About Me
Thursday 23 February 2012
Central Highlands and Dalat
The ride out of Ho Chi Minh City was just as bad as the ride in, lots of traffic and tooting. We rode for approximately 70 klms before we turned off to Dalat and we were still in the suburbs. We were expecting a big change in the scenery as we took Highway 20 but we rode for two days before we saw any real countryside, just lots of small villages very close together and an incredible amount of traffic on a road with a very bad surface, potholes all the way. We were worried we would not be able to find accommodation along this road but we need not to have because we found good guest houses all the way. Once we were in the countryside we passed rubber plantations, coffee plantations, many vegetable farms and then pine plantations. There were lots of hills, first ups and downs then the last two days with lots of up, one stretch was 14 klms straight up, just to clear out the arteries. We have not had hills since Perth so we were a bit out of practice. The hills and tropical lushness of this area made a pretty picture, making the effort to come up here all worthwhile. As we ventured higher the traffic lessened, but the road did not improve with the exception of one stretch on our last day when we rode about 20klms of a six lane highway with a barrier between the motor/push bikes and the trucks, then it abruptly stopped. We anticipated the trip would take about 4 days, but it took us 6. We could not cover as many klms as we expected in a day because of the state of the road, it was not possible to freewheel down hills because of the real fear of hitting a pothole and coming off the bike. The weather was in the thirties each day but as we got higher the evenings became cooler and our early morning starts gave us an opportunity to ride for a couple of hours before the heat built up. This area does not see many westerners, the coaches bus people straight through so were a bit of a novelty and people openly stared at, some people on a motor bike rode up beside us, stayed beside us while they had a good look, then driove off. The locals were very helpful when we stopped for a drink or to eat, they did not speak English and we did not understand Vietnamese, but with the phrase book and gesturing we were normally able to make ourselves understood. Country people in both Cambodia and Vietnam stare at our legs and we thought it was because we wore shorts. One day when we sitting at an outside café the woman serving us came up and touched Heather’s leg shaking her head then we realized it was our tan that disturbed her and others. Vietnamese and Cambodian women cover up from the sun always wearing a hat and face mask and when on a motor bike also wear long gloves and socks with their thongs, which they take off as soon as they are in the shade. Mike wears shorts sleeves and shorts all year round and always has a tan but above his shirt sleeve never sees the sun and the contrast is marked, so while the woman was worried about Heather’s tan Mike pulled up his sleeve and the poor woman was astounded, she burst out laughing and called others to come and have a look, so now he has a new party trick. Food was again an issue for us, there is just so much Pho’, the national dish, you can eat. One night we ended up in a karaoke bar eating finger food for a change, we did not sing, perhaps we should have had more to drink. Beer is very cheap here a bottle of the local brew costs about 60 cents, it is never cold enough so ice is added. The last climb to Dalat was 7klms long so we were glad to get here. Dalat was quite a surprise, this area was neutral during the war and people moved here because of the peace and has grown dramatically in recent years, a new, modern, clean city with a mild climate and no obvious poverty, some of the houses are mansions. We booked into the Peace Hotel which has a café in the lobby and serves lovely food, it is here we have met some interesting people – Jamie, a 25 year old from England who is riding from Bangkok to London by himself and is raising money for a children’s hospital on the way and Adeena a young woman from South Africa who is riding alone on a motor bike through Vietnam. Adeena has travelled a lot and is writing a book about her travels through the Stan countries by car a trip she did a couple of years ago. The weather is very mild and quite cool at night, such a contrast to the last six weeks, it has also rained each afternoon we have been here. We booked a trip with the infamous Easy Riders who took us on the back of their motorbikes further up the mountains to see a waterfall, a traditional Lat village and their weaving and the French Quarter. This area is the food basket of Vietnam, the cooler weather allows all types of fruit, vegetables and flowers to grow here and we discover this is the reason for the prosperity of Dalat. It was a cold day and for the first time since we left home on 25th September we have to wear out warm coats. Our trip down to the coast was a bit different to what we had expected. First we had to climb up onto a higher mountain range, up into the clouds where it was cold and damp and vision was poor because of the mist. This was a new road so the surface was good at first. We passed more market gardens and locals going off the work, then the scenery changed to one of pristine mountains ranges, not a house or market in sight. After riding 65 kms up we headed down past waterfalls and beautiful untouched forest for 35kms. using our brakes to slow us down as it was a steep descent, the road had been washed away in places and there were roadworks so we had to be careful. Once on the flat we cycled another 40 klms to Nha Trang, our longest day yet.
