17 April 2011

Hanoi, Vietnam

As I’m sitting in a cyclo (one of those bikes with a passenger cart in front) in the middle of a jam-packed intersection in Hanoi, my left toe maybe 3 inches tops from that Toyota Corolla and my right nearly touching the exhaust pipe of that Honda scooter, it occurs to me that this activity should count as my personal carbon offset.  The way I figure it, if I’m breathing in as much carbon as that jumbo jet expelled getting me here, then I’d say that makes me even with Mother Nature.

I am in this cyclo, and Gina in one several meters ahead that actually made it through the intersection, compliments of Spiceroads, the company running the 14 day cycling tour that we are here to enjoy.  It’s not actually 14 days of cycling for there is the meet-and-greet fluff dinner at the start and a day’s flight back to Hanoi at the end, but we will call it 14 days because then, when you average it all out, it doesn’t seem so expensive.

We are not sure what awaits us on this tour.  Having never travelled in Asia before, we can tell from our Hanoi experience over the past few days that we are about to enter a realm that may very well stretch our comfort zones.  Nevertheless, we are eager to get back on the saddle, even if our bums are a little hesitant.