GOOOODMOOORNING VIETNAAAAAAM!!!

This post concerns the time since we've been in Vietnam, so make sure to read miles' entry on the last days of Cambodia too, which should be posted below.

Yesterday we crossed the border from Cambodia into Vietnam, on an old road that left us caked in red mud. I think the border people thought twice about letting two such filthy people into their country, but after taking my temperature and multiple pictures of us at the border, they did indeed let us in. As soon as we crossed into Vietnam, roads were paved, and there were even street signs telling us where to go sometimes, something that Cambodia hasn't figured out yet.

Soon we arrived in Ha Tien, which is quite possibly the friendliest border town anywhere- nobody trying to hastle you or make you buy a way over-priced bus ticket to somewhere you don't want to go. Situated on both a river and the ocean, Ha Tien is a fishing town. There must be a law in this part of the world that you must paint your fishing boat turquoise, because that's about the only color of fishing boat you see. Wierd. At night, all the vendors set up stalls along the waterfront, selling trinkets, clothing, and food (most interesting sandwich: baugette with spicy bbq pork, pineapple, heaped with basil and some other veggies). So far, I would say that Vietnam seems busy- everyone is out doing their thing, selling their palm juice, selling their pate-baugette sandwitches, playing soccer on concrete parking lots, or relaxing on the riverfront with a beer (which can be done even for breakfast, evidently. But then again their beer, especially over ice like they do, is pretty much like drinking water). Yes, in a few words, I would describe Vietnam as both busy and fishy. Fishy, because everything you eat has fish sauce or shrimp in it, and -no joke- it smelled like fish about the entire 60 mile ride today. That may be because we paralelled one of the many canals in the region for most of the ride. Another interesting tidbit was lunch- evidently if you order Foe here that means trip soup with part of a pig's foot.

We're now in Rach Gia, a fairly large city that's loud and chaotic, so i can only imagine what Saigon will be like. Vietnamese people so far seem pretty friendly. We hear you get hastled a little more here than in the other countries, but we'll see. The nice part about riding bikes is that we don't have to deal with many logistics- just point in the right direction, pedal for 5 hours, and you're magically there! Only about 4 or 5 days riding left till the big city and the end of this bike ride. I hear a marching band outside, so that's probably a sign it's time to go check out whatever there is in this city.

All the best to everybody at home,

Evan