# Cycling Vietnam



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

Well, have safely returned from my adventures in Vietnam. Most of the trip was cycling in the mountains of Northwestern Vietnam, near the border with Laos and China. These will be the first installment. I have lots more to post, but I thought I would get the first bunch up. 

The trip started in Hanoi, which is a bustling, noisy rather dirty city, choked with motor bikes. There are relatively few bicycles, which sort of surprised me. The markets were great, so were a couple of the restaurants. The traffic is sort of intimidating. But, you do get the hang of it after a while (I did not cycle in the city). Crossing the road was, uh, interesting. I learned that a fatalistic approach is the best. Walk directly, slowly, predictably across the street and the motorbikes avoid you. Sort of like schools of noisy fish.

So Hanoi:

1) traffic
2) lots of motor bikes
3) and by night
4) from the hotel roof
5) the night market


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*More Hanoi*

Hanoi is not all noisy traffic and dirty streets. There is a lovely lake downtown and some nice temples. (numbers don't quite correspond to descriptions. You can figure it out)

1) Hoan Kiem Lake
2) another shot of the Lake
3) mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho was not is residence - he has a yearly trip to Moscow for, uh, a freshening up). He died in 1969.
4) Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake
5) temple of literature (a university founded in the 11th century)
6) stelles at the temple (each graduate has his name inscribed on the stelles - of which there are rather a lot)
7) courtyard at the temple


----------



## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

Cool! More photos, please.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*on to the cycling*

The cycling is simply fantastic. Quite challenging. Our days were 90 - 120 km with some rather considerable climbs (including a 2000 meter high pass, but those photos will have to wait until tomorrow). I did not bring my bike. I regretted it for the first few days because the roads were reasonably good asphalt. But, the last few days - definitely mountain bike. The roads all seemed to be under construction and often were more like muddy tracks. 

First day we transferred out of Hanoi about 60 km, then rode to a village called Mai Chau where we stayed with a family. The village we stayed in is clearly set up for tourists, but the locals were not at all pushy and really seemed to take pleasure in welcoming a bunch of crazy westerners into their lives (once again, I am sure all the photos are in the wrong order)

1) time to start
2) it is a hilly place
3) climbing over the pass to Mai Chau
4) Mai Chau valley
5) the village
6) dinner time
7) bed time

All I have time for tonight. Will post some more later.


----------



## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Hey, that`s an awesome trip! Looks like you went with some kind of organized group? Was that snow near the pass?


----------



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Man oh man oh man.

Know what I'm sayin'?


----------



## snapdragen (Jan 28, 2004)

Welcome back, great pictures, I can't wait to see the rest!


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*mai chau to son la*

This was our longest (though not our hardest) day. About 120 km. No huge passes, just a long day in the saddle with lots of rolling hills. Son La itself is rather uninteresting, other that the "French Prison" where quite a few members of the Communist Party spent some time. For me the highlight was the market in Tuong Le. The women were rather amused by some of the white guys in tight spandex. I, being a somewhat shy sort (if you believe that, I may have some swamp land to sell you), tended to wear a pair of baggier shorts over my cycling kit. The hotel we stayed in was of the form of architecture I like to refer to as "early modern brutalism". Quite devoid of charm, but this was in a rather remote area of Vietnam. Several waterfalls on route this day.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*Son La to Tuan Giao*

A great day of cycling. We climbed the "Pass to Heaven". Not our highest pass, but at 16 km long and topping out at 1600 or so meters high, it was something of a grunt. By now, the roads were deteriorating. Many long stretches of dirt, gravel and mud. Some lovely villages on the way. We often saw corn or rice drying beside the road. Harvest had occurred a week or so before. My favourite part of this ride was coming in to Tuan Giao. The sun was setting, we had just crossed the pass (followed by a 12 km descent) and the valley just before the town was truly beautiful. Tuan Giao is yet another dirty, noisy town. I found I very much liked the villages, but despised the towns.

