"Today's ride is in two sections - In the first part we drive out of town to visit an ancient Cham Tower before turning off the highway to cycle along 40 kmof coastal road to the town of Tuy Hoa for lunch - the area around Tuy Hoa is the rice bowl of the province and you will pass many rice fields, shrimp farms and coconut palms. In the second part we then take a delightful minor inland road up a long green valley on which you will be the only westerners!"
A CHAM TOWER AND SEA HORSE SAKI.
We leave Nha Trang by bus, stopping to visit an historic Cham Tower outside of town. Since the Cham haven't been around since the 17th Century, I guess all Cham stuff is historical. We drive about 60 kms north, passing rice paddies, Buddhist and Christian cemetaries, army bases and Viet Cong war cemetaries. AH1 is considered way to dangerous to cycle, so we start our ride on a parallel road at the fishing village of Ca. We go through a landslide zone just outside Ca and plough our way through red mud that cakes our newly cleaned bikes and makes braking somewhat dicey. (Not to worry; our wonderful crew would spend the evening cleaning them off again). Our ride from Ca to Tuy Hoa was pure delight. Passing through village after village, we meet up with a zillion school kids, all riding their bikes, Some ride what we've started calling the Vietnamese tandem: two kids on a bike and the back rider with his toes inserted in the flip flops of the up front rider, so both are pedalling. We see our first freight train on the narrow-gauge HCMC-Hanoi line. Apprently the tracks have been cleared and the bridges repair north of Hue where extensive flooding occurred in October.
After lunch we bus to a small fishing village where the main product is sea horse saki, said to be an aphrodisiac. Bingh buys us a bottle to sample later that evening. It is now 4 pm and we still have 28 kms of cycling to Seagull Hotel in the town of Quy Nhon. We meet lots of hills, a head wind and increasingly heavy rain. It's a race now to get to the hotel before dusk, which comes abruptly at 5: 15 pm. Several of us encountered "bad actors" on the road - little kids like to shout "Hello!" at us; bigger kids try to "high-five" us, but a bunch of teenagers are intent on messing more seriously with us. The two fellows on a moped harrass June, and later on the same two decide to assist Gary up one of the hills! Eventually we run out of light and the vans begin mopping up riders one by one. Mike, Jean and Faye made it all the way to our hotel, arriving after dark. The Seagull Hotel is a four star located on a beautiful 10 km crescent beach that would not look out of place in South Beach or some other such-like resort. Magnificent rooms with service to match. Unfortunately some of our number did not get to enjoy it due the suffering the dreaded "trots". Drinks and dinner downstairs in thebar/restaurant, followed by an invitation to Jim and Chris' room to experience "Seahorse Saki" that is purported to possess Aphrodisiacal qualities, but the general feelimg was that it had the reverse effect (what is it with these Geologists who are seemingly embarked on the quest for the elixir of libido?!). Marg says next day that in her opinion it tasted vile. Such lack of taste, says Chris.
INTRODUCTION
In the fall of 2009 the Cross Canada Cycle Touring Society (CCCTS) announced a planned tour of Vietnam for sixteen participants to take place in November 2010, conducted by Pedaltours of Auckland, NZ. The response was overwhelming in that 48 members signed up! Thus there will be three groups touring. This blog is a rendering of the experiences of the first group who will travel between November 1st and 21st, 2010.
Vietnam is a fabulous experience. We stay at mostly 3* and 4* hotels and beachfront resorts and cycle away from the highway.
Our tour starts in Ho Chi Minh city (formerly Saigon) leading on to the beach resort of Nha Trang, historic Hoi An, and the imperial city of Hue. Thereafter we fly north to Hanoi and spend the next ten days exploring the scenic far North, including Dien Bien Phu. The Northwest is "the roof" of Vietnam, where the Hoang Lien Mountains (Tonkinese Alps) soar to over 3,000 metres (9,900 feet) and some of Vietnam's most spectacular scenery is to be found. This is definitely "the road less travelled"! Much of the area is sparsely populated and the mountains are still home to many ethnic minorities; the Montagnard women still favour elaborate costumes of brightly coloured skirts, tops and hats - each ethnic group favouring its own colour variation and design.
Sapa is an atmospheric former hill station with magnificent views of rice terraces and mountains; the temperature can drop to zero in mid-winter (January, when group three will be travelling).
We will travel by train, boat and bike as we follow the rugged Northwest route right to the border with China at Lao Cai; on several days venturing away from the civilised tourist meccas, cycling through traditional villages and staying in small towns with modest lodgings (Oh, Oh!)
So come prepared for the unexpected, for breathtaking scenery and bring a sense of adventure (and toilet paper!)
Thanks to the folks at Pedaltours for the text above and at the start of each days posts - NB There is no knowing at the start just how often we can update this blog since we don't know the availability of Wi-Fi, but by pre-posting the days activities all you armchair travellers will at least have an idea of what we are hopefully up to. Cheers.
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