Day 17
Cat Ba – Nha Nam
24 km + 1h by ferry + 140 km
..the day in Cat Ba was spent excellently – kayaking between the islands, chilling on some lonely beaches, rock climbing in flip flops and channeling the inner mountain goat to see the best view over Ha Long Bay.. and, of course, all this is done together with some great people..
..and then pretty much last minute I take another executive decision to leave Cat Ba earlier as planned because the island itself doesn’t seem interesting enough to keep me mesmerized for a day longer and the north is still calling me.. and I have also found a new riding companion, yet another Canadian, but this one is definitely less crazy..
..we commence the day early as we want to catch the first ferry to the mainland.. but it starts raining just before we embark and stops just as we reach the other side.. happy that the rain has died out, we set off to the north but 20 km in, the rain is back, and this time its pouring – there are rivers coming down the slopes and the road is like a lake in some places.. but we just keep going, hoping for a break.. but it just doesn’t come.. and hour in the rain and it’s just getting stronger and stronger.. and we just decide to stop in a random shelter that turns out to be a private house.. but the lady of the house is nice enough to let us stay for a while and she even offers us some guava fruit.. and there we are.. drenched and upset about the unwanted break.. and it lasts for almost and hour before we can move on..
..and then the event of the day comes.. I crushed, well, I didn’t crush into anything or anyone.. just the combination of wet asphalt, some gravel, too much speed and breaking at the wrong moment made me lose control and I started skidding.. don’t worry, I am fine.. just a scratched knee.. so wearing jeans, jacket and proper shoes paid off.. my dear bike also didn’t get hurt that much, just the left footrest and the gear lever were bent.. all was fixed twenty minutes later and the day could go on..
As it was raining most of the time, there are no pics from that day, but thinking of this view kept me warm.. :D