Annaventure

Challenge4Ben - Cycling from Hue to Ho Chi Minh

Yes it's true, Daniel and I are undertaking a Challenge for Ben in March 2010. 

We are going to cycle from Hue to Ho Chi Minh which is about 1100 km. Having been inspired by Ben's life I have wanted to do something adventurous and memorable since I heard about Challenge4Ben. We start in March 2009 and are allowing 3-4 weeks for the ride. Eeek. I have probably not ridden for more than an hour since a cycling holiday when i was a wee lass and Daniel cycles to work every day but that takes about 3 minutes. This is going to be a genuine challenge, especially in the heat of Vietnam in March. We are undertaking this challenge as part of our round the world adventure which means training for it will be particularly hard but we are pretty determined so fingers crossed!

Challenge4Ben:

I used to sail at the Royal Channel Island's Yacht Club in Jersey with a great guy called Ben Poole. Sadly Ben died in July 2008 while on exercise to become a member of the UK Special Forces. His lovely parents Nick and Madeleine have established this charity to carry on Ben’s personal ethos of setting oneself demanding goals. Ben was a fun loving, determined and adventurous guy who I am proud to have known and I wish I could say i live my life as he did.  

We are undertaking this challenge to raise money for Help for Heroes and Brighter Futures. We would really appreciate your support and encouragement so please feel free to e-mail annaventure@live.com or leave a comment on the website.

If you want to sponsor Daniel and I, please

1. Click on the button below 

OR

2. Send a cheque payable to Anna and/or Daniel Corden c/o Dr Hughes, Ivy House Surgery, 27 The Parade, Jersey JE2 3QQ

Thank you for your support!!

Cycling Vietnam - the route

We start in Hue and travel down the coast to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) for Challenge4Ben (see post).

VWVagaonds.com have given us the following 1000 km route:

Hue - Lang Co (67 km)

Lang Co - Da Nang (42 km) 

Da Nang - Hoi An (31 km)

Hoi An - Tam Key (60 km)

Tam Key - Quang Ngai (60km)

Quang Ngai - Bong Son (92 km)

Bong Son - Quy Nhon (92 km)

Quy Nhon - Tuy Hoa (100 km)

Tuy Hoa - Van Gia (64 km)

Van Gia - Nha Trang (63 km)

Nha Trang - Da Lat (110 km)

Da Lat - Bao Lac (118 km)

Bao Lac - Dinh Quan (76 km)

Dinh Quan - Bien Hoa (89 km)

Bien Hoa - Ho Chi Minh (26 km)

Total = 1090 km

Top Gear did Vietnam. On motorbikes mind.

I have just watched the Top Gear special from December 2008 when they bought motorbikes and travelled from Ho Chi Minh to Hue (then up to Hanoi) on motorbikes and now i am even more nervous about how challenging our Challenge4Ben will be. We are heading in the other direction but those hills still look tough, and that rain..and those roads!! Pretty though

Check it out...

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Top-Gear-Vietnam-Special_208329.htm

Moving on

So it’s almost March, training is nearly over and it’s just about time for Vietnam. We are ready. We are ready as we will ever be anyway. We are comfortable doing 60 km rides, albeit we can’t prepare for cycling while loaded down with our belongings stuffed in bike panniers.

CHANGE OF ROUTE

We have been advised to change our route slightly but anticipate still doing around 1000km. We will probably now start in Da Nang rather than Hue. We have been advised by a few people we have met that the road between Hue and Da Nang is going to be almost impossible and seasoned cyclists who have cycled around Asia and Europe have advised that they had to push their bikes up the hill, at a pace of 2km an hour and that the distance and roads make this dangerous and to time consuming for us. If you have any questions about this, please e-mail either of us, although Daniel is in charge of technical stuff like which way to go.

SPONSOR US (PLEASE)

We have cycled around 700 km just in training though and I promise we are working hard. The trip to date has officially not been a holiday. It was 35 degrees in the shade yesterday when we did a 4 hour ride with the wind against us most of the way. On that note, for anyone who wants to sponsor us and hasn’t yet done so, please let us know so we can add up what we have raised even if you don’t send us any money until we have finished. Please e-mail me at annaventure@live.com to let me know what amount you want to give us and I will keep a record and ask for it later. We are fundraising for Brighter Futures and Help for Heroes. We are working really hard to raise money and to undertake this challenge of a life time for Challenge4Ben and all support is much appreciated.

NEXT FEW DAYS

We are heading to Bangkok on Tuesday so that Daniel can take his beloved Apple to the store to be mended. I haven’t been online much recently as he has not only stolen my Apple and broken it but now he needs my Samsung too. Mum, please don’t worry about the Red Shirts in Bangkok, I am sure it will be fine. We fly to Vietnam at 7 am on Wednesday when we set about getting our bikes and provisions. The bikes have to be sent ahead of us on a freight train so we will organise that and then have a night in Ha Long Bay which I am very excited about. Daniel just wants to start cycling but I am determined to fit Ha Long Bay in the schedule. Ideally our first day cycling will be on Monday 8 March when we cycle 32 km from Da Nang to Hoi An, one of the most beautiful stops on our route I hear. I only found out yesterday that there is surf all around Da Nang and Hoi An... I wonder if I’ll lose Daniel for a while?

RECENT ACTIVITY

Well we have continued cycling along every road in the area, accompanied by the occasional dog chase (the last dog that went for me was puppy sized and curly haired but I only heard it barking and running so I just legged it while Daniel laughed). Daniel says I could join the Olympic sprint team but they would have to set dogs on the competitors first.  The other day Daniel, who manages to retain his sense of humour even 3 hours in to a ride, started commentating on our ‘race’ to the finish. The last few hills at the end of our rides are usually accompanied by moans and groans from both of us but today Daniel was determined that I was “catching up on the inside” and “gaining ground with her sprinter thighs”. Weary as I was in the heat of the 1 O’Clock sun I decided that maybe I would “make a sneak attack” and so changing gears I started racing ahead, much to his surprise. I even threw his commentary off guard as he tried his best to catch up. Not a hope. I think that on day 33 I found my competitive streak.

