The Riding Vietnam FAQ is located at the bottom of the page.
Today was an "easy" day, although most days in Vietnam seemed hard because it was hard to adjust to the climate.
Along the way, I blew out the sidewall of my back tire (The Crossroads Armadillo 700c Tire from Specialized) and I blew out an inner tube. I had to replace the tire with the touring tire that I purchased in Rawlins, Wyoming. The replacement tire didn't set well on the rim, so a few hours after we arrived in Hue, the second tube deflated.
When we entered the town, we rode by the Citadel, a huge fortress. We knew that we were in a foreign tourist town because we saw many foreign tourists in buses entering Hue and there were many walking around the Citadel.
We decided to stay in the foreign tourist quarter just south of Du'ong Le Loi. Our normal routine is to visit three hotels and shop the prices. At one of the hotels, a gentlemen on a motorbike kept telling us about one good deal after another, so we ended up visiting three of his hotels bringing the total number of hotels visited to five. Normally, I visit the rooms and do the negotiations, but this time, Terry visited the first two hotels. Being a pain-in-the-arse, I had to return and see for myself what the rooms looked like in the first two hotels. I wasn't impressed , so after much discussion, we chose the hotel that the motorbike rider showed us. The hotel, the Hoa Thien Hotel, was located on a side street (08 Duong Nguyen Cong Tru), which made it quieter.
In Hue, we ate. We ate lunch at Bo De - cheap food provided by buddhists (35/1 Ba Trieu between 49 and 51). We then ate dinner at Xuan Trang Cafeteria (16 Hung Vu'o'ng) where we arranged a motorbike rental for the next day. After dinner we headed to Ushi's (42 Pham Ngu Lao) where we both ordered apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Because we were in Vietnam, it was nice to eat, but it really wasn't quite what I was expecting. The apple pie was actually more of an turnover and the price was exhorbitant. Ushi is a model. If you have been in Southeast Asia, you may have seen her. She typically has this "hot for teacher" outfit (including glasses) and she has this quizical questioning look on her face. She hopes to make it big in other countries, including Australia. Maybe she should fly to Westwood and wait tables in the hopes of making it big?
Bike Touring Comparision - Vietnam vs. U.S.
When bike touring in the United States, strangers routinely ask me three questions:
1. Where did I start the ride?
2. Where am I going?
3. Where is home?
When bike touring in Vietnam, strangers typically ask me these questions:
1. Hello?
2. What's your name?
3. Where are you from?
4. Are you married (or sometimes, "Money")?
Vietnam Bike Touring FAQ
Q: What roads did you ride?
A: We rode Highway (Quoc Lo) QL 1A south from Hanoi towards Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. Brad rode the furtheset south, getting as far as Pham Rang before turning west and riding into the mountain city of Da Lat. Neither Brad nor Terry rode into Saigon because we had been warned about the traffic coming into town.
Q: What were the roads like? What tires did you use?
A: The roads were asphalt. Most were in really good condition. In some provinces there were many potholes. In fact, one pothole swallowed Terry's entire bike causing him to flip over his handlebars. We both rode nobby tires. Brad rode a Trek 520 with 700 mm tires, while Terry rode a special mountain bike with 26 inch tires. The roads are good enough that one can ride all of Highway 1A using only touring tires or slicks (for a mountain bike). Brad actually suggests touring tires if only riding Highway 1A.
Q: What about breakdowns and bike repairs. Did you carry spare parts?
A: Yes, we carried spare parts, between us, we had 3 spare tires, 12 spare tubes, ball bearings, a bottom bracket, and tools. It is probably not necessary to carry this much stuff, but we wanted to be safe. There are many bike shops in each town along Highway 1A, so bike equipment was always available. For example, Terry broke his hyperglide chain. While he was not able to find a hyperglide chain, he was able to find a suitable replacement that mostly worked (it slipped a little). Terry was also able to find a replacement tire, a 26-inch knobby tire.
Q: Mountain Bike or Touring Bike?
A: To be safe, ride a mountain bike, but Brad recommends a touring bike, if one will only be riding the coast along Highway 1A. Because the roads are well paved, a touring bike with touring tires, or a spare set of cross or knobby tires should be sufficient. However, if a rim is broken, it is hard (based on Brad's visit to the large market [cho] in Hue) to find a 700-mm rim or tire. 27-inch (685-mm) tires and rims are available and 28-inch (711-mm) tires and rims were available. Because of the clearance in Brad's Trek 520, he could fit 27s and just barely fit 28s and the brake pads were just adjustable enough to be able to position for the new rim height.
