Day 7 ...135k to Khe Sanh

 Karaoke again until 2am....grrrrr....feeling tired this morning.

But we woke to sunshine, looking at the sea, it was was still a pretty good start to the day.And we had cereal and milk for breakfast for a nice change from eggs and bread!

Packing off, we headed out at 8am, for a long day ahead. We passed through the demilitarized zone from the American war also known as the 17th Parallel) to Cam Lo, The DMZ was the dividing border between North and South Vietnam, and troops of both governments were barred from 5 km on either side of the border.

 

This is a picture of Vietnamese coffee: thick filter-drip coffee onto condensed milk. I think you then mix the two together and sometimes out ice in it. I tried it in Hanoi and decided it wasn't really for me - too rich, sweet, small! But Toby and some of the others persevered...

We passed the old bridge on the original Ho Chi Minh trail and the cemetery of the 20000 young North Vietnamese soldiers who died in the war.  Truong Son Cemetery, Very sobering and an unexpected site of order, peace, colour, cleanliness and structure.

Otherwise the scenery today was not as spectacular as previous days but the road was flat and fast, if not a little busy with big big trucks passing close in either direction - its a single lane carriageway. We are near to the Laos border so goods are transported frequently, but the trucks show little respect for cyclists on the road, particularly when they are overtaking in the opposite direction. Hair-raising at the best of times.

Rest breaks involve gorgeous mango and pinteapple together with sweet biscuit snacks  and the delicious homemade lemonade. Lunch was in a local cafe - rice, soup, beef, fish....the usual!

We then transfer to Khe Sanh, the site of a former US marine base and the in-famous 1968 battle of Khe Sanh (the longest battle of the war), 

Tonights hotel is super average: basic room, hard bed, noisy road, duck tape between the floor and the wall.......?

Our room is also situated next to the communal kitchen and shower so we could smell other peoples currys and hear their WC flush all the time!

But dinner was interesting in a nice way: we were given a chicken that had been packed inside rice which was then fried, to form a crispy coating, The whole thing tasted of chicken stock and was delicious. The chicken itself was average - they are free range here and generally very scrawny with very little meat. It doesn't bother the locals - they eat it all anyway - feet, head, cartilage the lot!