It was also on this ride that I came to realize that the thing I had left at home (I had the nagging thought for days that I had forgotten something) happened to be the charger for my camera battery. From here on in, I had to conserve power. No one else had a charger that would work with my battery. The result is that I have no pictures for a couple of days of cycling. Very much too bad. But I will gather some photos from some of the other participants and add them later.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*Muong le*

We spent two days in this town. The ride from Tuan Giao to here was to my mind the hardest of our days. Several steep climbs, very poor roads, and a final gut buster - 10 % grades for the better part of 10 km. It was also one of the most visually stunning. The villages were amazing. But, as I said above, my camera battery was almost gone, so I took no pictures en route. I did take quite a few on our "rest day" which involved a boat ride to a village and a cycle through the back "roads".

Most of this area will be flooded by a huge hydro-electric project slated for completion in 2010. Over 2 million people will be displaced.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*Last cycling day*

The last day was a ride from Pa So to Sapa, over three mountain passes. The last being 26 km long, cresting at 2000 meters. I took only a few photos due to my battery issues. The day before was a lovely ride through the rolling hills from Muong Le to Pa So, on the banks of the Num Na River. 

I would describe the final climb as one of the best rides of my life. Dazzlingly beautiful. Challenging without being punishing. I took it easily, because I really wanted to help one of the guys up the hill. Quite a few of the members of the tour group had bitten off a bit more than they could chew. Most transferred with the aid of a sag wagon. Only four of us did the whole 110 km. The fellow I rode with described it as the "hardest thing he had ever done". For me it became far more important to make sure he made it than for me to charge up the climb. He did, and you could just feel the sense of accomplishment. A truly memorable day for me.

I did not find it so difficult, but I am a reasonably strong rider. For me the hardest thing was the blasted bikes. I understood by now why they chose mountain bikes, but really - no bar ends and rather knobby tires do not make for comfortable 7 hour days.

Our destination was Sapa. A lovely town built by the French as a retreat for the hot summers. It lies at about 1500 meters. We stayed in a fabulous resort, which was a very welcome end to eight days of riding through some rather remote areas.

The non-cycling trip continued after Sapa, but I will post those tomorrow sometime.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

rodar y rodar said:


> Hey, that`s an awesome trip! Looks like you went with some kind of organized group? Was that snow near the pass?


Was an organized trip. The Vietnamese tour company was Buffalo Tours. The North American company subcontracted through them. Buffalo Tours is excellent. The guides were great. You can book directly through them, thereby cutting out the middleman, which is what I would do if I were to decide to go back to Vietnam.

No, that is not snow, just limestone. It can snow in the high mountains, but that is very rare. The highest mountain in Vietnam is a bit over 3000 meters high and it does get some snow. the highest road we were on tops out at 2000 meters. Snow is not unheard of, but the coldest it got while we were there was perhaps 8 or 10 degrees- not cold enough to snow. I believe that all of Vietnam lies south of the Tropic of Cancer.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*back to Hanoi*

After Sapa, we took the overnight train back to Hanoi. I thought I would post a few more shots of the old town, especially the vendors. Women walk or cycle through the narrow streets of the old town carrying everything from fruit, to flowers to cleaning supplies. It is quite an adventure, just to walk through the streets.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*Halong Bay*

One of the highlights of a trip to Northern Vietnam is a few days on a junk in Halong Bay. I have been lots of places in this big wide world, but Halong Bay is truly one of the most scenic spots I have ever seen. Getting rather touristed now, but the sight of Karst mountains rising straight out of the sea is breathtaking. We swam, kayaked, spelunked (well, if walking through lighted caves is spelunking) and lounged about the deck. One of the coolest things we did was to kayak through a dark (very dark) cave to emerge into a brilliant lagoon, completely surrounded by tree covered hills. The only way into the lagoon is through the cave, at low tide. Memorable experience (but no photo - should have brought a dry bag)

Below are just a few shots from this spectacular area.