Q: How are the shoulders along the highways?
A: The shoulders along Highway 1A are wide. There are only a few places were they are narrow or non-existant. But these wide shoulders are not empty. Motorbikes, farmers, fishermen, shepards, school kids on bikes, bicyclists, water buffalos, cows, chickens, and anything else you can imagine occupy the shoulder. The shoulder along the Ho Chi Minh trail was non-existant, but there was very little traffic.
Q: How are the drivers in Vietnam? How do they drive around bikes?
A: Everybody has or does ride a bike in Vietnam. So drivers are very aware of bikes (in an unconcious sort of way) and generally give them a wide berth. There are instances of drivers coming to close, but this was rare. Drivers of motor vehicles, including motorbike drivers, use the horn constantly. Drivers use their horns to warn the traffic ahead that they are coming. They use their horns to tell bicyclists and motorbikes to get out of the way. However, without exception, they yield to slower traffic. Yielding may involve whipping around a bicycle or motorbike, but they yield nonetheless. I saw only one example where a bus whipped around a group of cyclists and the bus almost loses control. Generally, though, the truck, bus, and car drivers in Vietnam are very safe when it comes to bikes.
Q: What is the topography like along Highway 1A? Along the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
A: Highway 1A is generally flat from Hanoi to Hai Van Pass with a few rolling hills between. After Hai Van Pass, it is generally flat, with a few hill climbs and more rolling hills. The Ho Chi Minh Trail has more rolling hills, but it is located at a low elevation.
Q: How much traffic is there along Highway 1A? Along the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
A: Highway 1A has a lot of traffic because it is the main north-south artery through Vietnam. To the novice bike tourist, it can seem like a whirlwind of excitement, or chaos, depending on one's perspective. The Ho Chi Minh Trail has minor traffic.
On Highway 1A and also on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, traffic comes from all directions, from ahead, from the side, and from behind. It is not uncommon for a motorbike to just pass and then cut you off as they make a right turn. A typical Vietnamese motorbike (or bicycle) turn signal involves looking over the shoulder in the direction in which one wants to turn, slowing slightly or completely, and then going in that direction. Vietnamese will enter from a side street. However, they will not look at or yield to oncoming traffic before doing so, so the traffic already on the road has to adjust accordingly. Vietnamese frequently ride on the wrong side of the road and sometimes ignore traffic signals. Not all intersections have traffic signals.
Although Vietnamese often ignore traffic laws, there is a specific driving method that almost all Vietnamese follow. This driving method may, at first glance, seem like chaos, but on closer inspection, actually has structure and order.
Q: When did you bike tour in Vietnam? Was that a bad or good time to tour?
A: We toured in October of 2007 - the tail end of south Vietnam's winter or rainy season (May to October). The best time to visit the Northern Coast is September through December and March through April. On the central coast, the dry season lasts from March to August, but "dry" is a relative term. Many bike touring companies ride in December, January, and February.
Basically, it rained almost every day of cycling. During a few days, it rained all day. Most days, it rained for a while and then stopped and then rained again. The rain was actually a blessing. Once used to riding in the rain, Brad prefered the rain to the hot muggy sunny days. A typhoon had passed through the country shortly before we began so many of the beach resorts were devestated and were a mess, but this made the room rates much lower.
Q: Where did you sleep? Did you stay in campgrounds like you did in the United States?
A: We stayed in "guest houses" (Nha Ngai, i.e. motels) and hotels (Khach San). We didn't have to make reservations because there are so many hotels available. We were also able to easily find hotels because it was the rainy season. At the beaches, hotels were also easy to find because the devastation caused by the prior week's Typhoon kept many tourists away. Most smaller towns had hotels. Campgrounds are few and far between and are mostly located in the National Parks. Camping on the side of the road is generally discouraged, the police may stop you, and it is likely that a group of Vietnamese will shortly discover your campsite. Guest houses cost between $5 to $15 per night.
Day 53 - Dong Ha to Hue - 60 Kilometers
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