Today we rented bicycles, chose a direction, and biked out of the city. Our road took us past the airport (a single runway--I think there was a building also....more on that in 2 days), past their beautiful university (some of the newest looking buildings in town), and out into the countryside.


Jen had been searching for a fresh produce market and we finally found it--about 10 minutes out. (Most of the produce was further in).


As we continued to bike, we passed a lot of farm land, some grazing land with buffalo, what appeared to be some kind of lumber plant, and this very still but beautiful gravel pit.



We biked through many small villages, where virtually everyone would stop what they were doing and smile and wave to us. Often a small group of children would run out to the street to wave and say sabadi! They were literally ecstatic when we would wave and greet them back.



We also passed many roadside stands, mostly selling food, but this one selling woven baskets of all kinds was my favorite.


After about 2 hours, we turned around and headed back. I had forgotten my sunscreen and felt like I was starting to burn; we also thought we'd make it back in perfect time for lunch. As neared town again, we joined up with a bunch of kids biking back to school. It's very common to see people on bikes and motorcycles with umbrellas for the sun, as you can see in this photo:



Our way back took us back across the bridge spanning the river where bicycles and motorcycles alike sorted themselves into a single-file track.


Back in town, we got our favorite spicy tofu sandwiches for lunch, and commiserated about being so sunburned.