Vietnam: Peaking Among The Peaks

27 April 2011 SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 10 Hue to Hoi An (80 Km) Mr. Hau is on the prowl for a fifth wife.  Preferably tall, blonde, and American.  I think he’s eyed himself a potential candidate in a certain someone we all know and love.  But first he’ll need to keep himself out …

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Vietnam: One Pagoda Too Many

26 April 2011 SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 9 Hue (20 Km) I think our tour guide must be kidding as he’s pointing for us to make a left hand turn across a 12 lane intersection that is clogged with hordes of motor scooters and cars and trucks and other bicycles.  That or he’s a …

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Vietnam: A Good Day

25 April 2011 SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 8 A Luoi to Hue (70 Km) Hills. We like to descend them but we like even more going up them and passing people. People that have been pedaling ahead of us, more often than not waaay ahead of us, for the past seven days of this …

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Vietnam: That Right Hand Turn

24 April 2011 SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 7 Khe Sanh to A Luoi (70 Km) Yesterday in my cycling despair I asked for a right hand turn.  Today, I got what I asked for.  After a 14 kilometer descent down a windy, scenic and slightly congested highway, we turned right.  Right across a bridge, …

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Vietnam: Deep Breathing

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 …

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Vietnam: A Hard Day’s Night

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 …

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Vietnam: Bottoms Up

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 …

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Vietnam: Boulevard Blues

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 …

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Vietnam: Magical Sag Wagon

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 …

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Vietnam: What’s That in the Road

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.  …

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