Dong Hoi to Dong Ha

Thursday November 16, 2017, 67 miles (108 km) - Total so far: 1,890

miles (3,042 km)

We headed along the river to leave Dong Hoi, which is quiet, and has the additional benefit of taking you through a fun market! We then hopped onto the QL 1 (the main bit of highway 1 is called QL 1A in this area) followed by TL4B to take us back to the HCM highway. The traffic was pretty light today. our one complaint was the mud on the road from various earth works....so much for our freshly washed bikes!

The scenery today was better than we'd experienced further North on DHCM, but we're still missing the wow factor of Laos and Thailand.

The early stages of the ride are very flat, but the latter half is more undulating. There's one significant climb, but it's so gradual you barely notice it above the undulations. Great descent though! we headed into the city on QL 9, as it took us near the the place we'd picked for lunch and possibly accommodation. the early part of Dong Ha is the pits! it does improve!

We had lunch and subsequently also took a room at Tam's cafe. The food was solid if not amazing, and certainly cheap. the guesthouse is brand new - lovely big rooms with great facilities. Our bikes are inside, behind locked doors. It's a little way out of town but worth it, given that we have our own transport. Very quiet and Tam is a lovely chap!

We tried to go to a veggie restaurant for dinner, but it was closed. So, we took the easy option and went to the Red Lion beer garden. It was ok.....easy, and the waitress was sweet, but the food wasn't brilliant. We did meet some friendly Canadians though!

Overall, we are pleasantly surprised by Dong Ha. It's modern and bustling and has more cool coffee shops than I've ever seen!