A Scenic 68-mile Jaunt to Chu Se

From Buon Ho to Chu Se; about 68 miles; 5 hrs, 16 minutes riding time
Conditions: Sunny and windy; 70 F at 7:00 am; 83 F at 3:00 pm

Our journey in a northeastward direction along Route 14 continues.  We are following a highland ridge, often seeing valleys and distant hills/mountains on both the left and right side as we pedal.  Though we follow the ridge, the road has numerous climbs and downhills.  We had one two-mile climb today that was a real heartbreaker.  However, we made good time today, as there was less wind and were were gently descending to about 1300 feet elevation.

All along the way each day, we are greeted by small children running to the front of their property and waving and yelling "hello!"  School children do the same.  Adults, too, are friendly toward us.  We aren't sure if this is standard behavior for a colorfully-addressed cycling group passing by or if something else is going on.  We have heard that Westerners are not seen in these parts very often.  Perhaps we're a novelty. That's okay.

Our accommodations at little hotels have been good.  The facilities are clean. Almost all floors in Vietnam are marble or some kind of hard, polished tile.  Shoes are removed at the doors.  The hotel rooms are simple and spacious.  We have had Wi-Fi Internet access all but one night thus far.  And, if any of us have time to watch it, cable TV with all major American entertainment channels. Sadly, Vietnamese are learning about USA through our shallow and trashy entertainment media (John's commentary).

We are a truly international team.  Six members are from USA, one is from Canada (Joe James), and our friends from Vietnam switch off riding segments of each day's route.  We had not anticipated this dimension of our team, but our Vietnamese friends insist on sharing in the riding, rather than serving only as guides.  These two young leaders are outstanding in character, strong in spirit, and knowledgeable.  So, as we ride up through Vietnam, all who inquire realize that what they are seeing is not just some cyclists from USA, but an international cycling effort for the sake of a peace investment.

We don't really know the names of the Vietnamese dishes we have been enjoying.  The food is rice-based and rich in boiled vegetables with either beef, chicken, pork or fish added.  Everything seems spicy and hot.  Chilies rule.  We have Pho Bo (a rice-noodle soup with beef) for breakfast.  Last evening, we ate turtle.  This evening, the treat was snake fish (selected out of the onsite pond) that was broiled and prepared in rice-paper roll-ups.  We also had this chicken this evening.  The chicken was good.  The fish was delicious.