Day 15: Dak Glei – Dak Ha

Distance 58.2

Time: 5:27

Average Speed: 10.7 mph

With Pierre and I keen to push on to Kon Tum, we congregated out front, with bags packed, at 7 am. We picked up a few Banh Mis and some water on our way out of town.

Still at 700m, we expected we would be travelling in a largely downwards trajectory towards Plei Can. But, after mile upon mile of ascending and descending along a picturesque valley, the defining downhill contribution never came, and when we reached Plei Can, after 32 miles, and just before noon, we’d just climbed back up to 680 metres.

We stopped for fried chicken and delicious, fragrant, rice somewhat like Indian Pilau, and while we were there we tried to recover some of Pierre’s malfunctioning gears, with little success.

Although the road surface was flat and smooth, it was the hottest day so far, reaching 32 degrees, and the sun was strong, so when the road forked left out of Plei Can and continued to rise and fall with metronomic regularity, it seemed unlikely that Kon Tum would be an attainable target for the day. My thoughts turned to Dak Ha, in about 20 miles. Reaching there would allow me the opportunity to leapfrog Kon Tum tomorrow and make for Pleiku, and that would put me back on track to reach Ho Chi Minh City in 7 days time.

After a short descent from Plei Can, we bumped into two cycle tourists, one from Wales and one from England. The one from Wales also had a Thorn bike, of which he was especially proud, and with its Rohloff hub and Son dynamo, it was a very nice machine. They told us our route ahead was not too bad, we told them their route was ‘a little challenging in places’ and wished them luck for their next six weeks on the road to Hanoi.

Still hovering around the 600 metre mark we hadn’t dropped much, and then the road climbed again, back to over 650 metres, before swooping down an 8.5% slope into Dak To.

Stopping to get cold drinks and ice cream at a shop, we were plied with spring rolls, pork pate and sponge cake, as the family who owned the shop gathered around to wish us well for the upcoming lunar new year celebrations, or ‘Tet’ festival, that occurs on Saturday. It was very humbling and we couldn’t thank them enough.

Finally, along the last stretch to Dak Ha, the hills eased a little, and we passed by fields of crops backed by red dirt mountains. Eventually, we entered the bustling little town and made for one of very few guesthouses to be found.

Dinner was an odd assortment, involving chicken and tiny fried fish, but the real highlight was our waitress, Tram, sitting with us to quiz us on our travel plans and practice her English. She had learned English at the local high school, when she was 12, and still remembered so much, it was remarkable. She was now at Saigon University, studying Japanese, and was home for the Tet festival, she excitedly asked us where we’d be on the 25th, a question we still need to answer as many places close for the holiday.