Day 40, Hai Van Pass

China beach, hidden by the mist 

mist

Today it's serious, a Vietnamese version of the famous Tour de France's Tourmalet stage. It is not as difficult as you might think but it is high enough to have amazing scenic views of the coast. Just have a look at it : Hai Van Pass.

So, we woke up as usual and easily did the 18km until the physical part. The weather was cloudy and hot. We didn't think it was necessary to put on some sun cream, so we got burnt. The climb was 9km long with a 500m peak. We had no real problems except during the last kilometre when we started climbing after a picture break. Katie's chain broke again: " Si près du but!!!"

Typically touring biker picture

No need to panic, we just took some time to repair it and were glad it wasn't sunny, because there were no shady places around us. During our climb many sellers on motorbikes tried to talk to us, mainly to sell us souvenirs. I have nothing against this but it was funny when a woman stopped when we were repairing the bike and after trying to look interested in our task, showed us her wares and asked us if we wanted to buy something. 

At the top there were some fortifications built by the French and later used by the Americans and the Vietnamese. It was easy to imagine how this place was strategic.  The rest of the route was downhill, with more goats than lorries.

Lang Co

We arrived at Lang Co at lunch time. Lang Co is a fishing village where beach resorts have been built. This place still has some charm with its long wild beach. We had lunch in a nice fish restaurant and selected an hotel on the main road because Katie's chain broke (again!) at the entrance of the town. We absolutely have to find a new chain.

We spent the rest of the day finding some activities: reading on the beach, eating, getting some information about the different solutions for the bike problem (it is difficult to find bike shops for western bikes in Vietnam) and how to go to our next destination.