Day 36! I forgot to mention that we saw some monkeys yesterday! But as Tet quickly approaches, today Balint and I set out to Nghe An!

Balint and I agreed to try to head out around 7:30am so we woke up at 6:45am to get ready and eat breakfast!

After eating, we said goodbye to our lovely host Moon and our new friends and set off on your 4.5 hour bike ride!

We ended up setting out around 8:20am and stopped for gas right away.

As we were heading out we were immediately met with spectacular views as the clouds were rolling through the valley and mountains.

We were also stopped in the middle of the road by a man on a motorbike who actually ended up being our other host, moon’s husband, An! He thanked us for staying with them and told us to stay safe on the roads since there are more drunk drivers during Tet.

We stopped periodically to take pictures and wait for each other when one of us got too far ahead.

At one of the stops a very friendly Vietnamese girl came over and wanted to take a picture with me!

Todays ride differed a lot from the ride form Khe Sanh to Phong Nha. Instead of being in the mountains on small winding roads. The Ho Chi Minh road was in between the mountains on long flat and wide roads.

This made for some fun riding! But we weren’t alone this ride as we were surrounded by trucks and busses throughout the entire ride.

Just over 2 hours into our ride we stopped for gas and snacks. I had bought some dried fruit in Khe Sanh and shared it with Balint while we rested.

We then set back out and just under an hour later saw someone from our homestay in Phong Nha on the side of the road resting and pulled over to say hi!

With only 40 minutes left of our journey Balint and I decided to pull over to find some food and rest up for the remainder of the ride!

We ended up finding a nice restaurant that had chicken, rice, and eggs for 180,000 Dong for the both of us!

This ended up being a feast and exactly what we both needed to rejuvenate us for the rest of our ride.

It was also nice to finally have wifi after a long time without it. I was able to chat with my friend Valentine who I’m meeting in Nghe An.

Turns out he forgot his passport and had to wait for a bus to drop it off to him so he said he wouldn’t be arriving till 8-10pm!

We set back out on the road and were met with beautiful rolling tea fields!

As we approached my home for the night we stopped for gas so there’d be one less thing to do in the morning.

We rolled up to a gorgeous tea field overlooking a lake and right in the middle of it all was where I was staying.

I chose to stay in the $5 8 person dorm room which ended up being a number of mattresses on the ground. Which is something I’ll need to get used to as I head further north!

There was no wifi at my stay so I was sitting around listening to an audio book when a Vietnamese family came to hang out for the afternoon.

The dad, Henry, started talking with me and invited me to hang out with him and his family! He also immediately offered me some of the snacks he was eating.

They are from Hanoi but in town visiting family for Tet! They were very friendly and I was very glad they were around to spend time with!

Henry and I chatted all about Vietnam and got to know each other. He runs a construction & window business in Hanoi and he explained a lot about Tet and Vietnamese culture to me.

He then invited me to join his family on their boat ride around the lake!

The ride was very nice and had some great views of the tea fields surrounding the lake!

It was very kind of Henry to invite me along and it shows how Vietnamese culture is all about community and inclusion! Henry talked a lot about how they are the happiest people and whether or not that’s true, I definitely was very happy to have something to do and meet some lovely locals!

He also invited me to come spend time with him and his family in Hanoi and I’m going to try and take him up on that!

After I said goodbye to them I played some pool by myself and waited for dinner time.

I was originally planning on riding back into town for food and wifi. But the hosts asked me if I’d eat at the place and being the only one staying here I thought it would be rude to say no.

So with some help from their Google translate (since I had no connection) they helped me pick out what to eat.

I waited around for a bit and wasn’t really sure if they were going to bring anything out. And went and sat by a fire that the hosts started while I was waiting.

But when they eventually did bring out my dinner… they brought out a feast!

It was a very interesting meal. I knew I had ordered grilled fish but I didn’t realize I had ordered a bunch of tiny fish! It was a very nice meal and wayyy too much food.

While I ate there were a handful of young kids running around and play fighting. It was very goofy to watch! I assumed they were the owners kids, nieces, and nephews all together for Tet.

After dinner I asked the hosts if I could pay tonight for everything since I want to leave tomorrow morning on the earlier side. But they only accepted cash… so tomorrow morning I’ll need to stop by an ATM so I can make sure I have enough money for gas.

The next blip of the night was that Valentin didn’t receive his passport! Apparently the hotel didn’t feel like sending it today… so he’s stressing out in another town and we’re trying to coordinate plans for meeting up… but without a constant cell service it’s proving to be difficult.

I’m still also trying to figure out my plans for after Ninh Binh. But first I need to make sure I make it there! It’s a little uncomfortable not having cell service and money… but this is all part of the adventure!

I’m very glad I already have a full tank of gas! And I’m very much hoping the ATM will be open when I need it.

I’m not sure when this post will go up since cell service and wifi is non-existent currently… but when it does I’m sure I’ll be safe and sound in my next hostel!

– Elie