Day 61: Xin Chao! Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh

Day 61: Xin Chao! Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh
Vietnam: Moc Bai to Ho Chi Minh
Distance: 70.5 km
Time on board: 4 hours 47 mins
Avg speed: 14.7km/h
Cumulative distance: 2786.7 km

Good morning Saigon! Great start today, finally back on smooth road. Following the QL22 or AH1 to Ho Chi Minh city. If Cambodia is cheap, wait til you arrive in Vietnam. A bowl of noodles cost 20k dong, which is $0.90 USD and Sugarcane juice only cost 5000 dong or $0.22 USD. Cheaper than Cambodia. I am already loving Vietnam.

Only pet peeve about Vietnam is the incessant horning by both motorcyclists and drivers. It is once said that you can get rich by just selling horns. Maybe Vietnamese are horny, pardon my pun haha. Not only I have to wear my Totobobo filter mask but also ear plugs. The horning just gets on my nerve. Way worse than Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia combined. They horn at everything.

At the 47 km, found a pho bo (Vietnam beef noodles), and the stall owner is Catholic as well. Good thing I stopped for lunch.

Approaching Ho Chi Minh city, the traffic gradually increased. Hordes, legions of motorcycles swarming past me. Sometimes 3-4 motorcycles heading towards me in the opposite direction. Scary shit. Last 20km is the most stressed skate since johor bahru, Malaysia and Bangkok. Had to take break at a sugarcane stall with hammock. They have hammock cafes. This is really hanging out' Instead of chilling at beach, I chilled at the road side, counting motorcycles zooming pass by. In a minute, literally thousand of motorcycles zooming past. Continued on, navigating my way on map.me, had to stop each junction to make sure I am on the right track. Couple of Vietnamese motorists chatting with me while riding and many slowed down to video me skating. Now I understand why the French cycle tourers I met in Cambodia wanted to take the other border and bypass ho chi Minh, because it is truly stressful experience.

The secret of skating in Vietnam is just to skate in a straight line, no pumping or whatever. Let the motorcycles do the waltz around you.

Finally arrived at Notre Dame cathedral, my favorite spot in Ho Chi Minh. Will be resting for the weekend to attend Easter mass.