Last night we had a really good meal together at the Lemon Grass restaurant. – beautiful food, very similar to Thai food. After that a few of us went to the rooftop terrace at the Rex Hotel. The Rex was where the American Officers and War Correspondents stayed during the war and where the ‘5 0’clock briefings came from. The War Correspondents knew they were being fed US propaganda about the casualties/deaths etc and had a funny name for the briefings that I can’t remember now. But I will. It was also the place where the helicopters were seen evacuating US officers, war correspondents and diplomats at the time of the so-called ‘Fall of Saigon’ (the other place for the helicopter evacuation was the roof the the Indpendence Palace that we visited yesterday. I think these scenes are depicted in Apocalypse Now and other American films about Vietnam, and so the locations were familiar to us before we visited them. However, having said all that, the Rex Hotel was the snootiest and most unfriendly place we’ve visited in this country yet.
Today we set off early (7 am) for our 200 km drive out of Saigon towards Dalat, the Hill Station from French Colonial days. The drive out was interesting passing lots of tea and coffee plantations in beautiful countryside. Then we had lunch, the sun was shining, the sky was blue. And we started cycling. Up. And up. The system for the tour is excellent. We cycle in 20 km (12 mile) stretches and the coach waits, the 20km ahead, while either Chi or Tam (the bike mechanic/looker after) rides at the front of the group and the other at the rear, therefore making sure we’re safe throughout. And the cycling is wonderful, through lots of small towns and villages. All the locals, not just the children, stand by the road or pass on their bikes and motorbikes, (of which there are thousands) calling out sinchow, sinchow (hello, hello). They are very friendly people and love to see Westerners, often asking to have a photo taken with us.
Well, I earlier mentioned the fitness of some of the group. They are very, very fit and set the pace which was fast – much faster than either Sid or I are used to cycling, particularly on steep hills, which I like to take very slowly with lots of stops.
So I was at the back and Sid was just a bit ahead of me for most of the ride. I completed the first 20km, no problem. By about two-thirds of the way through the second 20km, I was struggling, or you could say, I took lots of time ‘to smell the coffee’. Sid admitted to finding it pretty tough too, but with his usual determination, had no thought of quitting. But me. Well. I don’t like struggle or pain. I was clear I had come on a cycling holiday not to prove I was a good cyclist; not to prove I’m (un)fit, but because I thought it would be a nice way to see the country. And it is. So, Mark 1 (of Mark and Karol, earlier mention) and I, decided to take the coach for the final 20 km. And I’m pleased. I don’t feel shattered tonight. I had a very nice ride that was challenging enough for me (25miles mostly uphill – not surprising really when you’re going to a hill station), and no-one made me feel bad about taking things at my own pace. So we’ll see what tomorrow brings! Sid is very happy that he completed the 63km ( 38miles). But absolutely shattered as the final 5km was a very steep, uphill climb.
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