It was a cloudy start with the roads drying from early morning/overnight rainfall. We had woken to the honks of trucks and other vehicles as they approached the major junction opposite our hotel. There was also the sound of g*vernment agenda being played through loudspeakers on trucks driving up and down the roads (we first encountered these in Hanoi). There were also banners with statements encouraging the development of the province for the general good of society. The odd luxury car we saw driving past locals struggling on overladen bicycles suggested that for some, personal economic development was a long road ahead.
The first 15km flew by as the roads had dried by the time we'd set off after breakfast. The roads were fine apart from a few early sections of roadworks which disrupted our smooth progress. Green paddy fields passed by under cloudy skies which became ominously darker as we went through Dien Chau and to within 40km of Vinh.
Soon after, we received our first taste of riding in the wet as rain started to lash down hard. After a few kilometres of riding through the downpour and spray from traffic, we dripped into a trucker rest station which had a restaurant for lunch and gave us a chance to dry off.
We had a good chat with the waitresses who had the Hue influenced accents of the province (Nghe An). As usual, they thought we were mad to ride from Hanoi to Saigon and asked why we didn't do it by motorbike instead. Our replies that we preferred the challenge of cycling the route and that we could enjoy the landscapes more at our sedate pace made them laugh.
After donning waterproof jackets, we pushed on along the final sodden 26km to Vinh. We reached the city outskirts, marked by ladies offering corn for sale by the roadside - obviously a staple crop of the local region. After riding towards the centre, we found a small hotel with decent rooms for a good price and checked in.
The friendly receptionist recommended the local specialities of 'chao luon' (eel congee) and gave us directions to the night market where we would find local food stalls for dinner. We headed there and noted that Vinh had big ugly concrete buildings (it was apparently rebuilt in an Eastern German/Russian style after after being bombed during the war). There were also some newer tall buildings which all seemed to be banks and hotels. Overall, the place had quite a downbeat feel which I attributed to the bright spark who thought modelling the city on concrete eastern bloc architecture would be a good idea.
We found the night market and sat down at a food stall run by a loud and formidable looking lady who took her food seriously when we asked what dishes she offered. After ordering the local speciality we ate and watched on in awe as she prepared orders for other local diners like a whirling typhoon. After plenty of banter, by the time our meal was over we were firm friends!
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