day 97 - Bien Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City

Wednesday, 29 January 2014

We arrived today in Ho Chi Minh City after a short 35km ride from Bien Hoa. We had set off early as we expected heavy traffic but were surprised to find the road into the city was remarkably quiet compared with our experience over the past few days. The majority of traffic on the road appeared to be heading away from the City so we had a pretty straight forward ride in.

(On the highway into HCMC, what looks like a temple looming up on the left 

turns out to be a large amusement park)

We wanted to arrive early in the city to go to a bicycle store and do a few other bits and pieces, not knowing whether shops would remain open over the Tet holiday. At that point, we were still unclear exactly when Tet falls but we hoped we weren't too late. While we found many businesses to be closed around the city, the tourist districts were buzzing with activity. We were also able to purchase new rear tyres and inner tubes for the bikes which we'll install at a later time.

(New Year decorations for sale)

Once we had checked into our hotel, we headed out mid afternoon to explore the nearby area. The city is full of life and colour. There is a Flower Festival happening on one of the main streets in the city and it was clearly a very popular spot to have a photo taken as many of the locals, and visitors, were out in their finest, striking a pose in front of the many floral displays.

On our walkabout, we passed the Opera House, known as the Municipal Theatre since 1975, the People's Committee Building and Notre Dame Cathedral. As with many of the other cities we have visited in Vietnam, evidence of the French occupation can be seen in the many old, elegant buildings that still remain around the city with the Opera House, the Committee Building and Notre Dame being three lovely examples.

(Bright flowers available to buy in the city centre. 

Red and yellow are the Tet colours and hence there's a lot of red and yellow flowers about.)

(The People's Committee Building)

(A young girl poses for her parents at the Flower Festival)

(Four women dressed in traditional Vietnamese style outfits)

(An elderly man in his finest pyjamas and coordinating sandals)

(Notre Dame Cathedral)

In the evening, we headed out for dinner and drinks with Tina and Tim, and Tim's girlfriend who has just spent the past four weeks travelling through Myanmar. It was great to catch up and to hear about what it's like to travel through Myanmar. After a tasty dinner, they took us to a lovely rooftop bar from where we had a wonderful view of the city. We plan to catch up again tomorrow evening to see in the Lunar New Year. 

(The view from the rooftop bar)

(Our little South East Asian travelling crew)

(Ugly but good. At least you know what you're in for)

(Row after row of revellers sitting out on Bui Vien Street)

day 96 - Gia Ray to Bien Hoá and adieu to The Beard

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Today, Nicky and Paul made the tough decision to separate from Paul’s beard. We found a brave barber who was willing to take on the case. Three razor blades, some ear wax, a few tears and 90 minutes later, a new, slender looking Paul emerged. Paul handled it all very well although Nicky is having slight separation issues. But more on that later. 

We arrived in Bien Hoa today, our last stop before Ho Chi Minh City. The 70km ride was pretty unpleasant as we rode along the main highway which was crammed with motorbikes, cars and buses. Tet, Lunar New Year, is now only a couple of days away and many people are on the move, returning to families and finishing last minute business and chores before the celebrations begin. 

We arrived in Bien Hoa around lunch time and despite it being a large town, we had trouble locating accommodation. A young girl in a cafe was able to point us in the right direction and we were soon checked into a clean and comfortable guesthouse. We headed out for lunch and spent the afternoon reading and doing a bit of research into our coming trip through Cambodia.

(A large statue along the highway marks the spot where a battle was held in 1975)

(This is baby seat is progress considering we have seen children standing on the back of motorbikes)

(Bien Hoa after work traffic)

After dinner, we approached a barber shop and they waved us in. We watched with interest as they finished up their other clients. The two barbers were meticulous in their work and the well worn leather chairs suggested they had been honing their craft for many years. When Paul's turn came, he and the barber agreed on what was to be done through some pointing and hand gestures. 

