We got another early start today to beat the heat. Left the hotel at 5:30 but by 8 it was already 80 degrees. The scenery is improving. People are friendly and anxious to attempt conversation. A woman tried out Jasmine’s bike at a gas station and there was a pretty rad high five with a kid on a bike.

Lot’s of these guys in the road.

There are plenty of places to stop, but for some reason no one keeps drinks cold. By the end of the ride it hit 93 degrees.

Today was our furthest planned ride and we are glad to have it behind us. Hot and muggy with constant horns. Also we are becoming a bit of a spectacle. Motorbikes pull up along side and stare for a few moments before pulling away. The children all shout “hello,hello” as we ride past them on their way to school.

Today’s ride went well. Hot but no rain.

Tons of construction but it was worth it for the smooth parts that were complete.

The first hotel we tried wouldn’t let us bring the bikes in the room, so we ended up at a more upscale place.

Nearby, we found a grocery store with some good stuff and a small vegan shop. Passed on the vegan snails and pigs ears but we tried the vegan deer. Not bad in soup.

After spending a week in the city you get to learn the traffic pattern pretty quickly…in that there is none. Cars drive the wrong way on streets and motorbikes squeeze between cars without a second thought. People, including the vendors with their baskets of fruit, walk in the street because the sidewalk is for motorbike parking, not for walking. And they all just proceed through intersections in what seems like total chaos. Crossing the street Is interesting. You just walk, and miraculously they all avoid you.

That being said, we decided to leave Hanoi early this morning to beat the traffic. So at 5:30 we were on the road. It was still dark and raining but I’m glad we did because we made it out of the city with minimal hassle. The rain didn’t stop though.

Only taking a couple breaks to duck into roadside cafes we got to our hotel in Ninh Binh by 12:15. The roads were pretty good until about 10 mi out of Ninh Binh. Then they became really broken up and the big trucks with their constant horns were relentless. We are certainly glad to be on the road but our bikes might not be. It took about an hour to wash the mud off of them.

Then it was our turn.

So we are starting off slowly. Tomorrow is a scheduled day of so we can see some sights around here.

Lonely Planet has a Vietnam guide specifically for cycling. We ended up just ripping a chunk from the middle to take with us, but still very useful.

ISBN: 1-86450-168-5