We had a great start to our ride, and it was fun to be in the mountains. All our little legs have seen so far has been flat, endless pavement so it was a good feeling to be climbing. The road was nice and quiet, unlike the busy coastal highway and we were glad to be heading inland.
The scenery was lush with jungle for as far as the eye could see
As the day went on, the weather seemed to change. We climbed the mountains...straight into the wind, rain, and cold. For the last hour of our ride we were shivering, soaking wet, and sprayed in mud {this is because 1) Cameron hates fenders and does not have any on his bike and 2) Meghan's got ripped off in a mad fury while we tried to pack the bikes into boxes for their flight here}.
With no central heating and no hot water at our hotel, it was a challenge to warm up after the ride! Luckily, Cam did survive through the night.
The following day we decided to skip out on biking another 100 km in the rain, and instead took a bus to Buan Ma Thut, and onto to Pleiku. Thinking we'd pack up, ask our hotel staff (who speak almost no English) for bus information, and then have a coffee or two to start the morning off right...we were very mistaken.
Instead, we packed up, asked our hotel staff for bus information and were promptly taken out to sit in their shop infront of the hotel.
Meghan, doing as she's told despite no idea what's happening around us
Before we knew it, one of the local minivan/buses screeched past, our little host (above in orange) went screaming down the street after them, the peeled to stop, reversed at what seemed to be 100 km an hour and we were thrown in amongst a van full of amused Vietamese.
Cam helping to jam our stuff in the bus, and our bikes on the roof before we are left behind. Did we mention there's about 26 people on ths 10 seater van?
It was only minutes before we realized our passports were still at the hotel--they keep them here during your stay and in the chaos of leaving we didn't get them. With quite literally some yelling on my part, waving my hands, and finally finding one person who could read our written message "Passport at hotel" we were able to pay our way out of the situation. For a mere $10 (the same price as our two bus tickets) the bus driver somewhat kindly went back for us.
We survived two hours of crazy driving and made it to Buan coffee capital of Vietnam. Spent a couple hours unwinding after our nail-biting ride there and had one of our favorite lunches to date.
Yummy spring rolls that you make yourself, stuffed with pork, lettuce, fried dough, and delicous sauces.
Back on another minivan/bus to our final destination of Pleiku. We had our usual haggle over how much to pay to put the bikes on (which according to the woman at the ticket counter should be nothing, and according to the bus driver should be the equivalent of two extra tickets). Spent a night there and in the morning, rode our way to Kon Tum (in the sunshine), where we would be spending several days.
Looks like we're at home in the Okanagan!
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