– ODO- 19318-19476km
– Location- Dak Nong, Vietnam
– Weather- 20-31 mostly clear but windy
I’ve got no reason to be here. After getting a taxi from the hotel – of which I’m the only guest – into the nearest supermarket. I buy some fresh dragon fruit and biscuits for the road tomorrow. I need some extra cash for my final two days in Vietnam so I walk up the road as the sun sets to the nearest Agribank. What the hell, I’ll walk all the way back.
The main street of the town was transformed at sunset to a wild and busy market. Each trader had a blanket’s worth laid down on the concrete with little room to walk between. They sell lots of greenery, herbs and leaves along with trays of love fish and eels gasping for air, some raw hairy meat I couldn’t identify – a leg for sure – but of what animal? – cages of chicks piled on each other.
It was dark and further down the highway the road was being cleared. A large truck was waiting to clear the rubbish left behind. Families stood looking at me out of shops. I followed my maps down a dark alley free of streetlights. It got more and more narrow. Nice houses with satellite dishes, accessible only by foot or moped. Dogs barked as the houses ended and my path took me along the ridge of a rooftop. Finally, with a sharp turn, I dropped out into the bright lights of the highway only halfway to my hotel.
For here I picked my way past the street stalls to find some bread for tomorrow. Only one of the many stalls, carts often with wood or gas fires to kebab style rotisserie’s, sold bread. I asked for “hai banh mi” and with some hand signals for what I was looking for. On a Saturday night, the street was busy. Kids played with water pistols and couples with badminton rackets. Bars and coffee houses played music and the trucks rolled by. I made it back to my hotel set for tomorrow’s 150km and smiling.