Cycling Saigon to Hanoi

Vietnam, a country that was once torn by a recent war. The Americans came with the latest killing machines, the sophisticated jet fighters, the napalms, the smart bombs and they laid much of the country and any of its people to waste. They also came to die in a country so far from home, 56,000 of their young men and boys went back in body bags and some were lost in the steamy jungles never to see sunlights again. Wars are madness, the dead do not complain and the living live with endless pain in their mind. Both sides seek justness in their cause but tell me, which mothers will trade their sons' lives for a future gain except when patriotism rears its ugly head. It makes the wise and the aged insane and turns them to thirst for blood and gore.

When the French quitted Vietnam after their military loss at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, it was followed by the Geneva Agreement where one of the important terms was to have an election throughout the country to decide the new administration of Vietnam. The Vietminh under Ho Chi Minh was immensely popular and was expected to carry the election. But it was the height of the Cold War in Europe between the Communist bloc and the Imperialist hiding behind the name of Free World and unfairly Vietminh was red flagged as communist. Under the pretext of stopping the fall of the dominoes, the American invented one excuse after another to stop Vietnam from having the election to the extent of military involvement, because after all those "Gooks" need to be clubbed on the head for then to understand democracy does equal to communist led government.  And so was born the phrase "to destroy in order to save" and that was what Vietnam became in the end, the country destroyed but not saved from communism.

The war in Vietnam is over and gone. Saigon, the symbol of American presence is now Ho Chi Minh City, named after the venerated leader who inspired the Vietnamese to resist the foreign intervention of their political affairs. The once hated enemies have come back with cash as tourists and from the look of the reception by the locals it seems the past has been forgotten and forgiven. Tourism in Vietnam is huge. Hotels and beach resorts are springing like mushrooms after a rain fall and happily they are full of and flocked by the foreigners. A lot of resources are devoted to this industry and it seems the investment is well spent as like a market filled to the brim with money rich buyers. For the moment the questions the evils that the visitors bring are shelved for future polemics. Right now the pockets are deep and need the paddings.

There are many ways to visit Vietnam. You may go on your own or on a holiday package and there are different kind of packages. As a cyclist naturally I am keen of the cycling holiday where one can cycle while enjoying the country. I booked for this holiday with the apprehension that I will be cycling with strangers I have never met. I am so used to solo touring, where I make decisions on my own without any need to please others. I fear that my selfishness cannot match the convenience of the supported rides like not hunting for  accommodation and meals. 

For this tour I packed very light, only a few changes and as usual my bike goes in bike box that has been recycled from previous tours. There was the option of renting the organiser's bike but I thought my own bike would suit me better. Traveling with a boxed bike by Malaysian Airlines is a breeze. No quizzical look from the ground staff except that the scanning machine detected the inflated tires and I have to reopen the box just to deflate them. They are quite serious about the inflated tires going pop in the unpressurised cargo hold although I doubt very much they do. In the past I had retrieved tires that were sent in inflated and they looked well and fine.

Carefully boxing the bike at home into the much used bike packaging

At KLIA I have to reopen and retape the box to let out air from the tires which was discovered to be inflated during the routine x-ray check

2nd April KLIA to Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon

The flight from KLIA to Saigon landed at Than Son Nhat  at 4.00 Vietnam time after flying for two and a half hours. The first impression from the air of Mekong Delta is it is flat like an ocean. It is a huge swathe of land with not a hill lock in sight, with rivers and tributaries criss-crossing the land like ribons and everything was so green. On exiting the terminal I was hounded and fleeced by taxi tout and end up paying USD 20.00 to the hotel in spite of being advised the cost should not exceed USD10.00. I Reached Huong Seng hotel and later had dinner with the members of the cycling group and at dinner was briefed about the coming journey.  Everyone paid for their own meal although we had it together. 

Saigon looked appeared to me as vibrant but congested. The plus points of Saigon is the tall trees lining the street, the promenade along the river and the small pretty gardens that are lush well tended. As to the bikes, there must be millions of them and Saigon is truly the small bike capital of the world.

The Huong Seng Hotel Saigon, the first hotel in the tour.

