Day 2 on the bikes. All systems appear to be GO. Thankfully. It's always amazing to me when you take a bike out of a box and screw everything back together, et voila, it's ready to roll just like it never left your porch. That's cool. Needless to say it's great to be out of the big city and on the bikes. Yesterday we put on 72 kms to the town of My Tho; today we rode 75 kms to the town of Vinh Long. Not bad for the first couple days as we get used to things. The roads are great so far. Motorbikes and bicycles outnumber cars and trucks by about 10 to 1. So hey, we fit right in. It's a cyclists dream here.
You learn fast that the key to cycle touring in smokin' hot countries is to be on the road at first light, which is about 6 am. If you haven't got your first 20 or 40 kms in before the first morning coffee, you're in for trouble. By 11 am or noon, you should be where you want to be for the night. So that's our schedule. Up with the sun, then by noon we're sucking back cold beer like they're glasses of water, and just staying out of the sun. The real story to get excited about is that beer is 55 cents a can! Everything is dirt cheap though. Our hotel last night was $6.50 for the night and had air conditioning and cable TV (including ESPN and olympic coverage). Crazy.
So ya, we're almost into the heart of the Mekong Delta, which is where the Mekong River -- one of the great rivers of the world -- empties into the South China Sea. Tomorrow we'll get to Can Tho which is considered the middle of it all, and home to the infamous floating markets.
You learn fast that the key to cycle touring in smokin' hot countries is to be on the road at first light, which is about 6 am. If you haven't got your first 20 or 40 kms in before the first morning coffee, you're in for trouble. By 11 am or noon, you should be where you want to be for the night. So that's our schedule. Up with the sun, then by noon we're sucking back cold beer like they're glasses of water, and just staying out of the sun. The real story to get excited about is that beer is 55 cents a can! Everything is dirt cheap though. Our hotel last night was $6.50 for the night and had air conditioning and cable TV (including ESPN and olympic coverage). Crazy.
So ya, we're almost into the heart of the Mekong Delta, which is where the Mekong River -- one of the great rivers of the world -- empties into the South China Sea. Tomorrow we'll get to Can Tho which is considered the middle of it all, and home to the infamous floating markets.
Very cool...Hey this blog stuff is way better then sitting through your 4 hour slide show when you come back :)kidding keep her coming..
ReplyDeleteMD