23 April 2011 SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 6 Phong Nha to Khe Sanh (80 Km) I’ve never been very fond of caves; they bring out my claustrophobic fears. Because of this, I have some simple rules for my friends and family: don’t hold me under a blanket, don’t hold me under water, and certainly …
22 April 2011 SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 5 Huong Khe to Phong Nha (80 Km) Here’s something I never expected to know: how it feels to sleep on a dining room table. I didn’t sleep in the dining room, actually, nor on a table per se, but rather upon my bed last night. A …
21 April 2011 SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 4 Vinh to Huong Khe (70 Km) It’s no wonder us Americans are always at war somewhere in the world – we can’t even get along on a bicycle tour. Gina and I like to think of ourselves as being fairly drama-free, but that little illusion fell …
20 April 2011 Spiceroads Cycling Tour – Day 3 Lam Son to Vinh (80 Km) We only have one photo from today, which speaks volumes about what we think of the scenery out here on the Ho Chi Minh Highway: it’s terrible. The tarmac may be smooth as promised in the trip itinerary, but where …
19 April 2011 Spiceroads Cycling Tour – Day 2 Phu Luong to Lam Son (74 Km) It must be about 90 degrees (F) out on this straight-as-an-arrow Ho Chi Minh Highway when we decide that enough is enough, time to pull over in the shade and rest for a bit. The morning ride had been …
18 April 2011 Spiceroads Cycling Tour – Day 1 Hanoi to Mai Chau to Phu Luong (70 Km) There’s something quite large blocking the road in front of me. Something on four legs with extremely pointy horns and massive bulk. Something one would normally see in a zoo if that one were from the States. …
17 April 2011 Hanoi, Vietnam As I’m sitting in a cyclo (one of those bikes with a passenger cart in front) in the middle of a jam-packed intersection in Hanoi, my left toe maybe 3 inches tops from that Toyota Corolla and my right nearly touching the exhaust pipe of that Honda scooter, it occurs …
16 April 2011 Hanoi, Vietnam I’m standing with a small bag full of fried donuts, or at least pastries that appear to belong to the donut family, and Gina is digging into her pocket for the 100,000 Dong note that our friendly street vendor is insisting upon for payment. All I wanted in the sagging, …
15 April 2011 Hanoi, Vietnam Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Today it was definitely the egg, precariously balanced on the back of a motor scooter putting down the shoulder of the main highway into Hanoi. A whole bunch of eggs, actually. Eggs piled on the back of that scooter higher than the …