March 5 2011 - Thanh Hoa (86km of 179km)

A lot of dust today. Face mask, sunglasses and spf 30 to 50 sunscreen. The sun burns. Arms and legs are burned. We left the HW1 and we met thousands of smiles and people greeting us until we do the same. In every village little amused kids chase us for a while. When we stop quite a big bunch of curious people of all ages gather around us. The sight of our bikes causes wonder, enthusiasm and lines of question marks and exclamation points. At the Phen Dem Cathedral we have been good luck charms to a couple of newlyweds. On the road and in infinite emerald green rice fields there are always loads of people. Some of they busily at work, some of them play or eat or just plainly do nothing (most of them men...). No matter how small and shabby a village might be, you can always find many mini-shops fully loaded with anything you may want to buy. Every family seems to have their own small business on the sidewalk. For dinner tonight we had a mix of meat and fish (including frogs and black snakes). Everything comes raw and gets cooked on your table with a pan and an integrated cooker (the very kind miss Chiova helped us out). Tomorrow we leave from Thanh Hoa towards Vinh.