Aventures Bicyclétales ...

country overview, map and followed itinerary, the journal with the best pictures, the highlight, what I liked / didn't like, useful information.
.

Vietnam overview (as of June 2008)

• Capital city : Hanoï.
• Area : ~ 331,690 km2 (= 0.5 x France).
• Population : ~ 85 million inhabitants (= 1.3 x France).
• Density : 257 inhabitants / km2. 

• Language : Vietnamese.
• Religions : Mahayana Buddhism (75%), Catholicism (7%) and other (18%).
• Human Development Index (HDI) : 0.709, the 109th country out of 177. What is HDI ?

• Government : Socialist Republic
• President : Nguyen Minh Triet (since June 2006).
• Prime minister : Nguyen Tan Dung (since June 2006).

• Growth rate in 2005 : 8.3%.
• Currency : Dông (VND), 1 Euro = ~ 26,000 Dông.
• Main imports : refined oil, fabric, steel, iron, machines and cars.
• Main exports : crude oil, rice, shoes, clothes, coffee and manioc.

Vietnam map and followed itinerary (in green)


The journal from Vietnam with the best pictures

• Khe Sanh and the former DMZ.
• Highway 1.
• Ninh Binh (Halong bay on the rice paddies).
• Hanoi.
• North-western loop via Dien Bien Phu.

Coming to Vietnam crossing through the Ho Chi Minh trail (see at the end of the travel journal in Laos for more information) and stopping by the old US military camp of Khe Sanh justifies here giving some brief background information about the Vietnam war, or, as it is called here, the American war.

Few dates to remember :

• 1859 : France takes control of Vietnam.
• 1940 : Vichy French government let Japan take control of Vietnam.
• 1945 : Japan leaves Vietnam, Viet-Minh declares Vietnam independence but France tries to regain control of the country.
• 1946-1954 : Franco / Viet-Minh war, ending in Dien Bien Phu with a French capitulation and a total withdrawal from Vietnam. Following the Geneva accords, Vietnam is then split in south and north Vietnam.
• 1955-1959 : Tension build-up between north (supported by China and USSR) and south Vietnam (supported by the USA). Witch hunting is by then very popular in the US.
• 1960-1967 : US army presence next to the south Vietnamese army escalates to reach an all time high of more than 500,000 soldiers.
• 1968 : Khe Sanh US camp is under siege by the north Vietnamese army, a huge diversion aimed at preparing the Tet offensive (200 000 deaths and 2 million refugees). For the north Vietnam, it is a military defeat ; however, this is a communication success since the American public cannot bear it anymore. Opinion calls for peace.
• 1969 : USA bombs Laos and Cambodia.
• 1970-1971 : The American public denounce this absurd war and evidences are revealed, showing that the white house mislead intentionally the congress.
• 1972 : Nixon is re-elected … but the Watergate scandal is just getting started.
• 1973 : Paris accords establish a cease-fire between south and north Vietnam. American troops, or what is left of them, run away home. About 2 million people have died since the beginning of the war, among which more than 3/4 are north civilians hit by US bombs … thus the popular “American war crime” museum of Ho Chi Minh City.
• 1974 : Nixon is forced to resign and is replaced by Gerald Ford.
• 1975 : North Vietnam invades south Vietnam all the way. The country is reunited on the 30^th of April.

Just a short remark : Nixon was forced to resign in total disgrace, but not because he lied, plotted* and actively contributed to the death of 6 million people, but because he was caught red-handed for burglary and phone tapings … really, isn’t our world a little bit confused about its values ?

* see the biography of Richard Nixon by Anthony Summers (The arrogance of power) in which it shows Nixon won its first presidential election partially by actively undermining the peace agreements president Jonhson was advocating between south and north Vietnam. It was in 1968.

So here it is for the historical background of the American war in Vietnam, but now let’s start traveling, starting by … Khe Sanh, this US military camp located in the middle of the former demilitarized zone, which was under siege for a few weeks and was later abandoned. It was exactly 40 years ago ; see below the commemorative signs displayed in the streets.



