Little excursion to the countryside

Lien and Hanh biking up Kien An bridge.

Arriving at Lien's house

Inside Kim Anh's house

Vegetable fields

This woman is carrying a lot of stuff on her bike

Lien's house

Kim Anh's house

A man walking his buffalo bare footed along the main street to An Duong

This morning at 7:30am, 3 girls waited for me outside of the school gate with their bicycles to take me on a little tour of their hometown. They come from farming parents and live in a small village called An Duong, about 5-7km away from the school. Two of them, Lien and Hanh, were on one bike (if you look carefully, you can see both of them pedal together up the Kien An bridge in the picture) and Hang on another. I followed them on mine. It was a nice, sunny but cool morning, and biking there was actually very relaxing and enjoyable. I took a few pictures as we were biking and they showed me a few different things along the way.
Our first stop was Lien's house. It was a very simple house with a small living room and a small bedroom. The kitchen and the bathroom were in a separate unit. Her parents came out to greet me. They are farmers. They get up at 3am each day to go out to the field to harvest. This is the season for 'rau xoong' (a vegetable,) so they picked it early in the morning before the sun rises and her mom takes it to sell at the local market. They rent this field from the owner and pay him a certain fee or share of the profit each month, if I understood her correctly. We got to her house at around 8am, and both her parents were already back from the field. They will go back out there and work some more after lunch. And they go to bed at 8pm.
Next we went to Kim Anh's house, which was close by. Her house was recently built but not completely furnished. Then, after resting a few minutes there, we left and biked quite a distance to get to Hanh's house. We spent a few minutes there, and then they took me to their high school to show me around and introduce me to their former teachers. I talked to one of the teachers for a few minutes, and then we left and went to Thuy's house. She gave us a tour of her house, and then her mom served us lunch. We had lunch on the floor, sitting on bamboo mats. I remember doing this 30 years ago when I visited some relatives in the countryside. She made a lot of food. Her dad and I talked for a little bit during and after lunch, and then I left. I biked fast, so it took me 20 minutes to bike back to the school.
Overall, it was a pleasant trip. Now I know where they live and saw the road they bike on to get to school every morning at 5:45am.