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Day 2 started badly! I set off from
Cam Thuy, my guest house did not do breakfast. As you have probably gathered by now my whole world revolves around food!! It was the last day of the Tet festival and again nowhere was open, so I rode on, and on and on and on. Until I'd done 50k and arrived at my destination for the day Thuong Xuan, still searching for food. I was going under, i really needed to eat! Eventually there was a cafe open and happy to feed me. Never have I been so pleased to have a bowl of noodle soup. I sat and rested and polished off my soup. The locals were friendly and insisted I took pictures of them- will try load these at a later date, I can only upload pics direct from My iPhone and don't like to flash that about too much. One of the chaps called his friend who spoke English and asked me to speak to her. She invited me to her house for a cup of tea, happily I obliged. I was told it was 2k down the road so off I set. About 15mins later a girl appeared next to me on a scooter very friendly directing me into her home. She was lovely, she has studied English at Hanoi university and never seem a foreign person in her village before. We had some tea and biscuits, then she insisted on taking me to a beautiful pagoda just out of the village. We hopped on her scooter and set off- yes I rode on the back of a scooter- massively challenged my control issues, but went with it (albeit s***ting myself and reaching for my imaginary break). We visited 2 pagodas it is tradition to prey for what ever is in your heart i had to do this 3times- dont really know who i was praying to, but she was insistent i gave it a go! We then went to her uncles house for some wine. She then insisted on making me dinner- wasn't going to argue with that one! We sat and drank beer and ate amazing fresh spring rolls, made with home grown veg from the garden. I was something of a spectacle in the village, all the neighbours came round and drank with us. Everyone was so happy and friendly and generous. Due to Tet the tradition is to give lucky money away in red envelopes, I received 3! All the children went off to bed and left about 6 of us girls chatting away. I showed then pictures of my loved ones back home, they showed me their family pics. It was great, although there was a significant language barrier the basics were there! It doesn't seem to matter where in the world you are all the girls have the same man problems! Eventually we went to bed- yes she insisted I stayed with her, I was humbled and at points embarrassed by their generosity- they have nothing, an outside kitchen, a well to get water from, no sanitation, but were so happy and willing to share everything with a total stranger. it was a great experience.
The following morning (day 3) they packed me off with food for the day and showed me the way to go. There was some confusion over my route, the locals seemed to think the town I was headed for was in Laos, either that or didn't exist? There was a boarder crossing in to Laos 60Km from the village but not an international one- local people only. They didn't get it, and tried to point me in that direction. They suggested it was not possible to get to Laos on the route I had chosen they thought the hills were too big for a bicycle, and the area was too remote without a tent. Taking this on board I set off. Very quickly it became clear that the area was very remote, and the hills were very big, I was literally the only person around. The scenery was spectacular, I could have been on the Rambo film set- wish I could have someone to share it with. I arrived at a cross roads, one way the remote path towards Laos, the other back to the main(ish) road. Survival instinct took over back to civilisation I headed. 45k in to my day without having taken any stops the sun was hot I needed to rest and get out of the heat. In the absence of cafes I sat in a closed garage too look at the map. Some friendly locals came to talk to me but soon left when we couldn't understand one another. Then the garage owner retuned and insisted I come in for some tea, fine- the place was a mess, again I'm fine with that. Whilst he was tidying up he opened up a cupboard which was full of guns, not fine, then a load of his mates turned up wasted, not fine! I beat a hasty retreat. Made it safely down the road to a friendly family cafe where I sat out of the heat for a couple of hrs. Here I bumped in to a group of Americans who were on some Christian mission, when they heard I was cycling they preyed for me- that was pretty weird!
I was told there was a town about 20k down the road where I could stay the night, I was pretty worn out having already done 55k up hills into a strong headwind. Off I set taking it steady, 20k, 25k.... No town, feeling my legs every pedal. Eventually I stopped and asked where this town was 28k was the answer! *heart sank* I just did not have that much light or energy. There was a guest house 6k away which 'might' be open. 6k on I stopped to ask a police man- he just laughed at me- exhausted, sunburnt, hungry, in need of a shower, I just broke down. Tears, snot, sweat- not a pretty sight! Thankfully he took me to the guest house, still upset, it was open, they fed me and gave me a hot shower! Problems solved. Maybe I'll turn on the tears every time I want something?
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