Trip to Vietnam w/John
During Mar 4 through Mar 23, 2004 John and I took a bicycling
trip to Vietnam, here are our trip notes, along with some pictures.
Here is a map map of where we went. Here
are John's notes.
Mar 4 2:15 Alarm. Eat breakfast. Pick John, talk w/Sherry. Drive to
PDX and drop John w/bike boxes. Check in, need to tell United they
aren't really bikes, else we will get charged for bicycles. PDX-LAX
Danish logistics guy from NJ. LAX, try to walk to beach but only
get about 2 or 3 miles. Pretty nice blvd to walk on . Check in at
Asiana, get John a frequent flyer number. 13.5 hour flight to
Seoul, Vietnamese LA high school buddies, one crazy guy, on a fling
to BKK, Saigon, Hanoi. Late departure.
Mar 6 - Midnight, plod through airport, customs/immigration. Get
kicked out of airport, it seems to close at 1 AM. Put bikes with
the "assistance" of some cabbies. Have some trouble with threading
of pedals, we must be tired. Flee the wrath of "help", then return
to airport and meet nice tour operator guy who tells us there is a
hotel close by. Ride there but it's closed. Start riding to town on
deserted divided highway at 2 AM. Gradually traffic picks up to a
torrent by the time we reach the edge of Hanoi. Get some bread. Go
to my old hotel from 1996 trip and find it as I remember. Very nice
place but maybe under different ownership. Crash out for awhile.
Walk to get ATM money, lunch. Walk to moto/bike store district, get
bike baskets for carrying luggage. Crash early.
Mar 7 - Still jet lagged. Up at 4 AM. History museum, change money,
train station to check on times for Haiphong. Ride Long Bien bridge
to rice paddies, rest. Notice used srynges near graveyard. Visit
furniture manufacturing shop. Get lost after coming back across
bridge. Chat with expats Greg, Potsy over 10 cent bia hoi's.
Long Bien Bridge, Hanoi
From Long Bien Bridge, Hanoi
Hanoi
Hotel, Hanoi
Hotel, Hanoi
Mar 8 - Melia hotel - Open Source Conference- wait for university
guy. Give him parts and software. Try museum but closed. Train to
Haiphong, meet Le, takes us to his home for dog (John's favorite),
pork, and snake wine. Sleep. His Dad is a veteran and very proud of
son.
Mar 9 - Go to Le's maritime school and meet 100's of his fellow
students. Talk with them, go to boat docks, say goodbye to Le. Boat
to Cat Ba, way cheap empty hotels. Get a brand new one with
exceptional service. Get cleaned up and go out for a four course
feast.
Mar 10 - Stinky bathroom, seems to be a plumbing problem. Slow
start, bike 15k to Cat Ba National Park. Play some games of pool.
Hike up to tower. Take long bumpy road back 20k, very pretty but
takes a toll on my knee. Squid and overcooked fish. Meet Motorola
Software Engineer Moshee from Israel. Change rooms to a fresher
bathroom.
Le, train to Haiphong
Le's maritime school, Haiphong
Le's maritime school, Haiphong
Haiphong
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
On the road to Cat Ba National Park
Cat Ba National Park
Cat Ba National Park
Cat Ba National Park
Cat Ba National Park
Cat Ba Island
Beer "truck", Cat Ba Island
Hotel, Cat Ba Island
out Hotel window, Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
School, Cat Ba Island
Mar 11 - Blowout. John goes biking to Cat Ba National Park, I chill
around town. Walk to beach #1 and scatter Mom's ashes. Say a
prayer. Walk to beach #2 via long catwalk. Walk around town, do
Internet. Try bike pedal clip, have machine shop make an adapter,
doesn't work, I'm missing the strap. John returns from biking,
climb butte with him, nice view. Lazy day.
Lifting bricks, Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
School, Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba Island
School, Cat Ba Island
School, Cat Ba Island
From hill, Cat Ba Island
Beach #3, Cat Ba Island
Mar 12 - Get up early for ferry and try to exit hotel but the doors
are locked. Call for Pham - finally gets manager (his sister) up,
run to ferry but it left 45 minutes ago. Go to beach #3, hang out
with granite workers. Go to market and buy batteries. Look for
clamp for Johns broken rack. talk with kids, they hustle John and I
for anything but for the most part they're good. Get 1 PM boat for
Haiphong. Go to P.O. and bank then head out of town. Stay in Kien
An, John picks a sleazy one with a bug filled room and a "wakeup
call" at 11 PM for God knows what.
Hotel, Kien An
Hotel, Kien An
Mar 13 - Get up early, ride against 1000' of bikes going to work at
textile factory in Haiphong. Play frisbee in school yard, draw
100's of kids and a teacher. Have tea with wood workers and kids.
Nice house. Hung, Shell Oil importer takes us to dinner. His
English gets better as the night goes on.
Kien An to Thai Binh
Kien An to Thai Binh
Kien An to Thai Binh
Kien An to Thai Binh
Kien An to Thai Binh
Kien An to Thai Binh
Wood workers, Kien An to Thai Binh
Wood workers house, Kien An to Thai Binh
Wood workers house, Kien An to Thai Binh
Mar 14 - Rainy. John does Internet, I try puzzle. Get front fenders
on bikes. Rain stops, we head toward Minh Binh but it starts
pouring. I bail and take a bus near Nam Ding. John bikes last 30
km. Get hotel room at sister hotel of Thuy Hoa. Nice place, pretty
far from main highway. Eat at pretty nice restaurant near hotel.
