Miss Saigon

The next day the cycle route took us through more towns and villages, observing local life. Vietnam is definitely a hive of activity, particularly on the Mekong delta. There's not much rest for the locals seemingly. Everywhere you go there are little cottage industries. Chopped wood, turnips, rice, chillies, watermelon. It is not surprising that they come in second as a rice exporter. There are paddy fields as far as the eye can see in the countryside, almost luminous green in colour.

Cycling really is one of the most fantastic ways to experience a country (or three). I couldn't recommend it highly enough. It beats sitting on a bus all day (even if the air con would be welcome at times) and you get all the little sights , sounds and smells that you wouldn't from any other mode of transport. You can interact with the locals so much more too.

I'm tickled by the number of women that wear the cone-shaped hat that so typifies the Vietnamese people. I thought it would be like expecting all Spanish people to wear flamenco dresses and that it would be a rarety but they are worn everywhere you look in the surrounding villages and by a lot of people in the city too.

We travelled by boat once we'd finished cycling for the day down the Mekong to an island where we were to stay in the style of the local people for the night, a homestay. It was a little guesthouse in a beautiful setting by the river and next to a small crocodile farm. We didn't really know what to expect from the homestay and had visions of somewhere perhaps a bit too basic but it was really lovely. We were sleeping dormitory style in two big rooms and then two of the couples managed to secure separate rooms.

The owners cooked us a delicious meal for the evening and we settled in to the hammocks sipping our beers while we waited for it to be ready. After dinner those of us left still awake played some cards and had to do forfeits. They sound ridiculous now but were very funny at the time (one of those 'you had to be there' moments). We had to eat a few peanuts in a particular style, introduced and commentated on by Greg who had drunk a little too much Vietnamese whisky by this point. I had to eat them peacock style and the others managed an elephant, crocodile, butterfly, kangaroo, a person going into anaphylactic shock and Pamela Anderson! We've not exactly behaved like adults all the time on this trip but we've had a lorra lorra laughs...

Didn't really sleep much that night, usual story of staying somewhere a bit different and sharing with others. It was quite noisy with the insects outside but I didn't think my earplugs would really help much. Was pretty knackered the next day as we set off for a two-hour boat trip to a floating village and local food factory.

Sampling some of the local produce at the factory, we were treated to rice wine, coconut sweets, rice cakes (nothing like you get back home), popped corn among other things - plus we observed how they made some of these delights. They really don't waste anything as the rice husks and coconut shells serve as fuel. All fascinating stuff. It was a bit of a shame that I couldn't really buy anything due to limited rucksack space and the practicalities of carrying around consumables.

Later that day we cycled our final stretch in the scorching midday heat and said farewell to the bikes. Some of the guys had a race to the finish but I was just struggling to last the remaining 16km tired, dehydrated and starving hungry. It took a bit of mental strength to keep going but we all made it.

Finally we arrived in Saigon to witness most definitely the craziest traffic I've ever seen. If my memory serves me correctly there are something like four million mopeds in the city and it's definitely worthy of a video clip on my camera just to capture the craziness.

We had our most boozy night out yet on this holiday last night (for which I've been suffering a bit today). Greg's friend who lives in Saigon took us to a great restaurant where you can sample a variety of street food but in a very posh setting. He then took us to a couple of local bars and a little place that serves locally produced beer. Definitely a different taste that one!