                               


And on the side of the road, a few US tanks continue –peacefully now- to collect rust and dust ...




Below is the valley running from Khe Sanh to the Tonkin gulf coast ...




Dong Ha market, an ideal place to stock up the energy boosts.




Dong Ha traffic, while waiting for the train (on the left) and right after the opening of the barriers (on the right) … check the mess !

 


Dong Ha is the most eastern town of my trip, or so I hope, and now I will be heading west / north west. Why did I start going east while France is located west of Thailand ? Well, there are two reasons : 1st you cannot cycle across Burma, then you need to go around it and 2nd, I wanted to come again to Vietnam before going back to France.

Coming out of Dong Ha, I make a left and start riding on Highway 1 (QL 1A), which goes through the whole country, connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. Traffic is not as bad as expected … and the scenery around the road is really enjoyable, with lots of rice paddies of course, but also mountains on the left and sand dunes on the right. The only bothering thing at that time is the unbearable HEAT and the absence of any shade. Temperatures go up to 48 degrees, and at this particular point, it starts boiling real nicely under my cap.




Port city of Dong Hoi, with plenty of multicolored boats.



 




And here the crossing of a few sand dunes … a sight quite unreal …




Saturday the 19th of July 2008 : sill 455 km to go on the Highway 1 before I reach Hanoi. The heat is still unbearable on the road, and leaving early in the morning does not help much. Temperatures reach 40 degrees not later than 9.30 AM … and between 11.00 AM to 2.00 PM, it is at least 45 degrees. This heat combined with a strong headwind and daily stages of more than 100 km made my days quite long.

Souvenirs from the american war : some bunkers sunbathing along the beach ...




Bicycles : still widely used in Vietnam, usually for the transport of bulky items or for family commuting, with 2, 3 or more persons sitting or standing on it.





Watch this specific model here (above right) modified for heavy loads, with a reinforced frame and two additional guidance sticks going to the saddle and the handlebars. It’s the same model which was used to convey ammunitions along the Ho Chi Minh trail, and which could carry 200 kg in total.



Cyclos (three wheels) are also very popular. They can carry just anything.




Dressing code for cyclists and motorbike riders : maximum converage to protect from the sun ... and the falls.!




Monday the 21st of July : gas prices increase by 30% in Vietnam. This is going to be more and more difficult to promote a way of life based on cheap energy and fast transportations (see below on the left).




Looking at all those churches and cathedrals, I cannot help but wonder what the Vietnamese catholic community think of their great Lord, who despite their relentless prayers, let million tons of bombs fall on their heads during several decades ?



Well, apparently there is no hard feeling there, since many new churches are being built in numerous locations. This is quite a lesson of genuine forgiveness.

Wednesday 23rd of July : I rest a couple of days in Ninh Binh, after having cycled 900 km non-stop from Savannakhet in Laos. Ninh Binh is quite a pleasant town, an is just a few km away from Tam Coc, the Halong Bay on the rice paddies and Hua Lu, a very ancient capital of Vietnam.   Picture on the right => on my way to Tam Coc ... Below : Tam Coc, and its huge rock formations jutting out of rice paddies and irrigation canals.

It boasts breathtaking sceneries, but for how long will it look like this ? The whole area is being exploited for these specific rocks in order to make concrete. Big grey dust clouds are the norm and several of those rocks are just going down … and eventually disappear.




Below : the ancient imperial capital city of Hoa Lu during the Dinh (968-980) and Le (980-1009) dynasties.




Saturday the 26th of July : HANOI !! Here I am, after 4 weeks and 2,000 km, I have just arrived in Hanoi !!

