Now, maybe the traffic here hasn't been entirely well represented. The horns, we've previously described. But the amount of motorbikes is simply swarming. When crossing the street, we have to look all ways, even on a one-way street. Even the sidewalks aren't safe, as they're common shortcuts. I was excited to drive, but I knew it'd be with a lot of caution. Unfortunately, even my examples came up poor to Meredith. I'd point out some guy on his motorbike going slowly on the right, only to find out he was just texting and driving. Ah!
Thankfully, our route would take us through one fraught filled round-about, and then it would be primarily country roads. We took one more picture, and then were off.
Our first destination was the farthest out, the Cuong Hoan Silk Factory. It took 45 minutes (at a max speed of 30 km/h or 18 mph) along windy mountain roads to get there. The roads were actually very good, especially the impeccable mountain twists. 
And the scenery was amazing. 
At which point I need to fully declare I've only now seen these pictures for the purposes of this post. I was busy driving, Meredith was responsible for the map (thanks again, Google Maps!) and all the back of the bike pictures. 
Finally, after a very enjoyable ride, we made it to the silk factory. I cannot say it was well suited for visitors, but there were things set up for it. There was a video for us to watch in front of a box of active silk worms. 
The video showed a larger room with even larger worms were workers just spread leaves. Eventually, the larva spin themselves the silk cocoon. 
Then, there was a process (not well explained) where the cocoons were boiled, the threads pulled out, then wound, then into the loom. We only peeked at the factory at work. 
There was a bit of a shop there as well. There were some garments and items for sale, and Mer marveled at $6.20/meter price for the bolt of great silk. "You can't buy synthetic silk at that price in the States!" Unfortunately, we both knew there'd be no hauling that silk the rest of our trip. Then the lady offered us something unusual (that we knew from the guidebook). Roasted silkworm grubs!
We both tried them.
"Nutty," was the consensus flavor. Not bad, for an insect.
Just around the corner was our next stop, Elephant Waterfalls. The view from the top wasn't that great. But then there were windy 'stairs' that led down the falls. 
Eventually, we clambered down to get a good view of the falls. 
Our host spoke no English, but was very interested in our game of cribbage. It's hard enough to explain in English. I certainly wasn't going to try in gestures across Vietnamese. Eventually, the brew was ready. Also, I went behind it.
At this point, we wandered out and had to wash off our muddy feet. 
Then we wandered around the corner to Linh An pagoda. I may not know my religious symbology very well, but Linh An appeared to combine Hindu and Buddhist elements. We, apparently, took neither seriously. 
Our next destination was a coffee plantation. Mer had never been to one, and I'm always game for coffee.
It was, perhaps, exactly that disregard that willed the rain clouds to open. We got stuck under canopy where the bike was parked.
We played a couple rounds of cribbage (who brings cards to a temple?) before the downpour let up. So, we suited up in our ponchos and headed back out on the road. 
Perhaps accordingly, the rain interceded again. As we were nearly at the intended coffee farm, the rain picked up so heavily I had to pull over. I aimed us toward another cafe.
Well, cafe was misleading. It was a family's home that happened to serve coffee. Most importantly, they had a roof over where to park the bike and a sitting area to remain dry. We ordered the black coffee (avoiding the available weasel coffee). He actually had a glass percolator for filtering. 
We continued our game while he observed. Finally, after one hand, he interrupted us. He motioned us forward and down a set of stairs. He unlocked a metal door and slid it to the side to reveal a dark room with canisters inside.
I could almost hear the tense music rising. This is where it ends.
Meredith figured it out before I did. It was the two shot glasses in his hand. He turned on the light and uncovered a spigot. He filled both shot glasses with a clearish liquor. Then handed them to us, and said, "Huim." Maybe I spelled it wrong, maybe I heard it wrong, but we could only assume it was a rice liquor. It was strong without much distinctive flavor (for a guy who prefers wine). We thanked him and returned to our coffee and cribbage. He showed me a bottle of the liquor (in a sales attempt.) I then picked up a bottle that was near us at the table and gesturingly asked if it was the same. He strongly negated it. Meredith then whisperingly suggested it might be the ashes of an ancestor. (Whoops!)
As we finished our coffee, the rain was letting up. We decided we'd done enough here and we needed to head back to town. We paid the bill, suited back up, and got going.
It continued raining lightly, but it was much easier to see. We made it back to the windy parts where the fun began again. We even got to a great photo shot we had passed on the way out. 
We even de-ponchoed for some shots. 
(Photo credit: Jade, who patiently timed this pic)
Then it was back into town. We actually worked up our courage to ride in town a bit to go to Sinh Tourist to book our bus out in the morning. We successfully negotiated traffic to the office, only to find seats were sold out. Back to our hostel we went.
Bike Riding Summary - it was so much fun to have the wind whipping at us and seeing that countryside on the back of a bike. I had a bike when I lived in Honduras, so I had some experience. Meredith was apprehensive at first, but then really enjoyed it. She was super helpful with maps and surroundings and negotiating within the city. Rule of thumb: While locals go every which way, with and against traffic, green light or red, road or sidewalk, they really don't want to hit anyone. So at long as you're straightforward with where you're going and don't pull out in front of anyone, you can avoid others and they can avoid you.
We returned the bike back to our hostel and then headed out once more for an ATM, bus ticket to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and got some snacks. We only got the tickets before rain and traffic sent us back.
We showered up for family dinner. Being our third dinner here, we had gotten to know several of our fellow hostelers. They are traveling in the opposite direction & were able to pass along great travel advice for our next destinations. They were intrigued when they found out we have a blog of our daily adventures. So this is our official shout-out to Jade, Chloe, Gemma, and Georgie. Now you're famous. You're welcome. 
After dinner, we made our way back to the Super C grocery store with Gemma for our aforementioned money and snacks. Our treat was the icy pops for 1¢. 
And then it was back and off to bed. We all had early 7 am busses to our next destination. For us, it was the dizzying city of Ho Chi Minh City. Or as it's still known locally, Saigon.
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