We took the moped to Chao Lao the other day for dinner as Daniel was having cravings. Chao Lao is a beach about 10 kms away next to which are situated many resorts, businesses and restaurants. There is one cafe/restaurant run by an American/Thai guy. He has a big belly and he looks as though he was born in Thailand but raised in the USA. Daniel had been dreaming about a burger and chips since we passed this place on one of our rides. So the moped it was. It was a stunning 15 minute ride along all the same roads that we have cycled along on many, many occasions but in the evening, while the sun was setting and powered by petrol, it looked completely new. The red sun shone down on the shrimp farms providing a vista of red water surrounded by green banks of grass. Daniel wasn’t allowed to enjoy the view of course because he had to concentrate on the roads. Because the roads are being built some are gravel, others dirt and some have had one layer of tarmac laid which is bumpy and often covered in sticks to stop drivers ruining the newly laid road.  In the UK of course we wouldn’t be driving on roads in the process of being constructed. There would be barriers and warning signs for hundreds of metres diverting or slowing traffic. Not here, here there may be a few orange signs but generally the driver simply uses his common sense in overtaking the trucks and steam rollers. We arrived at the diner and Daniel ordered cheeseburger and fries with a diet coke; Daniel heaven. I ordered the pizza (the only item on the menu capable of being made vegetarian, i think he removed the pepperoni). My pizza was small but tasty. I had eaten about half when I noticed Daniel putting the last bite of his burger in his mouth, his fries long gone. “Do you want another?” I asked incredulously. “Yes” Daniel said. So he got another and enjoyed it just as much. Of course he felt awful the next day but I think it was worth it. The drive home was interesting. There are strip lights next to all the shrimp fields to keep the shrimp moving at night apparently. This made the very quiet area look like a big city lit up at night. Surreal. Daniel had to weave in and out of braches and partly laid roads on the way back. The light of the moped barely lit more than 2 metres ahead because there was a basket attached to the front of the bike and so this was brilliantly lit, I could see every join in its design, but not much else.

FAASAI

Bronwen, the owner of Faasai, has been an angel. She has shown us how to make an amazing herbal tea that I think is the reason I have started to finally shift a few pounds; she has lent me some superb Buddhist books and we have tried all sorts of foods we wouldn’t have had otherwise. We have said goodbye to her now as she has gone home to New Zealand for a holiday. Faasai has been a real find; perfect for what we needed (hence our staying for 6 weeks instead of 2). It has been a safe haven with little temptation, the lovely cook, cleaner and massage therapist Sula, good food, peace and quiet, bikes and some wonderful advice and help from Bronwen. I hope we will be able to come back one day.

FITNESS

I am delighted to report that I have finally started losing weight. Not enough to get excited about, all the same clothes still fit me and the smaller sized clothes I bought with me are still sitting comfortably in the wardrobe, but I am toning up and that’s fantastic. After many years of going to the gym and trying to avoid chocolate, if only I had known that all I needed to do was quit my job, leave Jersey, stop socialising, start doing 4 hours of exercise a day and eating nothing but rice and soup - I would have been skinny years ago!!

WRITING

I have finally started writing my book about this venture. It’s hard keeping up with annaventure, e-mails and writing but I have finally found time and inclination. Please say your prayers or cross your fingers or send me positive vibes to wish me good fortune in my writing endeavours. Then buy the book when it’s done J

Hanoi and Ha Long Bay

Firstly can Daniel and I say a HUGE thank you to the staff at Elegance Hotel 2 in Hanoi. They were out of this world helpful and we may well not now be in Da Nang with our bikes ready to start our cycle tomorrow if it weren't for them. THANK YOU!!

Hanoi was great, we loved it. I was nervous at first as we were collected from the airport by the hotel car and taken to the hotel through terrifyingly chaotic and loud traffic. The drivers here beep ALL the time. I had been told that beeping once meant move, twice meant move quickly and three times meant throw yourself into a ditch. It doesn't. You would never leave the ditch as everyone beeps constantly. Beeps mean "get out the way", "hi", "move", "i am bigger than you", "listen to my cool new horn", "i have a big...car". It is crazy. When walking along the street you simply have to have faith that the bikes and cars coming from behind you don't want to crash into you as it would cause them inconvenience. Beep beep beep. You never know if they are beeping you but generally no one moves when they are beeped anyway, or as i say, everyone would be in the ditch all the time.  It is standard on a 2 lane road to see 3 vehicles overtaking at the same time and narrowly missing the truck or bus coming in the other direction. This is normal. Routine. Constant. In fact on our way back from Ha Long Bay Daniel was getting annoyed with the driver because we were going slowly and he was not overtaking enough!

 

 

 

Hanoi is very pretty and the food i have had here has been some of the best i have had anywhere. This has taken me totally by surprise as i was only thinking about the cycling until we arrived. 

 

 The Hanoi Opera House in the French Quarter

  

We took a day trip to Ha Long Bay and met some great guys called Ben and Cheug. It was a hairy 3 hour mini bus ride there and back and the weather wasn't great but we had a wonderful time on the Red Dragon with Soio our tour guide.

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

Our watermelon boat

 
 

 

 

 

I definitely want to come back when it's sunnier. Highly recommend a trip.

Day 1: Da Nang to Hoi An

Da Nang to Hoi An. 

 
 

Weather forecast: 60% chance of rain. 18 degrees. Stormy. Windy.

Start time: 09.40

End time: 11.10

Distance today: 35 km

Total distance: 35 km

Road: Mostly very flat.