My overpriced tuna sandwich dinner

3rd. April Saigon cycling distance 36 KM

This was our first cycling day. We were taken from our hotel to  Chu Chi tunnels by bus and some where near the place the group had the first look at their bikes, except for me who brought along my own bike. We cycled in a group to the tunnel and on stopping were taken to a tour of the tunnels. We had lunch at a small restaurant where our group leader conjured a birthday cake and we sang happy birthday to the birthday girl, Jill. Then we cycled around the area for a total of 36 km, to tune our muscles for the future rides, says Mr. Lam.  Group cycling was quite fun. and it was my first time . We finished cycling around 4.00 pm and was taken back to hotel by bus. That night I had dinner alone, tuna sandwiches and saw the most beautiful Vietnamese lady with most charming smile  serving. What a poise and what class. The grace she carries is bewitching. No wonder the American lost the war, their young soldiers, full of raging hormone must had been distracted all the time by these pretty ladies, not realising that they were the enemies. Talk about "Sleeping with the Enemies".

The "official" group photograph at the commencement of the ride on the first day, the only time where everybody was captured in a single photo, I was told some one was getting nervous. I am the only one with own bike.

Vietnamese girl child near the Chu Chi, not even one year old with the ears already pierced

4th. April Saigon to Phan Thiet cycling Distance 54 Km

We left Saigon at 7.00 am by bus. We travelled  along Highway 1 and it was quite a long journey, something like  4 hours. At about 12 noon we started cycling. Now this is a new experience for me. My cycling days  on previous tours were very early  morning departures and midday or noon were  the time I rest.  This is the tropics, early mornings are the cooler part of the day, the mercury starts to rise towards midday and the hottest part is between 1 to 4pm. We were doing the opposites today, we started cycling at 12.00 in the extreme heat and finished at 5. There were frequent stops for cold drinks dispensed from the supporting truck following the group. The terrain was mixed, some flat along the villages and some small climbs in the forest. There was also rides along the beautiful white sandy beaches. At the end of the ride many of us were absolutely knackered.  It was only a 54 km ride but  already there were a few casualties, Jim was on the verge of collapsing from heat stroke and Michelle had burns all over her exposed skin. The ride ended near a beach and we were taken by bus through the city of Phan Tiet to a resort hotel by the sea where we stayed for the night.

Riding through the country side one unusual thing I noticed was that the houses are more narrow than broad. The front was like only 5 meters across and the length could go like 20 meters. 

We saw farmer's carts drawn by oxen

The children are curious and never stop shouting "hellos"

5th. April Phan Thiet to Dalat Cycling Distance 60 Km

We bussed out from Phan Thiet  and after an hour on the bus we started riding along flat road for 15 km. After a short rest we came into undulating ride  for 25 km and it was hot. On reaching the foothill of the highland we took the bus uphill to a village and had lunch  prepared by the crew and continued to the top until 3.00 pm. Then we were and let down hill hill for 20 km, but with a few climbs thrown in. Then it was another 2 hours by bus through the glorious Central Highland to Dalat, a  resort town at 1500m elevation and it was cool compared to the brutal heat sufferred in the cycling.

The natives had a casual life including their livestock which nonchalantly ambled from across the road as though to greet us.

Dalat beauty

Starting out of Dalat I had the crew looked into my chain ring which began to be noisy when climbing the stiff hills

6th. April Dalat to Nha Tranh Cycling Distance 100 km

The cool lake at Dalat where we cycled around.

Out of Dalat it was the brand new road, hardly any traffic and it was not too hot. 

Sometimes we ride through the rain cloud

At one of the plunging water fall, it was an unforgettable sight.

It was a long 70 km undulating ride with some stiff climb. The road was newly constructed and at some points there were landslides covering the whole road and we had to carefully push our bikes for safety. The view was astounding beautiful, there were mountains and gorges and waterfalls splashing right near the road side. Some climbs were just testing and a few had some riders taking breathers before continuing and  one climb was 3 km long that had a few of us pushing our bikes as the legs were buckling from the punishment. On reaching the top we had a short rest and then were let down for a very long down hill, some 30 km long and what a thrill it was, I heard Andy and Gordon made it a race to be the first to reach the rest area. It was dangerous and I will not risk my old neck like these adrenaline junkies, who go on high living on the edges. It was a steep down hill, sometimes the speedometer gave readings in excess of 40 kph and I could have gone faster but I was not so sure of my biking skills. On the grand tours riders reach the speed of 70 kph when going down hill but even half of this speed already gave me shivers.

At the finish we assembled at a restaurant on a river bank and had some tourist gawking at us and our bikes, it was nice to be at the centre of attraction though the feeling is more due to false pride rather than what we actually deserved. It was late afternoon we reached the city of Na Tranh, a popular resort town on the beach. We checked into our hotel and for the first time we had our laundry done.

