Cycling Around Hoi An

Though we frequently take 50+ mile rides at home, John and I haven’t been on bikes since we were in Nicaragua several months ago.  The countryside around Hoi An is ripe for cycling – rice fields, fishing villages, temples and more – which meant it was time to hop back on some bikes and go for a ride.

(By the way, I don’t know why I am making such a weird face in photo above, which was taken by our guide.  I was actually having a great time.  I guess I’m not used to having my photo taken since I am always behind the camera, and thus haven’t figured out how to look joyful in photos the way John has.  I must work on this.)Our first stop was a Buddhist temple just outside of town.  Most people in Vietnam do not practice any religion, but those who do are mostly Buddhist.Don’t we look cute in our goofy straw hats?  The bike tour provided those for us, and I was grateful for mine in the hot sun.  We look kinda silly, but at least we didn’t get sunburned.Below is a shrimp farm.  I had no idea you could farm shrimp, but there are dozens of these farms in the area around Hoi An.
Our tour led us through a vegetable village, where they grow herbs and veggies.  Every morning people from this village carry their produce to the market in Hoi An before coming back and tending to the gardens again.
A little further down the road is a fishing village.  The men go out to the ocean overnight to fish, and the women fish in the river during the day.
Also in the fishing village is a sort of fish cake factory.  There are probably 20 women working under a large tent.  It does not smell pleasant in that tent, let me tell you.
Rice fields are everywhere.  I think our guide was a tad disappointed that we weren’t that impressed by the story of how rice is grown, but we spent two months in Bali watching the process happen outside our villa.  When it comes to rice cultivation, we’re pretty well educated these days.

The flags you see are fabric and plastic bags tied to bamboo poles, which serve as scarecrows to keep birds from eating the rice before it is ready to harvest.  You wouldn’t think a plastic bag waving in the wind would be enough to scare off the birds, but apparently it works.
Our guide snapped this shot as well.  This is probably what I look like 60% of the time while we are traveling – hunched over with the camera pressed to my face.
I think I was photographing this cow at the time.Water buffalo, hanging out in a spot near the local cemetery.  They were taking a dip when we arrived, but I think they slowly exited the water so they could pose for me.After our cycling circuit was finished, we hopped on a boat to ride back up the river into town.Since we were the only ones on the boat, the captain insisted that John take control of the boat for a photo.  Then he hopped in for a shot.  The photo is so touristy and cheesy, but the boat captain is just so cute I had to include it.

From the boat we went to our guide’s house where they fed us truly exceptional homemade Vietnamese fare in their living room, and gave us both foot massages before sending us off for the rest of the afternoon.  I wish my 50+ mile bike rides in Colorado ended that way!