Robert’s Cyclings

The great boat journey has brought me to Luangphrabang.  A photographers dream, according to the lonely Planet.  I would tend to agree. 

The one day we were meant to stay turned to 2.  It was not just the beauty of the small town next to the Mekong River but it seemed the 2 day boat journey was not as restful as it seemed at the time.  

After this rest, the cycling began in earnest.  A massive climb out of the town gave us our first taste of the Laos countryside.  As we climbed up in to the hills the landscape did not disappoint.  It took a while to understand the different character of the surroundings compared to Thailand.  The first impression is that Laos would not be as far advanced in developmental terms.  The roads are great but the people do not seem to have as much in terms of material wealth.  

The last few days we have been traveling in the mountains and have been amazed by the breathtaking beauty.  Yesterday the massive climb we did was rewarded by views over mountains, the like over which I have never seen before.  They were a bit like some I had seem in northern Vietnam but larger and clad with forest.  Today was one of the highlights of my trip so far.  Cycling out of the hilltop village shrouded in mist and dropping down through really dramatic limestone Karskes that punctuated a vast valley that lead us to paddy fields and our lunch stop.

From here we decided on partaking in the 3rd jeep trip of the trip.  With a bit too far to go than we wanted we enjoyed yet more amazing scenery all the way to Vang Vieng. 

Biking Buddies

So I got myself a biking buddy.  Her name is Ayley and she is a good friend of mine.  I met her off the plane in Bangkok Airport about 5 days ago.  I was so happy to see her, as I had just about had enough of my own company.  Rather good timing.  We spent the night in Bangkok and then the next day got the over night train to Changi Mai.  Starting our trip from the train station felt good.  It was important to get out of Bangkok and we just opted to get 500-600km out of Bangkok. 

We have done 2 great days cycling and I am very happy to have a partner along.  It is a different experience, one I feel I have adapted to very nicely.  Someone is there to look out for me.  There has been a relaxing of some of my strict safety rules that have meant that I have always found somewhere to stay each night and had no other major disasters.  This does not mean I am reckless, I think it just means there is not the same fears and worries, like falling in the shower and knocking myself out.  That kind of thing!

We are able to chat while cycling, I am able to listen to Ayley's singing on the hills, have food togather and generally not be on my own as much.  I knew what this trip entailed when I began, in terms of doing it by myself.  I have enjoyed the freedom that this has brough and the sense of independance and even the space to think.  I have meet numberous people along the way whose company I have enjoyed.   But I think I was ready for a change in the dynamics of the experience.  A biking buddy.

A whirlwind trip

So just as a reminder for myself.  I took the over night bus from a small town called Komtun.  I had 2 days tough cycling with lots on hills and rain.  At one point I found myself holding on to the side of a slow moving bus that was struggling to make it up the hills as much as me.  The map that I have has not performed one of its important function which is reassuring me of where I am by the names on the map corresponding with the road signs.  Road signs seem to list other towns but I still manage to get there despite cycling in a state of limbo.

The bus got me to Saigon brightish and early the next morning.  It was earlier than expected.  This may have to do with the hairy driving under taken by the bus driver.  Even the Vietnamese guy next to me was concerned.  I found it really exciting!  Arriving in Saigon at 5.30am is rush hour.  Most people rise at this time in the morning in SE Asia.  After retrieving my bike and reconstructing it, always a worrying moment for me, I piled off into the traffic.  I had a few hours to kill before trying to find a hotel.  I made my way to a park, in full swing with morning exercises.  This is always a interesting daily routine.  Here I found ladies walk briskly around the outer path, a scout like youth organisation part taking in a rally, in the centre,  old men doing some impressive stretching, young men playing Kakraw, young girls playing badminton.  It really is a theatre of human interest. 

Saigon was a great city to visit.  I enjoyed a few museums, and galleries and enjoyed the trill of cycling in the city's traffic.

From here it was a bus to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.  Over night here and then a morning bus to Bangkok where I am now.  3 different countries in as many days, a whirlwind indeed!

A bit of a general round up.

Still going.  Made it to Saigon.  A great city, with it's grand boulevards and tiny lanes I have enjoyed a couple of days here checking out the galleries and museums.  I decided to get the over night bus from Kontom in the north.  Vietnam really is a rather long country and with my time frame and sore legs, I decided this was the best option.  Also the places I have cycled so far have not been particularly inspiring.  I know those places exist in the country, it's just I have not seen too many of them on my chosen routes.  That is ok though. 

