A hot tough day on the road

  Nothing unusual about my exit from Dong Hoi headed south.  The sun came out about ten miles down the road without a cloud in the sky.  No blue above on account of the pollution, really weird. The road became rolling hills through the dunes of the shoreline, almost desert like.  Time to put on the sunscreen and head sweat band; the salty sweat was already stinging my eyes.  The road kept rolling along without a soul  around; even the traffic was sparse. The temperature continued to rise and there was no shade anywhere.  Mile after mile in ninety-five degree heat, pouring down the water, I finally came upon a large lake captured on by the sand dunes.  Two lake side hotels tempted me but my compulsive goal orient self forbids from stopping for the day, only thirty miles on the odometer. With the temperature taking its toll and the sweat pouring off me, I found a convenience store, Vietnamese style.  After putting down two juice, four small yogurts and some chocolate cookies, I braved the heat.  Prior to leaving four eleven year old  boys stopped out of curiosity. For twenty miles one tried his English out on me, referring to his school notes, a fun time.
Out into the heat, mile after mile, a mild headwind picked up and I was becoming more uncomfortable by the mile.  Fifty miles was my minimum distance but when would that mile arrive?  Over a hill a small city appeared and perhaps a hotel. I passed two dives despite my misery, later to learn that the hotels required another ten kilometers of pedaling.  Finally, Dong Ha arrived.   I stopped at the first respectable hotel (nhe nigh). Caged birds everywhere as the owner met at open hotel front.   There is a god, fifty-seven miles felt like ninety.  Scrubbed the riding clothes in the sink, drank a few juices out of the room refrigerator, showered in luke warm water (I didn’t care), took a nap and headed out for dinner. The owner know exactly what I was looking for she I decended the stairs and directed me across a crazy main boulevard to local restaurant. This ten year old boy, at the restaurant, at the request of his grandmother asked what I wanted in pretty good English and served it up in ten minutes, smart kid.
      Tomorrow, I am on the road early even though it is only a forty-two mile down to Hue. Then for a day off, 660 miles to go to reach HCM/Saigon.