Phương độ (day 9)

Part way through the night A decided we needed both comforters, so we added one on top of the mattress as the bed was too firm. The roosters were a little too excited at 230am, so in went the ear plugs. Had a nice casual start to the day with coffee and breakfast, and we were on our way just after 9am.

S stopped in front of Hoang A Tuong Palace on our way out of town. It belonged to a wealthy land owner, and the mansion was completed in 1921. It's now getting renovated as over a century has taken its toll.
https://laocaitourism.vn/en/detailnews/?t=hoang…

The fog was still present, but we manged to find a pocket of sun in the next valley over. A's motorcycle started to behave funny, and thought it might be sputtering due to a fuel shortage 🤔. Thankfully a flip of the valve for the reserve tank and we were off again. S wasn't too concerned know the tank was empty, and we continued on. The side route took us through a bunch of road construction as well as more fog. Thankfully the fog gave way, and we enjoyed zipping through the forest shade and cultivated landscapes. We eventually made it back to the highway and found a place for a coffee stop and a gas station.

We found ourselves on a road through a steep and narrow valley. It was much dryer here, and the slopes were blanketed with lots of pine trees. We passed a couple more reservoirs and hydro generation stations.

Stopped for a noodle soup bowl lunch in Vinh Quang before ducking off the main road again. The concrete path soon deteriorated in to a narrow, often steep, and mucky track. S decided to run our motorcycles up the worst of the two stretches to limit wear and tear on the clutches. Yes, the locals do ride the same trails 2-up on their scooters, but they also not standard transmissions 🙃 With only 8 days of offroad riding behind us we were tired and welcomed the assistance.

The "road" we emerged on was a complete mud pit. Heavy work vehicles and construction made the road nearly impassable. Imagine mud soup! Once we crested the pass, the rough and windy road jittered our jowls all the way down to the smooth main road. Ha Giang's main street is very long and wide. It felt like a video game racing past everyone regardless of road rules, because there really aren't any here. Eventually S did his classic last-second look around, hammered on the breaks, signalled and turned off the main road which lead to our evenings accomodations.

Cay's Homestay is quite nice! The beds are soft, water was already hot, and room warm 🤗 The evening's meal was shared at the table with a French couple and their car tour guide, as well as some of the homestay family. The meal was large and delicious. Afterwards we enjoyed a short walk "around the block."

Ride info, 151km and almost 7 hours 🫠
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/t-m0B08Kw6USLeggi altro