Day 2 - From Chau Doc to Long Xuyen
This was a ride of 58 km on good roads across the Mekong river flats. It was perfectly flat with a rise of no more than 10 m or so when a bridge crossed one of the many rivers.
Long Xuyen was a surprise.
Coffee
This was my first iced coffee in Vietnam. This is a special thing in this country, so Vietnam is the only place that I really drink iced coffee.
The woman serving was a little surprised to see a white person and she spoke little English. But we managed.
When I asked for the bill she said ‘seven’. I thought 70000 dong which is just under $3. Quite expensive. I gave a 100000 note and got 83000 back. The cost was 17000 dong. About 65 cents. Now that is cheap coffee. It was good too.
A church
While cycling along I cam across this magnificient church in a part of the trip which was relatively unpopulated.
The church is over 100 years old and was built in French colonial times. There has been a church on that site since 1859. Strange as the population is not large for such a stunning place.
The church unfortunately was locked up.
Bike Repairs
When I road into a roadside restaurant for lunch I rode across a nail or something and got a flat tyre. The restaurant advised me where to go and a young Vietnam guy took me to the shop.
The guy (after we woke him up) was more than happy to fix the bike. He usually worked on motorbikes but knew what he was doing. A unique practice was to mark the puncture by sticking a toothpick in the hole. He found two holes and fixed both.
When he was finished I went to pay him but he would accept nothing. I stuck a 50000 dong note (about $2) on his bench. He took and gave it back. He actually stuck it in my bike bag.
No way would he accept any money.
