Tour de Fruit - Sat 21 Jan

My biking buddies are very cool and relaxed. There are six of us: American Erin, German Stefanie, Argentinean Flo, Aussies Ben and Chris and me. While they sympathize with my plight, a spark of humor ignites as they reconcile the idea of “Dutch Me” not being able to operate a bike very well! By now, undoubtedly, my friends back home, reading this, are cracking up and mercilessly making fun of me: “Really Paula? A biking tour? Who are you Paula? What were you thinking” Very soon this familiarity will extend to this bunch but for now, they are very considerate of the group’s weakest link (yours truly). We agree to slow down the pace and after a brutal morning’s adjustment, things pick up (my outlook, not the pace). In fact, things just keep getting better. By mid day, Flo politely suggests: “Ermmhh…Paula, perhaps, maybe, if you shift your gear to a higher one, you wouldn’t need to pedal as much?”OMG Flo! That’s the best tip ever! By the end of the day, Erin recommends to stand while cycling on uneven ground and relax my arms instead of tensing them up after each bump. This relieves the saddle discomfort and tension in my back. THANK-YOU Erin (my ass thanks you too), that’s the second best tip ever!

The landscapes are beautiful. The narrow paths that skirt the river are shaded by so many different trees and there is this fragrance very similar to jasmine (but it’s not) in the air. The villagers are friendly and the kids yell “Hello” each time we cycle by. Most of the houses are in very good shape, some are beautiful. Life is good for these people who so easily live off their land. Hao, our guide, takes us through different “Kingdoms”, as he calls them, of fruit. The tree branches are heavy with fruit, ripe for the plucking. We are treated to so many different kinds! From Durian (stinky but good) to Jackfruit to Pomelo to Mangosteen to Rambutan and many more. There is one particular fruit that cracks us up and inevitably elicits many jokes among us. It’s called Star Apple which in Vietnamese translates into “milk from the breast” (Vu Sua). You’re supposed to massage the fruit (beautifully round) until it becomes tender so that the juice mixes with the meat of the fruit to become a sweet substance that looks like breast milk. You drill a small hole at the top of the fruit, lift it to your mouth and drink the flow as a baby sucks milk from its mother's breast. It sounds so wrong but it tastes soooo good!