A gentle cycle back to Da Nang with a late start. We have no rush to get back to Da Nang, as it is just a 1-1/2 hour cycle along the coast, so an easy start today.
We passed by the Marble mountains again on the way and stopped in at a Pagoda – quite interesting. Some lady came yelling after us telling us we had to park our bikes in her shop that we ouldn’t go further – when we ignored her, she came after us on her scooter until we explained we were only cycling through….the most persistent tourist chaser we have seen so far.
We got to Da Nang and checked in to the hotel, then off to the train station to organize our bike transport to HCMC (we already bouth the tickets in Hue). Well, after asking around we finally got the right person to talk to, only to find out that we could not take the bikes with us on the same train, we would have to box them and they would arrive in HCMC 4 days later – a lot different that what we expected that we could take the trains with us…. we were a bit shocked at first and scrambling what to do….
We headed out to the bus station to figure out what possibilities we had there – it was possible to take the bieks along, 20-hour bus trip though – leaving 13:00 next day…. Essentially, we would get into HCMC about 8 hours later (10am) than what would happen with the train (getting in a 2am)…doable. So tickets were bought, and we spent the rest of our day trying to prepare ourselves mentally for the upcoming bus torture (i.e. lots of cocktails and beers).
In the evening we walked along the riverfront in Da Nang – they do a great job of illuminating the city – the Dragon Bridge even spits fire at 9pm on the weekends – only goes on for about 3 minutes but interesting to see. We ended up in some eclectic (but nice) bar on the main boulevard drinking G+Ts and beers and having a pleasant dinner listening to 2 amateurs playing live music in the background….
(35km / 70m)