I already came to Hanoi in 1998 and 2000, it was then a beautifully quiet place with just a few motorbikes … but 10 years later, damage is done, and the city is now completely overcrowded with motorbikes. Hanoi streets, which were rather pleasant to look at back then too, have been altered with lots of ugly narrow mini-hotels such as the one I am staying in (red circle, 5th floor without lift to stay fit).




Vietnam symbols : yokes and conical hats are at every street corners.






Kites shops or fashion boutiques, you can find anything in Hanoi !




Located north west of Hanoi, several magnificently renovated French houses from the colonial period are now used as embassies or ambassador residences …



… just a few hundred meters away from the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh is considered to have been the main leader of the Vietnamese resistance against the French and the Americans. He also created the Vietnamese Communist party.


Not far you can see one of the last standing statue of Lenine.


Below is the temple of literature, built during the XI century to pay respect to Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher. Later the Vietnam’s first university was established within the temple to educate Vietnam’s royalty and other members of the elite.



I can’t resist quoting Confucius here, just to give an idea of who he was and make you think a little : « If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot”.
 
And this one as well : « If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.”


Below is a  sunset on the Hoan Kiem lake of Hanoi.




Monday the 28th of July 2008 : After this very pleasant stay in Hanoi, I am now heading towards the mountains of the north-west, going all the way to Dien Bien Phu and then later to the Chinese border ...

Going out of Hanoi on a Monday morning is quite something, but somehow I managed to make myself a way into this motorbike crazyness. About 10 km after rejoining Highway 6, I just spotted those two pretty unusual bicycles …



The very specialized fish-tank-bicycle with its compressed air bottle screwed to the frame and this … bicycle, with quite a bulky load on it. My bicycle looks ridiculous next to it …


Tuesday the 29th of July : real mountains start today … this is going to be a testing day. How does a 55 kg bicycle make it to the top of a pass ?

The answer comes back to my face a bit too fast, right after breakfast and still half asleep, I embark on a serious hill … with lots of stars around in a dark sky. This ain’t right. I stop. Goose bumps all over are not a good sign either. 15 minutes later, I get back on the road and, miracles do happen, everything is back to normal and I can continue my ride up pretty well.



It’s then about 1.00 PM when I get to the foot of “the” mountain of the day, a nice 600 meters climb with portions at 8%  by 46 Celsius.

Surprisingly, it’s not that hard, it’s just slow, about 7 km/h, and you need to be patient … let the time work, and you will get to the top.



The scenery starts to be really gorgeous, and does well worth some efforts to get to. Most of the valley is covered with flooded rice paddies at this season …



By the end of the day, I arrive in Mai Chau valley, mostly inhabited by the … Thai ethnic minority! A few of them do actually speak Thai as in Thailand. It feels like getting back to the starting point !

Below on the right is the house where I spent the night …




Wednesday the 30th of July : on the program today is one of the longest climb of this north-western loop :  a 1000m ascent over 35 km, with 11% slopes …

Well, slowly of course, but without any major problem, I got to the top. Air is cooler up here and there are some nice tea plantations all around.






Tonight I will sleep in Moc Chau, a small village in an area mostly inhabited by Thais and where agricultural practices belong to a different time … when self-sufficiency and sustainability really meant something.






Saturday the 2nd of August  : I am moving forward, always, and in order to do so I need energy which I usually find in markets. Below are a few pictures of Son La market, with some local delicacies such as grilled dog (click on the picture if you are curious) or silk worms ! On the right, a chicken is being weighted.

   

On the way to Tuan Giao, corn is harvested and pealed by hand …




Cycling is tough today, the road, or what’s left of it after what looks like repeated floods and landslides, is just a mix of big rocks, dust and mud. This is a testing day for the bike.

Back on a sealed portion, going down a hill, and fully focused on the task in order to anticipate roads hazards, I suddenly come under heavy “fire” of unidentified objects, most of them hitting my front wheel. I stop immediately and realize the bananas I was carrying since the morning on my front rack … just melted and went through the wheel !! 

