In Sync

Maybe it's just that I'm more of a city girl than a country girl, but I've been amazed at how Vietnam seems to be bursting with new life. Everywhere there are babies: human, animal, new shoots of green in every crack in the concrete and along every road. You'll hardly ever see a barren area, except on the sheerest of mountain sides, and even there you'll see a few hardy souls struggling to make it.

Anyway, I thought these baby ducks (ducklets?) were too cute not to share, especially considering their pose.

Nesting

I was tickled to see this mother and her chicks in a Red Dzao village in Sapa. The arrangement makes it look like they just popped out of her and ended up on the ground.

Rice Harvesting

These are Black Hmong hill tribe villagers harvesting rice in Sapa. As far as I vaguely understand, from the many times it was explained to me, the steps of rice harvesting are as follows:
1. Cut the rice (what you can see they're doing here in the picture).
2. Let it dry a little.
3. Thresh it (shake the rice from the stalk).
4. Lay the kernels of rice in the sun to dry for a few days.
5. Remove the outer shell from the rice (by tossing it in the air from a large basket repeatedly).

After that I think the rice undergoes further processing, but these are the steps I've witnessed personally. If anyone knows more about rice processing, please leave a comment. I'd be interested to know more, as so much of the planet depends on rice daily to keep hunger at bay.

Lake

This is the Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi. It's very popular with tourists, but also with locals, as a place to wake up with Tai Chi at dawn, or sit and talk with friends in the afternoon.

It's also popular with couples, as a place to sit and cuddle. Which is a pleasant change from Thailand, where you're unlikely to see any public affection, even holding hands is uncommon.

Sa Pa

In the mountains along the border with China is Sapa. The high elevation keeps it cool, and we spent two days there trekking from one hill tribe village to another.

It was incredible.

Traffic

Traffic in Vietnam is a blur. It comes at you, honking, from all directions. Stop signs, traffic lights, which side of the street to drive on, these are all irrelevant. It is a ceaseless flow, like ants it crawls around and over any impediment.

I know this is only one bicycle, but believe me, there is so much more.