The Vietnam trip

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After my bike adventure in eastern europe I looked forward to cycling in far east Asia. Finally i was ready to start with cycling in Vietnam! But unfortunately it did not go according to plan, I could not access my transit flight from Minsk to Moscow and to fly further to Hanoi. So I've been waiting two weeks to solve my visa. Stranded in a city where the temperature became colder. For this reason, I had to buy a thick jacket of necessity.

From Minsk I finally flew to Moscow on 8 October and the same day I flew further to Hanoi with the bicycle in the luggage. I looked forward to cycling in Asia. It was the moment😊 The real adventure and challenge was gonna starting. I knew it would be maby difficult but it was it worth. The plan was to cycle from North to south Vietnam starting from Hanoi with three other people that I found on a cycling website, which they posted the bicycle trip. Where later not three persons but one person remained, with with whom I could cycling. Unfortunately they were already started because i arrived later and they had already gone further to south.

So when i was arrived In Hanoi, I decide to do the day trips to taste how Sa Pa, Halong Bay/Cat Ba islands and Ninh Binh was. It is definitely recommended! These three places were very interesting. Ninh Binh is a heaven of nature, the first village that is destroyed by the new King Kong movie was shot in Ninh Binh. Cat Ba islands/Halong bay is also a beautiful resort and very nice to see the islands. Kayaking, jump off a 14 mtr. cliff, swimming to the beautiful beaches and the monkey island is also valuable to see here where the film King Kong was also shot. Sa-Pa is a beautiful natural place where you can mostly do trekking and can sample the local tribes.

The speciality about Vietnam is that each region has it's own culture and different food. There are about 54 different local tribes in Vietnam that makes Vietnam so special. The food in Vietnam is spiritual happiness that you should not miss.




First days in Hanoi was really good. Hanoi is a bustling and crowded city where are many things to do i stayed in total 7 days here. Hoa-La prison and History museum, walking arround the central lake was a good choice. It was told me that in Hanoi there was a snake village called 'Le Mat' where you choose the snake you want to eat, where they are first pluck out the heart to let this raw taste which would give an overdose of energy. Also there was snake wine. I didn't do this all because I think it's pathetic, despite I am not still not a vegetarieer😊 And so sadly that you saw that dog meat was sold simply on the streets.

In the begin days when i arrived in Vietnam it was little difficult to eat from the streets(streetfood) because it looked not clean, there is not real strict hygiene like we used to have in Europe, it's also normal because it's still a not yet developed country. But after a while you get used to it and you just eat simple from the street(streetfood)



Above all Hanoi is a crowded city where the air quality is very bad because a lot of traffic jam with many cars and especially many motorcycles. The city's garbage trucks pics your garbage up with happy children music😊)) So when you hear a happy children music, you know the garbage trucks are arrived in the small crowded streets of Hanoi and you can bring your garbage.

It was special to taste the local food thanking to a local couchsurfing buddy Nghia from Hanoi. Thank you again Nghia. Nghia was recommended to me also by my friends from Holland (Ferah and Hassan) thank you also guys! The things i listened you should try taste:

-Egg coffee you must have tasted. Really recommended!

-bun Cha (fish soup)

-Que dam Kem (local fruit mix with ice)

-Bun Bo Nam Bo (beef souther noudle)

-Che dessert



After having experienced this, it was time to start to cycle. The bicycle buddy (Logan) was already in Hue, where I eventually took the train from Hanoi to Hue to cycle with him further to the south. So next day arrived and have seen some of Hue where there is a really long nice beach. We decided to start our tour unfortunately the cycle buddy (Logan) was no unable because of his health and he needed time to recover after having agreed we would meet later. So I went in my own departed from Hue to Da Nang (102km). And also to stay several days in Da-Nang, which the monkey mountains definitely was worth to see where you can watch the monkeys in the wild (if you're lucky). Of course special thanks to Dac Toan (and his family) from couchsurfing who helped me with this sightseeing in the monkey mountains and the city. Dac Toans father have forecast also my future by looking into my hand palm. I was curious and was glad to hear so much positives about my future😊)) Especially about something that i'm wondering to see it happen😊)

After Da-Nang it was easy to cycle to Hoi-An because it was a short distance (29km). Hoi An has a unique nice old center with cozy small streets where nice shops are located. The food hall is definitely a must visit place to taste the local food you can find in the trip advisor guide.

What I found so unique during the bike trip is that local Vietnamese people appreciate you more and is more interested in you, if you ride on a bicycle. Because everybody is already on the motorbike. So i've encountered many beautiful and enthusiastic people which admire and had interest in me. That makes the cycling also so unique. Sometimes it was difficult if you had to drive on hills with some baggage, but it's a real adventure where you ultimately go for the challenge. After some people have discussed, once i had a funny moment where some guy told me: why I was cycling and why i din't use a motorbike who himself was travelling by motorbike. My answer was clear 'my grandmother can also ride a motorbike'. What then came to a mutual smile)) It is very interesting but it is not a real challenge for me to travel by motorbike. Although I must say if you make a long journey with the motororbike it may also be a challenge. Served long over, for example riding more than 3000km. I highly admire people who do something with their own strength or stamina. I met a German man who was nearly 70 and was cycling Vietnam and still had the energy to continue. And I heard someone walking travel around Vietnam. At the end of the journey these people have something to tell. The stories flows out.