No big deal or so I thought, I get I back on the bike and continue the downhill … in an ear-breaking noise combined with heavy vibrations. I stop again to observe that Melted Bananas + Overheated Rim gives CARAMEL, which is not what I was looking for. And for those who doubted it, braking on caramel isn’t a good idea. I clean this mess as well as I can, surrounded by children intrigued by the noise and who came around to have a look at what was going on ...



This was a long a day, with 90 km of bad road, but some parts were just so amazingly pretty …




Sunday the 3rd of August : it's raining.

It’s raining on Tuan Giao market, where those Thai women, easy to recognize with their typical black headdress, are selling few vegetables and pieces of meat …



The north-western part of Vietnam is inhabited by many different ethnic minorities. Thaïs are one of them, with a population of about 1 million people. Unfortunately, as for so many other minorities around the world, their survival and their culture is endangered by the assimilation policies of central governments … but also by mass tourism, with loads of European and Chinese tourists coming by full buses. When dealing with minorities, there should be a “tourist/local head ratio” not to be exceeded in order to avoid a “Zoo phenomenon” and the dilution of a culture as different as fragile.


On my way to Dien Bien Phu, it is still raining … and the road condition is going from very bad to much worse …



… giving me plenty of time to fully appreciate the beauty of what’s around ! It’s properly amazing to realize how much your capability to enjoy things depends on how much efforts you put in it.




Encounters …




Going up the last pass before Dien Bien Phu …

 

… and realizing that it’s raining there, in the valley !




So in Dien Bien Phu I am … 54 years after the well-remembered defeat of the French forces here, which triggered the sub-sequent withdrawal of France from Vietnam. The billboard below gives an interesting gaphic version of the battle.



Historical background : In 1954, it has been now about 8 years since France started to fight against the Vietminh, trying then to regain full control of a country it gave up to the Japanese during the second world war. At the beginning of the same year, General Navarre sent several French battaillons to occupy the Muong Thanh valley, near Dien Bien Phu, to prevent Vietnminh forces from crossing into Laos.

In just a few months, those bataillons were surrounded by the Vietminh army lead by General Vo Nguyen Giap, who carried ammunitions and military equipment by porters through jungle and across rivers in an unbelievable feat of logistics. 



On the 6th of May 1954, after a siege of 57 days, just a day before the Geneva conference on Indochina was set to begin, Dien Bien Phu fell. All 11 000 men in the French army were either killed or captured (a French army then made of 40% of French, 30% of Vietnamese but also some Algerian and African forces).

Given today’s perspective, being defeated in Dien Bien Phu and withdrawing from Vietnam in 1954 was certainly the best thing that could have happened to France. It avoided to share with the USA the burden and responsibility of the slaughter they carried out there for another 20 long years … to finally achieve the exact same result : an humiliating defeat.

A war of occupation can’t be won. It would be about time now for those who failed to learn anything in history class to accept this fact.


Wednesday the 6th of August : I am getting back on the muddy road, in the direction of Sapa and the Chinese border ... and I am pleased to discover there is no more muddy road but a nice and smooth sealed road instead. This is a good start, despite riding the first 50 km under the rain.



The road I am riding on sees a very light traffic, with only very few vehicles passing by and in comparison, quite a lot of pedestrians. There are lots of ethnic minorities in this area, and most of them still dress up in traditional gears, especially women. It feels like being a minority among an overwhelming majority of minorities. The green bicycle and I attract a lot of attention on our way : everyone wants to see AND touch ...

Pictures below are people belonging to the H'mong ethnic group.




