Quy Nhon to Dai Lanh

Quy Nhon has a nice little beach with a broad beachfront promenade. With the fancy hotels springing up at the beachfront, it is developing into a nice beach town. But for now, it's still a laid back small town overshadowed by the hugely popular Nha Trang to the south, and so it has few tourists around. It's a nice enough town to hang around for a few days. But for me, that'll have to be next time, because I'm on a schedule to meet up with Chris, my riding partner for the final week of my trip.

As I'm packing up my bike to leave the hostel, someone comes down the stairs with panniers in tow. Glad to see another cyclist, I start to talk to him. After a brief conversation and finding out that we're going the same direction, Adrian from Switzerland and I decide to ride together for the day.

Heading out of Quy Nhon, we're immediately greeted by a substantial climb up a mountain pass. Fortunately, traffic is light and we coast down the mountain at a good clip. The coast down these hills is always worth the effort it takes to get to the top.

For the rest of the day, we go through what is familiar by now: wave to friendly passers-by and kids at the side of the road and ride through scenery ranging from busy roadside markets to rice paddies stretch to the horizon to little villages hemmed in by mountains. Vehicular traffic is light today, so we occupy the whole shoulder lane and fly down the highway.

As dusk approaches, we're still twenty kilometers from our destination Dai Lanh. Deo Ca is the mountain pass just before the town. We have no choice but to press on. Deo Ca is a relatively high mountain pass with 3.5 km of climbing. We put on our flashing back lights and start the climb. Thankfully the road surface is perfectly paved with no potholes. We get to the top without too much drama save for a little section where we have to go over dug-up roads under construction. Coasting down the other side is another experience all together. Barely making out the contours of the road under the dim moonlight, our downhill glide has to be carefully controlled lest one or both of us crash onto a fallen rock. The occasional passing car provides enough illumination to allow us a faster ride. Towards the end, a girl on a motorbike goes slow enough for us to keep up and leads us all the way into the town of Dai Lanh.

Looking for the sole hotel in town, we are lead down a dirt track next to the railroad. We stop to ask directions in front of a crumbling house. A young woman laughs and starts to make suggestive gestures at us while pointing to the house. We walk past a few more houses and encounter the same explicit invitation. Finally, we find the hotel, and are grateful the hotel is not the type that charges by the hour. Later, while going to dinner, we are met by young women at the side of the road waving at us invitingly. We learn that Dai Lanh has been nicknamed "Truckers' Delight." The whole town is basically a giant red-light district where the world's oldest profession flourishes. Looking for some alternative entertainment, we end up shooting pool with a kid from the roadside restaurant where we had dinner.

Stats:
Distance: 142.9 km
Time: 6h 4m
Average speed: 23.5 kmph
Maximum speed: 58.0 kmph
Odometer: 1074.5 km