A good day in the countryside

    My feet clicked into the  pedals at 8:45 out of Thai Hoa.  My requirements for a hotel is it be clean and have a hot shower. Last night’s hotel was the best of the bunch. The Madame who ran the place kept it up to snuff.  The bathrooms are the deciding factor for me. Adding to the stay, the Madame was very attentive, bowl and silverware when I needed them and a gift of two oranges.  Her patronizing manorism and long dress suggested something than what she was.  Of course, I presumed innocence.
     The ride to Do Lu Ong was one of my best rides, a few climbs  but the countryside was what I had envisioned Vietnam to be.  Rice fields everywhere with mountains in the periphery and interesting topography interspersed amongst the rice paddies.  Cattle in the road, one pulling a cart with an ancient woman aboard and the farming women wearing the classic Asian shallow-pointed reed hats.
       As I arrived Do Lu Ong, it was in full swing, chaotic traffic and blaring horns. The town is a blend of classic small open front stores and modern storied huilding with interesting designs.  My hotel was in the latter with a great view of the town center intersection.  My room abutted a third store patio with a stone lava fountain.  The room did the job but the mattress is equivalent to a marble slab.  My inflatable mattress has developed a slow leak somewhere. making it less than effective.
      Finding a suitable eatery is always the challenge. Few are inviting and the food is filling but not what I would order at home.  Chopsticks, the small plastic chairs, low tables and harsh lighting addto that third world ambiance. Fortunately, I found a Korean restaurant for lunch where shoes  come off at the door and you sat on a floor cushion.  The food was excellent.  For dinner it was across the street to a typical mom and pop place with very basic low tables, plastic chairs and third world worn down look.  The food was good but more importantly I met a guy who was a combination police and fireman. His English was decent and we had a good talk about both our cultures. He would like to visit the US but can’t afford it. After exchanging emails and declining a passenger ride in his motorbike, I hoofed back to my room for a margin sleep on my concrete mattress.  Tomorrow I head south to Duc Tho.