2016 - Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City by Bicycle: Day 19: Sun 04 Dec

27 degC, 90% humidity

Listed: 78km, actual: 81km; total: 916km

We started out at 7:45am with a ride to another very local restaurant for breakfast, Cambodian style - chicken noodle soup which was surprisingly sustaining. It was the back on the bikes for the 45km to the border with Vietnam. The route was more of the same and the pace was like we were at boot camp, not on holiday (we think Mr Lucky was keen to finish the tour). We had our first drinks stop at the 25km mark which was long overdue by Wendy's calculation. Whilst it was not especially hot, it was very humid and we were all sweating profusely. The only thing worth commenting on were the two water buffalo we came across dragging a fishing net behind them in the newly harvested rice paddy; a novel way to fish.

We got to the border and detached saddles and pedals from the bikes and said a sad farewell to Mr Lucky (guide) and Mr Ra (driver). We were prepared for a long wait on the Vietnamese side (from previous experience and other travelers) but were through after only 15 minutes or so. We met our new guide, Kim, along with driver Mr Tuong and Vietnamese tour coordinator Mr Visa. Saddles and pedals were reattached before riding about 5km to a local Vietnamese restaurant for a very authentic lunch. Kim had obviously put a lot of thought into it and the meals were waiting for us when we arrived, and tasted pretty good too.

After lunch it was a leisurely 25km ride through traditional villages beside the Mekong river, within the Delta. Although everything was the same, it looked different - cleaner and therefore greener. We saw two barges carrying huge loads of rice. Just when we thought the ride was over, we arrived at the base of Sam Mountain (see elevation profile). Wendy had a complete sense of humour failure but made it to the top (riding and walking) for the spectacular view. The boys rode all the way and Kim was quite surprised. The descent was interesting as the road was very rough and wet and slippery in parts. We all made it down without incident and it was then only a few more km to the hotel; the Ha Long Hotel

We had an hour to shower and change before visiting the Lady God Temple, the floating villages and the Cham (Vietnamese Muslim) people's village where they hand weave scarves, etc. The boat trip was good as the sun was just starting to set and the wind had dropped. Getting on the boat to start and getting off at the end was problematic as it was not at a jetty, rather the bank of the river with about 1.5m of water hyacinth to get through. The boat driver did his best to get as close as possible and then pulled up some more weed for us to use as a "bridge". It worked and we all boarded without getting wet. Getting off we had to jump to make it to dry land and we all went to dinner dry.

Dinner was at another local restaurant with staff who spoke no English. Lucky we had Kim to translate, and we had a great dinner washed down with Tiger beer.

The Lady God temple was made after they had to relocate the statue from the top of Sam Mountain due to a border dispute many years ago. The story goes that the head honcho called for the 20 strongest men to undertake the task but they failed. A short while later the Lady God appeared in someone's dream and told her that all it needed was nine virgin females; and of course, they completed the task. The Lady God is so revered they have monthly, sometimes weekly, festivals where her clothes are changed and people bring her stuff. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed be taken so we had to be a bit sneaky hence the quality.