7th. April Nha Tranh 0 cycling

My bike cab driver at Na Tranh

Then I had a hair cut and a shave from the road side barber, costs me 80,000.00 Dongs but something lost in translation and I ended with a near bald hairstyle.

In Na Tranh we rested our sore muscles and I took the opportunity to tune my leg muscles by taking long walks on the beach. And what a beach it was, it was like miles and miles of white sand fronting the city and you can see tourist, thousands of them lazying around. This city is uniquely popular with Russian tourists and there are direct flights from the city airport to Russia. Nearby was the famous Cam Ranh Bay, the giant American Naval base during the war in Vietnam, today nothing remained of their presence except for the blue lagoons and coconut groves. At night I had my dinner at one of the smart restaurants found in abundant. Sea food is cheap and along the road sides were stalls selling cooked cray fish as big as lobsters.

8th. April Nha Tranh to Qui Non Cycling Distance 100 km

From our hotel, for the first time we departed from where we spent the night.  We cycled in single file along the beach and out of Na Tranh city. This was one long ride with varied terrain. We pass through rice fields, beaches, villages and when the sun was at its hottest we stopped for lunch at a resort restaurant on the beach.

Approaching Qui Non it was already darkening and we were not allowed to tackle the last climb which which would have been challenging considering our exhaustion and the steep gradient, many of us were silently glad the night had interfered with our plan.

Cycling out of Na Tranh

My bike resting along the scenic route

We pass farmers drying their rice on the road sides.

Ao Dai clad hotel receptionist at the hotel in Qui Non

Bicycles at Qui Non

9th.Apri Qui Non to Ho An cycling Distance 40 km

Our hotel at Qui Non was on the beach front. At 5.00 am it was already light and from the balcony it was strange to see many people exercising and stretching out on the beach and the park at this hour of the day.

Today after the bus ride we were taken to visit My Lai the village where Lt Calley and his troops when on a rampage by spilling lots of innocent Vietnamese blood, the blood of the very old and the very young. There was a museum displaying photographs of the massacre and models of the village. Some of the remains of the houses were preserved together with the mass graves. There was also a large statue that commemorates the emotions and the griefs of the people that suffered the war. We lined up to pay respect to the dead by lighting up joss sticks and leaving them at the base of the statues. It was a somber experience and during lunch at the makeshift restaurant we were quiet and the conversation was muted.

After My Lai we cycled a bit more through small villages and a small town where it was rush hour with hundreds of cyclists clogging the narrow road. These cyclists were school children on the way back from school and it is a sight that is rarely seen as bicycles are now mostly for recreational purposes rather than a mode of transportation.

It was dark when we reached Hoi An by bus and checked in a hotel that was looked old but the interior had been renovated to a modern standard.

10th. April Ho An 0 cycling

The day in Hoi An was spent lazying around. We had people coming to the hotel to do our laundry. I took a walk around the town which was quite small but well lined with shady trees. Hoi An is an ancient city that formerly thrived as a trading post and is now preserved as a tourist town. There were many smart restaurants and I had my meal at an Indian because I missed my curries. Many tourists come here to patronise the many tailors and you could custom make your dresses or clothing and got them ready in twenty four hours. If you have big feet this is the place to have shoes cut out to fit your feet.

Traders and farmers bringing their produce by boat to the market at Hoi An

11th. April Hoi An to Hue Cycling distance 94 km

Danang Beach where the Marines landed in 1966 after the Gulf of Tongking incident and were greeted by garland of flowers from the women instead of enemy fires.

This morning we took the bus from Hoi An to Danang. Past the beach of Danang we cycled across the river to the foot of Van Hai Pass. This was the ultimate test of this cycling holiday, the reason why it is graded as moderate whereby the participant has to be reasonably fit to join the tour. This pass is  a killer rising to 600m in 10 km and when we first touched its base it was already 12.00 noon. Cycling in the heat and exerting my maximum effort quickly drained my energy and my will. If I didn't stop I  was afraid I would collapse from a heart attack as not only my brain was frying, my hands were trembling from the loss of fluids and the building up of lactic acids in my muscles. With the summit in sight and after 11 kilometers, my guide offered to pull me with his bike but I thought that was an unfair conquest, so with a heavy heart I dismounted and took the bus. I felt very discouraged in this failures especially knowing that one of the ladies, Suzanne,  did make it and later also reading a cycling blog where the touring cyclist rated this pass as over rated because it was not challenging enough to him.

