14th October - Hanoi

On Saturday we meet up with fellow travellers for 2 weeks organised cycling: 7 English (plus the two of us), 2 Scottish, 2 Kiwis and 1 Canadian.

At the initial allocation of bikes and quick test ride we stand out by our lack of lycra and helmets but everyone is really friendly and no one has brought their own pedals or saddle with them (unlike another tour we have been on).

The 'stain and water repellant' coating on Phil's shorts is causing some problems. As well as not letting water in it’s not letting any out either - creating the sort of microclimate in which new life forms spontaneously evolve. This is not ideal for two weeks of cycling - we need some cotton shorts and we need them now! Plenty of shorts available in Hanoi, not many in the XXXXL size required by westerners. We have bought some (actually a bit big, XXXL would probably have done) but, despite the assurance of the vendor that they are 100% cotton (they're not), they have not completely fixed the problem. We haven't got the time or the budget to keep buying unsuitable clothing so Phil decides to stick with them anyway.

We cycle round on dykes beside the red river and have a lovely lunch at a local’s house in a village that took a long time to get to on the bus over a gradually deteriorating road surface.

16th October - Ha Long, 21°N 107°E

Ha Long bay has recently been added to a ‘seven natural wonders of the world’ list (there are quite a few of these lists and this particular one was decided by an online poll rather than by some kind of expert group - so it should perhaps be renamed the 'seven natural wonders of the world easily accessible by tourists' list). It is still really impressive though and there are hundreds of limestone islands sticking vertically out of the bay. We spent about half a day cruising around the bay and visiting Hang Đầu Gỗ grotto. The convoy of boats heading out to the bay in the morning felt a bit disheartening, a bit like the disappointing nose-to-tail reality of a Nile river cruise. However the bay is so big that you are quite  soon more or less alone among the islands and the floating fishing villages that are found there.

The next day we set off from the hotel in light rain. We have a lovely ride down quiet roads and through villages until we reach two temples in the Hoa Lu area which was the capital around 1050. Rice is being harvested and there is a threshing machine every few hundred metres. I’m pretty sure the threshing machines were never meant to be self-propelled but the Vietnamese have always been good at improvisation. The roads are covered in drying rice and straw and everyone is very good about not driving over the rice. The group has its second lunch in a villager’s house, we eat in a room with their beds and dining table. When you go to the loo you see the kitchen fire / stove which provided the enormous amount of food - an impressive huge ageless hearth.

Afterwards we cycle a bit more then have an hour being rowed through more karst landscape in sampans. It’s like Ha Long bay but this time the water is only a foot deep. Everyone starts to use their life jackets as cushions when it becomes apparent that, in the event of an emergency, the only skill you will require is to be able to stand up and walk to the edge. We felt a bit sorry for the woman rowing our sampan as she seemed to have got the short straw with our boat lower in the water than the others but we also know that if we tried to row ourselves we could be moving in tight circles for hours.  

18th October - Hue, 16°N 107°E

All aboard the Reunification Express! The sleeper train we are getting on to head south to Hue stops for exactly four minutes in Ninh Binh. We have 15 people and 15 large bags to get on board in the correct carriage before the train sets off with no concessions for tardiness. Luckily the extensive training we had had over the previous days pays off and we all get on before the train starts moving. Everyone is bit hyper after our successful boarding and most move to the buffet car to calm down for a couple of hours. It's not as nice as the Russian sleepers but better than the Indian ones. We actually got some sleep!

Hue is another ancient capital of Vietnam (there are dozens of them), it was active between 1802 and 1945. There is a citadel which is like a smaller version of Beijing's forbidden city. It was in good condition until the American's bombed it (a recurring theme) and now there are only foundations left for some of the buildings and bullet holes in the buildings that are still standing.

Went to a vegetarian restaurant called Lien Hoa for tea. Experienced the problem we always have in vegetarian restaurants of too much choice (it's so easy when they only have one vegetarian dish) so the waitress helped us out by pointing at 'Mixed food - big bowl' and saying 'OK?'. We complied and it was lovely. A big bowl of mixed food (vegetables and tofu in broth) arrived with its own burner and bubbled away for several minutes before she came back and put the plate of green leaves in and gave it a stir. There were noodles and two tiny bowls of very hot and extremely hot red stuff that you could use to get your food the way you like it. An excellent meal which only cost 81,000 dong (about £2.70) including drinks.

When we got back we stopped at the cafe next to the hotel where they also sold memory cards as we were after a spare. The cafe owner didn’t have any big enough but said ‘two minutes’ and jumped on his motorbike. Two minutes later he returns with exactly the right card. It was a little more expensive than you’d pay normally but, with service like that, you do feel some obligation to buy.