We set the bikes up this morning which took about 20 minutes. A few people stopped and watched us with the now familiar laughter in their eyes. Lots of locals ask where we are from and I just say Australia as it is easier after a while. Everyone we have met has been so friendly, i am loving it. An Australian guy who was working in Vietnam and staying at the hotel warned me that the roads were dangerous (like i hadn't noticed) and obviously wanted to tell me we were crazy but just said "those bus drivers are maniacs". In Thailand it's the truck drivers you have to watch out for. I am just going to look out for everyone I have it covered. 

 

 The BBC squirrel will be with us every rotation of the way.

 

I even have my own Vietnamese face mask. Don't i look fine.

After several deep breaths we set off.

The first road we were on ended in traffic lights and we had to make a left turn onto a large bridge. It is daunting setting off at these lights, even though we were at the front this time, because few people wait until the lights are green and most people going in the other direction continue even though their lights are red. I fell behind Daniel on the bridge, partly because i was looking at the view but mainly because Daniel overtook some schoolgirls riding in tandem on the bridge and i couldn't. I really couldn't, i wasn't just scared. It is hard staying together all the time on the busy roads and at intersections because if your timing is slightly different (and i am travelling behind Daniel most the time) then when you arrive somewhere things could look totally different. 

Once we reached the beach though we were sorted. The road was ride and new and very quiet. This is the tourist area, China Beach where the US soldiers went for R&R during the American/Vietnam war (it feels wrong calling it the Vietnam war when you are here as they call it the American war). There are mountains either side of the beach and it was pretty nice, despite the cloudy weather.

 

 

There were some huge hotel developments along the road but generally the first 50 minutes riding was a construction site. Hopefully we will come back at some point but it will be to a very different place. We continued along the same road most the way and it changed from building site to old houses and children coming out of school waving and calling out to us.

At the turning to Hoi AN we decided to take a slight de-tour and checked out the beach but it was just sooo windy and there was an official, or just a guy with eco tendencies, who wouldn't let us take the bikes on to the beach. 

 We turned back and stopped for more photos on a small bridge and my bike rolled away in the strong wind. 

 

We had to overtake a cow tethered to the side of the road then we found ourselves in a very pretty town, we were in Hoi An alive and after a really nice 1 and a half hour ride. I haven't stopped smiling since.

Hoi An is full of ancient buildings and is a protected UNESCO site and these buildings are rare in other parts of Vietnam. It is charming and pretty and I really like it.  If you visit Vietnam, i would highly recommend stopping here for a few days.

 

Part of the market. I wanted to get photos inside as it was just wonderful but i didn't risk it as i was bound to lose my concentration and fall into a pile of fresh vegetables.

We went to the post office and oh wow, it was the most gorgeous post office i have ever been to! It was almost all wood with carvings everywhere and old fashioned phone booths also wooden. 

 This was a map of the world behind the tills.

  

We had lunch at the Mermaid which we only realised afterwards was the first place recommended in the Lonely Planet guide we are carrying around. We also accidentally ordered a Hoi An speciality, white rose, which is shrimp encased in rice paper and steamed. We also realised for the umpteenth time that we rarely get what we think we ordered. I ordered a special pancake dish, thinking it would be like a vegetarian spring roll from the description and i got an omelet looking thing with meat and prawns.

 

Daniel is going to get lots of extra food this month as he has to eat half of what i order. It only costs about £1 a dish here and so we have been able to try a few extra things in the knowledge that we won't be finishing every dish.

We had a coffee at Banana Split cafe where they cook, book flights and they burn DVDs. I actually drank Daniel's coffee as he didn't like it. How funny, i hate coffee normally and that's the second cup i have had since being in Vietnam because even the coffee here is delicious. While we were there we were asked where we were from, as we so often are and then we were offered a taxi to the airport if we wanted. We explained we were cycling along the coast and i could see the other travellers' ears picking up, especially when the lady started laughing and saying she would never go so far on these roads, not even on a motorbike. I am loving the reaction we get. I cannot quite believe it is me doing this trip that everyone says is so dangerous. I said my prayers before we started this morning but actually you do get into the swing of things and i am not toooooo worried.

Rice paper rolls are awesome. Totally awesome. 

We walked around the village after dark when i hoped all the street lights would be turned on. There is a full moon festival here monthly and the streets are covered in decorations and lights hang from every available space but only about 1/4 of the lights were on as we have missed the festival by a few days (very sad for a fiary light lover like me). Still it was charming.

 We had dinner at Tam Tam cafe. Daniel tried the local speciality Cao Lao and loved it. It's a noddle, vegetable and pork dish and like most things here, very good (so he said anyway).

 

 

  

  

Day 2: Hoi An to Tam Ky

Hi everyone it's Dan here. We are in Tam Ky. We are safe and alive after our second day of cycling. I must say Tam Ky is the ugliest and soul sapping town I have been to for quite some time. No restaurants to go to.. tonight's dinner consists of popcorn and a baguette. First encounter with HWY 1 today from Hoi An and rather chaotic and hectic to say the least... about 1000 horns beeping for the 60 km's, however that was tempered slightly by the hundreds of school kids shouting hello and racing us on their bikes.

Danno

Weather. Windy. Not always in our favour as anticipated (grrr)

Distance. 61 km

Leaving Hoi An was stressful as expected but finding the right turnings was not easy. There just don’t seem to be road signs. We stopped to ask people 3 times but no one spoke much English. Daniel deals with this by repeating the sentence again and again then asking them some much more complex question that is something else we want to know but unrelated. Strangely he never gets much useful information this way. He asked for Highway 1 every time and of course they don’t call it that. I kept coming up behind him and asking for Tam Ky which seemed to do the trick and they started gesticulating with their hands. Daniel still didn’t trust the directions we were given, even when 3 people told us the same thing, as we could see Highway 1 going in one direction and everyone pointed the opposite way. Highway 1 was on a high pass over our road and it doesn’t join where it looks like it does on the maps so you just have to follow another road until they eventually link.

