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March 02, 2005

A day near Ninh Binh

After breakfasting at the Soviet-era hotel in Haiphong, where the recorded music played the same balalaika tune over and over again, we rode in the bus a couple of hours to get to our hotel in Ninh Binh, where we connected with the bicycles for the first day of riding!

The hotel is like something from a Graham Greene novel - a French era villa that has gone to seed. It's musty and things barely work, but hey - it's home for the night.

We got our bikes fitted and headed out on the back roads through magnificent countryside - rice fields with huge limestone formations jutting out of them, cliffs with pagodas on top, and lots of kids by the side of the road waving and yelling "HELLO!" and giving us high-fives as we ride by.

We got to Tam Coc where we got to take a rowboat ride up the river through three caves. There were mountain goats on the cliffs, and rice paddies along the side of the river. On the way back we got the hard sell from the rowers who wanted to sell us embroidered tablecloths and napkins - it was a sort of weird scene, which left us all feeling rather uneasy.

Now we're in the local Internet emporium which is full of kids playing games (I think mostly Age of Empires) and doing instant messaging. The other thing it's full of is mosquitoes. Time for more deet!

Tomorrow we have a more ambitious ride, about 70 km, including section on Highway 1, which is the main highway in the country. Unlike the US, on Vietnam's major highway there are separate lanes for cars, motorbikes, and bicycles (we don't know what the water buffalo will use).

More tomorrow as the incredible venture continues! Keep those comments coming, friends!

Posted by oren at March 2, 2005 06:12 AM

Comments

Hmmm, a far cry from riding on the Burke Gilman Trail and stopping for coffee and pastries at Perts. Watch out for water buffalo!

Posted by: Michele at March 2, 2005 07:41 AM

Hey Ed - Dan from the DBis here. Sounds like you're having an excellent time. Look forward to seeing pics...especially of the water buffalo!

Posted by: Dan at March 2, 2005 07:54 AM

Hey you guys, good work so far! Bring a (small) pig and a tablecloth home for me as souvenirs? Thanks. I am jealous of you now for being there, except for the saddle sores part. Have you encountered any evidence of the avian flu or the worry about it? That is a headline here now. What does the lanscape look like? Is it warm and wet? What sort of bicycles do the people there ride? Seen any interesting birds, the kind without flu?

Posted by: Tom at March 2, 2005 08:21 AM

The letters are great boys. We're proud of you. Fascinating details. Wish we were there with you.

Posted by: Tom at March 2, 2005 11:15 PM