Thursday the 7th of August : long day ahead, so I leave right after sun rise. There is 80 km of flat road followed by a climb of 1000m over the last 30 km. This is clearly enough to catch a good sleep tonight. The road is really scenic, it shadows the brown Nam Na river through a lush, undulating landscape of ferns, bananas and bamboo. Everything is going well … but I soon realize that instead of 80 km of flat roads, I will have 80 km of undulations before getting to the foot of “the” big mountain of the day …


I finally make it to Phong To village, right at the foot of the 30 km climb, where I see the road marker : Lai Chau, 30 km. It seems OK to me at this point, I start the climb, slowly but totally focused … and suddenly it strikes me, Lai Chau is the name of the village where I slept last night !! Damn it, how bloody hell is this possible ? I have followed the same river for 80 km, I just can’t be back at the starting point, this is impossible. However, I try to get a confirmation from locals, because climbing a mountain is not an easy thing, but climbing a mountain with just the smallest doubt about the right direction, this is a much more difficult thing. Finally, it seems my way is indeed up that road, I get also plenty more information but I have absolutely no idea what it is about.

Reassured, I climb the mountain with the mind at peace … but not without using the 34 teeth ring for one of the very first time. This gear is magic, you could climb trees with it.



When I arrive in town, I finally understand the quiproquo. This morning I left from Old Lai Chau ( soon to be flooded when a dam will be completed), and this evening I have just arrived in New Lai Chau, previously named Tam Duong, which is now the new name of Binh Lu, 29 km away. But I don’t know where is the New Binh Lu … I am still looking for it.


Friday the 8th of August : it’s the opening day of the Olympics, and all of a sudden, the world will discover itself a short-lasting passion for synchronized swimming, archery, trampoline, weight lifting and other sports. This is amazing to see what media can do … and I admit I am quite pleased to have found some kind of shelter here, at least for now …

It is still raining this morning. The sky is upset (and upsetting).

Low clouds hide partly the mountains, streams go downhill full speed … and today is the day I will climb the highest road in Vietnam, culminating at 2,007 m (Tram Ton pass).



Traffic is very low, even ethnic minorities seem to have decided to stay home. I am alone on the road.



Clouds are getting thicker and thicker : 10 meters in front and 10 meters behind, this is all I can see through the rain. The rest is just all white and grey. I can also hear the stream downhill, but this is just about it. At this very point, I admit I felt a little bit alone … and it was getting really cold, just about 16 Celsius.

I finally complete the climb, but without the usual scenic reward since it is still raining. There is no sign, nobody, nothing, but just me. Fortunately, Sapa is only 15 km away and now this is all downhill, so I should be there in just half an hour. I am really looking forward to taking a hot shower … and dressing in dry warm clothes.

Yeah, this was my plan … but the part I missed was that over those next and last 15 km, the road would be in such a mess (pictures below). This meant not half an hour to Sapa, but clearly much more than an hour.



Riding my loaded bike on such a terrain is rather unpleasant. I hit lots of rocks, dive in mud and my brakes quickly fade away …

It is when you think it can’t get any worse, and that actually it gets really worse, that it starts to feel somehow kind of funny … so how did it get worse ? Well, with a huge landslide combined with a sea of deep mud in the middle of the way.

It looks like the road has been closed for some time now because I can see here waiting about all the vehicles which passed me over the last 2 or 3 hours. No matter how fast we reached the pass, we are all here now : trucks, 4WD, motorbikes and ... one single bicycle.

Obviously some have tried to cross with their 4WD, but with road tires, this was aiming for failure. They are now stuck deep in the middle of the way. A tiny few motorbikes have successfully crossed, carried by groups of 5 or 6 men, but this was just to realize on the other side that their engine covered in mud won’t start … so what ? my guess is that with a bicycle, I stand better chances than others. And the hot shower is either 8 km going forward, or 68 km going backward. There is no second thought to have, I’m going …

There is about 200 meters to cross : I can ride it at the beginning, I have very little grip, but I can manage to move forward, sometimes being forced to the left, sometimes to the right, but it’s working, at least for now, and then I go up a muddy stream, find there some good grip but quickly lose it, the balance is hard to keep and all of a sudden, the bicycle sinks deep, hub deep to be accurate. Not good. I stand myself knee deep in a two layers high quality mud : light and liquid on the surface, heavy and sticky at the bottom. I could really lose my sandals in this sh**. I can’t move. I am totally stuck. First priority : take off the sandals so I don’t lose them and I can move around. Second priority : take the bike hubs away from the water and the mud, which by grabbing some trees and by enjoying a floating effect from the bags around the wheels, was not as difficult as you would imagine, then I pulled, and pushed, and pulled, and pushed ... and that was it, I got on the other side !! Ah, Ah, beating the 4WD on their favorite terrain is quite an intense joy.

