My first impression of Viet Nam is not that it is so different from Cambodia in the way people live but in the lack of garbage that was around. Kind of sad that is the first thing I notice. Our first hotel in Viet Nam was called the Victoria Chau Doc. It was stunning and the rooms were filled with wood. Very schnazzy for four dirty cyclists! Our new guides are Inh, pronounced like “ein” in german, and Tanh. Inh is the cyclist and Tanh is the driver. Inh speaks English rather well but has the most overwhelming accent. The more I listen to him the more he sounds like Tanya from our favorite Sushi restaurant in Wheaton, IL. Tanh on the other hand speaks no English, except for the obligatory “thank you” and “hello”. Both are absolutely adorable. Janie and I laugh that we found Zach in Viet Nam. (Too long a story to explain, just smile and nod your head in agreement!)

We are starting rather late for ourselves today, 8:30 a.m. to get our bikes ready. Inh told us last night at dinner there was only one size bike the company sent. There are four different size riders ranging from 5’2” to 6’2”. One size does not fit all. We tried to explain that there might be a problem but the best remedy was going to wait and see. The bikes were a bit big for Janie and I and probably a tad small for Jim and Rich. They made arrangements to see about getting Jim a new bike. Rich wasn’t riding today because he wanted to save his shoulder for the final push to Saigon.

Let’s just throw our itineraries out the window because they are nothing what they say. Today we were scheduled to get on a ferry boat and cycle on dirt roads through the villages along the Mekong Delta. The only thing that happened according to plan was the 85K of cycling. Instead we headed out into the morning traffic of Chau Doc, which is totally filled because it is the Chinese/Vietnamese New Year celebration and people are out everywhere getting ready for the festivities that will last a minimum of three days. It was rather exhilarating once again to be involved in the chaos of traffic. Not much time to point out potholes or people in the way. It was pretty much everyone for themselves. Staying relaxed was the best policy.

We stopped for some pictures of people dressed in red and a dragon. According to Inh, the business owners ask the fortune tellers and spirits to let them know when it would be good for them to reopen their business. I did not get to witness the whole ritual but it did involved rather loud banging of drums and gong like instruments. There are many other rituals for the new year and many involve around the souls of ancestors and burning things, including money! It is rather refreshing to hear and see that most of the new year celebration revolves around family. People go back to their places of birth/origin and stay with relatives to welcome in the new year. Inh says there is lots of eating, much like our Christmas holiday.

There were a few short climbs in today’s ride. After so many days of flat in Cambodia, I forgot what it was like to have to do a little more than pedal. They weren’t really hard climbs, just those annoying 2-3% grades that went on for a couple kilometers or so. It was kind of nice to do something different. I even had to go down to my middle chain ring!? The wind popped its ugly head out again today and it always felt worse on the open roads. This is when we found out that Inh really wasn’t a seasoned cyclist.

Before I knew it Janie and I were trying to paceline it as best possible. Our new bikes are way too big for us but we were going to make the best of it. It is only three days of riding. The van was in front of us and I thought if only the driver would slow down just enough, we could motor-pace behind him. Jim pulled in about 3K from the town ahead and said that Inh could not keep up and he couldn’t go that slow! I felt bad that we had smoked our guide but the wind was merciless and I just wanted to get some relief.

My real relief was getting rid of the two bananas I ate at our little rest stop about 10K or so back. Inh said they were a little green but they did not look like it. Something about them did not agree with my stomach so gone they were and I immediately felt better. The thought of catching another stomach bug was not something I wanted after all it took to get into Viet Nam. (Sorry to be so graphic but I want you to feel like you are with us!) We waited for Inh, with the van, in the next town. It didn’t take him to long to catch up with us and he scouted a place for a lunch break at a local restaurant. He ordered all our food and was very considerate to me and made sure there was at least some fish on the table.

Inh is amazed that we do not eat a lot of food. For me, it is hard to sit down to a big lunch and then get back on the bike. Not that Vietnamese food is that heavy but I just don’t like pedaling on a full stomach. I never have. And taking an hour off on the bike makes it hard to get back on too! Janie, Jim and Rich all agree. We are quite sure that Inh is not familiar with our style of riding and he finally admitted that he is used to leading very casual riders on 30-40K max trips, which would explain the painfully slow pace. And it is not so much that we are world class cyclists but pedaling 10 mph in the blistering heat of Viet Nam can be deadly. And then Inh is amazed at how much water we drink! Let me see, 95-degrees, 95% humidity, ferocious headwinds. I believe that all equates to drinking lots of water. Fill that cooler with water, Inh because we drink a lot of it!

At 85K we stop and load the second follow truck with our bikes. Seems like overkill on support but I don’t run the company. We then drive about three hours to our final destination of Cao Lanh A sleepy little town as Inh tells us but in reality it is like Rockford and more people because of the new year’s celebration. We are staying in a government run hotel called Song Tra Hotel. It was quiet sterile. Janie had to change her room because there were bugs and Jim didn’t have hot water or air conditioning that worked. So far, Rich and I have been pretty lucky on our rooms. I don’t think any of the three countries we have visited believe in really hot showers and I can live with that for three more days! We did keep our suitcases off the floor though!

About 12 midnight, Rich and I awoke to the sounds of fireworks. Right outside our hotel window we could see the city celebration as they rang in the new year with a 20 minute extravaganza of fireworks. Rich stayed up to watch the whole thing but I fell back asleep, even with all the blasting outside. It is a quality I like about me. I can sleep through anything!

Ride On....

Link to today’s photos

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