Both of us have one good pannier and one bad one. On the bad ones only one of the clamps that keeps the pannier fixed to the bike works properly. Daniel’s pannier started falling off while he was cycling and the bag on top was leaning over dangerously. Daniel had already been cycling pretty close to people when he was overtaking and eventually he did hit the basket of one of the many women we passed. I apologized as I sped past. We go a lot faster than the locals as our bikes have 30 more gears than theirs. We stopped and hooked the pannier back on without incident. Later on, about 30 minutes from Tam Ky mine half fell and hit my foot so I couldn’t cycle. The bolt had fallen off so it couldn’t be mended and Daniel had to strap my pannier on with zip ties.

We were greeted by school children all the way along, from young children to teens who almost always giggle when we shout hello back. Some guys on motorbikes slowed when they passed us and asked where we were going. It is quite tricky to navigate the roads and the traffic while holding on a conversation with someone driving a motorbike to your left, especially as they are generally being beeped from behind by larger vehicles.

We made it to Tam Ky just after 2pm because of the delays, detours and stops. Tam Ky greeted us as it has treated us, with contempt. We had to cross a narrow bridge where all the traffic in two directions merged so we just had to hope for the best. After that there were fairly substantial road works where the road did not work and we had to navigate the one lane pathway with several gigantic trucks all around us. Great, i thought, we are in Tam Ky, where’s the lovely hotel I have been looking forward to? The answer was - nowhere to be found. We couldn’t find the hotel we wanted to stay in that we had seen online so we ended up cycling along the whole stretch of Highway 1 that is in Tam Ky and turning back when we reached the end, sore bums and all.  The hotel we found on our return journey was called Dong A. Daniel of course found that very funny. I of course just wanted to stay somewhere nice i.e. not at a hotel called Dong A. The rooms were MASSIVE with incredibly tall celings. I can't really describe how big as you won't believe me but Daniel asked me if i would ballroom dance with him so that may give you an idea. It was only $20 but this was far too much for what we got, other than floorspace. The room felt dirty and I insisted we buy bug spray as i squashed two mosquitoes in the first 5 minutes and i wanted to spray the bed too. Daniel's left leg is covered in bites from bed bugs, yuck.  The bedroom window opened to the noise of Highway 1.

I didn’t like Tam Ky at all, it is ugly and noisy but without the advantages usually associated with big towns. I wish we had had the energy to carry on to the next town but we had started too late in the morning and had not had lunch or much to drink so we had to stop and it would have been too far to the next town. There are no restaurants, no bars, no cafes and only a few shops but none that sell very much other than bike tyres, mobile phones and kitchen equipment. We found some popcorn (which tasted rubbish) and a baguette and some avocado which we had for lunch and dinner.

The lady who helped bring our bags up to the room told me I was pretty. At least I think she did, she pointed at my face and smiled. I have had this quite a lot. It’s weird because a) I am nothing special b) I frequently look hot and tired and have weird hair with long bits sticking out all over and c) people who I am not even dealing with are telling me this, a lady in a book shop, the guy looking after our bikes while we have coffee, random people in the street...

I feel like I can judge the bikes after a riding a 60 km day. Obviously the panniers could have been better but the bikes have been great. The gel seat is so much better. Yes I had a sore bum to begin with but this went after a minute rather than the 10 minutes it used to take while training in Thailand. The gears work and there are lots and lots of them. The brakes work. This is a huge improvement. It feels strong and light and comfortable and if it weren’t for the traffic I think I would be enjoying the physical act of cycling. Time was going really quickly at first because we were so busy concentrating and everything was new.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Tam Ky to Quang Ngai

Weather. Mid twenties. Overcast. Not too much wind.

Distance. 63 km.

We were both very glad to say goodbye to Tam Ky this morning. We had been kept awake late into the night with all sorts of noises, mostly from within the hotel rather than the busy Highway 1 outside our window. I have read that some massage parlours/karaoke bars double as haunts for friendly ladies and i think we had found ourselves one of the more hospitable hotels in Tam Ky. The same noise levels woke us at about 5 am and i was pleased that we hadn't over tipped the lady carrying our bags the day before as i was sure i could hear her above everything else. 

 
I was sure there were bed bugs anyway despite spraying the sheets several times the night before so i got up and started packing.  Daniel was on ABC Victorian Country Radio at 6.40 am anyway and we wanted to leave straight after that. We got off at 7.10 am and the road was already busy and beeping. 

We didn't have anything for breakfast as there wasn't anything to have at the hotel or anywhere else we could see. We had a yoghurt drink in our packs for later but we just wanted to get the hell out of there. The road wasn't very pretty but it was still prettier than Tam Ky. After an hour we decided we needed a drink at least and stopped at a cafe saying Coffee on its sign. This was pretty much all they served so we had some coffee. Mine was ready to drink first and I drank it fairly happily thinking it was a tad strong but i am new at this coffee drinking malarky (this was only my third cup ever). Daniel sipped his and almost spat it out. "That is way too strong for me" he said and pushed it away. "You mean i am drinking this stuff as an amateur, i am going to be HIGH!".

 
We got a bread roll from across the road and this was filled with pureed something so i had a bite and handed it back. We are trying to eat healthily and lose weight but the lack of choice makes this a bit hard. 

We continued on and after about 10 minutes we heard a siren behind us. The trucks and buses and cars all have unusual sounding horns and some sound more like sirens than the ambulances we have seen. A few seconds after the siren though we saw a bright yellow bike with the Vietnamese flag fly past (a bit later we saw the same guy taking a leak at the side of the road). A few minutes later another passed, then another and a few police cars with their lights flashing. I suggested we stop so we could take photos of whatever celeb was going past. We pulled over joining many locals who were all doing the same thing. Shortly after a few cyclist shot past at speed (obviously they didn't have to carry their RTW luggage with them!) and many support vehicles with bikes and bike parts on their roofs. 

