Photo by Courtesy photoBoxford Selectman Steve Davis and his wife Carole stand in front of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. By Brendan Lewis/blewis@cnc.com
Mon Mar 31, 2008
Boxford - In a climate of cultural and economic shift, a guided bike tour allowed Boxford Selectmen Steve Davis to experience the unchanged natural beauty of Vietnam and Cambodia during his recent trip to the Southeast Asian countries.
Traveling over to the Indochina countries with his wife, Carole, Davis was able to see most of Vietnam while riding along flatter terrain with a rugged mountain bike, a change from the road bike he uses on the hilly roadsides in Boxford.
Spanning over the first half of March, Davis found himself in front of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, a temple overgrown by thick jungle, and historic battle sites still around more than 30 years after the end of the Vietnam War.
Had the Davis’s gone a few months later, when the tourist season was over, it would have been a different trip all together.
“It just comes down in sheets,” Davis said about the rainfall after the December through March tourist season. “After that, you are certainly not going to be doing any biking.”
The purpose of the trip was family leisure, adding to a list of Davis biking destinations including Tuscany, Italy, Ireland, and Holland.
He and Carole Davis went throughout the entire country, biking around north and south Vietnam, absorbing much of the sociological and governmental changes across the land.
“I was surprised at how friendly they were to Americans,” Davis said about the Vietnamese people happy to see Americans. “I was surprised how much progress they made.”
Davis said the Vietnamese culture was very industrious now, leading to a seeming economic upswing throughout the county. While Vietnam is still a Communist society, it practices a capitalist government system, Davis said.
Riding on mostly flat paths, Davis and his wife rode through wooded sections and aside rice plantations, sometimes attracting the children in certain towns, who would wave and smile.
One of the more notable sights they came across was the Angkor Wat Temple complex in Cambodia, carrying along the 12th century tale of Vietnam emperors and their grandiose state temples.
When traveling to larger cities, such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, Davis and his wife had to ditch the American-made mountain bikes for one simple reason.
“You couldn’t [bike]. It was too dangerous,” Davis said about narrow city streets, chaotically occupied by motor scooters and motorcycles, as cars are not only too expensive for most citizens, but don’t really fit the infrastructure. Although, he said traffic in Ho Chi Minh City was a bit more “orderly” than Hanoi, which he attributed to the presence of traffic lights.
Among other attractions the Davis visited included the spot where John McCain’s plane went down, the Hanoi Hilton, where American soldiers were held captive during the war, and the house of the first American ambassador to Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge.
The trip also brought light to a number of less-known facts about Vietnam for Davis.
“Communist party is very small compared to total population,” Davis said about the 80 million people in country, of which on 2.5 million are part of the communist party. Also, of the 80 million people, 70 percent are under the age of 30. The many males killed during the Vietnam War coupled with a burst in birth rates once the country was peaceful again contributed greatly to this statistic.
“It’s the night the lights went out,” Davis said about the baby boom.
During the Boxford selectman’s short trip to Cambodia, he and his wife saw the four major temples in the country, one which was purposely allowed to be overgrown by the jungle and, also, used to film the movie “Laura Croft Tomb Raider.”
Mon Mar 31, 2008
Boxford - In a climate of cultural and economic shift, a guided bike tour allowed Boxford Selectmen Steve Davis to experience the unchanged natural beauty of Vietnam and Cambodia during his recent trip to the Southeast Asian countries.
Traveling over to the Indochina countries with his wife, Carole, Davis was able to see most of Vietnam while riding along flatter terrain with a rugged mountain bike, a change from the road bike he uses on the hilly roadsides in Boxford.
Spanning over the first half of March, Davis found himself in front of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, a temple overgrown by thick jungle, and historic battle sites still around more than 30 years after the end of the Vietnam War.
Had the Davis’s gone a few months later, when the tourist season was over, it would have been a different trip all together.
“It just comes down in sheets,” Davis said about the rainfall after the December through March tourist season. “After that, you are certainly not going to be doing any biking.”
The purpose of the trip was family leisure, adding to a list of Davis biking destinations including Tuscany, Italy, Ireland, and Holland.
He and Carole Davis went throughout the entire country, biking around north and south Vietnam, absorbing much of the sociological and governmental changes across the land.
“I was surprised at how friendly they were to Americans,” Davis said about the Vietnamese people happy to see Americans. “I was surprised how much progress they made.”
Davis said the Vietnamese culture was very industrious now, leading to a seeming economic upswing throughout the county. While Vietnam is still a Communist society, it practices a capitalist government system, Davis said.
Riding on mostly flat paths, Davis and his wife rode through wooded sections and aside rice plantations, sometimes attracting the children in certain towns, who would wave and smile.
One of the more notable sights they came across was the Angkor Wat Temple complex in Cambodia, carrying along the 12th century tale of Vietnam emperors and their grandiose state temples.
When traveling to larger cities, such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, Davis and his wife had to ditch the American-made mountain bikes for one simple reason.
“You couldn’t [bike]. It was too dangerous,” Davis said about narrow city streets, chaotically occupied by motor scooters and motorcycles, as cars are not only too expensive for most citizens, but don’t really fit the infrastructure. Although, he said traffic in Ho Chi Minh City was a bit more “orderly” than Hanoi, which he attributed to the presence of traffic lights.
Among other attractions the Davis visited included the spot where John McCain’s plane went down, the Hanoi Hilton, where American soldiers were held captive during the war, and the house of the first American ambassador to Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge.
The trip also brought light to a number of less-known facts about Vietnam for Davis.
“Communist party is very small compared to total population,” Davis said about the 80 million people in country, of which on 2.5 million are part of the communist party. Also, of the 80 million people, 70 percent are under the age of 30. The many males killed during the Vietnam War coupled with a burst in birth rates once the country was peaceful again contributed greatly to this statistic.
“It’s the night the lights went out,” Davis said about the baby boom.
During the Boxford selectman’s short trip to Cambodia, he and his wife saw the four major temples in the country, one which was purposely allowed to be overgrown by the jungle and, also, used to film the movie “Laura Croft Tomb Raider.”
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