Day 3 & 4 - which includes our Rest Day

The first 2 days of cycling were a great test for the four of us, where we definitely saw both the enjoyable and gruelling sides of the challenge that we’ve undertaken. The rest day was invaluable in lifting the spirits in the camp; as the long hours planning the previous evening, on what to do with the infamous snapped derailleur from one of the bikes, helped bring us to the decision to drive to the next stop and try and find some marvellous men to fix the bike. And marvellous they were; fixing the snapped derailleur in under 30 minutes, with even enough time to share a few celebratory beers as well.

 George made it back just in time to join us on the top deck of our tour boat where we sat in awe as we sailed through  the  1000’s of limestone islands that make Halong Bay so special.  However, one of our team members was more preoccupied by the worrying lack of health and safety standards to really take in the true splendour of the occasion.

After a game of footy on the beach and a stroll through the night market we headed home to prepare the bikes for tomorrow’s ride to Haiphong.

Four very well-rested team members assembled atop the hotel for a rather unconvincing meal of ‘strawberry flavoured crisps’, but nonetheless we set off towards Haiphong at good speed, and high morale. A rather chilly morning (a mere 28 degrees Celsius) brought us to our destination much faster than anticipated- after cycling most of the same road we had two days earlier. We stopped for a roadside ‘brunch’ at 11am, and came to the wonderful decision to cycle a further 30km- this was met with mixed opinions. After a motivating meal (spicy tuna and a lovely ‘mystery meat skewer’) we set off into the midday heat (a much more aggressive 43 degrees, as well as the humidity to deal with). We are currently unsure of our exact location, but can confirm that the heat has not subdued, nor has the relentless symphony of truck horns. Due to the additional 30k cycle today, we estimate that we cycled close to 95-100km in total, making tomorrow’s initial 115km trip to Nimh Binh much less daunting, but challenging nonetheless.

The trip is going very well, but we would still urge everyone who hasn’t donated to get a move on- as simply hearing of somebody donating is very motivating news to all of us. Thank you very much