THE COASTAL ROAD PHAN THET TO DONG HA

Thailand may have its intensly dense and rugged mountain ranges surrounding Mae Hong Song in its north western provinces. Laos may have its UNESCO world heritage site of Luang Prabang - a small town with a distinctly french flavour. Narrow cobble stoned streets with weathered shop facades. China's Yunnan Province may have its Tiger Leaping Gorge - one of the deepest gorges in the world. A must do 16km trek that avails itself to unbelievable views measuring some 3900 metres fro the depths of the waters of the Jinsha river to the peaks of the year round snow capped mountains of the Haba Shan. Cambodia may have its Angkor - the home of the ancient Khmer empire - a temple renowned for being the largest religious monument in the world.



But, Vietnam has its coastal road stretching some 2000km from HCMC to Hanoi. A road that has stunningly beautiful horseshoe bays like Nui Ne, Nha Trang, Da Nang and Hoi An. As you cycle up Highway 1 your eyes are captivaated by the rugged mountain range that stretches the length of the country. Rice fields from the foot of the mountains to the dunes of the sea. Villages toiling in the heat of the midday sun reaping the rice harvest by hand. Endless kilometres of the highway lined with rice drying the the sun. Yes, this highway has it all.

VIETNAM - THE DELTA

Question: What is the first thing to wear out and be replaced on a Vietnamese motorbike?



The Mekon Delta is not only Vietnam's rice basket but also its fruit bow. For
kilometre after kilometre the flat lands of the delta are either in the stage of planting, growing or harvesting of the staple diet of the vietnamese millions. As you head towards HCMC the landscape turns to undulating and the fields are transposed to an endless line of orchard of every possible delicious tropical fruit imaginable. On the side of thye road local growers tend their stalls selling pinapples, bananas, dragon fruit, papaya, watermelon, longon, strawberries and durian fruit - just to mention a few.




As the mighty Mekong river winds its way south towards the south China Sea its many tributaries are amass with colourfully decorated fishing trawlers and barges ferrying goods form town to town. From the border of Cambodia I had as many as 9 crossings before reaching HCMC. The people are incredibly friendly and go about their daily routine never seeming to be fazed or stressed.



My highlight of the Delta was a daylong riverboat cruise visiting the Can Tho floating markets which are a colourfu and bustling confusion of boats plied hight with vegetables and fruits. Housewives, paddling their sampans from boat to boat bartering and haggling before negotiating the narrow canals back to their family homes - life revolves around the water.




HCMC My main aim was to successfully negotiate from the southern approaches to the central Siagon Railway Station where I could catch the train to Phan Tiet on the east coast. I soon learned that train station translated to the Vietnamese equivalent of "ben xe" as I had to ask for directions as many as 20 times before stumbling upon Siagon Central - hidden off some back alley. As in China, signs are only in Vietnamese making locating landmarks a little frustrating to say the least.

With a population exceeding 6 million HCMC is a caotic scene of clogged roads. The evening traffic jam is a sight to behold, especially in the rainy season where the skies open to clockwork at 4pm. People just don a rain poncho and continue on their merry way at the same bustling pace - a constant hooting of horns but not a raised vocie in anger or frustration.

There is certainly an art to cycling in such a swarming mass of motorbikes - maintain a constant pace, don't suddenly veer off your line and keep a friendly smile on your face. After finding a hotel close to the railway station I bedded down for the night before cataching the 7am express to the quitet of the east coast fishing village of Phan Tiet - the home of the world famous fish sauce.

RETURN TO THAILAND

With visa in hand it was time to head to the border town of Nong Khai. Presented my passport to the customs officer only to be told in a rather blunt and cold maner that my passport had been incorrectly stamped and not signed at the Chinese/Laos border. I was promptly marched into the office of the head of customs to the undertones of "This is a very serious offence and you will be charged for overstaying." A touch of nervousness, to say the least, overcame me as I sat at the table opposite the head honcho bearing 4 pips on his lapel.

Again in a a very cold and unfriendly manner not dissimilar to Arnold Schwartzenegger "Stay here, I''ll be back." Not a friendly "Would you like a cold drink while I go and check on your passport details."

An hour elapsed before the officer returned. Thinking I was going to have to dig deep into my wallet, he thrust my passport under my nose and said that I free to go. No explanation and no have a nice holiday.

