Well, today was a fun day as Anne and I bicycled through the countryside with our very nice English speaking guide. Let me also quickly add that riding a bike only once every few years guarantees a very sore rear end for a couple of days!
Lucky for us, we were the only ones taking the bike tour so we had our guide to ourselves. From experience of other bike rides, I knew that would mean more flexibility and more stopping for photos. We met our guide downstairs and then took a cab to a different hotel where he stores his bicycles. After a few adjustments to seats and helmets, we were off on city streets. Crossing the street with all the cars, buses, motors and other bikes is quite a harrowing experience so I tried to stay as close to our guide as much as possible. Car and motor drivers constantly honk to let you know they are coming around you. A couple of times on smaller streets I forgot to ride in the right side but was quickly reminded!
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| fisherman on a foggy morning |
We crossed over the Red River and headed for dirt trails where we rode through banana forests and fields of cabbages, beans, tomatoes and medicinal plants. Because of the rich soil, everything grows (except rice) and it is pleasant to ride through the villages and see how the village people live. We stopped at one house where 2 women live and grow some type of root that is sold for medicinal purposes. Our guide spoke to them in English and they permitted us to go inside their house. Let me just say that I’ll never complain about rats in the attic again! We also saw a small community of “floating houses.” Some of these people use generators for power and you will also see tv antennas rising above the roof.
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| nice residences with reflection |
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| boat houses |
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| woman crossing bridge while talking on a cell phone |
I felt like I was literally in the middle of no where so needless to say, I was amazed that someone could be using a cell phone there! We were several miles from our hotel but could still see it rising above the skyline in the fog across the water. Our guide said that cell phones have become so cheap that almost everyone has one these days.
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| people from other provences build houses from whatever they find |
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| notice tv antenna in upper right |
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| too cute not to capture! |
Can you imagine how heavy it would be to fill these baskets (pictured here) and haul these several miles to the market? But...they do it.
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| stopped at corner "store" for green tea |
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