It turned out that there were other people staying in this huge hotel on the beach for there they were at breakfast. Sweet black, black tepid coffee. Pretty undrinkable. If it weren’t for the delicious iced coffees I might have got over my caffeine addiction here. Set off by 8.00, having spent a long time binding my pack onto the motorbike so that it doesn’t slip off as yesterday. I also went through everything overnight, tried to minimise what I am carrying and figure out a better arrangement of how to access things en route. I seem to have brought enough medical supplies to equip a hospital. I noted that neither Kevin nor Dave were even bothering with anti-malarials. I was in Ba Ria within half an hour and La Gi by 11.00. Much more confident on the bike, but still can’t seem to get it into neutral when I want to. Already very fond of it! The engine has a satisfyingly throaty growl without being obnoxious, and it’s got power when I need it. I stopped in a roadside café again in Tan Nghia, heading up to Highway 1. Every bowl of Pho is different; this one was even more delicious than yesterday’s, being a bit more spicy. It was good to get off the bike and give my shoulders a rest. The concentration is what’s really tiring. But I enjoyed the biking today; this is what I had come for and I saw some pretty houses and temples along the way. I got to Phan Thiet City by 1.30 and stopped to take a couple of pictures of the pretty river leading out of town into the ocean. I was at the Beach Resort in Mue Ne by 2.00; that’s 150k over quite good roads, I won’t be able to go this sort of seed (around 30kph I reckon) as I go up into the mountains and further north.
The Beach Resort is much as it looked like when I booked it on the net in Saigon. A paradise if you were with your lover. Having got extraordinarily filthy on the road I was desperate for a shower. After that I walked onto the beach and had a swim in the pool. No one else using it; in fact, hardly anyone around but maybe they are out for the day. I then walked on the main road to see what the local shops had to offer. Sadly, very beach resort sort of fare: mostly tat, restaurants and massage parlours. Most of the signs are in Russian as well as Viet and English, which is interesting.
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