Without hesitation I straddled my bike, road over Friendship Bridge and into a friendly Thailand. It was good to be back



Nong Khai is a sleepy town, sluggish in pace and stretched along the banks of the Mekong. Booked into a guesthouse for a couple of days to soak up the atmosphere before I summoned up the mental and physical strength to cycle the 700km south through central Thaland to the coastal resort of Pattaya.

With the lofty mountains behind me I headed south with a strong tail wind through the central plains of Thaland. With a stiff tail breeze and nothing more than speed bumps to climb over I was comfortably riding 100km before lunch. With the dangling carrot of lazing on the white sands and swimming in the aqua waters of Koh Lan I complelted the journey in 6 days - a little weary to say the least but comfortable with the realization that 10 days of relaxation awaited me. My main aim of coming to Pattaya was ato attend the wedding of my life long best friend Jeff Hunt.



OFF TO CAMBODIA
After 10 vey lazy days in Pattaya it was time to cycle further south and around the Gulf of Thaland and into Cambodia. Highway 1 followed the coastline through the scentic fishing villages of Rayon, Ban Pha and Trat. With the wind still on my back, the terrain flat and beautiful coastal views to my right it certainly made for pleasurable cycle touring. Was this what cycle touring was meant to be. It was certainly not a physically demanding as the previous 5 months of toiling over the mountains of northern Thai, China and Laos.

SIHANOUKVILLE



Once in Cambodia I headed for the seaside town of Sihanoukville. Knowing that I only had a few hundred kms of coastal road to traverse before I reached the border of Vietnam I slowed my pace down even more and spent the bulk of my time in Sihanoukville, Kampot, Ream National Park and Kep. From Kep it was only a couple of hours cycling to the border crossing of Prek chak where I would begin my journey through the Mekong Delta

REAM NATIONAL PARK

THE CANDLE FESTIVAL

The Candle Festival is a woman's parade. It gives young women an opportunity to dress in the height of their traditional finery and display their dancing prowess. This festival takes place on Wan Asa Laha Puja day, the day before the start of buddhist Lent when every Buddhist male is expected to enter a temple at least once in their lives.

THE CANDLE CEREMONY

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30 DAYS IN LAOS

After spending two enjoyable months cycling around the Yunnan Province in southern China it was time to head further south and enjoy some of the laid back and relaxed lifestyle of northern Laos. With it's distinctive French influence (baguettes filled with port, pate and a variety of spicey additives - beeeautiful), its rugged scenic mountains, the friendly smiles with a welcoming wave and cheerful greeting of sabaai dii, to the casual approach to life, Laos makes you want to cllick down a few gears, slow the pace back a few kilometres per hour and just soad it all up.

After crossing the border from China my first destination was Muang Xai in Oudomxai Province - nestled in the beautiful Nam Ko basin. After speaking to the local mountain bike tour operator I shelved my plans of continuing south and headed north east to the village of Maung Khua (100km of easy cycling following a downstream river). From here I could catch the river boat downstream to Muang Khiaw and then cycle on to Luang Phrabang. A very prudent decision as my alternative was a 50km climb through more mountain ranges and my legs said that the former option should take precedant this time.



Cycling into Luang Phrabang - "The Sleeping Beauty" and then down the main street it reminded me of cycling down Chapel Street Prahan. Cafe after cafe with sun umbrellas lining the streets shielding tourists from the heat of the afternoon sun whilst drinking soy lattes, eating western food and talking on their mobile phones. Luang Phrabang is another UNESCO world heritage listed site - a beautiful old town with streets lined with sweet smelling frangipanis and the brilliant colour of bourinvillas.

A couple of days to soak up the atmosphere and it was time to mentally attune to a few days of serious hill climbing before the terrain started to plateau off on the approaches to Vang Vieng. It was here that I was glad that I was cycling south. From the highest point of the range - 1750 metres above sea level it was a 35km descent to the base. In places the gradient was 10 percent where some serious braking was required. Not a pedal stroke in almost 2 hours as the road snaked down following the mountain ridges - just cramped hands and over heated brake pads.



