Thanh My to Hoi An

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Happy Birthday to George! - Thanh My to Hoi An

Today was George's 30th. The ride continued to follow the course of the river, initially windy until it opened out into a wide valley and we left the central highlands behind. The valley sides were lined with a couple of kms of tombs and graves. We saw a couple of villages growing small pineapples and we bought a kilo of very sour lychee.

We had been eager to set off and were looking forward to reaching touristy Hoi An. We were hoping for a more substantial dinner, a good night's sleep and better hospitality. We stopped for baguettes, 25c :). The Vietnamese were celebrating, the children were gathered in schools on a Saturday and there were many flags and bunting around. The cycling seemed to drag on, a fifth consecutive day was taking it's toll. The valley floor had the usual paddy fields and maize. We had a sugar cane juice and pushed on. We had our first taster of Highway 1 and were glad we'd mised out on the smoky trucks and headwind. Finally we found the lane into the hustle and bustle of little Hoi An. We had booked ourselves into a 3 star hotel for George's birthday. It was huge colonial style building outside the centre. We were greeted by the staff and helped with our bags. The highlight of the day was a 2km walk to Dingo's Deli for excellent Western food. George had an immense burger and Kathryn had some delicious pasta. We ate vegetable sticks with hummous, tzatziki and tapenade.

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