700 kilometers and no broken bones

This trip was SOOO much fun.  The cute guy in the middle is the guide, Chien.  Huy is on the left, and my protector, Tom, is on the right.  Notice he is carrying my computer backpack.  He took care of everything for me besides running interference in his truck.  After a few days I got comfortable riding, but I never got complacent.  I was always on full alert.  Since they do not necessarily drive on the right here, you can not just stay in the right lane and go slow.  People are always driving at you from every direction.  Circles and intersections were particularly challenging.  Nonetheless, this was really the way to see things up close and personal.  Chien was great about taking me to out of the way places and restaurants that I could never have found on my own.

Here is one of the views on the road from Dalat.

Yesterday we made an excursion to see Cam Ranh Bay.  This morning we did a quick tour of Nha Trang including a ninth century Cham temple.  And then my crew said goodbye and went back to Saigon.

Nha Trang is not quite my idea of a resort.  Although the beach is beautiful, it has been overcast, windy, and a little chilly here.  There have even been a few drops of rain.  When I got to the beach, I was greeted with this sign:

Besides the weather, Nha Trang is a little off the standard tour route, but there is a direct flight from Moscow.  It turns out that Russians come here for their winter breaks.  The second language on the signs everywhere is Russian and people keep talking to me in Russian.  I signed up to take an excursion tomorrow to four of the islands near here for snorkeling and sightseeing (although if it stays cold, I may not get in the water).  But ... it is pretty here.  This is the view from my hotel window when I woke up this morning.

What a great ride

The road down from Dalat was simply spectacular.  It was so cold in Dalat that everyone was wearing winter jackets.  Of course the Vietnamese were still wearing flipflops, but some of them wore socks with their flipflops, a real fashion statement.  The road stayed in the high country for quite a while with a view of rolling hills as far as you could see.  At one point I saw smoke ahead on the road, a not uncommon sight since they are always burning things on the side of the road.  But when I got there, it was not smoke.  It was the clouds drifting over the mountaintops.  Shortly after that the road descended in switchbacks.  It reminded me of the Old Priest Road we used to take to Yosemite before they built the new road.  In fact, that section of the road reminded me a lot of Yosemite with rock boulders and even random waterfalls.  I checked with Chien and the US never dropped napalm here.  Whew!  This is countryside too beautiful to destroy.

The road descended into lowlands with orchards and farms.  Then it leveled out and there were the greenest rice paddies on both sides of the road dotted with workers and white ibises.  We really did nothing else today except ride, but I didn't want it to end.  Just incredible views the whole way.

The last ten kilometers had traffic as we approached Nha Trang, but even that doesn't bother me.  Besides, I still have Tom running interference for me.  I'll be staying here in Nha Trang for a few days for a "vacation."

Pleasant day in Dalat

Dalat is a charming mountain town.  In the morning we rode around on the bikes visiting a few of the attractions.  First we went to the train station built by the French when they developed Dalat.  Chien got a little confused with his English which he does not usually do.  He kept saying we were going to a gas station and I kept wondering what could be so interesting about a gas station.  But the French train station was very nice.

Then we went to the ceramic pagoda.  The pagodas I have seen are so garish by my standards.  They are painted in bright colors and the statues wear loud clothing.  There is usually a wardrobe room as someone changes the clothes on the statues regularly.  There are also often neon lights so I think I am walking into a casino.  The ceramic pagoda looked like it was created by Gaudi on steroids.  In the complex there was also the tallest female Buddha made of flowers and the biggest something else as well.  Oh, the main pagoda is made of ceramics.  Hence the name.







Sometimes I think they are putting me on.

We rode to a cable car to take us to another temple, but the cable care was closed for repairs.  Oh, well.  And then to one of the many waterfalls in the area.  There is a mini roller coaster to the falls, so while we had a long walk down, we had a quick ride back instead of hiking up.

There is quite a lot of traffic in Dalat which I could not have managed three days ago, but I can turn now and weave around circles like the locals - almost.  I do everything considerably slower, but I get there.

And that was it for today.  I had a free afternoon.  I walked around Dalat for a while, and then had a little time to myself.  After dinner, Chien and I walked around the night market.  Just a pleasant day.

