We returned to Hanoi yesterday after an incredible 4 days biking to Ninh Binh and Halong Bay. The area was beautiful with limestone karst formations scattered through rice paddies and waterways. The town of Hai Phong was also a nice reprise from the busy highway with interesting architecture and similarities to some of Hanoi’s characteristics. We just picked up our Chinese visas and are set to cycle north to China so that we can cross the border on Friday. We thought we would sum up the past month in Vietnam with some of our good, bad and quirky experiences.
Highlights (the Good)
-Finding back roads that hugged the coastline. We took any chance we could to get off Highway 1. We often found ourselves in what we described as “movie set” villages – villages that seemed like they could be out of a Vietnamese movie set. “Cue family of 4 on motorbike. Cue woman carrying an enormous load over her shoulders. Cue busy market scene.”
-Food. We especially loved the food in Hoi An (where we were able to take a cooking course).
-A drop in temperature. Our first week was almost unbearably hot but the temperature dropped as soon as we crossed over the Hai Van Pass. The pass pretty much creates a difference in climate from the north to the south.
-Speed. Smoother road conditions have led to greater daily distances.
-Kieran’s roadside beard trim with old school hand shearers. The man possibly tore out more hair than he trimmed.
- Getting an insight into the agricultural lifestyle of the Vietnamese. We now understand all the processes our food goes through before arriving at our plate. As a tip: Make sure to rinse your rice before cooking and eating.
-Learning about Vietnam’s history. Being on a bicycle allows for a lot of thinking time and in a country such as Vietnam, there’s lots to think about. Riding through such varied areas allows you to take a ‘pulse’ of the land and its people. For instance, we biked through towns with extremely friendly people and we biked through towns where we were “shooed” away from restaurants. It was interesting to be able to compare ideas as to why incidents like this happened (a bad day or a historical explanation). This was particularly noticeable around the DMZ.
-Memorable interactions with locals. The young girls who helped us out at the train station at Dong Hoi absolutely made our day. We also loved some of our ‘get to know you’ interactions with locals that included sign language and drawings to communicate. Also, we met the most charming staff at our hotel in Hanoi. It was, coincidentally, called Charming Hotel. The rooms aren’t the biggest in the world but the location is central and the staff really are some of the friendliest we’ve met in Vietnam, plus the facilities are all you could ask for (including a lift, very appreciated after a long tiring days’ ride).
Challenges (the Bad)
-Traffic, honking, traffic, honking, traffic (see Road Rules 101 below)
-Learning that we needed to ask the price for a meal/drink/anything (such as air in a tire) prior to ordering so that we could make the choice as to whether the price was fair and acceptable. We learned to ask early on after a few occasions when we were provided with bills that surprised/shocked us.
-Finding out that the Chinese embassy’s rules changed in January this year and we were not able to get our visas in Hanoi. We were able to get them through a tour agency but it took far longer than we had anticipated and we needed to change our route plans in Vietnam and China.
-Getting our cameras out in time to take photos of bikes loaded with items such as pigs, ducks, dogs, chickens (anything from a dinner menu), glass, mirrors, families, etc…
The Quirky
-Receiving candy in lieu of change (at grocery stores if our bill comes 247,600 dong and we give 250,000, we get 2,000 and a piece of candy as change)
-Bikes of burden (anything and everything loaded onto bicycles, motorbikes and rickshaws)
-Riding down roads that seem to represent about 10 different decades (machinery/transportation, etc…)
-Kindergarten-sized plastic furniture at cafes, local eateries, street-side beer stalls
-“Extras” at mealtime. We initially thought it was a really nice touch when we received wet napkins at our table before ordering and eating our food. We then realized that we were charged for using the napkins. This was also the case if peanuts were placed in front of us before our meal arrived (hard to resist after a long riding day, especially when you assume they’re free). We eventually learned to say no thank you if anything other than a menu was placed in front of us.
-Dealing with touts. It’s tempting to put this into the challenges section but fortunately Kieran learned a ‘special’ way to deal with touts that made our experiences more memorable. In any touristy area (Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Halong), touts were rampant. If in Hoi An, someone came up and asked Kieran “a suit for you, a dress for madame?,” Heather would reply “no thank you” and keep on walking but Kieran eventually embraced the experience with replies such as (pointing to some heinous curtain-like material) “Can you make me a suit out of this? Would it look nice on me?” In Halong Bay, as we walked along the street that faces directly onto Halong Bay and we were approached by touts selling boat trips, Kieran would ask them “Where IS Halong Bay? What kind of boats do you have? Is it possible to get one of those ‘swan-type’ boats that we can pedal? One with wings?” Heather, being the type to embarrass easily would usually wander far enough away to not be associated with Kieran, yet close enough to be able to hear what was going on. Kieran is still laughing at each and every one of these encounters as they were all very fun and usually the locals had a laugh too!
*Vietnam Road Rules 101
This is a quick lesson for those who care to understand the road rules in Vietnam based on our cycling experiences. We had a few occasions when we felt frustrated with the rules (or lack thereof) of the road but it actually did get easier as we moved north once we started to understand that there was some organization to the chaos. Once we learned to accept the differences in road rule perceptions, it made everything easier (but we still stick to our single file, blind spot and mirror checking, safety-vest wearing cycling as far over on the shoulder as possible, thank you very much).
1. All traffic has the right of way.
2. The loudest horn has the right of way. If you have a loud horn, honk it with all your might.
3. The road shoulder is multi-directional for traffic (mostly smaller traffic – bikes and motorbikes).
4. When school lets out, school children on bikes trump all traffic and take the right of way (including points 1 and 2).
5. If you’re riding to or from school, this is a social activity so try to ride 4 or 5 abreast and take up as much of the road as is necessary.
6. Road shoulders are also multipurpose. You must keep an eye out for agricultural practices. Riding through rice drying on the road shoulder is considered fair and adds to the flavour of the rice.
7. When merging onto a highway, regardless of your speed or mechanism of transport, you should give way to no one and whatever you do, don’t look to see if anyone is coming. Everyone Tha see you and give way to you.
8. U-turns in the middle of highways are acceptable.
9. When crossing the street, it’s best not to look at traffic coming towards you. Most importantly, walk at a slow and steady pace.
10. If the road has 2 lanes painted this generally means you should expect to have 5+ lanes of traffic.
11. Looking behind will cause confusion. It is best to look ahead and honk loudly at all foreign cyclists laughing, smiling and waving as you pass.
12. If you are on a motorbike and see foreign cyclists and you would like to practice your English, slow down so that you are riding next to them and have a chat, regardless of traffic in either direction.
Cheek aside, while Vietnam has been the most challenging country we have cycled in so far, we have learned a tremendous amount, adjusted to different conditions, and have experienced some of our best riding days. That said, if we had friends looking to cycle tour for the first time in Asia, we would likely not recommend Vietnam as a good starting point based on the challenges.
This is our last post before we head into China. As far as we are aware, Blogger is blocked in China. We have added a China Picasa album in the links section of our blog (it’s empty now) that we will add to assuming we have access to Picasa. We will also provide some updates at:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/6847
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