(Paul and The Beard)

The barber made swift work of Paul's hair before starting on the beard. As mentioned, it took three razor blades to get a clean finish and he didn't nick the skin once. As with the customers before, he then applied a gel to Paul's face and while it dried, he donned a head torch and used five different instruments to clean out Paul's ears. Curiously, he would remove the wax with a long tweezers and then place the wax on Paul's forearms for inspection! Once the ears were clean, he removed the gel which had dried and then placed a cold towel on this face. He followed this with a quick head massage, eye drops in each eye and used a long metal tool that looked like a crochet hook to clean out the inner corners of Paul's eyes. Paul emerged like a watery eyed butterfly from a hairy cocoon. 

(One of the barbers cleaning out a customer's ears)

(First the hair needed a tidy up)

(Fresh faced Paul)

Tomorrow we ride to Ho Chi Minh City. No doubt Paul will be much more aerodynamic now and Nicky will have to work extra hard to keep up! At least we will have a few rest days there to recover. 

day 95 - Mui Né to Gia Ray

Monday, 27 January 2014

We set off from Mui Né shortly after sunrise, hoping to cover the 110km to Gia Ray before the hottest part of the day. The normally busy main street was very peaceful and the swollen sea that carried kite surfers across the waves yesterday was now calm and still.

(A group of young people rehearse for Lunar New Year dragon dancing)

We were 40km into our journey when Paul suddenly heard a loud bang which turned out to be the tube in this back tyre puncturing. It deflated instantly and we pulled over to inspect the damage. Some sympathetic onlookers pointed us to a nearby mechanic. Generally, when we've had to impose upon a mechanic to help, they've been willing to, with the odd exception. Fortunately the owner was happy to let his apprentice do the repair and we were back on the road within about half an hour.

(The young apprentice patching the inner tube)

Although our progress had been slowed, it was time to refuel so we stopped for lunch at the next town. As we stood up to leave, we talked about how much ground we wanted to cover before the next break. That's when we discovered Paul's tyre was flat again and unfortunately the mechanic next door was not the obliging kind! We unloaded the bike, found the culprit that had caused the puncture and replaced the tube. Eventually, we were back on the road again, just as the temperature reached the high 30s.  

(Yellow chrysanthemums are sold at stall after stall in towns in preparation for New Year)

The early afternoon sun forced us to find some shade for a while and so it was late afternoon by the time we reached Gia Ray. The town sits at the base of some hills and has a lovely feel about it. The streets were decked out in colourful banners and bunting, ready for the New Year festivities. 

(A side street in Gia Ray, ready for New Year festivities)

(Watermelons appear to be a popular food for New Year)

After we had checked into a hotel and cleaned up, we explored a little of the town and had dinner at a nice family run restaurant. We wandered the night market after dinner where people were beginning to set up their food stands and clothes stalls for the evening. Gia Ray isn't a very big town so we assumed the market was part of the New Year festivities. It's a great time of year to be here with so much activity and excitement. The town doesn't appear to receive many foreign tourists and we were regarded with great curiosity as we wandered around. 

(Gia Ray's Night Market)

Tomorrow we're heading for Bien Hoa, our last stop before Ho Chi Minh City. Looking forward to seeing more of the New Year activities and hoping for a puncture free day!

day 94 - Mui Né

Sunday, 26 January 2014

We spent a sunny Sunday in Mui Né. In the morning, before the sun reached its full strength, we cycled to the Red Sand Dunes which tower over the town and offer great views of the surrounding coastline. Our cycle took us through the town which is much like any other bustling Vietnamese town we have been through, still somewhat untouched by the international resort that has sprung up a few kilometres further up the coast.

(The Red Sand Dunes in Mui Né)

Although it was a Sunday, it appeared to be just like any other day of the week for many local people and the beach at the edge of the town was lined with boats being cleaned or being prepared for a day's work.

(Local fishermen at work in Mui Né)

As we headed back towards the resort and to our hotel, the sun was giving off some serious heat and so we made our way to a shady spot by the water and spent a few hours reading and watching kite surfers and wind surfers skim across the waves. 

