I'm not in Oklahoma anymore...

I alredy knew that, but the commonly worn hill-tribe garb really sent it home. The women work in the fields in beautiful velvet skirts and these wildly colored headdresses. Some have tassels, and the latest have been bright flourescents. I guess I look as diffrerent to them as they do to me. It has been hard to find Internet, but that's not really why I'm here. I have had three very demanding days on the bike. Very hot with brutally long climbs. Today I rode about 5 hrs with over two hours of climbing a 10% grade, with some pitches steeper. Oh yeah, it was rocky and covered in loose powdered dirt.
Yesterday I rode from Moc Chau to Son La. As I was leaving Moc Chau a young man rode up next to me on his Chinese scooter. He began speaking to me in decent English and he invited me to his house. I accepted and we pulled into his drive right off the main road. His wife came down with his very cute two-year old son. He offered me a drink from his tiny refrigerator as we sat and talked. He is a teacher named Nam, and earns $90 a month. He says it is very hard living in such a poor country. I started thinking about the privilige of birth... Knowing that I had a very long day ahead I excused myself and then he aked me if I would like to see the rest of his house. We had been sitting at a tiny table in the front, which was like an american garage with the door up. A one car garage. With a concrete floor. We ascended the rough hewn ladder leading to the second floor. It was one large room with a rough cut slat floor. They had two beds separated by a curtain, and a little sitting area. One wall had a double door leading onto a small balcony looking out over the valley of limestone cliffs. A stunning view. As I was leaving, he reached into a bowl on the table and handed me an orange. "It is my hospitality" he said. With much fanfare he and his wife sent me off with many blessings and an invitation to return.
Now I am in Tuan Giao, with not too much to do except sit in a steaming internet cafe with 20 VN kids playing online battle games. The landscape is a river valley with many terraced rice paddys being tended by women in stunning outfits and children on water buffalo.
Last night was spent in Son La, a rather large town that was having the middle of the month (?) celebration, complete with parades of kids carrying flags, a large market selling everything you would ever need from cheap flip-flops to baskets of brightly colored peppers. The hotel was state run, the Trade Union Hotel. The staff was overly friendly and all the girls asked me if I was married. I guess the road worn look is working! Sorry baby, only kidding! One of the girls took me on a tour of the town. We saw the market, a White Thai village and went to the old prison used to house French soldiers and other enemys of the state. She was a great guide, very happy to use her English, and quite friendly, as most of the Vietnamese have been. She earns $50 a month.
I have been suprised to quite enjoy the food here. The standard fare has been some stir fried veggies and rice with some tofu stewed or sauteed with tomato as well. Today I was also served soup with potato and some other potato like things, plus onions. There was easily enough food for two, and it cost a whopping 25,000 VND, which is about $1.75. With a coke too.
The world is looking a bit different to me since I have been here. The poverty is shocking, and the grace with which these people conduct themselves while living very hard lives is touching and inspiring. I have been considering how to make things different with class issues in the world and I haven't quite gotten a handle on it. I keep coming back to the fact that there are not enough resources in the world for everyone to live like the people in the first world coutries. I hate to say it, but I believe that it is true. Organizations all over the world are trying to lift the "poor" out of poverty, but it seems to be a losing battle. I think the focus needs to be on consumption and unequal distribution of wealth and resources. The mega-rich cannot exist in a just world, just as the brutally poor cannot. Maybe ask that America voluntarily imposes a cap on personal earnings at One Million, and the rest goes to a charity of the person's choice. I don't know how much that would free up, but I'll bet well over a billion just from the top 5 CEO's, and I'll bet they could figure out how do OK on only $100,000 a month. I'm probably going to get arrested when I get back. Just don't show this to the authorities!
Anyway, just stuff I'm thinking about, letting it all gel as the sun bakes my head and my legs keep tapping out the KM's. Closing thought: It's good to see the world. I feel very far from home, but I am seeing a culture of compassionate people, working hard for very little, but still taking the time to help me when I need it.