With the serious mountains behind me I had an enjoyable 60km ride into Vang Vieng. You can always tell when you are approaching Vang Vieng by the sweet smell in the air - not from the frangipanis but from the readily available joints that many of the backpacker come to enjoy. From almost any cafe and bar you can buy happy shakes, happy pizza - in fact happy anything - just don't get caught by the local police who generally turn a blind eye but occasionally enforce the law. Sets you back several hundreds of dollars - now that's a lot of happy shakes. Apart from that, Vang Vieng is beautifully located on the banks of the Nam Song and provides a range of leisure activities ranging from caving, rock climbing, mountain biking, tubing, hiking and rafting. I made this my base for a week and chose to relax and just read a few books.



Next it was further south to the capital of Laos - Vientiane. The countryside that was flat, flat, flat. After five months of mountains it was most appreciated. My journey through northern Laos completed and thoroughly enjoyed it was time to find the Thai Embassy and get a visa before crossing the Friendship Bridge in Thailand.

DALI TO KUNMING

It's been a long time between entries but big brother closed the blog site down in China. Maybe the didn't like some of the comments that were being posted.


The leg from Dali to Kunming was a bit of a mix between the sweet smell of lush pine forestted peaks and deep valleys with villagers planting rice and a variety of green leafed crops to the heavily industrialized with a constant thundering of thousands of blue trucks laden with black coal, boulders used for ther ever present road works and bricks from the numerous kilns.

It was on this leg of my journey that a came across my first other touring cyclist in China. He was a Chinese cyclist endeavouring to cycle across China from east to west. Quite a challenge because he was hoping to cycle in high alps in the north west of Yunnan Province. I gather that is why he was so heavily laden with packs on his bike. Wit broken communication we excanged tales, took a few photos, said Zaijian and pedalled off in opposite directions.

The closer I got to Kkunming the more I realized that it was just another big city (over 1 million) so to escape the blue monsters I decided to make a right hand turn about 30km west of Kunming and head south to the rolling hills of the Yuangang rice terraces. A wise decision because this route took me through the picturesque Fuxian Lakes tourist region with its hot springs, waterfalls and the national parks of the Xiushan region.



Being a foreigner and then a cycling tourist as well makes you a very novel attraction in most cities, towns and vilages. Old people just look and stare with a blank expression and probably think - What the xxxx!!! Children just want to say "Hello, what is your name? My name is ---- Where do you come from?" Their limited rote vocabulary of Englilsh. Groups of teenage girls just want to say hello and then give a little giggle. - don't know what the giggle is all about.

AH1N1

Cycled into the town of Tonghai at the southern end of the Fuxian Lakes District. Found some accommodation, settled into my room and had a much needed shower. Was just about to crack a Dali long neck ( tastes like dog's xxxx) when there was a knock on the door upon which I was greeted by four very official looking people dressed in white gowns. Somebody must have informed the local hospitlal that an alien had landed and feared that he may have a fever, cough and aching joints and was a likely carrier of swine flu. One official produced a thermometer (don't know where he wanted to stick that) and another produced a whole ream of paperwork wanting to know my every movement for the last 2 months. After a two hour ordeal it was established that my temp was normal (under the armpit) and my whereabouts were verified via my passport I was given the all clear to crack that beer and have a much needed beer.

Yuanyang Rice Terraces

Deep in the south eastern region of the Yunnan Province these rice fields come with a very high recommendation as a must see. These beautifully sculptured rice fields spring to life at sunrise and sunset as the sun's rays glisten from the water filled terraces. It was here that you wished you had one of those expensive cameras with a foot long lens.



Shiping

Well I was lucky to stumble across this gem of a town Listed with a heritage tag, the "Old Town" has all of its original sturctures and cobblestone street charm minus the hordes of mini buses full of tourists of Dali and Lijiang. In the evening you can walk the narrow dimly lit alleys and be invited into family homes to taste bbq bean curd and tofu whilst watching family members playing cards.


Dragon Boat Festival

This traditional festival commences on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month of the chinese calendar and runs for four days (28th - 31st May) Whilst cycling through the towns of Yuanjiang-Majiang and Shiping each town put on colourful street parades and evenings of traditional dance. It is also time where people savour sonjie which is a triangular shaped desert wrapped in bambo leaves and filled with glutonous rice and a variety of sweeteners such as dates, banana, raisins and mango - yummy !!!