Down the coast

A point form post...
-down the coast
-Hoi An, Nha Trang, Saigon
-beach riding
-tailwinds
-sick Peter
-sick Monica
-sick John
-heat
-noisy roads
-quiet roads
-train ride
-bus ride
-boat ride
-monuments
-propaganda billboards
-My Lai massacre

Back in Nam

The first section of riding back into Vietnam was near the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the DMZ. As soon as we crossed the border the traffic increased along with a 10 fold increase in noise volume. After some rain we discovered ponchos...basically cheap plastic shawls that all the locals use. In the rain they increased our cycling enjoyment astronomically. From Dong Ha where we visited the Vinh Mok tunnels we made our way down the coast for a couple of days to Hue, the old capital of Vietnam. Hue had some nice sights and we hung out with some good folks...Inge, Elise, and Adrien. The sight that has stayed with me the most is the Austin motor car that the monk Thich Quang Duc used to transport himself to Saigon for his self immolation... more details here
That's the nutshell version; pictures say the rest.

Laos ending

All in all the rest of Laos was great. The only mishap was me messing up while cutting my toenails with a sharp knife. The roads were smooth and fairly quiet, the weather hot, and the people mellow. We will miss it.