Saigon has been a fun place to cycle around.  It's a bit like Hanoi.  The traffic is as mad with minimal road rules but a bit bigger.  This morning I made it first to the Fine Arts Museum.  The art work, in a beautiful old building was mixed.  It gave a good overview of the development of Vietnamese aesthetics over the past 2000 years and that made it a worth while visit.  A lot of the themes of contemporary painting were war/conflict based.  Which has been a major preoccupation of this country with all it has been through.  After here was the History museum set in the Botanic gardens.  It gave a good overview of the countries development and put some of the mornings art work in context. 

After this was a visit to the Reunification Palace.  It was the residence of the president of the south of Vietnam when it was 2 countries in the sixties.  It is a great example of modernist architecture with an interesting eastern twist.

feeling a bit tired after all this, I headed back to my hotel and chatted to a few of the residents and I am now part taking on the use of the free internet!

A couple of things I failed to mention over the last few days was the time spent in Nam Binh.  Here is cycled out to see Tam Coc.  My favorite place so far.  It is a little like Halong bay but set within paddies fields.  I took a magical boat ride through this collection of river ways, grottos and caves  and it felt like a mystical landscape that had been hidden somewhere in my imagination waiting to be unlocked.   

Equipment List
Item	Notes
Cycle and additions
Specialized Tricross	Great touring bike
Shimano clipless pedals
Front rack
Rear rack
Rear panniers	Old ones that needed a few repairs on the way. Plastic bags required for waterproofing
Front panniers	Ortilieb, very good. Waterproof and clips that don't detach on big bumps
Bar bag	Excellent, Doubles as man bag
Map holder	Excellent, holds phone and maps easily
Lock and 2no.keys
Head torch	Always know where this is
Rear light
Clothing
Cycle shoes	Specialized
Cycle shorts	Assos F1 Mille.  Great but can rise up
Football socks	Too heavy
Woolen socks	Too heavy
Cycle gloves	Specialized
Buff	Different uses
Waterproof jacket	Altura, had it's day
Cycle over shorts	For decency
Long sleeve top	Smart wool merino, excellent
Long sleeve top
Long sleeve shirt	Evening attire
2no. Tee-shirts
Fleece
Jacket	Altura
Swim shorts	Speedo
Waterproof trousers	Not used
Cycle sleeves
Underwear
Trousers	Crag hoopers, detachable bottoms
Gloves	Woolen
Hat	Not used
Towel	Life venture
Sunglasses/pouch
Socks
Sleeping bag
Sleeping bag silk liner	Excellent
Thermarest/seat holder
Sleeping bag collapsible sack
Hankie	Liberty daling!
Pajama bottoms	A gift
Flip flops	Cheap
Belt	Weight loss
Helmet	Giro
Tools
Park tool set	Allen keys, spoke spanner
Pedal spanner	For removing pedals at airports
Crank extractor
Vice grips
Small wire brush	Cleaning chain set
Small wire cutters
Adjustable spanner
2 no. spanners	For axles
2no.Tyre levers
Pump
Phillips screw driver
Tool wrap	Hankie
2no. Bungee cords	Drying cloth, fastening bike to buses etc..
Whistle
Sewing kit
Spare Parts
2 no. tubes	Schwalbe
Tyre	Specialized Bourough CX
Chain/links
Axle
2 no.Jockey wheels
Nut and bolt selection
Seat post bolt
2 no. sets of break pads
Patches-various sizes
2 no. break and gear cables
Thick wire pieces
Zip ties
3 no. spokes
Duct tape
Parcel tape	Booking up the bike at airports
Insulting tape
Grease
Synthetic lube
Medical
Germoline cream
Paracetamol/codine
Paracetamol
Plasters
Dressings
Diarrhea relief
Natural laxative
Ciprofloxacin	for stomach bugs
Antiseptic wipes
Scissors
Canestan cream
Blistex
Chlorine tablets	Purifying water, essential
Neutralizing tablets	Recommended
Rennie
Oral rehydration
Mosquito repellant	Jungle formula
Malaria tablets-	Doxycycline
Toiletries
Berhaus wash bag
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Face cloth	For sit down bucket showers
Wipes
Razor/spare blades
Sun cream	Factor 40-50
Sunscreen stick
Nail clippers
2 no. Assos cream	Minty freshness
Packs of washing powder	Not expensive travel wash
Shower gel
Electronics
Nokia N82	Gps, maps, music, movies, alarm, watch, calculator, internet, route recording, oh and phoning and texting
Sim cards	Attainable in different countries
3 no. nokia batteries
2 no. micro SD memory cards	For phone
Nokia charger
2 no. electrical adaptors
Stowaway fold up keyboard
Lumix digital camera
Lumix spare battery
Camera case
Lumix battery charger
USB card reader
2 no. SD memory cards
Keyboard case
Documentation
Passport
Visas	India, Vietnam, Australia
Plane ticket
Cash	Dollars, Indian Rupees
Insurance form
3 no. bank cards
Driving license
Vaccine records
8 no. passport photos	For visas, Sims cards
Flight itinerary	For proving you are leaving certain countries
Maps
Guidebook
Point it	Amazing for communicating
2 no. pens
2 no. pencils
Watercolors	Not used
Paint brush	Not used
Sketchbook
Travel pouch
Book to read

