Day 5 - Bidoup NP to the coast and boat to Whale Island

The second leg of ride included a 1,500m descent, travelling through the Bidoup Ba National Park.

Departure from Dalat for a 100 km (62 miles) ride. Sadly, I felt as sick as a parrot, suffering from alternating fever and chills, sore throat, headache and malaise.  

Although unwell the day before, I struggled on. My reduced mileage (22 miles),  missed the first leg around the lake at Dalat and the afternoon, but I still completed the 30k downhill. Stunning scenery.

Nikki and Nia prior to departure in their new Vietnam cycle shirts.

The hotels were of a high standard, always with friendly helpful staff.

Readying ourselves for the 100k ride, Connie and Isabella sporting high-vis yellow jackets.




Kathy, Doug and Pammy ready themselves for our longest day yet.

After the initial leg, I felt well enough for the downhill leg.

Wonderful scenery with numerous switchbacks, waterfalls and vistas dissolving into multiple shades of grey (fifty, on careful counting).

We enjoyed wizzing down...

...with plenty of opportunity for photo stops.

This area is home to rare pine forests as well as small villages inhabited by the ethnic minority people of the central highlands

There were various landslides across the valley.

This one had taken out the road, now under repair.

Attractive limestone striations, some glistening with sheets of descending water.

The wind affected the direction of growth.

Buddhist shrines seemed more frequent as we moved North.

I think this is Quan Am Thi Kinh, a female manifestation of Avalokteshvara (Guan Yin in Chinese), the Boddhisattva of Compassion. 

This highly developed 'being' defers his/her own enlightenment for the sake of all living beings. 

It's a later development of Buddhism which stresses the altruistic dimension.

Bottles of water were left as offerings.

Although still poorly, cycling was much less boring than the coach.

However, by lunch I was bushed and took to the bus for the remainder of trip that day.





Fabulous animal hats worn by cool young kids!

Once we arrive at the coast, we headed by bus for 1.5 hours to the coast near Nha Trang before boarding a boat to the tropical island retreat of Whale Island. It was dusk as we board the boat.

A "Wolf Moon" adorns the sky. It's the first Full Moon of the year and is named after howling wolves. In some cultures, it is known as Old Moon, Ice Moon, Snow Moon and the Moon after Yule (wolves howl a lot in January during breeding).

Day 4

Day 6