We can't believe we have travelled all the way to Vietnam and we're going to Miss Saigon!

I thought that one up today on my bike and just couldn't resist it!!

Wow, we can't believe how a silly little thing like a border can change the environment so much!  Once again it feels like we're in a a different country.  The first few days are always a bit hairy, new road rules - no actually they stay the same - non existent!, new currency to convert in our heads, before every single purchase.  Sometimes when we're under pressure we still mentally go back through all the currencies just to check whether or not we're being ripped!

The first day's riding was a bit of a nightmare for everyone, Dave's gammy knee was playing up, I stabbed my finger at breakfast, then fell off at the first set of traffic lights - forgot to uncleat! It must have looked pretty funny though to the people behind me!  It was hot, it was windy and amazingly for us kiwis used to the wide open spaces we travelled for 55km and never got into the country.  Occasionally we would see a mileage marker saying xkm to the such and such village, how they knew where one finished and the next one started is a mystery.  Anyway we came to a mad city of popn 300,000.  This was also a nightmare and we were glad to leave this morning!

We decided to change sides of the river and started our day by catching a ferry with the early morning commuters and rode basically parallel to the road we were on the previous day.  This was much nicer, still busy, but not quite so manic.

When you are riding over here you have to really concentrate (a challenge for all of us).  In your path are a number of  pedestrians - ambling along in your path (in either direction), gorgeously elegant school girls (and stinky boys!) ride along 2 or 3 abreast.  But the biggest hazard would have to be those crazies on bikes, feet and scooters who zoom along on the wrong side of the road! Nobody even bats an eyelid.  Sometimes you are cycling along, look up and 'Hello Dolly' you're about 3 nanoseconds away from a major.  You do a major swerve accompanied by a startled grimace of fear, mixed with oops, mixed with sorry - in every language you don't quite know.    
What does the person you've almost flattened do.  Nothing, they just carry on with that serene, cool as look on their face as if to say - I knew it would be okay!

Our 3rd Vietnamese night is in a town called Vinh Long.  We have arranged to continue our journey downriver by boat.  We are going to one of those floating markets first thing (8am) and then to a town called My Tho (I think you say Me Toe) and hopefully from there we can jump across to the coast to begin the northwards part of the journey.  By doing this hopefully we won't have to go into Ho Chi Minh.