Moving On

Hi guys ,
I have been in Hanoi for a week now and I need to move on. Forget China and the Olympics .I shall leave in the morning heading for the south of Vietnam right up to Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) and after that hopefully, Phnom Penh in Cambodia. I don't know for how long I will be on the road but now that the cycling adventure is no longer relevant, my movement will be hindered by the bicycle. I can now take the bus or the train but the bicycle has to be taken along with me and that can cost quite a bit. The bicycle can also cost more than the passenger as my enquiries revealed. Anyway, we'll see as I go along.

To go south I have to travel the same way I came and that's not something I look forward to, so I will probably take the bus down to Hue passing through Vinh where I stopped before. After that I'll decide where to cycle and where I should take the bus .Whatever it is, I know it will be a new experience, so we'll see. To those who are not familiar with Vietnam the distance from Hanoi to Hue is about 700km and to Ho Chi Minh is about 1,800km and to cycle all the way from here will take at least 2 weeks without rest, I am not going to do that for sure.
After being away for about one and a half months now, I think I have lost some muscle mass although endurance-wise I am still ok.When I get back I need to beef up again, to regain muscle strength and stay in shape. I really miss my gym workout.
This is something I should write about : I notice that there are very few fat or obese people in Hanoi or in Vietnam in general. I have no clue as to the reason why, but it must be their diet or they are more physically active than us Malaysians. The streets are still crowded with people walking, and cycling and carrying out physically laborious tasks and that could be the answer. Like in Thailand and Laos, all available land is utilised for crops, even on the fringes of the city. In some cases the land is still ploughed using the traditional buffalo or cows/bulls, those without the mechanical harvester still use the sickle. The wages are also low - the receptionist cum manager at the hotel I am staying now earns US$150/- a month and his 3 assistants act as cleaner, bellboy and general worker earning US$ 70/- a month. Not much isn't it? Many Vietnamese have been to Malaysia to work and many said that they are happy to earn RM500/- after all other expenses are taken care of.
Well guys, That's all for the time being, I shall try and blog as often as I can, I appreciate your company. Cheers.