Oh, my travel problem du jour.  Well, actually, yesterday's.  When I went to unpack in Dalat, I realized that I had not zipped close the compartment of my duffel that I keep cords in, and the cord to charge my iphone was missing.  I didn't think I would be able to find an Apple store in Dalat, but Chien took me to a phone store.  It's an iphone 5; you really have that?  No problem.  How much is it?  $8.  I was shocked.  Last time I lost the charger for my laptop, it cost me $80 at the Apple store in New York.  I thought $8 was a bargain price for being an idiot.  When we plugged it in, nothing happened at first.  Then the phone gave me a message that it recognized that I was using an unauthorized device.  That's why it was $8.  Duh!  I just bought a Chinese rip-off, something I would not do at home.  But it is charging, so I am going with it for now.

Since I have a private tour, yesterday I asked Chien if they could extend my tour for one more day so he could take me to Cam Ranh Bay, about forty five kilometers from Nha Trang.  Chien, Huy, and Tom then went into a long, long huddle.  Finally he came back and wanted to clarify if I wanted the three of them or the tour company.  Everyone in Vietnam is an entrepreneur.  I told him I didn't care, but since I wanted to go by motorbike, it seemed like he might have to tell the company.  It took quite a few phone calls, but I think I have it arranged.  My three squires will stay with me for one more day to take me to Cam Ranh Bay.  They haven't told me yet what this will cost, but I was going to pay someone to take me there anyway.  I'd rather go with Chien who is a good guide and I trust.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the highlight of this week:  170 kilometer ride down the mountain switchbacks to the beach at Nha Trang.

Dalat

Alternate titles: 170 kilometers and no broken bones or This is really cool.

We went back to the beach to watch the fishermen for a while.  I still can't understand who would go to sea for a couple of days in a round bathtub made out of woven palm.

Then we visited a fish sauce "factory."  I am amazed by the various cottage industries that we have seen.  On the one hand, they are quite large scale.  On the other hand, they are located in back and front yards and run by the family or a few employees.  For the fish sauce, they put two kilos of fish (from the fishermen we saw) and one kilo of salt (from the salt farms we saw) into large vats with water.  Over a period of months, they drain the water and condense the mixture further.  It is kind of like olive oil with first press and second press.

Vats of fish sauce in the making.  The woman with the hat is carrying two smaller white containers suspended from a pole across her shoulders.

Hi-tech transfer from the vats to smaller containers that can be carried.

Hi-tech bottling operation

Hi-tech delivery method

The finished product

Finally we had a quick visit to Vietnam's premier sledding "resort."

It is hard to tell from the picture but this is a tall sand dune.  Little children offer to escort you up the dunes with sleds for $1 a ride.  No ski lift or even a rope tow.  You have to walk.  They also had ostrich riding for "relaxed adventure."  I have done a lot of strange things on this vacation, but I draw the line at ostrich riding.

My Aussie friends, Dick and Kathy, left at this point - they were only doing a four day tour.  So now it is just me along with my guide, Chien, second rider, Huy, and truck driver, Tom.  I feel like a 19th century colonial.  Isn't this how Meryl Streep went on safari in Out of Africa?  All that is missing is Robert Redford.  Anyway, we had a long drive up the mountains to Dalat, a cool-weather resort originally built by the French and still very popular as a vacation and honeymoon spot.  The ride was simply gorgeous.  We drove by fields, lakes, and rolling countryside.  As the elevation changed, we saw banana fields, coffee plantations, and tapioca drying as well as vegetable gardens.  At times it felt like the California foothills and then it seemed like Hawaii and then New England countryside.  Lots of switchbacks so I had plenty of turn practice.  I think I have them down.

Chien and Huy rode one motorbike, I had my own, and Tom followed in the truck with my luggage.  I had thought Huy was going back to Saigon.  Then I remembered that they asked if I wanted a second driver in case I got tired.  I assured them that I was going to ride the whole way, but Huy came along anyway.  After a few hours I thought about it for a few minutes, but decided that riding on the back of Huy's bike did not seem like a good way to rest.  An hour or two later, I realized that I could have gone in the truck.  Oh, well.  I rode the whole way.  Usually motorbikes stay to the right while cars and buses pass them.  On the last section which had a lot of traffic, Tom rode shotgun for me in the truck on the switchbacks, not letting anyone pass him so I had the whole road to make wide turns.  There was a line of cars and buses behind him honking and cursing.  Occasionally one would manage to go into the left lane and pass him and I would hug the right.  At circles, he would go ahead and block the whole circle from the left when I entered although I still had to navigate the traffic coming from the right.  Later we all drove to dinner in the truck and Tom practically ran down pedestrians in crosswalks.  He has one charge - me - and nobody better get in his way.  The life of a 19th century colonial may be even better than being queen for a day.