Considering that our group is composed entirely of sensible grown-ups it is surprising how many people have come for a two week holiday with no way of charging the battery in their camera. We ignore the warnings on the batteries and chargers and find two chargers that work with Mary and Debbie’s batteries. Tony has to buy a new charger for his battery but the very nice man at the cafe next door gets it in a few minutes and it only costs $10. A fully charged battery makes the previously cautious Tony cavalier with his use of zoom.

21st October - Hai Van Pass & Hoi An, 16°N 108°E

We got the bus to the top of the Hai Van pass (500m), the point that has traditionally marked the division between the north and the south of Vietnam. There are some great views from the pill boxes and fortifications beside the road. The van has brought our bikes up earlier and we jump on them and cycle to the bottom (the sort of cycling that everyone can enjoy). The road is quiet because there is a tunnel that now takes all of the lorries and buses under the pass. The articulated lorries have large American-style tractors on them but they are either seriously overloaded or seriously underpowered as they all slow to a first-gear crawl at the first sign of an incline.

At the bottom of the pass we keep cycling until we get to China Beach - the beach the Americans used for R&R during the war. There are unambiguous red no-swimming flags up but this is the first beach we’ve seen and so everyone charges in. There is a strong current flowing from left to right along the beach that explains the flags. We have a quick swim and then try to get dry, sand free and changed in the bus which turns out to be just as difficult as it sounds.

The centre of Hoi An could have been designed with tourists in mind with restaurant / tailor / massage / restaurant / tailor / travel agent down both sides of its three central streets. While it is touristy that can also be very handy if you’re a tourist. Lots of people get clothes made for them: measure today, fitting tomorrow, finished the day after. Karen gets a silk top made that was ready 24 hours later and cost about £20. Unfortunately it turns out it’s not the right colour to go with her new trousers but you can’t have everything. It just means that she needs some more new trousers.

The relentless nature of the cycling holiday has taken its toll and Phil has a morning off while everyone else goes looking at local crafts. The last man making coracles in the village is over 80 but still puts on a show to explain how it’s done.

We have a couple of nice meals at Green Moss and the Cargo Club and a rush of fittings and adjustments to clothing just before we leave to go to...

23rd October - Nha Trang, 12°N 109°E

Up early for the flight to Nha Trang, bus to hotel, bus to quay, boat to island, couple of hours snorkelling and looking at fish farm, back in the boat, quick shower, out for something to eat, back to hotel, up early the next day for flight to Ho Chi Minh City after less than 24 hours in Nha Trang. Tried the cheapest place in town for dinner (Pho 24, think Little Chef with noodles) - no veggie dishes, ended up at the most expensive (Sailing Club - just like it sounds). Looked at the menu and our Pho 24 budget was being stretched thin. Decided on a snack (bruschetta platter) and a Greek salad. Luckily we had pitched it just about right as the portions were huge. Not for the first time we totted up the things we had chosen from the menu just to make sure we had enough cash. Just carry more cash I hear you say - it's not that simple. Most cash machines have an upper limit of 2,000,000 Dong (about £60). This isn't a problem as long as you never go anywhere near places like the Sailing Club.

Most of the banknotes here are made from plastic with small transparent windows in them. You might assume that this is to make them harder to forge but it also makes sense when you forget you’ve put some money in the the pocket of your swimming trunks - a quick wipe with a towel and they’re as good as new.

25th October - Ho Chi Minh City, 10°N, 106°E

Although Saigon was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in 1976 it’s still commonly referred to as Saigon. The Vietnamese kicked the French out in 1954 but they’ve hung on to the French things that they liked: several grand buildings in the centre of town including City Hall, the Opera House and the Post Office; French bread; French cuisine and the railways that the French built. It’s got quite a different feel to Hanoi with wider roads and more cars.

The Cu Chi tunnels northwest of Saigon were the headquarters of the Vietcong resistance during the Vietnam war. As you walk around you see the invisible trap doors used for access, the ‘ant hills’ used for ventilation and some examples of the types of traps used around the entrances to stop unwanted visitors. They have enlarged a section of tunnel so that bulky westerners can fit down them but it is still very claustrophobic. The sounds of shooting from the attached firing range (fire an AK47 - $1 per bullet) added an authentic audio backdrop to the visit.

The rest of the cycling group leaves us on Friday the 26th. The self-styled ‘Commonwealth Group’ (Canadian, Brit and 2 Kiwis) head off for a few days on an island beach before getting a boat up the river to Cambodia (where we may still bump into them again). Everyone else joins us for a farewell drink and some Ritz crackers (thanks Mary and Debbie) which was a nice way to say goodbye. Everyone else, that is, apart from Jeanette who had cleverly engineered an upgrade to business class on the way home by getting a nasty looking rash on one leg that necessitated an overnight stay in hospital. There seem to be a number of people hoping to be nominated as her carer / special companion so that they would get to sip champagne up the front as well.

Next: Ho Chi Minh City