Hot shower was good, thank you, and I enjoyed it to the fullest …


Saturday the 9th of August : I'm taking a few days OFF in Sapa. It has rained the whole day again, regularly and without any interruption, with the same white clouds hanging low and preventing any possible sight of the surrounding mountains. Are those 4WD cars still waiting to cross the road ? Well, likely yes since there is no other road coming to Sapa, unless you decide to drive all the way back to Hanoi and follow the Highway going to Lao Cai, which is a 1,000 km journey.

It’s night time and it’s still raining ... 


Sunday the 10th of August : it rained all night, and it's still raining ... this will never stop !



Today again, I am staying in Sapa ...

Hourrah, at last, it is 3.00 PM and rain has stopped for the first time in 4 days. The sun even briefly came out before night fall. I found out this morning that all this rain was actually coming from a storm called Kammuri, it hit the Chinese coasts a few days ago and then died over China and Vietnam with lots of rain on its way … it seems like all the north of Vietnam is flooded and most roads are cut for now, at least for 4 wheels vehicles, but I've heard bicycles and motorbikes are OK to go, so I'll leave tomorrow.


Monday the 11th of August : the sun is not far behind the clouds this morning and it's not raining, so I leave as planned in the direction of Lao Cai. This is a small leg today with 46 km only, all downhill. On the way I can count no less than 30 landslides still partially blocking the road … which gives plenty of time to appreciate the rice paddies all around on the mountains.



I arrive in Lao Cai at 1.00 PM, my plan was to spend a night here before crossing the border to China, but I just can’t wait anymore to see how this border crossing is going to work … this has been such a struggle to get my visa for China.

Vietnamese side, this has been a very long and painful process, checking and re checking my passport, all its pages, again and again, and then my Chinese visa. Scanning my passport, re scanning it … going second floor, waiting, coming back, going again … all in all, it took about 45 minutes, but at the end of this endless and stressful ordeal, I got a stamp and a clear way to the bridge leading to China …







The highlight from Vietnam 

Vietnam is culturally very different from Thailand and Laos. And as much as I love those two last countries, you can’t deny the feeling of staying on the surface, like you are a spectator watching a good movie. Well, in Vietnam, you don’t’ only watch, you act and interact ; you are totally part of it. People come to you, talk to you, touch you, yell at you … this is tiring, but this is the way it is here. There is no more filter keeping you at a distance.




What I liked / didn't like in Vietnam 

I liked	I didn't like
the people, their curiosity and their strong cultural identity	systematically paying at least twice the price for everything
north-western mountain sceneries : no word could sufficiently and fully describe them. It looks surreal …	the heat of July and the headwind coming from the North
ethnic minorities, especially the Thais, with their very well preserved culture	deafening frightening horns
sceneries around Highway 1 : with mountains, rice paddies and sand dunes	International Trucks, with the darkest black smokes I have ever seen (Hyundai trucks are following not far though !!)
pho (noodle soups) com (rice with something always different), tofu and bread	leaving my passport at the hotel reception during the night
no stray dogs at all, a likely consequence of their presence on some restaurants menu !! Calling a dog a walking sausage here, this is not mean, this is anticipation ...	restaurants floor, with garbage and spit : wearing boots is recommended
sugar can juice	the soon to be beheaded pig scream at 6.00 AM …
all the so many bicycles ...	toothpicks with square ends : too small they break, too big they don’t go in

Useful information about Vietnam