Ups and downs

The last few days have been a bit tough.  the is a serious amount of humid heat here that really can drain a poor cyclist.  I have made my way Southwest from Da nang.  Yesterday I travelled along a road that seemed to be made up of quarries and graveyards.  Not in the same location just next to each other.  Interesting juxtaposition I thought!  I have been struggling with the language and find myself getting a bit tense trying to ask for what I see as straight forward things.  I think the heat does not help my patience. 

This morning after a later than desired start I was feeling tired and very grumpy.  A few futile attempted at finding breakfast didn't help.  The morning really wore on and the humidity was difficult.  It took a friendly roadside cafe, some iced coffee and some chat with the owners to put me in better spirits and see my to my present location, Kham Duc.  The landscape was also uplifting with jungle/forest covered hill sides and not too much traffic.

This evening when I arrived at a hotel a group of gold miners asked me to join them for a few beers.  This was great fun.  One of the party was working as the interpreter with the Filipino miners and was able to speak English.  I love how the Vietnamese really enjoy their beer.  It comes to the table in crates and is just used to keep the glasses topped up.  Shouts of trum phan trum which translates as 100% drink from the top to the bottom of the glass, I think is great.  The bar snacks were brilliant.  Dried pieces of good chewy fish, slices of really sour green mango dipped in salt and beansprouts dipped in a sauce.  So the beers went down really well and we parted company in good form. 

Thats been 10 days now in Vietnam. I still feel like I am adapting to all the changes that has brought. The weather, food, the people, communicating are all making for a whole new experience.
A brief outline of my progress over the last few days.

 

I made it out to Halong Bay. This UNESCO site, 100km east of Hanoi, was one of the main reasons for me coming to the north of Vietnam. It did not dissapoint. The 100km cycle through the industrial estate that is the road to this geological gem off the coast of Halong city, was woth it. It consists of hundreds of small islands and rock formations that jut out from the sea, forming a dramatic seascape. The islands seems to punchure the sea with their vertical cliff faces rising straight out of the water. It looks like someone has set the sea directly on top of the peaks of some great mountains.
It was a great sight to behold and worth the couple of days detour from Hai Phong. Here I was lucky enough to meet Leelee, who accompanied me to the bay. I was very greatful both for her company but also, having been born in Veitnam, now living in China, she was able to act as interpreter. One of the things I am finding difficult is communicating here. Somehow it was not such a problem in India and Nepal. I have managed to learn a few words but there are lots of intricaies with tone and intination that mean even they are misunderstood. A lot less people here do not speak any english which is something as a lazy western I have come to relie on.
Before I left the UK, Morag gave me a great book called Point It. This has proved invaluable. It contains pictures of lots of things that as a traveller you might want to ask for.
As for the last few days, I made it to Da nang after a couple of days cycling and an over night bus. I was enjoying the topography of the country, being flat, but the road was both busy and not much to look at. This persuaded me to get the over night bus to Hue. It is a great city that happened to have a bi annual cultural festival happening. I was able to visit the mighty Citadel set within massive city walls where different performances of tradtional dance and music took place. The setting was amazing. Lily covered moats, and water gardens with cerimonial halls where the emperor had his residence in the 19th century. In the evening the paths were lit by thousands of tea lights. I saw some comtepory dance, beautiful vietnamesse dance and was treated to that amazing theromin like guitar instrument again that I loved in Hanoi.

