Hi everyone!
We left Cambodia more than a week ago now and both felt sad to leave such a lovely country.. We hid in Phnom Penh during the Lunar New Year, or Tet, or the Chinese new Year, which is the big thing over here, in South East Asia (26th of January this year). It lasts for 2 weeks and a lot of shops and schools are closed during the first week. A lot of people travel in the few days before/after and the last place you'd want to be is on the road, in the middle of the sea of motorcycles. And obviously, we were there, riding our bikes in the middle of total chaos!
Most of the traffic had calmed down by the time we cycled into Vietnam, and that was a very good thing. Still, the small road we used to enter Vietnam was packed. Seriously packed!The bicycles seem to have vanished from this country, very sad indeed. So we navigated in the middle of some serious motorbike traffic, plus the buses, trucks and the usual farming tractors. At some point, Jean and I stopped on the side of the road to drink sweet coffee, just to get away from the constant noise. You get Cafe places every 100m or so, very handy.
In the Mekong delta, we crossed many bridges, saw a lot of floating villages and even had to take a ferry to cross the Mekong as it was very large and the bridge was under construction. It is a densely populated and also very lively part of Vietnam. I enjoyed it, Jean not so much..We took the main highway (1A) to get to Ho Chi Minh City and we had a decent shoulder to ride on the side of the road.
An interesting thing about Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam is that when a road accident happens, they draw a little "crime scene" on the pavement. Often, you see the shapes of motorbikes or cars drawn on the tarmac. In vietnam, you see this every 1km..hmm. I scratched my head, thinking the trauma emergencies must be packed, just like at home!
Unlike Montreal, people here drive more slowly and, when fighting for your place on the pavement, you can exchange smiles or evil looks with motorbike drivers.. Car drivers at home are very happy to stay anonymous in their metal bunkers, doing whatever they want.
In HCMC, we took 3 days of rest from the bikes and took a tour (!) to visit the caodai temple and Cu Chi Tunnels, which were not on our cycling way. The Caodai religion is this very strange mix of taoism, buddhism and catholicism. There are 3 saints in this religion; Sun Yat Sen, a Vietnamese which I can't remember the name now and Victor Hugo.. We attended their weird ritual and were off to the tunnels after. Yes, they are the tiny underground tunnels they had to enlarge for the fat tourists..
******
Matt Blake...we met him in Vang Vieng, Laos (remember that drunken touristic place?) and kept him just for us ever since. We met a few cyclist on the way but he is our special one.
He is an English cyclist who left home to cycle around the world. He was 21 when he left (when I think of the 21 years old around me...not many are that brave!). He cycled across so many countries I could not name them all in the right order. We kind of chased him or was he chasing us (?) on the bike since that place in Laos.
With his curly hair, english sense of humor and bright blue eyes, we quickly got along and he did fit in well with Jean and I. I will not go in great details about his trip because it is all nicely written on his blog and on his website, which I both strongly suggest. He is also raising money to build a school in Africa (the last continent he will visit before going home) in partnership with SOS children village. It's his way to give back, to say thanks to all the smiling and generous people he met on his journey. Education, it's certainly a nice gift for the generations to come, especially in Africa.
I think his project certainly deserves a chunk of your next paycheck and if you have as much fun as I have, reading his epic tales, then don't be shy and splash some money for a very good cause. The MGH (Montreal General Hospital) ER will proudly sponsor you, Matt, when I start working again!*By the way, Matt absolutely refuses to visit Montreal, even if I can cook a Shepherd's pie and make icecream. I know, even if he is 22 now, he is still a silly young man!
http://project-bike.blogspot.com/http://www.projectbike.co.uk/We left Matt in Phnom Penh, after 3 weeks of hide and seek on a bicycle in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. It was a pleasure to be part (even if only for a short time) of your trip and we sincerely wish you all the best (tail winds, nice downhill rides on smooth roads, nice weather, nice people and a nice scenery, the usual cyclist heaven)...
Talking about work, I met an ex-colleague of mine in the streets of Saigon the other day. Nancy Carreireo with her beautiful smile and curly hair! She resigned from the ER 2 weeks before me, leaving for SE Asia and work in Australia afterwards. I couldn't believe it! It goes to show that this Emergency department has spread its tentacules everywhere..
We are in Dalat right now, enjoying the cool breeze of this city, 1500m above sea level. And then we will ride downhill to hit the coast (and the beach!), sipping down a delicious avocado shake!
One last thing. My little brother Gabriel, is going to be a cyclist as well! He is leaving soon for Mexico and I just wanted to say that I am very proud of you Gabitibi, and I wish you all the best!
That's it! See you next time!
