A day to catch up, another flat

      Upon arrival in Thành Bao my bike was covered in mud, my bags equally a mess and my legs covered and pants covered with grease and dirt.  I had a few stares as I walked in the hotel but I was too tired to care.  Once checked in, I began the debunking followed by dinner and a deep sleep. The ride on route 1 was stressful compounded by my diminished energy level.  The next, a couple of essential things needed doing.  With almost no hotels and restaurants accepting credit cards, my reserve of Vietnamese dong was dwindling.  Chancing the ATM the city center, I was able on my second try get three million Dong ($140).  Now, how to transfer funds at home to my credit card checking accounts.  Hopefully my bank apps will work.  At home, my S.O., Kate, has all my pertinent information. With some hoops to jump, we should be able to get the transfers worked out.  In the future I will try to use hotels that accept credit cards.  The backwater places are a problem.  The trick here is when the hotel listed online says that no credit card is required to reserve the room, that means the hotel does not accept credit card. The communists are still behind the curve here.
   Next, clean the bike. With a bucket and rag in hand, I began the task and was stunned to find I had another flat tire.  Do I need this aggravation?  The guy behind the hotel counter directed to a bike shop a few blocks down.  The puncture was a result of a tiny wire protruding on the inside of the tire.  Everything was going fine until he couldn’t locate the proper tube size.  He even drove off on his motorbike in search of one.  No luck. He ended up patching the old tube.  I have never resort to patching, instead always buying new tubes. The tire seems to be holding.  I saved the other tube which needs patching as well as another tube slightly different in save which might save me.  I will be stopping at every bike store in search of the right size tube.
     With route 1 being a jungle of trucks, cars, buses and motorbikes all blasting their horns, I have decided to ride across a narrow part of Vietnam from Thành Boa west to Dong Tau. The national park  I will be riding through is beautiful.  More hills but anything is better than Route 1. Pray that my rear tire holds up.
   Wrapping up the day, two women I met, here on maternity health research, one Vietnamese and one a mixture of French, German and Vietnamese ( Marianne and Von/Van) and I went out for dinner.  With no one speaking English, I have felt somewhat isolated in a strange country.  It was good to speak English without resorting to my translation app and sign language.