Sights, Sounds, Smells, Tastes

Today we left Hoi An and drove thru Danang along a long "promenade" on the beachfront. We're certain that within 10 years, Donald Trump or his Vietnamese counterpart will turn the entire area into a Miami Beach-like resort area.

We then drove thru a brand new 5 km long tunnel in the mountains (financed by Japan), until we reached the start of our cycling tour for the day.

For our biking trip of the day, we started with 13 km around a large freshwater estuary with rice fields and fish farms. There were a couple of sizeable hills that got the old ticker pumping pretty hard. In this heat and humidity, it also caused the sweat to start pouring off every part of our bodies.

The B&R team gave each of us a custom "Tour de Vietnam" biking jersey. You should see this group of crazy Americans (and two Aussies) pedaling down the paths in this remote area with the children yelling "hello" to this strange looking group.

After the 13 km, we reached a ferry dock and got on a decrepit old junk for a ride across the bay. The hull of the junk was partially made out of old American aircraft wings salvaged after the war. After the ferry ride, we did another 12 km to reach our lunch location. We gathered for a lunch prepared by a Vietnamese woman in her house located in a small village alongside some rice fields. I guess they call it a restaurant, but it would be hard pressed to get a A or B rating in Los Angeles. We devoured a lunch of spring rolls, soup made out of a local gourd, shrimp, rice, and our daily appearance of sauteed morning glory leaves. They are at almost every lunch. Dessert was lotus seeds in sugar syrup. We're actually getting used to this stuff and look forward to it every day. Fortunately, our guides also keep us supplied with M&Ms and Snickers bars.

Then we pressed on thru a bunch of happy, screaming children for another 7 km. We passed ancient ancestry homes, small businesses, schools, and cemeteries. It seems like every village has the same shops - the Honda motorbike repairman, lumber yard, pool hall, small "convenience" store, tailor, restaurant, gravestone seller, and sometimes a Catholic church. Look out for the day Walmart arrives in Vietnam - it will put all these folks out of business, even the church.

On to Hue, the old imperial city of Vietnam, and more to follow.