Hoi An to Cua Viet via Prao

I like the country more so than the sea, less people and less litter and quite different to where I live. A route wending north, west and back eventually to Ninh Binh is one I took. So off I went on m y two wheeled steed.
In the middle of nowhere I scored a flat tyre. Fortunately the middle of nowhere is only a few kilometres away from a motor mechanic. The tube was shredded, it looked to have been patched a few times before and the tyre was past its use by date anyway. 
For not much more than the price of an Aussie coffee it was all fixed. On a side note, I am hooked on Vietnamese coffee, it has a lovely strong rich flavour. In the country regions a green tea is also served as a complement.
The countryside is verdant and the roads range from busy to light where busy is the city and towns, light is the open countryside. Good to bad, straight and sinuous, it's all there. The roads area a mixture of concrete and bitumen, The concrete roads were a bit harsh on my back with the mild jolting caused by the expansion joints. 
 There were many options to get to the Vinh moc tunnels, I could of continued on the road that runs near the border of Laos or hugged the coast, these considerations ran through my mind, and I weighed them against the other things I wanted to achieve in the remained time of my holiday eg. tea plantations, ha Long bay, Ha Giang Loop, Ninh Binh. 

Over all, I chose an interesting road trip through lovely countryside, some areas like the outskirts of Hue I would avoid ie the main highways, but that would take a lot more planning  and some good off-line maps.
When one is lost, the locals are friendly. Google Translate and the smattering of English retained from school learning helps us communicate, as does the common interest in a tin of (almost) cold beer.
I am not staying in  a hotel proudly advertising karaoke. Loud and discordant, it is pervasive in Vietnam from the most far flung village to the inner city. No peace anywhere, especially at the time I wanted to rest my weary eyes.

I diverted to the coastline because I wanted to visit the Vinh Moc tunnels. In anticipation of massive influxes of tourists the town, Cua Viet before them has large resorts and wide roads. When I arrived they were largely empty. This one had the feel of a resort, but it was getting a bit tired and needed some polish, that only comes through a paying public.
The rooms were ok, but dated and needed some paint and resealing of the all and other joints. no complaints about the price though. 
Sitting on my own in a large restaurant, the meal was great but somewhat eerie.
These resorts are very expensive in comparison to the accommodation in general, perhaps that's the reason for their vacancy, Maybe everyone has simply gone home after the tet holiday. Or maybe it is those super loud karaoke speakers that blast way in adjacent hotels to equally empty rooms.

The beach was full of garbage too. It is all too easy to say Vietnam is a 3rd world country, blah de blah. I do not buy it. They have a good education. Littering is a cultural thing not an economic thing. If there is enough money to build a good road, there is enough to create a good waste management system and attitude towards the environment.  It is such a shame, but I will cast a generalisation that Vietnam's beaches are one big rubbish tip.
Maybe there is just as much garbage in the bush, and maybe it is simply hidden under the carpet. As well there is probably an excessive use of fertilizer and pesticide, but I prefer my travels inland and have decided to steer away from the coast.  Also, Australia is not innocent either with regard to pollution, we aren't at this scale visual scale though.

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