 
 It was quite cool but it was over quickly so we started cycling again. The next thing we knew we were cycling along side these guys (only very briefly obviously as they were going three times faster!)

 
  

 
We became a bit of an attraction ourselves. This guy was taking photos of us, the locals kept waving and clapping as we went by following the support teams. Some mimed to us to go faster and others even had enough English to tell us we were too slow.

 
Our view as we cycle. It was lovely when the racing bikes past as all the traffic stopped and it was just us and the other bikes. Then they caught up though!

 
We stopped at a train line to get some photos (on Daniel's camera so will add later) and these school kids stopped to watch us. There were only 2 at first then a few more, then we were the entertainment for the day. "hello" giggle giggle, "jow" giggle giggle, "bye" giggle giggle.

We arrived at Quang Ngai just before i insisted on stopping for a rest. I was shattered after 4 hours and not much food or sleep. The hotel we gratefully pulled up at knowing it had a swimming pool was full though. You should have seen my face, i was not happy. Luckily a guy who had walked up to look at us and our bikes spoke some English and recommended another hotel round the corner. Off we went and that's where we are now. Happily encased in a room with clean sheets, a big window and nice view and best of all, a towelling robe. I jumped up and down with joy when i saw it hanging there all fluffy and new in the wardrobe. 

I ordered sweet potato with garlic for lunch and received greens sauteed with garlic. I am not sure where i am going wrong.

I am starting to think i should get my hair cut professionally while we are here. The odd cut Daniel gave me seems to be getting worse. There are bits sticking out all over the place. Daniel says it looks cute. I think it needs a cut. 

Day 4: Quang Ngai to Sa Huyhn

Distance 71 km. Started at 9.30 am having had yet another inadequate breakfast and got in at 2.30 pm having had no lunch.

Weather. Hot with the wind against us.

Mood. Anna's baaaaaad! Daniel's "there's surf" i.e. very happy. 

Road. Ok but a few hills which were tough in the heat. We know that they are only baby ones compared to what is to come though so we were pretty happy to have some practice.

Ok so i am smiling here, this smile is for you guys reading. The sunglasses (which i dropped twice while riding and didn't bother to pick up the second time) are hiding the bitterness in my eyes.

A statue at our first stop. We had to put some sun cream on as i was already burning at 10.30 am. Watching us cream up were about 100 school children. It is lovely that everyone is so friendly but it is a bit much when you are having a bad day. I also couldn't help but question what they can possibly learn all day because we pass thousands of school children at all times of the day. They are never at school. Maybe they share schools and cycle from one to the other between lessons? They are going in both directions, looking very smart in their crisp white or blue shirts and fashionable face masks. Where are they going? Why are there soooo many of them?

Daniel's seat moved today while crossing one of the many bumpy bridges. The roads and the hard shoulder are pretty good but not perfect by any means. 

Our hotel, The Vinh. Supposedly the only one in town but we did see another after we had gratefully booked in. I have genuinely never been so happy to see a hotel in my life, and this was nothing special. There were several large moths in the room, one medium sized cockroach, many mosquitoes and a fly. Not for long though as we had bug spray (this is not the first time we have been staying in 1 star accommodation!). When we went to bed later we realised that the mosquito net was a bit small for the bed and we had to crawl under it army style to get in and out of bed. It was probably easier for a mosquito to get in and out than us.

The hotel backed onto a canal and the concrete bridge led directly to the litter covered but pretty beach. If our window had had glass in it we would have had a lovely view but it didn't, we either opened the blinds and let all the mosquitoes not already sharing our room in or we shut them and couldn't see a thing. 

 

Lunch. You can see in this picture my plain noodles which obviously were not served with octopus or prawns. 

Daniel went in to body surf before speaking to Sara Palmer on BBC Radio Jersey. He was very very happy. 

We made a friend. Daniel very nearly trod on this little thing but i saved him. He then stared at us for ages, as everyone in Vietnam does.

This is the reception area and manager's bedroom.

We went for a walk in the evening looking for sun cream (which i had managed to lose) and took a few pictures. Daniel had to point at the sky and rub himself as though putting cream on to convey suncream. The few shops in the area didn't sell much other than orange yoghurt drink and Pantene. 

 

While walking along we attracted the attention of a few school kids.

Hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello...

 

 

It was crazy. I wanted to post a postcard so i got it out and one of them pinched it and ran away with it and they all went after her all trying to read it. Eventually i got it back and Daniel waded through the crowd to the post box. I cannot imagine being famous. Seriously. They are so gorgeous though.

Day 5: Sa Huyhn to Phu Cat

Distance. 75 km

Weather. Hottest day so far and wind strong and against us which made for a very long ride.

View as we left Sa Huyhn

We left the hotel at 6.30 am. We planned to leave at 6 am and had set the alarm for 5.40 am but we lost the key to the room and Daniel's Leatherman tool (which we use as much as the bikes!) and it took us ages to find them again. We didn't get in to the hotel until 2pm and it was pretty hard going. We didn't have any breakfast at the hotel again (there wasn't any) but we hoped to stop at a cafe on the way and then again for lunch. Ha ha ha. I honestly thought when we started that i would have to use my willpower to refrain from enjoying the bakeries here (a legacy i was told from when the French were here). Other than small baguettes being sold at the side of the road, we haven't seen a bakery since Hoi An. The baguettes they sell here (and i don't mean to sound spoilt but i am from Jersey, an Island so close to France it is practically obligatory to have croissants once a week - at least i wish it were) do not taste good. They must be missing salt or something but they are pretty tasteless. Also, they only sell them with meat or other unidentifiable products. Daniel got us 2 baguettes and i had a few bites. We stopped a few times at shops hopefully asking if they had food or maybe a cold drink. Eventually we got some cold water and Daniel had an ice cream. I got one too but mine tasted really bad and i wasn't risking dodgy re-frozen cream. 