Thai Binh
Race, Thai Binh
Thai Binh
Thai Binh to Nam Dinh
Thai Binh to Nam Dinh
Mar 15 - Ride to Tam Coc, the back street convoluted way through a
couple of villages and rice paddy paths. Go to Bich Dong and check
out temples. This appears to be the place I came in 96. Ride back
via Highway 1 (we call this one I-5 because it full of trucks),
have some beers with popcorn. Check on bus for tomorrow. Hit
market, John goes on spending spree for gifts.
Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh
Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh
Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh
Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh
Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh
Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh
Bich Dong, Ninh Binh
Bich Dong, Ninh Binh
Ninh Binh
Popcorn, Ninh Binh
Ninh Binh
Ninh Binh
Snake wine, Ninh Binh
Hotel, Ninh Binh
Hotel, Ninh Binh
Mar 16 - Internet, buy XP, goto bank, P.O. Ride bumpy bus to Nho
Quan, ride 35k to Cuc Phong National Park center, run into cyclers
Joe (Irish) and Vivian (English). Play frisbee. At dinner, meet
birdwatcher - contest winner Jon (Danish). Sit around Joe &
Vivian's tent w/beers. John is soaped up in cold shower when
generator is turned off at 21:50. Luckily he brought his
flashlight. Firefly in room, thunderstorms at night.
Frisbee, Hoa Quan to Cuc Phong
Cuc Phong
Rules and Regs, Cuc Phong
Cuc Phong
Cuc Phong
Cave, Cuc Phong
Cuc Phong
Mar 17 - Cuc Phong. Hike lethargically around loop, do all the
spurs. Don't see any monkeys but see lots of birds. Beautiful path,
lush jungle, pretty hot and humid. Play cards w/Vivian & Joe
(French Twist), drink beers. Rains hard. We ordered food but the
chef never good word. They give us tons of food anyway. Slip V
& J some of it.
Mar 18 - 85k. Get up early, write V & J a goodbye note. Skate
down the hill to park entrance, tell the guy about the illegal
hunters or gatherers we saw. He gives us a map showing short cut
south toward Thang Hoa. Bike to 30 km north of Thang Hoa but
there's nowhere for a bus to pull over since the train is right
next to the road. Think about a taxi but get too much "help". Ride
for a bit, then hitch a ride on a bus to Thang Hoa. Internet then
bike last 20k to San Son, empty seaside Vietnamese resort. Get flat
in front of hotel we stay at. What luck after 85k of biking.
Cuc Phong to Thanh Hoa
Cuc Phong to Thanh Hoa
Cuc Phong to Thanh Hoa
School, Cuc Phong to Thanh Hoa
Thanh Hoa to Gna Son
Mar 19 - 60k. Tire seems okay, walk for bread. Found sweet break,
not too good, give some to woman w/horse cart. Talk with three
Vietnamese young couples, 18 year olds from Thang Hoa. Frisbee on
the beach. Go back to Thang Hoa, Internet, cafe owners get kick out
of riding our bikes. Ride on Highway 1 for 13k, then 10k through
snail sellers, wood builders Hau Loc to Nga Son. Welder Phan shows
us to hotel. Eat beef w/spices wrapped with greens in a rice paper
wrap.
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Thanh Hoa to Nha Son
Mar 20 - 64k. Leave Nga Son, get haircut and shave near Phat Diem,
John gets shave and ears cleaned. Bushwhack to Do Moio and go north
to Nam Dinh, the wind pushing us. Rural Vietnam at its best. Ride
to Nam Dinh, John pays to have someone take us to a hotel, he's
pissed. Wakeup call at 10:30 PM, they need occupation and
signature!
Nha Son to Nam Dinh
Shave, near Phat Diem
Shave, near Phat Diem
Mar 21 - 60k. Bread, P.O, find north route out of town but it turns
to very bumpy gravel soon, very bumpy ride on 5 meter high dike.
Probably went through Nhu Trac. Across huge river on barge to Hung
Yen. Nice town. Find hotel, John buys province map. check out bus
station, meet Korean telcom guy doing ADSL w/Vietnamese buddy. Meet
electric utility CPA Wee, takes us on a drinking binge in a nice
bar. Meet Duong (John convinces her to come to U of O) and
motorcycle mechanic brother Nam. Ride home in the dark for tea with
Wee.
Barge, near Do Moio
Do Moio to Hung Yen
Do Moio to Hung Yen
Bar, Hung Yen
Bar, Hung Yen
Hotel, Hung Yen
John
Mar 22 - 13k. Up at 5:30 AM, raining. Wake up hotel guy, he can't
find our passports. Finally finds them, take pictures of bikes with
us next to them. Both head for bus station. I take bus, John rides
to Hanoi. I wave at John when the bus passes him. Get hotel, shop
will I drop. Talk to Dong about bikes, John shows up at 1:30 PM,
shop some more. Work out details of bikes for misc. trade. Bikes
for hotel room and airport transportation and misc. stuff. Have Pho
one last time, really good. Go to expat bar for bia hoi, see Potsy
and meet Matt from Sisters. Say bye to hotel and go to Noi Bai
airport. Confusion over tickets. Fly to Seoul.
Mar 23 - Seoul. Get new tickets. Bus to town, walk, shop, and eat
Korean food. After Vietnam, these people seem unfriendly. Go to
electronics mall and shop around. Fly to LAX, PDX, Krispee Kreme,
home at last. Total bike KM's 531, John about 640 KM.