Tomorrow we will explore the sights of Dalat.  Here is the view from the balcony of my hotel room.

55 kilometers and no broken bones

Although it is not for lack of trying.  You know the saying:  flying is safe; it's the landings that will kill you.  I am fine driving on the straightaway.  I can handle the curves, and the traffic does not bother me.  BUT (and it's a big BUT) I have a lot of trouble turning left or right.  I'm not very good at slow speeds either, so starting and turning is really hard.  I completely lost my line on a right turn today but the driver in the left lane had the good sense to get out of my way.  Later I had to start through a narrow opening and immediately turn left.  You know, if you stick out your legs, flail around, and weave uncontrollably, people tend to give you a lot of room.  I don't think they could understand the exact swear words I was saying but they got the drift.

Other than these two minor incidents, it was a blast today.  I was tired when we started on Monday and thinking it was probably not a good idea to close my eyes while sitting on the back of a motorbike.  I was still tired yesterday and thinking it is probably even worse to fall asleep while driving a motorbike than a car.  But I finally convinced someone of my Civilized Tour Company concept.  We did not start until 9 this morning, and I crashed (figuratively) early last night (which is why yesterday's post was not sent until today).  Today I felt great riding.  And one day, I am going to learn how to make turns.

The roads we drove on today had even less traffic than the back roads I biked on the last two weeks.  We rode along the coast, through sand dunes and villages, with the outline of mountains in the distance.  It felt like Route 1 down the California coastline but without the cliffs.  And it felt like we were finally away from the tourists and seeing people where they really live.  Our guides are wonderful about taking us to interesting places, both unusual ones and the ordinary.  For example, this morning Chien walked us through the market and explained to us the things we could not recognize.

Then we went to a rice paper "factory."  This is the rice paper they use for making salad rolls and the factory is in the side and back yards of the house.

Fermented rice water with drying rice paper to the right

This woman makes the rice paper one at a time like a crepe

She lifts off each "crepe" and put in on the table which rotates

Masked woman in hat takes the "crepes" off the table and puts them on bamboo racks to dry

Drying racks in the side yard

Next we drove through fields of dragon fruit orchards and then salt farms.

Dragon fruit orchard

Blossoms on dragon fruit

Ripe dragon fruit

Dragon fruit growing

Baby dragon fruit stalks tied to concrete "stems"

Dragon fruit in my hotel room when I arrived

Huy and our driver Tom in front of the salt farms

Next we stopped at beach to watch the fisherman and we walked to a woman's house who served us another Vietnamese meal - rolls made in rice paper of tuna and squid.  I am eating everything.  I also said hello to her in Vietnamese and she got so excited she hugged me.  Usually when I try my limited vocabulary of hello and thank you, people laugh at me.

Those round things in the foreground are boats, some paddled, some with an outboard motor.

Weighing and splitting the snail haul

Would you go to sea in this?

Pre-Lunch

They build temples here to lots of people and things.  I'm still struggling with understanding what they mean by "worship."  Not everyone they worship seems very holy.  Today we visited a temple to a whale.  A whale from the 17th century who helped people in storms.  His skeleton is in the very long, narrow temple.  He was 25 meters long and weighed 55 tons, although I have no idea how they know that.  But who am I to question a venerated whale.  In the courtyard of the whale temple, men were building the original round boats from bamboo.

We also stopped in a harbor with fishing boats.  I do wear my helmet when riding.

Then another meal.  This time whole shrimp (okay, I refuse to eat shrimp heads), spare ribs, and some green stuff (okay, I didn't eat that either).  Then to our resort for tonight, Aroma Beach which is even nicer than last night's.  We got here a little after 3, so I took my chromebook down to the beach for some quiet e-mail and reading time.  And then it was time for dinner.  We went to the local goat restaurant for a two course meal.  They put a burner on the table and we grilled marinated goat meat, then rolled it in rice paper.  The second course was a hot pot with goat meat, vegetables, and noodles.

Finally, a Vietnamese toast.  Mo, hai, ba, something.

160 kilometers and no broken bones

I liked Saigon better than I had expected to, but left this morning and will not be returning, at least not on this trip.  We took a speed boat down the Saigon River to Vung Tau, the closest beach resort.  Then we rode along the beach road and through small villages with one detour to a war memorial at the top of a hill.  The roads are almost empty of traffic and I sometimes miss my "push bike," but we could never cover this much ground on a bike.

