Whisk(y)ed Away 4

To Tuyển Quặng

And so, after visiting the place with all the kids again, as I'd promised I would the night before, and where I washed down my whisky with very strong coffee, I finally wobbled my way out of town, and continued to head northish.

Village backroad

Whilst yesterday's ride had been relatively flat, today I was in the hills before you could say "Holy mother of Buddha, am I really doing this again?"

Of course, despite the climbs, or rather, because of them, the scenery was superb.

Mulberry syrup dessert. I tried it, it tastes like it's been fermented, not my fave.

Bamboo smoking pipes and crap snacks

Super delicious bananas. All for 15,000 Dong, about 90c.

I stayed close to the market in this quite large town, Tuyển Quặng. Well, large in a provincial kinda way. Nothing too flash around, but super interesting.

Another rice feast. I asked for tofu, they brought me three whole rows of it, with about eight large pieces in each. Like, 24 big pieces of tofu. Am I that skinny?

Viet Quặng

I've noticed that when I have a big night on the alcohol I'm generally fine the next day, but it's the day after when I really feel crap.

The day after was today.

I woke feeling pretty dodgy, with a runny nose and a scratchy throat.

I found some brekky at the markets, right next door to my hotel. It was sort of a sticky-ish variety of rice topped with an omelette and dried onions. Served with pickled local crunchy raw veggies. Pretty delicious actually.

The markets were pumping with fruit.

The sea creature tanks were pumping with air, keeping the death row critters alive. These are coastal rock oysters.

These are some sort of slug. Bet they'd slide easily down the throat, not unlike the large chunks of jelly they put in the bubble tea around here.

There's oranges and huge mandarins everywhere right now. What a gift.

Nước dừa, coconut water

Gift horses. I didn't look in their mouths. They're actually burnt, as an offering for the dead, and to provide good luck for pilgrimage journeys, especially during Tết, the Vietnamese new year.

In the growing hills

Locals skilfully ride their motorbikes along the most precarious paths ever, often carrying the most ridiculously large things

If yer gonna build, you need quarries

These are actually a small variety of apple. I didn't know what they were, and asked the girl at the stall if I could try one. To my huge surprise they were crunchy and sweet, sorta like a nashi.

One big seed

I bought a million of them

Handmade plywood. Large tree branches are rolled over special saws to produce very thin rectangular pieces, which are then dried in the sun. The trick is to stop them from curling, so they're kept in racks and stacks, and always moved around by the women so they dry properly.

The sheets are then used as building panels, or veneers.

The road eventually followed the beautiful Lo River, for ages

Destination province

Such a huge Christian temple for such a relatively undeveloped area

After 90 long kilometres and a climb of nearly 800m I was done for the day, and rolled in to this hotel.

Balcony views of the town of Viet Quặng.

Oddest toilet placement in Oval Office history

I was dirty after such a long ride, so, as usual I showered, and wandered.

The markets were super interesting. The orange things are ripe gac fruit, apparently a sort of quite bland-ish fruit that's never really eaten on its own, but added to other fruits and flavourings. I didn't buy one, they were way too big.

As fresh as ya get. From cage to killing to commerce.

More rice varieties than you could poke a chopstick at

I asked for more chilli, this measly amount didn't even touch the sides. That was a joke. The chilli here is deadly.

Almost There

So tomorrow, insha'allah, I'll arrive in Ha Giang, my next glorious destination, around 60 kms away. Pretty much every traveller I've met who's been up there and explored the countryside around has said it's been the highlight of their whole trip.

That's what pulled me in.

It's an area of spectacular scenery, colourful hill tribes, and deadly steep roads.

I can't wait to get up there, but I'm also gonna listen to my body. If I can't shake this bug off straight away then I'll rest as soon as I get to Ha Giang tomorrow, until it's well and truly gone.

My temple's been super active for weeks now, it may be time to fully pay my respects.

In lying pose❤️

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