Early start, good ride, amazing evening

 A sleep on a rock hard mattress made it tough getting up at 5:30.  Nevertheless, the pedals started turning at 6:40.  I record I believe but anything to beat the heat and humidity.  Fifty-five miles went fairly effortlessly.  Hugging the shore, the road narrowly skirted a series of mountains.  A few short hills but I was spared.  I passed Bông Son thinking the small town I passed could not be the right place. Quickly realizing I was about to head back into countryside with nothing in sight, I spotted a hotel on the outskirts and pulled in.  A 11:50 arrival, 55 miles traveled and the heat had just started to crank up.  Not more than ten minutes after checking in and bring my gear upstairs, a van showed up with ten college student and two faculty members.  Taking the rooms next to mine, we hit off right away.  An invitation to dinner followed, 18:00.  
     With my clean up routine complete and tomorrow’s route determined, I zonked out for and hour. Later, I decided the bike needed a wash, it was layered in dirt and grime.  The guy at the counter gave me the bucket and soup.  Sitting on one of those small plastic chairs with my hand brush in hand, I scrubbed for about an hour. Later, I filled the water bottles and picked up a few tea drinks for the road.  The group of students and I rendezvoused and headed into the small town of Bong Son where we found a restaurant specializing in these Vietnamese pancakes.  Sitting me in the middle, the food and beer began arriving. One of the girls showed how to make the rice wrap with the pancakes and veggies inside.  It looked easy but I made a mess on my first and only attempt. The girl across from me took over and kept making them for me for the entire meal.  We all talked while the students squeezed out a bit of English with the two faculty, Huy and Binh, translating.  It was a scene, pictures flashing, toasting with our beer glasses and on it went for a good hour and a half.  I was seated in the front of the van as we drove back and forth from the restaurant.  A nice little town with a colorfully lighted bridge and other street pole decorative lights added to the character to the place. Back at the hotel we all Facebooked each other and more pictures followed.  As I am learning, they love Americans, as odd as that may sound.  Me being on a bicycle intrigued them even more.  Perhaps someday when the government allows students to do exchange programs, I may see a few of them on my door step.