No food today and not much yesterday meant that i was not concentrating much (not good on these roads as i think i have said). In a 5 minute period i stopped to have a drink and dropped my bike from under me then when i set off again i got my iPod headphones tangled in my bike spokes and i heard Chris Moyles dying a death as the wire got torn apart. For safety reasons (mum this is mainly for you) i only have the headphones in one ear so I can still hear everything around me. There is no danger in any event that anything could drown out the noise of the beeping horns.

 

About 10 km before our hotel we stopped for a drink to get out of the sun. With much sign language we managed to get some Milo with water instead of milk, a red bull equivalent and some mango.

We almost had a crash today but only because i nearly hit Daniel when his pannier holder thingy broke and all his bags went flying off behind him. We pulled over in a fairly quiet area and immediately became the local entertainment for the day. Daniel was not in the mood for it and i had to soothe him to stop rude words escaping at the friendly locals. The bolts had broken and we didn't have anything to replace the bolts. We got some zip ties out and with an eager audience we started (ok Daniel started) repairing the bike. 

About 10 minutes later one of the locals found the right part and helped Daniel fix it on and we moved on.

 

I have to say that when my energy levels were particularly low today I was thinking that maybe i am not so keen on Vietnam after all. However, I am delighted, ecstatic, over the moon to tell you that we have just found some food at the hotel. Daniel managed to persuade them to open the cafe early and provide room service and we have just had rice, noodles and two vegetable dishes that were extremely healthy and extremely delicious. Daniel is in 7th heaven. Ah, life is good again.

Day 6: Phu Cat to Quy Nhon

Daniel has never been more eager to get anywhere. He almost sprinted off from the Anh Huy hotel despite the lack of breakfast because our trusty guidebook had told him there was an Australian bakery waiting for him in the seaside town of Quy Nhon. My internet connection and the laptop i am writing from are not working well enough to tell you how many things have not been what we expected over the last few days, but Daniel was super disappointed when we found that the Australian cafe was no longer in existence. Lonely Planet are fortunate that our internet died or there may have been cyberbuse.

We passed our first Cham tower.

 This ride included mostly quiet roads and lots of green fields. 

Quy Nhon was just what we wanted and needed. We checked in at the Saigon hotel, a four star establishment with great views, the most comfortable bed ever with pillows to match and a pool.

 

 
I was pretty happy to get to Quy Nhon myself as not having eaten before the 2 and a half hour ride i was pretty hungry. I didn't even want to head out in search of food so ate at the hotel cafe. Daniel wanted to go to Barbara's Kiwi Backpacker's but i couldn't make it even the 10 minutes down the road. In protest he only ordered a small fried egg sandwich so he could get a pancake or whatever later. I got a small pizza and was quite content but Daniel's small toastie (as depicted in the photo) was a french toast monster with a huge plate of fries. He managed most of it grumbling the whole time and then left me at the hotel to get a pancake afterwards. That was his first visit. After failing to find either the Vespa cafe or the eagerly anticipated Australian bakery, he returned there for late lunch and dinner.  

A fried egg sandwich in Vietnam

 Barbara's cafe became our local and we can highly recommend it (ok so Daniel was there more for the Vegemite sandwiches than the authentic decor)

Quy Nhon lit up at night and was really lovely. Daniel has most the photos on his camera, will post later.

Daniel loved this statue.

Will try to add more when i have time.

Day 8: Quy Nhon to Tuy Hoa

80 or 90 km today, Daniel needs to map my ride dot com to tell me.

The day started with the biggest hill we are likely to come across, the hill from the door of the posh resort to the road. Darn my good idea to treat ourselves last night! We had to walk up.

Actually the day started with me finding that my bike seat and make shift padding on my handle bars were soaking as there had been a storm in the night. I had also left my helmet outside so i carefully examined that for unfriendly creatures but it was fine so i put it on. I was immediately showered in rain water. My hair was drenched and my top soaked. I giggled. Another day on the road was beginning.

We were pretty happy that it was slightly cloudy and the wind was finally blowing in the right direction. The joy! The ride started with gorgeous views and many steep climbs which rewarded us with free wheeling fun on the way back down. 

 

 
 

 

Only 639 km to go!

We stopped after an hour because i needed to put my iPod on. When we stopped i noticed that Daniel's back tyre was flat. Shoot. Fortunately we were at a garage so we went to get the tyres blown up. It was definitely flat. Another very nice man who spoke no English helped us get it sorted and waving at the nice man we set off. Then Daniel's bags all fell off. Darn it. So he breathed very deeply and re-packed the bike. And we waved goodbye and set off but this time to calls of alarm from behind us. Daniel's tyre was flat again. The inner tube he had just put in must have had a puncture. More deep breathing. 

 

 

 
While he was repairing the tyre for a second time another man drove up and needed his truck tyre replacing.

 I love these trucks, they are so cool. Unless they are passing us in the wrong direction and practically blow us backwards. Or when they beep us to say hi but as they are right next to us and we jump out of our skin. We sign languaged happily away with the driver and he told me to sit in the shade with him which i duly did. I was already pink despite layers of factor 45 on. I tried to squat next to him as they all do but i couldn't manage it and kept falling either forwards or backwards much to his amusement. 

Another hour later we stopped at a cafe where a lady was holding her baby. We asked for water, orange and red bull with ice and she clearly didn't have anywhere to put her baby so i offered to hold the very gorgeous little thing.

It was going very well until I asked Daniel what i should sing. He suggested twinkle twinkle but as i got to little star the poor thing started crying. Eeek, where's the mum? Help. She came back with our drinks and i tried to say that all had been fine until just then...but of course her English wasn't quite up to that. I handed the baby back in exchange for cool drinks.

We made great progress after that and despite this being our longest day so far we feel pretty good. We have ended up staying in a really nice 5 star hotel totally by accident. It is only $69 instead of $169 for some unknown reason so yey us. All good here and only 60 km to do tomorrow.

