Day 2 - Cho Ben to Tho Phuh

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The route itinerary for day two was just over 83Km but after looking at the profile the previous evening we planned to go further if time allowed, so we looked at accommodation options further down the HCM trail in case we went further. After another terrible sleep due to jet lag we woke about 8am and after a quick breakfast of Pho with coffee we set off.

The roads were a lot quieter than yesterday and the scenery beautiful with towns further sparse apart. We planned a coffee stop after two hours of riding but one hour thirty in just south of Cho Ben we went past a sign which said "The Bikers Rest". We actually cycled past but decided to turn back for a coffee which turned out to be a great memory of the trip so far with the kindest hospitality. We were initially greeted by a lady called Thao and quickly thereafter by her husband Donald, who was from South Africa. This quick coffee stop turned into an hour of chatting and drinking really good coffee. They even offered us lunch too but we knew we had to press on. Donald & Thao totally refused payment and we think they we're glad of the company. Real hospitality myself or Alex won't forget. In hindsight this stop would of been a great place to stay for the first stop south down the HCM trail out of Hanoi.

About 45 minutes further south it hit home how disaster can strike in an instant. Two guys passed us on a moped and literally crashed in front of our eyes. The moped was totalled and driver was  seriously hurt with an horrific foot injury. We stopped to help and gave him some bandages out of our first aid kit. That's all we could do.

We kept up a good pace throughout the day as we had a specific guest house in our sights which we picked up on Google which looked OK. We had two further stops for coffee and I fuelled on a gel and some dates with plenty of water and electrolytes & Alex the same as well as some crisps and Lucky sticks ( looked like Mikado) that he bought from a shop the night before.

About 20ks from the guest house we passed over a large bridge with some construction workers who  were waving at us like crazy and flagged us down. After the obligatory Hellooooows and high fives one of the guys gestured he wanted a drink. I offered water out of my bottle and he shook his head and said "Koke". Of course I didn't have any coke so I pulled an SIS gel out for a laugh. He certainly didn't laugh but looked confused and he hadn't got a clue what it was but he took it anyway and didn't even know how to open it. All is fellow workers were laughing at him and asking us for extra gels too. We certainly didnt have spare so we got on our bikes and left them too it with them waving like crazy and laughing. We turned back to look probably about a half a kilometre down the road and they were all still there waving like hell. I can imagine them still there now waving!!

It was going dusk and this guest house didn't appear, we pulled over to check Google maps a couple of times but the signal was really poor so we didn't know how accurate the information on the mapping was. Eventually the guest house appeared from nowhere and we rolled in, 200,000 Vnd (£6.60 ), not a clue if we get any breakfast in the morning. We got in the room which was really basic but we wasn't bothered, it was a long day and we just wanted a shower and sit down. We ate at a restaurant next door and ordered through Google translate Pork with Noodles and vegetables. Food showed up with rice, we weren't bothered about the rice but we may have had our first experience of dog. We Googled some dog meat dishes and a few resembled what we ate. It didn't taste like pork, but could of been buffalo, we really don't know, whatever it was it was tasty. After cycling all day with another 123ks done on a bowl of Pho and a few dates we were hungry.

Today's ride was superb, the scenery was lovely and the weather is being really kind to us with temperatures of around 23C and cloudy with very light showers. The people we are meeting are very welcoming and even people and children you pass on the roads shout Hellooooooow like crazy.

Its 9pm and were writing the blog but we are having to chase and squash giant hornets which have invaded our room. We've knocked the Aircon grill off trying to squash the hornets so as well as an infested room we don't have AC now and it's too late and dark to find something else. I feel tonight is going to be another long night.














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