(Mui Né is popular for wind and kite surfing but we were just happy to watch from a distance)

We have developed a love of good Indian food on this trip - tasty curries warmed us in one of our colder days in Nong Khiaw; we got to know our friends Tim and Tina over good Indian food in Vieng Xai; and we shared some lovely dishes with Nicky's Dad in Hanoi. We love the Vietnamese food too and hope to recreate some of the dishes we've experienced once we're in our own kitchen again, but it's nice to have a change now and then and we had a great dinner at Mui Ne's Indian restaurant, last night and tonight. 

Tomorrow we'll be making our way inland again, heading for Ho Chi Minh City. We're getting very close to Lunar New Year now so it'll be interesting to see all the preparations in the villages and towns along our journey over the coming days.  

day 93 - Di Linh to Mui Né

Saturday, 25 January 2014

After a few days in the central highlands of Vietnam, we’re now back on the coast in a town called Mui Né. We set off early this morning from Di Linh, keen to beat the heat as much as we could. Apart from a couple of long climbs at the start of the ride, we descended for much of the 110km as we travelled back down to sea level. 

(Early morning reflections on the still water of a rice paddy)

(Nicky sporting her winter gloves and face mask for a bit of extra sun protection)

(A busy blue bee at work)

At around the 40km mark, and still in the more mountainous area, we stopped at a small village for a drink, knowing the next town was another 40km away. The steep mountain area we had rode through reminded us a lot of the landscape we experienced in Laos and this small village with its dirt roads and wooden huts also felt very familiar. We pulled into a small roadside shop for a glass of sugarcane juice. Nuoc Mia, fresh sugarcane juice, is a popular drink and every second shop or roadside stall seems to sell it. The peeled sticks of sugarcane sit in buckets of water, ready to be pressed by the juicing machine. Unlike many of the machines we had seen in other towns, this one was a manual one and Nicky jumped in to assist the young woman who was huffing and puffing to turn the handle and crush the tough cane for us. 

(It's thirsty work making sugarcane juice)

At this point, four local guys turned up on a motorbike - one motorbike for the four of them. The first guy jumped off and made straight for Paul’s beard. The second jumped off and took the camera from Nicky, keen to take a photo of his mate with Paul. Once they’d had a few photos taken, they had a go at the juicing machine themselves before jumping back on the bike and speeding off. They were pretty entertaining.

(Paul with a couple of local lads)

We were about 20km from our destination by lunch time and, keen to escape the sun, we stopped in the town of Ma Lâm for some food and shade. But it's hard to relax when covered in dust and knowing the final leg of the journey is still ahead so we didn't stay long. We were now back among the green rice paddies and coconut trees and could feel the head wind picking up from the sea.  

(Not sea creatures but a dragon fruit crop)

(Fishing boats just outside of Mui Né)

By mid afternoon we arrived into Mui Né where it was clear from the endless resorts and souvenir shops that we were firmly back on the tourist trail. We took a room at the first hotel we enquired at, happy to have a lovely view of the ocean from our window. Tomorrow we'll explore some of what Mui Né has to offer. 

day 92 - Da Lat to Di Linh

Friday, 24 January 2014

Today we sailed down out of the highlands of Da Lat and made our way to the town of Di Linh. Almost 10km of our 80km ride today was spent simply rolling down from higher ground, which wasn't a bad way to ease ourselves back into cycling mode after a few days rest in Da Lat. The weather was fine and by late morning we were already starting to feel the sting of the sun. It really has a kick to it in the South, much like the strong sunshine we've experienced in Australia.

Given that a large part of our ride was either downhill or flat, we were making great progress and decided to visit a waterfall that was marked out on our map. We should have known something was up when the locals from whom we asked for directions seemed surprised by our interest in it. It appears there was once a resort of sorts at the edge of the falls, but much like the waterfall itself, the resort seemed to have dried up long ago and the only evidence of it's former life were the armless, legless and headless statues, dilapidated bathing huts and lonely picnic tables. Empty beer cans and cigarette packets on the ground suggested it still had the occasional visitor but we guessed they didn't come for the view.

