Tra Vinh to Can Tho

Saturday December 2, 2017, 52 miles (83 km) - Total so far: 2,279 miles

(3,667 km)

Great day today - except for the continually bumpy road! The route was busy in places, but not too bad. Nice cycling through agricultural land - lots of rice, coconut palms and fruit (largely citrus). We largely followed this route:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=495047

The first exception was taking a detour into Tra On to find some lunch. There was a brief hiatus in the availability of ‘chay’ resturants, so we had egg banh mis and iced coffees in the square with the locals. It was actually very enjoyable, and I recommend doing the same! We then saw at least 2 chay restaurants 30 seconds after departing but what can you do. In theory, there’s a ferry to save you backtracking to the bridge. We even saw it with our own eyes, but by the time we were leaving, it was nowhere to be seen! It’s only a small backtrack anyway.

The second exception was to skip the 1A by heading a bit further along the river to Binh Minh. You then get to take a ferry instead of going over the enormous bridge.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1298562689

Can Tho is big! We checked out one hotel (Hien II) but it was closed.....we were then harangued by a ‘friendly’ lady to stay at a nearby homestay. It actually looked pretty nice but there was no ensuite, and I also felt a bit pressured by her (to say the least!!) She was also trying to sell us a river tour of course. If you’re interested, the homestay is down the same alley as Hien II - not sure if they are connected. We stuck to our guns and headed to the Khao Phu hotel (note hotel not guesthouse - they are very close together and we can't vouch for the other!) instead. It’s a great place - spotless (pretty new I think), nice staff, tucked down an alleyway and a good spot for the bikes. 250,000 dong. We’ve booked a tour to the floating market through them too - I will report on this tomorrow!