Cycling Through Vietnam’s Violent Past

Part Two of Six

It’s only the second day of cycling on this 800km ride across Vietnam, and I’m already asking, why did I do this again?

We were up and on the bus by 6:30 AM for a 7-hour bus ride to the Dalat Airport, a beautiful new modern facility.

After a quick pit stop, we hopped on our bikes and began the hilly challenge, and what a challenge.

I did fine at first, staying near the middle of the pack, but as we faced higher and steeper hills, I started to fade fast. My hip flexors were screaming at me to stop and I did end up walking my bike up a few hills. What made it bearable were all the kids waving and saying “Hello” along the way, just a taste of the great welcome we would receive throughout our journey.

At around the 25 km mark, I connected with one of the women riders from England and we commiserated as we tried to fight the forces of gravity to get up the longest hill in the world… at least that’s how it seemed.

Luckily the sun was starting to set so the bus pulled up and the guide told us to get on board. We didn’t need any convincing, there were already a few people on there. It was a little disappointing that we hadn’t reached our first goal, but we had managed to cycle about 32km of those hills (about 16km short of our destination).

Dalat is a beautiful town, set high in the alpine mountains. It was cooler than we were used to, but a welcome relief from the heat of Saigon at the start of the tour.

Tackling The Highland Challenge

They don’t call them the central Highlands for anything.

The ride from Dalat started out fine, up some hills, but then quick relief as we rode downhill again. There is nothing like the exhilaration you feel as you coast down these mountain roads, with the wind cooling you down from the hot midday sun. We were surrounded by spectacular alpine scenery, which included hundreds of greenhouses that surround Dalat.

But the hills are a serious challenge. This definitely pushed our physical limits. We’d be traveling about 100km in total… 60 uphill, then 30 downhill, and then an up and down the course for the last 10km.

I convinced myself that I had nothing to prove, and I wasn’t about to kill myself on this trip so after about 40km mostly uphill, I had had enough and got back on the bus to enjoy the scenery.

The area is covered with lush green alpine forests, rising to emerald green mountains, lakes and streams, and soil that ranges from a pink-red color to a rusty brown. I decided to stay on the bus to the top of the incline and then get back on the bike for the 30km downhill ride. What a great decision.

As the last of the riders arrived at the summit, we had a little snack break and then hopped on for the wild ride to the bottom. I don’t have enough adjectives to describe the ride… spectacular, exhilarating, and life-affirming… it made everything we had gone through so far, worthwhile.

All I could hear was the wind whipping past me and the buzz of our tires on the pavement as we raced down the mountain at about 50km/hour — with nothing between us and the road except the bike and helmet. I couldn’t stop smiling… and even yelled out a few yahoos on my way down.

There were beautiful vistas overlooking the mountains and valleys below, with waterfalls pouring down around us. I wanted the bus to drive us back up to the top so we could race down again. First I had to find them.

As I rode along, I didn’t see anyone in front of me, and no one behind me… but I persevered, keeping my eyes open for our lunch rest stop. I hit not one but four patches of road construction, one that had the road covered in sand, and another that had just been soaked down so it was a muddy mess. I rode up more steep hills and coasted down again, but at one point both my calf muscles cramped up and I had to pull over and take a break. I came through one small community and there were two kids holding out their hands for high-fives so I stuck out my hand and almost knocked one little boy over with the force as I sped along the road. I finally hit a dead end, and at that point, I realized I was lost.

What could I do? I had absolutely nothing with me, I’d left my daypack with everything, including my money and my water, on the bus. I wanted to sit down on the road and cry but decided I would turn back and depend on the kindness of strangers to call for help. I made it back up another huge hill, and when I paused to rest my burning muscles, I saw a motorbike headed my way with someone wearing a bright red shirt. Soon the rider started waving and I realized it was one of our guides.

Tuan pulled up and said I had gone about 6–8km past our lunch spot, oh and I missed lunch. He asked me to ride ahead a bit so we could drop off my bike and then ride back on the scooter. Luckily it was downhill, so after getting rid of my bike I hopped on for the long ride back to our lunch spot.

When we arrived the entire group burst into applause. Apparently, they were quite concerned about me, and realized some time ago, that I must be lost. My first question was how they spotted the lunch location in the first place. Fortunately for them, they spotted one or two members of the group, but our guides were not standing on the road to direct us. No wonder I missed it.

They did have some lunch left for me, so I wolfed it all down and then we started to pack up… that’s when one of the guides came over and asked me if I wanted to cycle back to the hotel with the group. I just looked at him incredulously and said “no!” Turns out we’d be going the same route I had already completed on my ‘detour’, so why would I want to do it again? So we picked up my bike and continued on our way.

The road that we took to Nha Trang is nothing more than a dirt road, covered in potholes and too narrow for anyone to pass. But as we reached the city, the pavement improved. Still, I didn’t think Nha Trang was what I had expected.

It reminded me of a mini-Saigon. As we drove through the city, there was a fair amount of traffic, mainly motorcycles and scooters, with many of the same shops and street food vendors you see in Saigon, but as we turned onto Tran Phu, the main road that runs along the waterfront, it was more of what I expected.

There were islands offshore with a sky tram connecting the mainland to VinPearl City, an amusement park that’s a big draw for Vietnamese and foreign tourists alike. Big waves crashed over the sea wall, although the water looked to be a muddy brown, not very inviting to swimmers.

There are also a lot of big hotels and many more under construction. There are the usual big chains, like Sheraton, Novatel, and Crowne Plaza but also many National chains and locally-owned hotels.

Later we all piled into cyclos (like a pedicab or rickshaw for one) for the ride to our dinner spot, a fun BBQ place where they brought a small grill to put in front of us at our large table. It is set over a clay pot full of burning charcoal, and we were given a few plates of raw meat to cook ourselves, kind of like a fondue. We had tuna, squid, chicken, and beef, and there were also mixed vegetables and of course rice… a good thing we’d worked up a big appetite.

Coming up how I spent a day off in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

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