Thursday 9 February 2012
Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
There is a T shirt that is worn a lot in Cambodia and Vietnam with “same, same, but different” on it. This mirrors our first impression of coming over the border. We stopped overnight in quite a large city, not another westerner in sight, the ATM swallowed a card and we had some difficulty getting assistance, in the end we had to wait until we got to HCMC where there is a CBA branch, they were very nice but our card was never to be seen again and we had to cancel it. The road signs in Thailand and Cambodia were in English, but not in Vietnam, luckily the road we needed to follow was straight ahead and we could understand Sai’ Gon. In fact everywhere in HCMC is referred to as Saigon with the exception of guides who stick to the official HCMC. We thought we had ridden busy roads before but Vietnam is something again, motor bikes everywhere, thousands of them ahead, behind, to our left and to our right just a sea of bikes all weaving in and out, coming out of side streets just expecting that they have right of way, they don’t even look. When we got into HCMC we found our way through the city to District 1 with assistance from people who spoke English and eventually arrived at the narrow alleys which house the guest houses and restaurants we were seeking. The food here is very good and Mike with a full tummy is a happy man. There are women with scales in all the markets and you pay them to weigh yourself. Mike has lost weight and wanted to know what he weighed so he approached a woman but she would not let him get on, a stallholder who spoke English explained that Vietnamese people are small and her scales only go to 70 kls We passed her every day we were in HCMC and she recognized us and we all had a laugh. We visited the Unification Palace, we went with an English speaking guide first then wandered around on our own. This is recent history and we saw the gates where the tanks smashed through when they claimed the city and the helicopter pad where the American embassy staff fled from, all things we had seen on the news at the time. We went to visit the history museum but it was shut so we walked under large shady trees in the botanical gardens and the zoo next door. The outside cafes have kindergarten size plastic chairs to sit on, it is a sight to see Mike in one of these, if he still weighed his original weight he would probably wouldn’t fit in one. The post office was built during the French era, one of the few left standing so of interest to us, as was the Notre Dame Cathedral. A highlight for us was a performance of water puppets. Using instruments from the 11th century the musician told the story while they played as the puppets acted out the scenes in a pool that was the stage, we could not understand a word of what was said but we got the gist of the story and understood the humour. We had been told about the night market restaurant so went along for dinner. There are a number of places to eat, they set up each night and cook in the open and have tables under marques to cater for the hundreds of people they serve each night. The place is very busy and has a great atmosphere which we enjoyed as well as the excellent meal. We felt obliged to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels with over 200 km of intricate network tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war, our English speaking guide related the history, and as at the Unification Palace, indulged in a bit of propaganda. In both Cambodia and Vietnam the “places of interest” promoted to tourists are about war and we are both over it. While we have enjoyed staying in HCMC are looking forward to the next part of our trip in the highlands of Vietnam as we head towards Dalat.
Monday 6 February 2012
Seam Reap to the Vietnamese Border
We caught the fast boat from Seam Reap to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The ride out to the wharf to catch the boat was over a very bumpy road, flooding had washed away part of the surface, we needed not have worried about rushing as the boat was an hour late leaving as more and more people were squashed on board, all are tourists like us so everyone had luggage. Our bikes were lashed to the railings. We motored out onto the Tonle’ Sap, Asia’s largest lake which is huge. During the wet season melting snow from the Himalayan mountains cannot get away to the ocean and the river flows backwards filling this lake, doubling it’s size. Many people live on or near the water some in houses on stilts, or on rafts so they float up and down with the water level or on boats, most earning their living from fishing. After crossing the lake our route took us down the river to Phnom Penh where the river front has been developed with a promenade, lawns and palm trees and across the road restaurants and cafes spill out into the street. The Foreign Correspondence Club is in this area and one night we spent a very pleasant evening there in the upstairs bar where we watched the busy street below and the river opposite from a window table. There are new modern buildings going up and a Chinese influence is evident in the restaurants and businesses. Stray dogs, which have been a feature of this country are not evident here in Phnom Penh. Older houses sit side by side with the new villas. It was Australia day the day we travelled to Phnom Penh, our room had cable television so we watched the tennis. We have explored the markets, visited the Kings palace, the museum and Mike visited the gruesome Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Museum on the back of a motorbike. It is difficult to walk around the streets as the footpaths are used as parking for motorbikes and cars, market stalls and businesses encrouch out from their shops. We have to walk along the road most of the time, locals never walk they drive or take a tuk tuk but for us it is the best way to see the city. It has not been easy for us to have access to good food here in Phnom Penh, the markets do not offer food we can eat and we were not sure if we can trust the restaurants until we found a gem, Mamas, where the food is good. The owner is an archeologist and lectures at the university but he says the pay is so bad he and his wife need to have another income so they run the restaurant where the money is good but the work is hard. We got our visas for Vietnam here. We left Phnom Penh early in the morning to beat the rush hour and Mike navigated us out of the city, quiet at first but as the traffic built up we had to be alert, about 20 kms out the traffic lessened and the road widened and we were on Highway No. 1, the road we would follow all the way to the border. The ride to the Vietnam border was flat as we followed the Mekong River and passed lush mango orchards, bananas, pumpkins, corn fields and rice paddies. We came to a river crossing which had to be taken by ferry, a large market town was on the other bank and we were the only Westerners, people stared at us and were amused at us wearing shorts. We bought some bananas to eat as we had not been able to purchase food along the road all day. Arnold a cyclist from Rumania who we met along the road was also having the same trouble. We saw a group of people eating in a outdoor gazebo so went to investigate and it was an organized supported bike ride going through Vietnam and Cambodia. We joined them for lunch and exchanged stories, about half of them were from Australia. We were happy to have the company and also to have a meal, but the food situation was the same the next day and the next, Mike has lost some more weight. As we approached the Vietnam border we saw a number of large houses being built which were a stark contrast to the small wooden houses typical of rural Cambodia, we also saw some large factories but a big surprise was the twenty or so large casinos right at the border, we assume that people come over from Vietnam to gamble. The crossing into Vietnam could not have been smoother, our passports were stamped on the Cambodian border, no lining up, then we walked across to the Vietnam border and we were quickly dealt with, no checking of luggage just our passports stamped and we were waved through and we rode off down the road, we were now in Vietnam.
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