(The waterfall that once was)

(The flags looked promising but not the run down little ticket booth)

We headed back out to the highway and continued on to Di Linh, stopping for lunch just outside of town. The Vietnamese couple who were sitting in the restaurant when we arrived invited us to sit at their table. The woman spoke to us a few times but soon realised we couldn't understand her and the rest of the meal was spent sharing the occasional smile as they passed condiments and utensils to us across the table.

In Da Lat we noticed many people appeared to be more well off than those we've seen in other cities, with bigger houses, more powerful motorbikes and fashionable clothing. However, today we passed through towns where people seemed to have significantly less. We saw many wooden houses and a lot of older, run down vehicles. We also began to see more people who we thought were of Cham descent, a minority people that were once a powerful ruling group in that part of Vietnam. As we learnt in Laos, the minority groups often end up being forced to live in areas that are less desirable to the majority and the land we passed through didn't seem to be as fertile or easy to farm as that of the lowlands.

(A woman turns over coffee beans with her feet outside of her wooden home)

We arrived into Di Linh by early afternoon and found it to be a large town with plenty of places to stay. We chose a hotel on the main road and the family who own the place made us feel welcome. As we were checking in, a neighbour dropped in and gave the lady owner a quick English lesson. The neighbour is an English teacher and he had a very authoritative manner about him, holding his index finger in the air to emphasise the correct pronunciation. She happily chirped away behind the desk saying "passapor, passapor". She was delightfully enthusiastic! 

We spent a lovely, lazy afternoon reading at a cafe before giving the bikes a bit of a cleaning and fixing yet another puncture. It's definitely time for new tyres! We've cycled nearly 4,000km on this trip so it does seem like time for a change. Tomorrow, we are aiming to make it to the coastal town of Mui Né for a final bit of beach time in Vietnam.

(The view from our hotel room and the direction we will be heading tomorrow)

days 89, 90 and 91 - Da Lat

Thursday, 23 January 2014

Delightful Da Lat! We've spent the past 3 days here, soaking up the sunshine and some of the sites. The city has retained a certain European feel about it, with wide streets, endless cafes and the large chateau style buildings that were built during the French occupation, some of which are sadly in need of a real facelift while others have been preserved in the form of hotels or restaurants.

Like every village, town or city we've been to on this trip, the heart of the city is the fresh food market and Da Lat's didn't disappoint. With everyone busily preparing for the Lunar New Year, there are all kinds of colourful and interesting foods available. The more temperate climate here also means we've seen a lot more root veggies and fruits that we'd normally buy at home. Undoubtedly, the fresh and flavourful food we've had on the trip has been a real highlight but we're still looking forward to getting our hands on some kitchen utensils and doing a bit of home cooking once we're back in Europe.

(Gold fish for sale. We hope they all get a more spacious home soon)

(A striking church near our accommodation)

(One of the many, many quirky kitschy cafes in Da Lat)

(Da Lat appears to have lots of clubs, including a Vespa club. This is our favourite model so far)

Our more touristy activities included a trip to the last emperor's Summer Palace, a visit to the Crazy House, experiencing the sparkle at Linh Phuoc Pagoda and a walk around peaceful Xuan Huong Lake. We also had a great evening with Tim and Tina where we caught up over dinner and listened to some live music at a cozy little venue in town.

(Bao Dai's Summer Palace. Not pretty but interesting to step back in time and see the home as it was left by the family)

(The Emperor's study. That's him behind the desk)

(The Queen's bedroom. The ropes didn't stop domestic tourists reclining on the furniture)

(The gardens at the Palace)

(At the Crazy House which had a distinct Disneyland feel)

(The Bamboo bedroom at the Crazy House)

(The dining room and ancestral alter)

(Found a crazy at the Crazy House)

(Yes, it is crazy)

(Xuan Hoang Lake, named after a female Vietnamese poet)

(Linh Phuoc Pagoda)

Tomorrow we're back on the road and heading south to the beach town of Mui Ne where we'll spend a day before making our way to Ho Chi Minh City for the Lunar New Year celebrations. 

(Da Lat at sunset)