Mekong Delta Bike Tour

We have decided that it's time to give our feet a rest and put our butt's to the test.

Instead of navigating the maze of the Mekong Delta river ways on our own we decided to do it on bikes via a small tour group.  We picked Sihlo Bike Tours  and were led by An, a sincere gentle soul who was very purposeful in leading us onward. Or perhaps his purposefulness came from trying to help us keep up with a very fun and very fit young couple from Germany? I'm not sure.

Before we could start biking, we needed to get away from the main cities, so onto a boat we went, passing small floating shacks with cat fish farms underneath.

The tour combined stops and information along the way to give us a better sense of how the locals live, and primarily do life on this vital body of water. One such stop was at a family farm where they had a large variety of fruit trees and vegetables which is more lucrative than growing rice.  We toured their home and kitchen and got a better idea of why they layout their homes the way they do, religiously and culturally.  Their homemade banana rice wine was pretty good for home made hooch and we sampled local fruits and homemade sweet rice cakes. One of our nights was spent in a very rustic guest house on the water.  Fairly open air rooms are set up on stilts along the water's edge, and with a need to embrace all God's creatures while there, I tucked myself under the mosquito netting and refused to go to the bathroom until the sun came out.  Good thing, as Anna did see a snake peak out of the open pipes in the outdoor shared bathroom.

Functional if not glamorous.

Home away from home!

Loved the morning light and anticipation of rich Vietnamese coffee soon to come.

Gorgeous sunset as we cruise to our evening stop.

Morning light and with a little Advil, ready to get back on the bike.

Stopped  at a pottery factory for export.

All handmade, and this kiln will run 24/7 for 20 days being stoked and fed constantly with rice husks for fuel. There are 12 of these massive kilns.  The rice husk ashes will then be sold for fertilizer to the farmers. Over and over again I see and am amazed at how they use everything.  Not sure why there is so much garbage in the Mekong River then..... Mmmm?

One of the things I enjoyed most was just knowing that this was the same body of water we were on while traveling from Northern Thailand through Laos to Luang Prabang, and in only another 150km or so, this water would empty into the South China Sea.

Though there were a myriad of idyllic photo stops along the way, it just gets hard to stop and go with a group.  That and it would have taken me even longer to do one of our 60km long days.  Or perhaps the fear that if we stopped, my butt would rebel and refuse to let me get back on my bike. A couple girls duck taped towels to their seat and I know those who have biked with me before would be amazed that I embraced the pain and kept on!

Outdoor toilet. Strategically positioned over a fish hatchery. Just a little extra food and fertilizer for the fish...... Uggghhhhh!

In the outlying farms, family bury their dead on the land And bring regular sacrifice to help them in their next life.

Stopped at a Khmer temple and this new young monk (15 years old) will spend a year here in training.  Temple combines Hindu and Buddhist artifacts. He was very chatty with us and Anna, and amazed at how tall she was, especially compared to him.

Little school girls going home for lunch.

Actually, whining was not high on my list, as I loved the bike trip.  Brad gets a rush weaving in and out of busy traffic, but I so enjoyed biking under a canopy of tropical greens of palm, bamboo, and so many varieties of which I don't know the name of.  Simply gorgeous and when you passed a rice field, you literally felt a cool fresh breeze wash over you as you pass by!

Loved the many bridges and paths  weaving along the river.

What looks similar to our canoes, but called arroyos, we navigated through narrow waterways with spectacular foliage.

Small bamboo bridges to homes across the river.  They are called monkey bridges.

Again so many of the locals and children call out hello and laugh.  Why they laugh, I still don't know. Laugh because we are biking in the heat? Laugh because they just don't see many of us foreigners on the back roads? Laugh, because they are secretly making fun of us?  Not sure, but many hellos were exchanged with only a minor crash as children came out for a high five and when I tried to oblige, more came, along with a bike of two old ladies.  A minor crash with the elderly grandmas resulted in minor injuries, embarrassment (on my part) and one severe tongue lashing to the kids.....  So wish I could have understood it, but I couldn't and just sheepishly biked away to join the others.

It's 3:00 in the afternoon. Temperature 30, feels like 38... Humidity 80%.

Last haul was up a massive bridge.  Never ending steady up.  Brad is cheering me on, I am down to my lowest gear.... I made it without getting off.

Damn proud of myself, though I might have had a minor breakdown after.... Can't remember! Blocked it out so I would choose to go back out again the next day!