Stage 5: Vinh to Ha Tinh (50km)

Stage 5: Vinh to Ha Tinh (50km)

Waking up to thunderstorms and the sight of wet roads, we decided to aim for Ky Anh and noted the city of Ha Tinh as a possible stopping point.  Upon checking out, the friendly receptionist wished us luck on our journey and we mounted up in our waterproofs.

As we left Vinh, the dampness added to the general downbeat feeling but I remembered the humour and energy of the local ladies at the night market and it made me smile.  We rode out of the city alongside fellow waterproofed riders on bikes and scooters and along the way we encountered some strange sounding horns.

We pushed on past Can Loc with about 12km to go to Ha Tinh when the rainfall became a torrent.  Reaching the outskirts of the city at about 1530, the sky was dark with angry clouds and we decided to call it a day as it wasn't worth pushing on the further 50km or so to Ky Anh given the conditions.

Towards the city centre we found the Thanh Sen Hotel and the friendly woman owner let us wheel our wet bikes inside.  At the local market most stalls were closing up but we found a lady who still had some cold rice flour pancakes and spring rolls to sell us.  The covered part of the market had old rice sacks above to hold off the rain and there were plenty of leaks.

Further back towards the hotel we found a noodle soup place which had basic concrete walls and open windows of wire fencing with tarpaulin covers.  Ha Tinh is one of Vietnam's poorest provinces and it showed in the provincial capital's broken streets and ramshackle buildings.