Good Riddance, Highway 14! HELLO Highway 27!!!

2/16/09
Buon Na Thuot to Jun Village
Day: 60.8 km
Cume: 2378.3 km
Avg: 16.4 kph
Max: 57.0 kph
Time: 3h41m
Highs: Thankfulness for Highway 27 and the return to Vietnamese countryside and country folk, the sound of birds frequently arriving in my ear canals, drastic reduction in traffic, the mountains towering in the distance, green rice fields, met two lovely Canadians who shared great road information and experience, morning fog!!!, country sweetness returns to peoples' disposition
Lows: Traffic leaving the city, thick morning fog and my glasses don't mix (sadly), rude people giving bad directions, no swimming in the lake?, a tale of tragedy offered by the Canadians


I have to say, I'm not a very good city person. Something happens to peoples' minds/psyche living cramped together with so many people in so little space with so much technology making so much noise and moving so quickly. Country folk are just different people and they're just plain lovely! I'm so thankful to be able to hear the birds singing again! I knew they were there in the rubber and pine plantations in the morning, but it was nearly impossible to make out anything they were saying over the horns and motors. Now, I can hear them most of the time and I'm so happy to hear their songs!

Highway 27 really opened up and the countryside with dramatically improved scenary really helped my state of mind. Not to mention, I didn't have to keep such a close eye on the road and in my rear view mirror now that traffic died down to a trickle, so I could actually look up and look around. I can see the mountains now, towering in the distance and, thanks to the Lonely Planet Cycling Guide to Vietnam, I know how much climbing and mileage I'm going to need to do the next cycling day. I decide to take a rest day before the ascent and stay two nights in a homestay in the Jun Village along Lac Lake. I imagined it would be lovely like Kong Lor, I'd hang out and get to know the family and feel comfortable and welcome in the village and I'm looking forward to it all day.

The town of Lac is very small, very provincial and people look at me really funny. I guess not many farang come here [wrong]. Restauranteers are not as friendly as in other places, not as helpful with my very very poor Vietnamese pronunciations. There's an inet cafe, that's good. There's a cafe, that's good. The Jun Village is set back from the highway and is very quiet, that's great. The star field at night is so impressive, I have seen nothing like it in a very long time. The evening sounds in the rice fields along the village is deafening and makes for really nice evening walking.

Lighting over the mountains in the Southwest (thankfully not near my bearing for Dalat) makes for good skywatching. This is a pretty neat spot.