Lots of love to all in our various homes, thanks so much to everyone reading the blog and sending us your comments which we really really love. xxxxxxxxx

Day 9: Tuy Hoa to Van Gia

We left our 5 star stopover after a somewhat strange breakfast where the tea and coffee were served like desert. We waved goodbye to the 9 doormen and receptionists who had come to see us off and tried not to think about the fact we were doing our biggest hill today in a force ridiculous wind. 100 metres down the road we stopped. Daniel’s gears weren’t working. We pulled over. Lots of people gathered around us and prodded our bikes and someone tried Daniel’s sunglasses on. Daniel seemed to get it fixed and off we went. No, we had to go back to the hotel. We waved hello to the familiar doormen looking out for new arrivals. Parking up a host of helpful and very sweet men came to see what was wrong. “Can I do anything?” I asked, hoping Daniel would say no. He said no. I sat and watched as everyone knelt and prodded and Daniel tried to stop them taking his tools away and playing with them. 

The pannier bracket had sheared off and the bit that was left was pressing on the gear mechanism. Not good as we had no replacement. Daniel zoomed off in a taxi leaving me with some drunk/stoned Vietnamese men who had just turned up and parked next to the bikes. They could barely stand. What they were doing at this 5 star hotel was beyond my imagination but they were probably too drunk to know where they were. I was mildly relieved to see Daniel come back and he got on and played around until he had sorted it. I would like to say at this point that I actually came up with the technical solution but obviously Daniel did ALL the work. No no, actually I held the bike up for a while. 

We didn’t end up leaving until (sob) 11.30 when it was already 35 degrees or hotter. The wind had picked up but was sort of heading in the right direction. Off we went. The road was fairly quiet and very straight for about 35 minutes then it started getting very pretty but distressingly mountainous. The problem with the beautiful mountains is that they are sometimes in your way. 

 

After an hour we stopped to get Red Bull. Daniel and I have quickly discovered its virtues. Just before we rounded a significant corner Daniel said “I think this is it baby, I love you no matter what” and he downed the can of Red Bull we had ‘for the road’. I was a bit concerned by this but carried on regardless, wishing I could drink and ride at the same time a bit more easily. It wasn’t actually the big hill but not long after we arrived at the base of a seemingly endless climb. A luscious steep vista where we could see large lorries crawling around at various levels as we looked up. 

I gulped. I couldn’t think about the lorries at the top. I just knew that later in the day I would be thinking how great I was because I had done it. That’s the great thing about having no choice whatsoever but to do something. You know that no matter how hard it is, you have to do it. Thank god for good bikes and repaired gears. We crawled up the steep climb trying to admire the view and keep an eye on what was coming up ahead. 

  

It must be a rare sight, two burned nose, brown kneed idiots cycling along this track. We were hooted and encouraged by waving arms and smiling faces all the way up. One of the truck drivers even took a photo of me with his mobile. When we got to the top we were elated. We stopped for a quick photo then free wheeled down the other side woo hooing and singing along to our respective iPods.

There were a few more hills to go but Daniel was firmly of the opinion that after that hill we could do anything. The next 20 k were beautiful, stunning, worth all the effort so far even. It reminded me so much of the unbeatable path from Ravello to Positano; glorious cliffs dropping down to the expanse of turquoise sea below. There were certainly no charming houses or celebrity restaurants here, the only dwellings here were blue tarpaulins flung over wooden frames, and I think they were permanent.

A long flat road brought us the last 25 km to Van Gia where we were breaking up the journey to the more Touristy Nha Trang. Daniel was looking forward to seeing the beach at Van Gia as the VW vagabonding website had said that the beach here was the nicest they had seen so far. I can’t convey the disappointment we felt when we saw the beach. It could only have been less attractive if you had thrown more rubbish on the sparse stretch of mud like sand we walked along. We didn’t stay long enough to check if there was a nicer stretch somewhere else as we were already surrounded by children asking where we lived and how old we were and where we were from etc. It was 4 pm at this stage and we had not yet eaten. 

 

We managed to get a few photos that were quite pretty though.

 

The beds were rock hard and we couldn't find much to eat but we were really looking forward to Nha Trang tomorrow.

No cycling today folks

For a host of reasons which i will explain below we took a taxi from Phan Rang to Mui Ne this morning and are staying here for a few days. The drive was really interesting as we haven't been anywhere to speak of by car for a while. I took the opportunity to make some notes and lots of photos to remind me what this unique country looks like because when we're on the bike it can be a bit tricky.

We left the hotel at 7.50 am and arrived at our hotel 11ish. We are staying at the Full Moon Hotel Mui Ne and it's pretty lovely but not too expensive, although we have definitely gone way over budget in Vietnam. Eeek. Daniel isn't feeling too good and this must be bad as he never shows it when he's in pain (unlike me of course). He has been so busy supporting me that i don't think he realised how much all this cycling has affected him. Almost since we got here he's had some kind of allergic reaction to something and this has caused a rash on his legs which looks pretty mean. Normally it goes from one day to the next but this time it seems here to stay and much worse than normal. He's taken some drugs but nothing has helped.  Also, there have been other reasons we need a rest that i don't need to publish on the internet!However, these issues were only minor in comparison with the logistical issues though. We couldn't find a hotel to break up the 140km ride from Phan Rang to Mui Ne meant that we had no choice but to get a taxi. We looked out for hotels the whole way and apart from a few at Ca Na which is only an hour away from Phan Rang there was nothing. We will try to make up the kilometres in the rest of the trip.

The taxi ride was definitely an experience and the whole journey we had to listen to random dance music and Vietnamese DVDs at full volume. They even had a karaoke version of "My lumps, my lumps, my lovely lady humps" or whatever the words are. Daniel still managed to listen to his iPod though!