Fortunately, the roads here are even emptier than the ones we biked on the last two weeks.  Although the bikes are automatic, I started out with two gears - slow and slower.  But I had to speed up to keep up with the group and by the afternoon, I was riding comfortably.  My speedometer does not work which is really good; I don't really want to know how fast I am going or I would have to slow down.  The throttle is very responsive.  When you throttle back, the bike practically stops.  Except on downhills, the bike does not have much forward momentum, so I barely need the brakes.  This might be fun.

The tallest Jesus in Vietnam with our support vehicle in the foreground.

The main guide, Chien, speaks English well and is quite knowledgeable, while our lead driver, Huy, is the group clown.  He is also an accomplished chef and is in charge of our food.  Besides riding, they feed us well and a lot.  They take us to places I never could or would find on my own and just order food for us.  I am (for the most part) eating what they put in front of me.  For the first time, I feel like I am eating real Vietnamese food, not what they serve to Americans in restaurants.  Today our guides brought and set up a picnic lunch of noodles, meat, salad, and various sauces, and prepared bowls for us.  There are several sauces and each dish uses a specific one.  Chien and Huy tell us what to eat and how to eat it.

Jumping chickens and snakes from the seafood restuarant.

More seafood

And besides riding and great food, we are staying in really nice hotels.  This is the view from patio of my bungalow at the Lazi Beach Resort.

New mode of transportation

After a brief weekend off, I started another tour today.  This time I am riding north from Saigon to Nha Trang along the coast and in the coastal mountains ... by Vespa.

Okay, these are posed pictures.  In the morning, they gave us a tour of Saigon on the back of a Vespa.  It seemed so easy when our drivers were zipping around, weaving in and out of traffic.  After lunch they took us to a deserted street to practice driving ourselves.  I was pretty sure I wanted an automatic, but tried an original Vespa manual just for the fun of it.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I was a little more coordinated in 1971 when I last drove a Vespa.  I stalled a few times, could not manage to make turns, and never got out of second gear.  The automatic is SO much easier.  It's like riding a bicycle, hand brakes and all, although I'm not very good at turns yet.  I am either going to kill myself or have a blast this week.

My new tourmates are Dick and Kathy from Melbourne.  A few interesting things I saw while riding around Saigon this morning.

A very moving memorial to the monk who set himself on fire in 1963 in protest against the government.

Check out the electric wires.  I feel very safe.

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It is very hard to see in this photo, but the man reading the newspaper is perched Asian-style on the plastic stool, squatting with his knees up and tush not quite touching the stool.

I had a few hours free this afternoon so I walked to the park to watch kids playing the Vietnamese version of hackysack.  They use a shuttlecock that looks like a salt shaker with wings.  While I was sitting on a park bench, three young college students came over to me to practice speaking English, so I had a delightful conversation with them for an hour or so, with a few more students drifting in and out of the group.  They asked me a lot of questions and I asked them just as many.  One girl was studying English, but could not seem to speak English, and could not tell me a single thing she had read in English.  A young man told me he was studying Vietnamese history so I asked him something that I didn't understand from what I have learned so far on this trip.  He couldn't answer and said he was only in his first year; he hadn't learned much history yet.  The most verbal and personable was, surprisingly, the young man who was studying electrical engineering.  I was rather stuck when they asked me about my work.  How do you make tax law sound interesting to twenty year old Vietnamese kids?

I asked the kids where I could buy those shuttlecocks, so they eventually walked me across the street (very solicitously, not realizing I can walk in front of traffic now), took me to the store, and helped me buy some to take home to my team.  It will be interesting to see if they appeal to my Mexican kids.

In the evening we went back out for a progressive dinner and club hopping on the Vespas.  It still seems really easy with someone else driving me.  First we went to a seafood restaurant for appetizers - crab legs, clams, mussels, a noodle dish, and jumping chicken (frog legs).  After a ten minute ride to digest all that, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for spring rolls, salad rolls, and Vietnamese pancakes.  Then it got interesting.  Down an alleyway and up a long staircase to a cafe that looks like a speakeasy.  A pianist and violinist played classics and old standards, and accompanied various singers in Vietnamese and English.  Then we went to a basement club where a band played rock music.  They were playing the Beatles and Bob Dylan when we first got there, but switched singers and moved forward a couple of decades losing me.

Tomorrow we are off to ride up the coast.