasted them a week ago in Hue. The guy was parked at the front of an house on his converted motorcycle so we bought two each. The lady of the house with a small child in her arms also bought some and pulled some chairs out of her house so we could sit and eat. She seamed delighted we did and we got the message through we had come down from Hanoi on our way to HCMC. We rolled into Plei Can after over six hours of constant riding with another 109ks in the bank and checked into an hotel. We both feel good physically but my bottom bracket on my bike is creaking like hell and we are virtually 300ks from a decent bike shop in Buon Ma Thout, were looking on the internet looks like I could get it fixed. I just hope it holds out until then.
We hit the first climb of the day at around 26ks south of Kham Duc after riding for just over one hour, the temperature had risen to 29C at this point with the sun beating down on us and we endured a 14km slog up the mountain with ramps of 10%, there was no let up and the road uphill seamed it would never end. After about 8ks we stopped for a quick rest, banana and for a drink with our water supplies not far off empty we wished for a shop. We didn't get a shop but two kilometre further up the mountain someone had rigged up a large piece of bamboo which was funnelling mountain water into a bag which made a huge drench shower. Alex, sweating like hell jumped off his bike and was under it like a shot to cool down, I just had to get the photo.
Back on the bike a couple of kilometre up and virtually at the top by now we were rewarded with a large restaurant that serves the buses and trucks going up and down the HCM trail. Both of us dripping wet, me with sweat, Alex with sweat and water decided to stop after the climb and we had a superb lunch of fried chicken with garlic & lemongrass with a bowl of rice and vegetables. It was perfect and after we had finished we had almost forgotten about the hour and half slog we had just done to get to the top. We refilled our water supplies and hit the road again. After a steep decent of about 4ks we hit another climb of only about 3ks but it had ramps of over 10%. We weren't bothered because we knew it was short and the hardest part of the day and tour so far was over.
We carried on with another large decent then it was rolling road with absolute beautiful scenery for the next 50ks. We stopped off loads of times to take pictures and just enjoyed the ride. We later stopped for a quick coffee and water intake again before carrying on through different villages. We came across a gang of kids and one cool kid of the village on his skate board. I think he must of got the idea from Marty McFly from "Back to the Future", I just had to have a go with his mates pointing and laughing at me. I don't know what it is with kids in Vietnam but they are all happy and smiling, and so happy to see you going through there village. I think it's because they haven't got a lot of material things or wealth they are just happy and content with what they have which isn't a lot. Maybe western kids should take note.
Further down the road we clocked the guy who comes round the villages in the afternoon selling steamed buns filled with vegetables and an egg. We have seen this all over Vietnam and we first tasted them a week ago in Hue. The guy was parked at the front of an house on his converted motorcycle so we bought two each. The lady of the house with a small child in her arms also bought some and pulled some chairs out of her house so we could sit and eat. She seamed delighted we did and we got the message through we had come down from Hanoi on our way to HCMC. We rolled into Plei Can after over six hours of constant riding with another 109ks in the bank and checked into an hotel. We both feel good physically but my bottom bracket on my bike is creaking like hell and we are virtually 300ks from a decent bike shop in Buon Ma Thout, were looking on the internet looks like I could get it fixed. I just hope it holds out until then.
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