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

*Final thoughts*

Well, that's it. I will probably get an online gallery up sometime soon with higher resolution shots and I will post a link.

Overall, a terrific trip. Vietnam is a very interesting country. Developing quickly, but still lots of out of the way places. The people seem uniformly generous and friendly. Very much worth a visit, and cycling, especially in the Northwest is about the best way to experience the place. My only complaint - the trip wasn't long enough. I was gone for just over two weeks. Too short. There were lots of other places I would have liked to see, and I dearly want to go to Cambodia and Laos. Never a shortage of places to go I suppose... 

Hope you enjoy this little travelogue, and I hope I didn't post too many photos.


----------



## superjohnny (May 16, 2006)

Those are some serious photo's... nice work! What a cool life experience.


----------



## yiata (Jul 11, 2004)

The pictures were spectacular. Thanks so much for posting.


----------



## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Great shots. Were you able to eat and drink whatever you wanted?


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

il sogno said:



> Great shots. Were you able to eat and drink whatever you wanted?


Had to drink bottled water, but no problem with any cooked food. Could eat the fruit as well, as long as it was peeled. I used the tap water to brush my teeth with no ill effects.


----------



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

oarsman said:


> ...but no problem with any cooked food. ......


Food.

We do like our food

On a trip food matters.

How was it (overall and any highlights if you don't mind)?


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

MB1 said:


> Food.
> 
> How was it (overall and any highlights if you don't mind)?


Overall, the food was tasty, but not terribly substantial. Very little protein in the diet. A lot of rice, fresh vegetables with only a bit of protein (pork most commonly). More deep fried stuff than I would like. We usually had fruit (bananas were really flavourful) for desert. The coffee was terrific.

On the junk the food was really tasty, especially if you like fresh (as in just caught) seafood, shellfish in particular. Hanoi has several excellent restaurants. The stand out was a place called the Green Tangerine - sort of a french-vietnamese fusion place. 

I don't have any good food photos, except the one I posted. One of the group took endless photos of food; he will be sending some of his shots around.


----------



## singlecross (Nov 1, 2006)

Wow... just wow. That looks like an amazing trip. Thanks for posting.

singlecross


----------



## GirchyGirchy (Feb 12, 2004)

Nice! That's just gorgeous, I'm very jealous now.


----------



## Bike4Obama (Nov 12, 2008)

DUDE, YOU NEED TO READ "CATFISH AND MANDALA"!!!! (if you haven't already)


----------



## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

This is a jaw dropping ride report. Excellent stuff.


----------



## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Boy am I jealous. I was supposed to visit Hanoi a few months ago but got stuck in China and never made it. Now I'm even more bummed.


----------



## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

oarsman said:


> Overall, the food was tasty, but not terribly substantial. Very little protein in the diet. A lot of rice, fresh vegetables with only a bit of protein (pork most commonly). More deep fried stuff than I would like. We usually had fruit (bananas were really flavourful) for desert. The coffee was terrific.
> 
> On the junk the food was really tasty, especially if you like fresh (as in just caught) seafood, shellfish in particular. Hanoi has several excellent restaurants. The stand out was a place called the Green Tangerine - sort of a french-vietnamese fusion place.
> 
> I don't have any good food photos, except the one I posted. One of the group took endless photos of food; he will be sending some of his shots around.


Vietnamese coffee is the best. Did you have some over there?


----------



## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

il sogno said:


> Vietnamese coffee is the best. Did you have some over there?


As often as possible. Loved the coffee, especially prepared the traditional, drip/press sort of way with sweetened condensed milk. Yum. Sort of tasted like chocolate.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

oarsman said:


> Well, have safely returned from my adventures in Vietnam.


Cool !!!
It appears that you like to come to Asia from time to time. I have an european friend who came to Hong Kong sometime ago, he said to me that he likes to visit the local markets, he found the people and smell of the things for sale at the places really exotic.


----------

