My team

These are the guys who make it all come together, at least for the Vietnam portion of the trip. Thai, second from the left is our guide, a 27 year old with a bubbly personality, a wife and a 2 week old baby girl. The other three drive the vehicles which support us along the way - the bus on which you can hitch a ride at certain points if you need a break, the truck which carries our bikes if they need to be repositioned, and the bus which carries our luggage. When we arrive at a break point, these three have everything set up with snacks and drinks or lunch as the case may be.

We have now bicycled for three days usually starting at 7am and the days miles are broken into pieces which can vary in length. We ride on concrete paths, usually about 3 to 4 feet wide and the traffic goes in both directions. We yell bike if a moped is coming toward us, an also if one is approaching from behind. Then we have the bridges!! They can be steep and have no side rails and they scare me to death. Otherwise, they can be made of broken and bumpy planks or sometimes metal slats. Through the rice paddies the paths were comprised of 1 foot grass, 1 foot gravel, and 1 foot grass raised about 2 feet above the water. I was certain that was the day I was going to fall in, but that privilege was left to Monica from NYC.

Sometimes we travel on small roads when I really appreciate the lack of cars and trucks, but I am hanging in there and have only taken two short rides on the bus.