I left Hue yesterday morning keen to get cycling again. Having been lead into a false sense of security with the topograpy, I expected the 110km coast trip to be resonable. But a big mountain pass jumped out at me and it was a tough run. But the senery, with views out to the South China Sea and the fact that after lunch I had my first swim there kept me going and I made it to Da nang around 6.

In Da nang today I was  tired so didn't do much. Enjoyed the sea view, drunk some of the great coffee and wandered around the city in the evening, It was too warm to go out in the day. The coffee which is served in a simple metal sieve like device that drains into a slowly drips into a glass is very thick and strong. I have it with ice and some condensed milk and its very tasty. Maybe it's one of the french influences from colonial times along with great bread and pasteries, monumental city planning and those beautiful navy and white house number signs.

This evening I am in a posh cafe sitting next to the best fish tank ever. It's got a nemo, and the rest of the crew from that cartoon. I wandered the town earlier and got a hair cut. The cities here seem to do that Spanish thing, with shut up shop in the afternoon and a burst of life as the sun sets. The pavements fill with food stall, with their tiny plastic seats and glass cases full of meats, some veg that you can choose with your rice or noodles. Some of the food I have had so far has been tasty. Noodle soups are there for breakfast lunch and dinner. I would need to eat them in between as they don't seem to keep me full. Some of the food I have not enjoyed so much, with a heavy reliance on hunks of fatty pork and bitter cabbage. I miss the amazing spicyness of India and what it had to offer.

Second Impressions

 

I held my breath and headed off into the traffic on Hanoi.  I know now why as a traveler I have had little urge to do all that bungee jumping, thrill seeking malarkey!  The roads in the city are filled with both motor and push bikes with a good sprinkling of cars and lorries.  There is a vague rule that you are meant use the right side of the road.  You seem to be able to use the very left hand side  if you stick close to the kerb!  Also the junctions are a case of chance your arm.  Oh and that at the ones with traffic lights too.  So I really enjoyed it.  The 2 years served on the streets of London served me well and I made it to the Museum of Ethnology(?), Botanic Gardens, accidentally walked into a restaurant with a roasted dog on the counter, (straight back out again…eek!), then Ho Ci min’s tomb in the impressive, formal embassies quarter and back to the hotel soaked in a sudden down- pour but in one piece.

 

The evening was spent at the water puppetry theatre.  This traditional performance takes place in a shallow 7m sq tank of colored water with the puppet masters hidden…oh I won’t ruin how it’s done, but it was a visual treat.  Along with the sights was a small orchestra playing traditional Vietnamese music.  One instrument  that caught my attention was the Monostring Chordophone.  This is genius and reminds me of my favorite instruments the theremin.  An aural treat.

 

 It was refreshing to get out and about in a city and experience a wee bit of evening, type culture. 

A change of Scenery

Phew, made it!  After 2 days I have arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam.  A flight out of Kathmandu to Singapore, then an overnight stay in a decent room at a reasonable price in this very tidy and bling airport.  Then fresh up in the morning to Ho Chi Min and then decided at the last minute on a chep flight to Hanoi in the north.  Reading about the capital, nearby Halong Bay and wanting a good straight cycle towards Bangkok, to meet my friend Ayley, swung me to make this rather last minute decision. 

I enjoyed the travelling over the last few days. A combination of being ready to leaving Kathmandu and things going reasonably smoothly made it feel like a good move.  The only real rpanic was the last minute dash to the gate of the last flight.  Having got a stand by flight, the period of half an hour from finding this out to the plane actually taking off was a bit tight!  I just hope the baggage handlers have been gentle with me bike. 

Limited first impressions of Vietnam so far, with a couple of airports and a night time taxi to my hotel in Hanoi.  Oh yes the flight over the country has whetted my appetite, seeing the Mighty Meekong making its way through the padi fields was a great sight. 

 

VIVE LA REPUBLICQUE

This is the header strapped across The Kathmandu Post today. Yesterday was a major historic day for the country as the new constitutional assembly voted for the abolition of the 240 year old monarchy and became a Republic.

There were celbrations around the city last night and there is a public holiday today and tomorrow. The Maoists (not moists as noted earlier!) are generally credited with bringing this change about. The unpopularity of the current king due to his expensive lifestyle would have done nothing to avert this situation. The king now has 15 days to vacate the Royal Palace which is then to revert to a museum. It is a day that practically the whole country is celebrating and now there is hard work ahead in agreeing a consitution and president.