Bike to Mui Ne!

I broke my Sunday hike tradition to bike to the coast! I joined up with three fun British physical therapists for the early morning departure with Groovy Gecko tours. We drove about an hour and a half to our starting point (which was slowed down since we got stuck behind a funeral procession on the way to the graveyard which was interesting to quite interesting to see!). Then we set up our bikes and we were off! Since. We are starting high and descending over 900 meters, most of the biking was an exercise in brake grip strength versus leg muscles but it was an exhilarating ride! We also passed a minority village. Our bike guide explained that most minority's aren't recognized by the Vietnamese government and there are very rare instances where someone marries outside of the village. As if on cue, we passed a traditional wedding and the bride's white gown looked beautiful but slightly out of place in the dusty surroundings. The hilly jungle terrain was beautiful as we raced down the narrow road until we finally reached the flat roads leading towards the coast where we stopped for lunch. They served up some yummy sandwiches, fresh fruit and veggies and sugar cane juice! The juice basically consisted of the shop owner running long sugar cane sticks through a grinder that squeezes out the juice. A perfect refresher to combat the rising heat and humidity since we were out of the cool comfort of Dalat's higher altitudes. After lunch we biked an easy but warm 15 km more past a lot of small villages where the kids rushed to the street to say an English 'hello'. It felt like a parade and we were the main attraction. After a little drive, we reached Mui Ne which is a beautiful Oceanside resort town. I almost wished I was staying with the Brit's as we left them at a tropical resort (which was costing the three of them $26 a night for their room! Cheap!) I climbed back in the van with our driver and bike guide and casually asked them when we'd be home thinking it'd be about an hours drive along a shorter route like the tour booked told me. I was shocked to discover it was a 4 hr drive along the same route we came! So I kinda got 'misled' but enjoyed the stop for fresh seafood and the sunset over the hills as we rose back up to Dalat. It was a long but fun day!