We had a short rest at the top and the down hill failed to banish my feeling of dejection. It would have been a crowning glory if I had make it to the top. After the down hill we took the bus and stopped for a late lunch and then we cycled again, this time through a wide expanse of cemeteries. It was like miles and miles of cemeteries, as though all the dead in Vietnam are buried here. At the end of the ride we assembled near a petrol station and were taken by bus to the city of Hue.

12th. April Hue Cycling around Hue City 25 km

Hue was the ancient capital of imperial Vietnam during the rule of the emperors. Early in the morning we cycled from the hotel through the city of Hue and the first stop was the Citadel where the emperors' palace was situated. We parked our bicycles and took a tour around the palace, there were musicians rehearsing as Hue was at the time hosting  some kind of music festival. The Citadel was a battle field during the war, thousands from both sides died or were injured. The American Marines had to engage close quarters fighting to dislodge the Vietcongs entrenched in the Citadel, as a result some of the palace buildings were destroyed by bombardment. What remained still bore the mark of the bullets and shrapnels.

Later we cycled to the old palace and after taking a short tour we cycled across the Perfume River vide an old shaking steel crossing. It vibrated with the weight and I could see the river in between the gaps. We next took a ride along river with a cruise boat and then visited a temple where among the relics was a car that the monk rode along to his way to self immolation in Saigon way back in the war. The cycling part ended here and the bicycles and the riders said good byes to each other. My bike was boxed and taken on the bus. I could see that some riders had become attached to their cycling companion, Peter tried to buy the saddle to bring home but sadly he was refused.

The Citadel where savage close range fighting between the  Vietcongs and the American Marines during the Tet Offensive left bullet marks still visible today

The car that the monk Thich Quang Duc travelled in to Saigon from the  Hue Temple where he self immolated himself. The fiery action was caught on camera and became one of the iconic pictures of the war.

Vietnamese flag flying proudly seen from the Perfume River

12th. April Hue to Hanoi 0 cycling

In the evening we took the Reunification Express to Hanoi and spending the night on the sleeper and reached Hanoi the next morning. I had some difficulties hauling my boxed bike aboard the train as the station was without platform and the train was in a hurry to get away from the station. Thanks to Peter and no thanks to my bad back the we made it in time although I was perspiring heavily from the rush. This was very much harder than cycling!

13th. April Hanoi to Halong Bay 

In the morning we arrived at Hanoi train station and I was surprised to be stopped by the guard at the exit and was forced to pay a little bit extra for my bike in the box. After a short sprucing up at the hotel we left our luggage and was taken by a bus to the coast where we boarded the cruise boat. We spent some time boating around the famous Halong Bay and at night spent the night on the boat where we were given a sumptuous and an unforgettable dinner.

Our Captain of our cruise boat

Hanoi like Saigon is full of motor bikes although there are more cars,  because as told by Mr. Lam, money is made in Saigon but spent in Hanoi.

This is the Hanoi Hilton where American pilots shot over Vietnam checked in, including among the famous one, Senator  John McCain.

My last hour in Hanoi, tired but sad to leave.

14th. April Hanoi




We came back from Halong Bay and had the afternoon to ourselve. That night we gathered for the last time at a restaurant and wished each other and Mr. Lam goodbyes.




15th. April Hanoi KL




The flight from the Hanoi airport departed at 1.00 pm and three hours later the plane landed in Kuala Lumpur. I said good bye for the last time to the group catching the evening flight to Heathrow.

Reflections

Packaged Group touring is very different experience from my previous DIY tours. The plus points are that you are practically pampered for you daily needs. Meals, accommodations and routes are not your worries. You just ride and ride and after sometimes I did get into questioning the logic of cycling tour this way, as in all packaged holidays your personal needs are subservient to the general good. If a place caught your fancy or you need more time to conquer the slopes, sorry we are behind schedule and have to rush to the next place. Another point is that you can see many places in the shortest time, if you are not supported it would take at least one month to cover the 1800 km from Saigon to Hanoi.

I have no issue with the organiser, the crew are eager to please and are very helpful. Cycling loads are not taxing, on the average of less than 80 km per day and no heavy pannier to slow you down. If you are moderately fit, and have been cycling regularly, you should be able to catch up with the group and should you feel otherwise there is always the bus following to save you. At the end of the tour some girls were disabled by disagreeable food and took the bus although I suspect it was more due to exhaustion than anything else.