I met the bike buddy 'Logan' in Hoi-An again. The cool and friendly buddy with a tough American accent which I sometimes could not understand clearly. Like how you sometimes can't understand the Irish people. Where you sometimes get the feeling to drink some glasses whiskey to understand them better. So i met him again in Hoi-An and so we started to cycle together from Hoi-An to Quang Ngai which was a trip of 120km. Once we arrived the evening in Quang Ngai, we stayed in a local hotel which are arround 6/7 dollar each. You can usually find cheap accommodations in Vietnam.

Next day we got up early for the next trip which was though. The plan was to cycle from Quang-Ngai to Qui-Nhon-which was a trip of 180km what we made it)) With ofcourse sometimes the help of small trucks (bicycle hitchhike) 😊 please do not try this😊) But beyond this, it was fun and adventurous 😊))

In the evening we arrived late in Qui Nhon where we were hosted by local couchsurfing guy 'Thanh' who showed us the best food in town and usefull recomended the best places to visit in Vietnam. Qui Nhon is a cozy and non touristic city were local people welcome and greets you when they see a foreigner also the prices are very friendly. After Qui Nhon we went to a resort place called by 'life is a beach'. There we rest several days unfortunately it's rain season so we had some rainy days.

-Myst try in Qui Nhon: Shrimp rolls with salad

So the rain season was not ended yet, which normally it should be ended in the end of November. Which finally led to the result that we took the bus from Qui-Nhon up to Nha Trang with the reason that it was raining hard and we were up and down some hills. After we arrived in Nha Trang I thought It felt that i was arrived in Russia with a lot of Russian people and stores in the centre. After a few days staying here I saw a whole crocodile which was on a bbq grill. With a a board with crocodile sandwich for $ 2. Nha trang is a nice beach town with beautiful beaches but little more expensive than other places in Vietnam. Unfortunately we had on our entire 6 day stay in Nha-trang just rainy weather. Logan the cycle buddy decided to leave and take the bus to Ho Chi Minh for to do some work in the city. So i was alone again.

So I went on alone cycle to the south. I followed Than's (Couchsurfing) advice.I visited the beautiful city Vinh hy where I saw the most beautiful beach since i was in Vietnam without any tourist. It was really worth, it was a hidden paradise. After i stayed 2 days there I continued my cycling to the south of Vietnam.

Between all these happenings. I heard a storry that i want to share. It's a kind of weird and sad story about a Vietnamese famiy who decided something crazy (for us) After they had thoeir own dog for already like 13 years. They decided to eat him. The reason was straight and easygoing. "Why not? The dog was old"



So i was keeping moving and after 1 day staying in Phan Rang Thap Cham'the next destination was Mui Ne a small beach town with a lot of hotel resorts and people with kitesurfing and surfboard activities. Also arround Mui-ne there was special fish towns and the red dunes was really interesting to see.

In Mui-Ne i decided to take a bus and a spent a couple days in Dalat. It was worth because i guess it was the most developed and interesting city what i saw in Vietnam. Dalat is a city with many coffee plantations and waterfalls. However, it is slightly colder because the city sits at an elevation.

A thing you definitely should taste in Dalat is the weasel coffee.

The weasel eats the coffee beans after he poops the beans rest, it becomes the most expensive coffee in the world 😊 You care him with Vietnamese dong currency he poops in Dollar 😊 Experience to drink this coffee was very great. A rich taste that you will never forget ..



After i stayed couple days here moved further to the south. I decided to cycle to La Gi a unknown non touristic town where i stayed in 'Lagi Farmstay Hostel' which i can highly recommend everybody. It's a farmstay hostel with a lovely family who do all the service. With the two cool small kids where we had a lot of fun. I helped also the family with their kids to teach them english and did some marketing activities to make the resort more known. The place is absolutely wonderful to stay with a private pool and plenty of green nature. The sea and beach is also very close.



Above all Vietnam is a country where you can just pick from the garden bananas and coconuts. A country you should visit to discover the culture-which is very interesting with a very polite and hospitality people. I think Vietnam will reach in couple years the same as how Thailand is now popular with the mass tourism. Now that there are built many more hotels and resorts especially in the coastal towns. In small or not touristy places you become more appreciated as a foreigner and the people are more friendly and also shows more interest in you. So often they greet or want to speak with you, you'll be invited to eat or do some beer. That's the beauty of Vietnam. The way of drinking is also very interesting. If you drink with a group or be invited. You never drink alone unless someone lifts up the beer. Drinking goes together with the slogan "Yo"

I met many nice people with whom I made a good time and fun that which i didn't named here. Or people who i just met on some places who invite and ordered spontaneously some drink.Thank you so much for all the nice time and fun..

Also this things that I have tasted and drinked were weird but interesting to eat and drink:

-frog

-snail

-squid

-snake wine

-rice wine



.........Soon i go to the final destination> 'Ho Chi Minh' and so i will end my 7 weeks trip in Vietnam. About the stories in Ho Chi Minh, I will keep the blog up to dated.

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