March 16, 2016
Chapter 6
A good night sleep, an early morning walk in Van Long Nature Reserve, and around 11 a.m. we were on our bikes again. In North Vietnam, it is now the season of mưa xuân, the so called spring rain. Personally, I associate spring with sunny days, plenty of colours and light. I wonder if Vietnamese people have the same association since their spring is often grey weather, drizzle and mist. It has its charm, too. The landscape of karst mountains in Van Long covered in mysterious mist makes me think of Chinese traditional paintings. It is weather that inspires meditation and introspection.
On our day 3 we cycled mainly through some small roads. Finally I could take off my mask and breathe normally. Pleasant and calm ride along rice fields, small villages, forest patches, ascents and descends but nothing too challenging. Wherever we passed everyone was greeting us, waving and shouting ‘hello’! With all this attention and honours, I feel like a champion doing his victory lap. In the two and a half years I have lived in Vietnam, many times have I been perplexed by the Vietnamese hospitality and genuine positive interest towards foreigners. Considering the violent history of occupations and wars, which is still not so long ago, I find this remarkable and beneficial in many ways. I came to believe that one should not easily forget, but definitely forgive.
Problems on the road.
Lilyana’s bike had some issues with the gears. We started early our day and rode 30km to go to the city Thanh Hoa where we were told the address of a good bicycle shop. They fixed the gears and we were in a hurry to go further with our plan. Just as we went out of the city I had a flat tire. Ok, please don’t laugh, but yes, none of us actually knows well (I underline well!) how to take off the rare wheel. We asked google, read some advice and we managed to remove it. We changed the inner tube and as we started pumping it we realised that the pump we brought with us didn’t work. It’s an old pump from Holland, so I trusted it is in good state. But it was damaged and pumping was not possible at all. After a while of vain efforts a van with two guys stopped and offered us help. They took my wheel and tires, went to the village, put some air in and came back. And then for the big problem: we couldn’t fix the wheel back at the bicycle. We tried, the boys tried, more people stopped to help, they tried... and none of us succeeded. We watched youtube videos on the side of the road, followed step by step guides, and though we were doing exactly as shown, there was still a problem. At the end, I left Lilyana waiting there, on the road, while the guys took me back to the bicycle shop in town. There was something stuck and it took a while for the bike mechanics to take it out and put the wheel back.
All these problems took us more than 3 hours from our day. Desperately I was looking at the clock and thinking how little we had cycled. We had the rest of the afternoon and tried to catch up with the program.
It was a difficult noisy bad route, with heavy trucks riding both sides with great speed, houses all along the way. And like that we rode for 50km until the sun started setting down. At the end of the afternoon, we switched to a different road, less busy and noisy. And soon after we reached a beautiful big lake and area with just a few houses. We found a good place to sleep by the side of the lake and our day with problems finished well after all. As I got off the bike I felt like a cowboy getting off his horse after a long day riding in the Wild West. Thick cover of dust lied on my clothes, my face, inside my ears and eyes.
Day 12,
13 & 14
In Hue I got a little sick. I will spare you the details from common South-East Asian indigestion problems. We stayed in Hue one full day but all I could manage to do is to bring the bikes for check and repairs and to plan the rest of the trip from my bed.
Sadly I have no impressions from the formal imperial capital of Vietnam. I am happy however that my indisposition didn’t last long and the day after we could go on as planned.
The 13th day we left Hue to reach the coastal city Da Nang, passing through the famous Hai Van pass. This is a dreamed and dreaded road for cyclists from Vietnam and foreign visitors. The road reveals dazzling views with beaches, mountains, lagoons, fishing villages and rice fields. With its continuous 8% ascent to the top, it is as picturesque as challenging. That day we made 133km and I feel pretty satisfied with myself for having completed the plan, although I was sick the day before. On empty stomach and without energy, I was greatly encouraged by many people on motorbikes, cars and buses cheering me up as I was climbing.
In Da Nang we were in the evening and early morning, then we cycled half a day to Hoi An and around. To the readers not so familiar with Vietnamese geography, both these cities are on the coast of the East Vietnam Sea. Da Nang is as developed (if not more) than Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Hoi An, recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site, is well-known for its ancient town, architecture, canals, lanterns. Both are driven by tourism: sandy beaches, hotels, restaurants, nightlife... It’s been good to be back to civilisation for a couple of days; have a hotel with bed sheets where you can actually sleep in, not to worry for food and safety. I must admit though that I am looking forward to the rest of the trip. We go inland again and I have no idea what to expect.