Vietnam, December 7-9

So much for the great preparations we make for a trip.  December was supposed to be "dry" season in Vietnam, but maybe we can blame it on climate change.  It has rained and rained and rained since we arrived.  Our careful planning to bring clothes that we could sweat in has been to no avail.  What we needed were clothes that could get soaking wet and dry overnight in this monsoon.  No such luck.  It rained in  Hanoi,  it  rained and  continues to rain in Hue and we read it will rain   in  Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City.

So we are trying to keep up a stiff upper lip, act like the road warriors that we claim to be, and get on those wet mountain bikes and enjoy ourselves.  The beauty of it is that we are experiencing the jungle feel of Vietnam   with the saturated ground, mist swirling around us, and the water buffalos blocking our bike paths.   The sweetness of the vietnamese people has impressed all of us.


We flew from Hanoi to Hue on Saturday.  Our Vietnamese guides picked us up at the airport and about 45 minutes later we arrived at the Pilgrimage Village, an oasis of palm trees,  banana and coconut trees, beautiful swimming pools and spas amidst villages of people living what appears to be subsistence lives.  None of us are really sure what "communism" means in this country of the very rich and the very poor.  It doesn't appear that the "commune" is sharing equally, but the country appears to be thriving with tourism.

We had a "practice" ride the first afternoon of about 13 miles.  Not too bad, and not much rain.  The big shock to us is the difference between the bike paths of Europe and the roads that we will be sharing here in Vietnam with trucks, bikes, scooters, cars, chickens/roosters, dogs, cows, and water buffalo.  I wished that I had brought my rear view mirror, and then immediately was glad that I could not see what was behind me.  I think in this case ignorance is bliss.

On our ride yesterday, we visited an orphanage run by Buddhist nuns.  It was upsetting to some of us, but for others it appeared that these kids were getting as much or more than the children outside the gates.  Unlike what we expected, the up to 200 children here are not available for adoption.  The nuns worry about what kind of home they will have when they leave, and therefore decided the best for these kids was to stay together as a family.  We saw infants, toddlers and above.  They looked well fed and happy, although at least one of the babies looked like he wanted more love, according to one of our friends.  It is difficult for me to pass judgement.  I’m just not sure that a traditional family is better than what these kids have, especially when I read about what some traditional families do to their children.
I assume that the nuns have had a bad experience with adopting out a child and this is why  they no longer allow the children to be taken.

Vietnam is a land of pagodas and temples.  The Buddhists venerate their ancestors and so each family has a “temple” to their fathers and grandfathers, and they are everywhere.  I’m hoping I can get out of the rain enough to take some photos.

We love this resort and lived it up at happy hour.  All of us signed up for spa sessions for the second day and spent the first night discussing whether we would ride if it were pouring rain.  We decided that we could ride, so we spent 3 hours in monsoon like rain so wet that we were wet to the underwear level.  Nothing is as wet as bike shorts.  Those pads soak up the water and keep it.  The third day of riding we were unaware that we would have a one hour lunch followed by a two hour van ride to Hoi An.  Nothing is so miserable as sitting on a soaking wet bike pad.  Luckily, we were able to get into our suitcases to at least get a sweatshirt.