dont forget to never remember

after a couple of short days, 65k and 48k, we have a long one tomorrow. 110k but it shouldn't be too bad terrain wise. after that we have an 80k day and then we have a rest day. the ride is nearing completion we will be back in saigon in a week. this ride has been great but it will be nice when i dont have to get up early every morning and move from town to town. i of course will still be riding my bike everyday, thats not going to change anytime soon, but im not really suited for life on the road.
to read other people's feelings about the ride thus far read Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

wow today was wicked hard. 110k with huge mountain climbs through the jungle. one climb was 18k 10% grade. it was beautiful though.

its my first opertunity to sleep in in over a week and im up at seven in the morning. the ride has been great so far. we are having our first rest day in the ancient walled city of hue. i feel safe from any invading hordes but not from the cyclo drivers.

just a few photos from the road.

wow im six days into the cycling trip. its been a great time so far. we have been staying in little villages so i haven't had much internet access. before we left hanoi we went to the school that we are donating to this year. it was a two hour bus ride south of the city to cat tang village. we met the principal of the school and hung out with the students and had a really good time. it was nice to see were all the money we have raised is going. as for funds we have met our goal of $35,000. thank you to everyone who has donated, and to those who haven't its not to late.

wow sapa was amazing but for some reason bloger wont let me post any oft he increadible pictures i took. they are all on facebook if you want to lok there. i did a three day tour with three australians. we spent one night in a hotel and one night in a homestay in a little village outside of sapa. we took the overnight train to lo cai a town on the chinese border and then caught a bus the last two hours up the mountain to sapa. we arived at our hotel that had promised the best veiw in town but it was too foggy to see anything. that day we went on a smal hike to the nearby village of cat cat and saw the waterfall there. the next day was a more serious hike. we woke early and had breakfast at the hotel; it was still to foggy to see more than a hundred feet. our guide met us and we began walking out of town on the road. after a couple of miles we stopped at a small rest area were little girl were selling bamboo hiking sticks. i scoffed at them, "i dont need a stick." but after looking over the edge at the trail head i took that back. i bought a stick for 5000vnd and began the long slippery hike down the muddy trail. with the help of a 53 year old hmoung woman i was able to keep my feet under me and my ass of the mud which is more than i can say for most of the westerners out hikeing that day. once we reached the valley floor i found a shop i a little village selling rubber galloshes, the prefered footwear of the locals, and that made the rest of the hiking much easier. we stayed the night in the home of a local tribal family and in the morning the fog had lifted enough for us to look up at tghe giant mountain we had desended the previous day. that day we hiked up to a water fall and through the terraced feilds on trails so muddy and slick and narrow i couldn't help but wonder if anyone had ever fallen of the side and died. but it was all worth it for the increadible scenery.
that night we took the overnight train back to hanoi. i spent the next few days walking around that beautiful city until the rest of the H2H riders arived on sunday night. we have been on the road for three days now and i am really enjoying the ride.