Tequila Tonight, Tomorrow We Ride!

We finally got fitted for our bikes this afternoon and tomorrow morning, Tuesday, we begin our ride. The morning begins with a 40K, lunch and then a 70K to the hotel. Of course this is a vacation so all riding is optional. The 70K begins with a 12K climb so it's iffy if I'll sag wagon it or ride it all. The buzz among the riders is that it is a gradual climb. The weather has been very hot, even for Hue standards. I don't want to use all my energy in the first day so I'll play it by ear.

Today we took a half day tour around Hue. We spent a fair amount of time at the Forbidden City which was almost destroyed during the Tet Offense. Since 1993 the government has been restoring it to it's original condition. I hope I'm getting this information correct but today it is home to a Buddhist Temple and monastery. We saw several very young boys - 7-9 years old who were in training to become Buddhist monks. The first year they see their parents once a month but as time goes on they see them maybe once a year. The Buddhist Master is a man about 70 years-old; very gregarious, friendly and energetic. As you can see from the picture, he is small in stature but has a commanding presence.

As I mentioned, it is incredibly hot here and I was soaked with perspiration. After lunch I went to the pool, swam and cooled off.

Tonight I had dinner with my new friends, Jennifer and Rick, a couple from Gig Harbor. I like all the people who are on the tour, they are friendly and like me, anxious to get on their pony and ride!!!!

Tomorrow I'll let you know how the ride went. I can't wait!

(disclaimer: I don't have a lot of time to edit. If you find errors, sorry, it's late at night and I try to proof it but you know, I'll miss something!)