Post # 48 Phan Ri Cua

Day 54 1036 days to go Distance today 66km total 2971. Its 6.30pm Tuesday 24 January 2012 Phan Ri Cua. Hi there. It’s been a great day happy happy wind blown and weary but smiling big. Away from the highway all day not all planned but ended up following the coast and inland unsealed road to Phan Ri Cua. I actually intended on following a sealed secondary road to the highway then to turn off to a short distance to this seaside town. However after following the coast road for about 35 km I came to a junction and had no idea which road to take. I asked this young lad for help, showed him the map and where I wanted to end up today and he insisted that the way to go was to turn off the main road onto an unsealed road. Do you know how hard it is to firstly turn off from bitumen onto dirt road and secondly head off away from where the map said to go towards what looked like nowhere and trust a 16 year old that smelt of beer. MMMMMMMMM What to do. But this is an adventure right!!!!!! So off I turned. I must admit that during the next 31kms I was wondering who made that decision but the ocean was on my right so I was going the right way at least 🙂 And then the ocean disappeared and the road went inland and I was a bit nervous for a bit. The road was pretty crap and sandy if not stoney so the going was tough for Rubes. She’s a dirty girl tonight but very pleased with herself. She was a bit clunky at the end of the day but I’ll clean her up in the morning before heading. Anyway the scenery was great very much sand dunes country remote but beautiful. I stopped at a white sands dune for a late breaky and coffee which was a stark contrast to the red dunes I had seen earlier. The area is well known for its red dunes and we stopped this morning to check the spot out where people buy tabogans and go sliding much like on Frazer and Moreton Islands at home. It wasn’t as massive and vast as on the islands but it still looked impressive and the view from the top was beautiful out across the ocean. The stretch from Mei Ni north just got better. There was a lady selling the tabogans and we got chatting about how cool they were and she was happy to have her photo taken. I loved the far more remote ocean road and less traffic so much so Blue dog and Miss Jane joined us for a stop to see what all the fuss was. They now want to start riding on the handle bars and are at me to get them a seat. I’ll have to make electrical tape leathers for them to look after their bits but it might just work. There were still cows being herded along this quieter coast and at one stage there was a cow chilling along the waters edge enjoying her fengshu. It’s looked crazy and Im not sure when I’ll next see a cow on a beach. Fish farms of sorts appeared from time to time which were interesting. As I got more inland the ground became rocky sand and goats started appearing. They were beautiful. Black and orange like the dunes colour. Of course I had to stop and say hi to my Chinese zodiac special timing for new years. I was wondering where the road would spit us out along the coast and whether I’d have any idea where exactly we would end up and how to get back to the highway. I was trying to ignore this thought but it was definately background noise that’s for sure. I couldn’t believe it when we did actually come to a town. It was where I wanted to go and the little lad was spot on. The town is small and cute very much low key withs lots of local gatherings and drinks being enjoyed on day two of the three days public holidays. But they were a happy corwd and very interested in me arriving from the coast road. I stopped to check the map and where I’ll head out tomorrow and a group of young boys came over with ‘hello’s and ‘what’s you names?.’ We had english small talk and introductions and they got so into it and so did I. A crowd of kids soon gathered plus a few adult bystanders who showed me to a street stall and offered me a cool sugar cane drink. Great timing and yum. I got ut my Vietnam phrase words page and one little lad assumed the role of teacher and took me througha ll the prnounciations much to the entertainment of the onlooking crowd. We took a handful of group shots and I’d do the countdown 1,2,3 before taking the shot. They loved it and let out a huge cheer when the photo was taken each time. It was really fun. They gave me directions to a first hotel and waved me off. The next 3 hotels I found were either closed or full being holidays. I got directions to one that wasn’t opened but they gave me a room anyway. I paid for it for the standard $11 but who cares it was nice to stop and clean up after what was a long haul aweome day. Being away from the highway was just wonderful no trucks or horns and I love love love being on the ocean and the adventure of the day. Hope you enjoy the photos. I found an internet cafe and get to upload thos from the last days. The computer speed here is great and they’re done already so I’llf insih off there to attache them and head back for dinner. Extra hungry and happy tonight yay. Talk soon x PS I included a couple of photos from the place I stayed last night which I forgot to mention. It was really cute bunglaow stoyle stilted hut with a a netted matress on the floor. A cool dorm experience. Also a special picture I took of my seriously bad cycling tan I too particualr notice of this arv after putting som ecream on. Just thought I’d share the shorts, keens and sock tan very sexy 🙂