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Published: November 11th 2015
Cycling in the dark with only reflectors is never clever. Doing it in Vietnam amongst mopeds, motorbikes, vans, all going in random directions is insanity. Add to that following a young guide who, it turns out 'doesn't know the law' and tries to make you turn into the fast moving heavy traffic, that was my nightmare and I'm grateful to still be alive. But what an experience!!!
I'd set the alarm for 7am forgetting that it was still set for 5.30 too. Oops! After a solid sleep I was fully awake and the local cockerels were determined to be heard again and again and again. So Glyn and I both got up and took advantage of having the place to almost to ourselves - although there were a few people about sweeping up.
I was filming on my iPod when I noticed a tiny treehouse from out of which peeped a sleepy black kitten who thought it was far too early and went back to bed. The chickens, bugs and frogs were all in full voice and for a rural area, it was extremely noisy.
After breakfast of banana pancakes, we were driven to south to Can Tho,
an area full of rivers, and at point we crossed a river on a small ferry. We pulled up a distance to our homestay where we took turns at being carried on the back of moped. The homestay is very open, more like a hostel with outdoor lavvies and showers. The sinks are literally outside, but at least I found a comb. The sleeping area is like a large room with various partitions. The land at the back is very extensive with many streams with rickety foot bridges connecting various outdoor rooms and unkempt gardens, that Glyn and I used one at a time.
Later we were supplied with bicycles to go on a tour of the area. We cycled down narrow paths, passing by friendly locals on mopeds and bikes. I'm aware it can sound so patronising and presumptions to refer to the indigenous population as 'friendly', but these people come across as so positive and cheery; waving and shouting hello as we pedalled past them. These people are far poorer than anyone in the UK, their homes would not be deemed fit to live in were they in Britain. But they came across as so relaxed and
un-stressed, often chilling in hammocks, happy to let us take photos and stop to show us what they were doing. These people are farmers, this isn't a tourist area and no one is trying to sell us anything. It's just an ordinary Vietnamese rural area. We were discussing that if tourists were to go cycling down the poorest part of the U.K. they would be met with glares, contempt and probably told to sod off.
I feel safe in Vietnam, I don't feel uncomfortable or nervous to go wandering off on my own. People come across as actually wanting their photo taken, and men, woman and children alike are all wanting to wave.
The route followed the river and we saw a variety of boats and people. We came across a lemon / kumquats 'factory' which was no bigger than a house and we were welcomed in though unexpected. We watched some men doing something with fruit and women weighing jars they were filling with fruit. It seemed to be tedious work, but they didn't look unhappy for it. Glyn went to take a photo of a baby and it screamed the placed down!
We cycled on
Flower
Vietnampast graves as people bury their family on their own land, stumbling upon a grave of an 85 year old, which is exceptional as the average life expectancy is 70-75 in the countryside. It is 65-60 in the towns, as apparently everyone is 'miserable and don't want to live anyway'.
After lots of photo stops and passing many people we ended up in Cho Lach where we stopped for a drink. We then headed to the market. Cho Lach is by no means a tourist town and we were the only foreigners there. However, I didn't feel like we stuck out and people weren't all that interested in us. We tried some different fruits that I wasn't too keen on. The vegetable area was colourful, the meat area was also 'colourful' but not in the same way. Most of the meat was still alive - just. There were frogs hopping about, fish and squid in shallow bowls, crabs, rats and ducks and geese tethered to floor gasping in the sun. I found it unpleasant not just because I'm a vegetarian, but because the animals were cramped and scared. I know some westerners would find this barbaric, and it is,
but I'm under no illusions that animals are treated any better in the UK - in the factory farms and laboratories for instance. It's just the in the UK, it's done behind closed doors, hidden from the public eye, giving us the false illusion that the British treat animals better. But a caged and terrified animal is wrong whatever country they're in.
Glyn and I were still without luggage so we had to go clothes shopping. Buying a bra was interesting as I had to tell my male guide my size as he translated to the lady on the market stall. It seems that all bras in Vietnam are super padded. In fact, the purple bra I ended up buying had more padding than actual space for my boobs. But it only cost two quid. Then we got shorts for Glyn and myself, three pairs that added up to just over a tenner. We also got underpants for Glyn of which the XXL size only just fit him - Vietnamese XXL is a lot smaller than the UK version. Upon returning I had a shower and immediately was attacked by a beetle. A lizard scuttled across the ceiling and
the shower became an insect haven. I had to shake my towel before I could use it or I would been covered in tiny insects. A bit annoying considering I'd been searching unsuccessfully earlier for insects to do macro photography.
During the afternoon Glyn and I went for a walk, photographing life on the riverbank including an old lady doing her washing in the river, she was rather bemused about us asking. We were thinking that if a tourist decided to photograph Glyn doing the washing back home, that would be weird too. When I say we ask people if we can photograph them, don't think that I know Vietnamese or that many folk speak English, it's done by pointing at our cameras and miming.
At 5pm we were to go cycling again to the local market and the light was already going, we noted that the bikes only have reflectors on the back, although we discovered later that there are dynamo lights on the front. It got very dark very quickly and we ended up cycling on very dangerous (to us) roads where no one uses indicators or appear to look around them. A constant jumbled stream
of motorbikes swarmed around us, people pulling out on us, constantly beeping and we all started to feel nervous. We would. Have used the pavements but mostly there weren't any.
At the front of the tour was a very young lad who tried to turn right into the traffic, expecting us all to follow him. But we all stopped and refused in a very firm way. Ho apologised and explained that the lad ( our guide) was unaware of the road laws.
Oh. We still followed him. But it was terrifying. I'm scared of just crossing the roads, but being a part of the traffic, OMG! After three quarters of an hour we arrived at the market which was interesting in that is was an everyday market, not tourists.
Cycling back was calmer and I managed to attempt filming on my IPod with a torch in my teeth. How ace am I?
Supper was good and then one of the guys who works at the homestay brought out some type of spirit that Andy and I had to drink a few shots of and shout thinks in Vietnamese (I assume). Maybe it was rice spirits, maybe
it was river water, who knows. We all ended up having a an early night except me, who went to do macro photography in the toilets.
Earlier Glyn asked me what was my favourite country, I replied: "I think I'm in it."
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