10th December (Saturday) to Buon Ma Tuot (209km)

The sun was shining when I woke which was a relief after all the rain yesterday.  It restored my mood no end which, maybe because of the rain, had been slightly flagging.  Ridiculously, given the weather back home.  Anyway, was on the bike by 7.45 and heading out of Da Lat, but it took an age to find the right road.  Kept asking people, but they and I can only interpret one another's hand gestures, so it can be tricky.  The road signage in Vietnam is pitiful; it’s seemingly non-existent in cities and towns.  Consequently much of my day is spent asking people “Oh dow.. Linh Ban" or some other place. 


Eventually found highway 27 but it turned out to be narrow and windy with many lumps and bumps.  There were a couple of sections, both nearly 10km long, that were in terrible shape similar to some of the worst roads in India.  This meant going at about 10kph and concentrating hard to avoid deep pot holes that can occur anywhere, even on apparently good roads (presumably due to the monsoon rains).  But the beautiful countryside up into the mountains was worth it.  Loads of houses seemed to be drying, on huge sheets right up to the road, something which from a distance look like olives or grapes (which they are not).  They seem to turn from almost a yellow colour to black.  You see people raking them to turn them over.  In other places people leave to dry what appear to be large patches of corn kernels laid straight on the road, forcing people to drive around them. 

Could this be Paradise?

I drove though some pretty villages today, a few inhabited by some of the ethnic minority or mountain people who largely live in wooden houses on stilts.  Stopped for lunch in a small hamlet and was asked to sit down, whereupon the parents and daughter sat with me at my table (there were no other customers) and watched me eat.  They were very sweet really and were keen for me to take their photographs so they could see themselves on the camera.   Once again my photos of the family are a great asset. 

I’d thought of staying at Lien Son which is on Ho Lak lake so as not to have too long a journey but, though it hadn’t rained, it was incredibly windy so Ho Lak was not looking its best.  I decided to press on to Buon Ma Thuot (pronounced ‘bon may tote’). I crossed the valley at one side of Ho Lak on a causeway within acres and acres of rice paddies, the wind all the while threatening to blow me off the road and into the water. 

Got into Buon Ma Thuot around 3.45 and pretty tired but this time I had not booked anything so drove right into the middle of the city, around the market, realising that I don’t even know the Viet word for hotel.  The people I tried to ask looked perplexed.  I am hopeless.  Drove around the city for nearly half an hour wondering what my next step would be when I spotted something that looked like a hotel.  Sure enough, the Mai Anh is where I have checked into.  It’s really pretty basic but the price is right: about £6.50 and that includes (quite fast free) wireless internet.  What a weird world we live in.  Fortunately, right across the road from the hotel is a small shopping centre where I bought myself a beer, some peanuts and raisins and also a lightweight black jacket that I think will do fine.  And I think makes me look younger, that's the main thing.  Anyway, in the shopping centre, in this fairly obscure part of town, everyone stared and stared at me, the children wide eyed and open mouthed.  Lots of giggles from the shop assistants too.  This place would be no good at all if you were paranoid.  But if you smile here you are more than rewarded.  Dinner across the main road was basic local food but good grub.  I took what was on offer: a large bowl of rice with some sliced roast pork on a bed of mint, with a couple of fairly spicy dipping sauces.  It filled me.  That with a decent lager cost 58,000 dong, about £1.80.  I've always liked a bargain.