We passed a crash about 15 minutes into the drive and of course we didn't just wait for the police to clear the roads we drove down the side of the bank and around the crash and carried on. Great.

 

We passed one pretty stretch at Ca Na.

After that the land became more and more dune like and bare pretty much until the red sands of Mui Ne appeared on the horizon.

Yes this is a photo of a wall of a house. Just one wall, no others. Not much to keep it up. Luckily it doesn't rain much but it can get pretty bloody windy!

The sand all around Mui Ne seemed to be red and there were amazing sand dunes all around. 

 

 

Coming into Mui Ne town. You have to pass through a rather hectic and narrow road before going through a quaint fishing village with a fleet of blue and red boats before hitting Mui Ne Beach on the South China Sea.

 Our hotel pool. Our room is literally just at the back of this photo.

Walking back from dinner. More noodles. 

 

Day 12: Mui Ne - Tan Nghia

65 km

We set off quite happily after several days off the bikes, heading to La Gi where we were planning to stay the night. Daniel had found a great little hotel and we thought we may stay there 2 nights before the final few days to Ho Chi Minh. Unfortunately things didn't really work out. To get the long version you will have to ask us over dinner and drinks or read the book i am trying to write as i have not yet had enough food or sleep to tell you about this eloquently and without swearing.

In the short version we left at 8 am and immediately felt awful. I turned purple with the heat which was annoying as i haven't been going so red recently being fitter and all. Daniel also found the first stretch tough as it consisted of hill after hill, not always followed by downhill. The traffic was horrendous, I don't know why but it was the worst we have experienced and I felt really vulnerable all day. When we got to a turn off we needed to take it wasn't there. We were told by some locals that we had missed the turning but the maps all told us differently and on top of that we hadn't seen a turning. We carried on and realised the locals did in fact know the area better than us and the cartographers. All 3 maps that Daniel has with us confirmed that the turning we needed would be AFTER this small town. We go through the town, no road.We continue along the road patiently waiting for the turning, no road. Daniel was not very happy, i would go so far as to say he was angry. There was some shouting and cursing. We refused to turn round so we just decided to continue toward Ho Chi Minh on Highway 1 and stop at the next hotel we found. We didn't find anywhere to stop for lunch as we had been hoping to get to La Gi and have a nice dinner there.

We were both hungry and thirsty and getting desperate when this weird man started sort of following us. He would ride just in front or behind us and look at us, but not say hello or be friendly like most people have been doing, he just kind of rode near us and watched us from the corner of his eye. We sped up, he sped up, we stopped, he stopped. The worst thing was that he had loads of piglets in a cage on the back of his motorbike and a cage of baby ducklings on the second cage above the piglets. I just didn't want to spend the next hour riding with this man. As we stopped again to try and lose the loser Daniel noticed a sign for a resort. We rode gratefully down this mud track and after some effort on our part we managed to get a room for the night. The name resort was not warranted, i can only say that i assume it was still in the process of being developed. We were in the middle of nowhere really, not even in a town and i honestly have no idea why anyone built this 'resort' where they did. There was no food to be had so Daniel asked the lady for a kettle and 10 minutes later 2 pint glasses full of hot water appeared. We had a packet of mushroom flavoured noodles with us and we shared that between us. 

We didn't have any dinner and knew we wouldn't get any breakfast the next day so we felt very virtuous but neither of us slept a wink in this very strange place. My bike fell over in the middle of the night and made us jump out of our silk sleeping bag liners. Perfect end to the perfect day. 

Day 13: Tan Nghia – Long Khanh

75 km (plus 5 around Long Khanh)

We left Tan Nghia, never one of our planned stops, at 6.05 am and arrived in Long Khanh at 11 am. We then cycled around the city for an hour looking for somewhere to stay. Several people told us there were no hotels we we decided to push on to the next town, Bien Hoa, but just as we started off on Highway 1 Daniel spotted a hotel, basic but better than last night and we were quite relieved as it's getting hotter by the day and both of us are in a fair bit of pain still.

It was lovely leaving so early as we saw the red sun in the sky and the landscape glowed red. 

 

 

The school children were of course up and about but they hadn't quite woken up and shyly looked at us rather than yelling and waving. 

I had a terrible day yesterday as my hands and wrists are so painful i keep complaining that i must have a stress fracture whatever that is. Daniel's also very sore but in a place i am not allowed to talk about. (Dan here world... my arse is super duper sore...I'd make inappropriate jokes now...but Anna is watching...) We didn't have any breakfast before we left and didn't stop for anything to eat until 8.45 am. Daniel had a plain baguette roll but i didn't fancy it and because we hadn't had dinner the night before i didn't feel hungry, my tummy is strange like that.

After an hour riding Daniel received a call on his mobile and was interviewed by ABC radio in Victoria, Australia. He dumped his bike with me at a really busy junction, resting his bike against a large concrete pipe ready to be lowered into the ground by a gigantic orange machine which was parked to my right. Daniel needed to get away from the noisy road so he walked off and left me, holding one hand over his free ear as he disappeared into the distance. I was left smiling at the many many children, men, workers and shop owners who passed me on their bikes or surrounded me as i stood there hoping this wasn't going to be a long interview. The big orange truck started its engine and the building site seemed to wake up for work, it was only 7 am at this point. I nervously considered how, with 20 people all watching me, i was going to pick up Daniel's bike while still straddling mine and move out of the way of the big digger...fortunately the workers were too busy staring at me and smiling to do much work so Daniel returned to save me just in time. 

The road was so much quieter today and we have started thinking that maybe we could cycle in to Ho Chi Minh. We want to make up as many kilometres as we can having needed a taxi to get us to Mui Ne. Daniel reckons we should cycle all the way to Saigon tomorrow to avoid another night at a not so luxurious hotel. I would prefer to stay in Bien Hoa tomorrow and get up really early on Sunday when it's quiet and cycle to Ho Chi Minh then. We'll see how we feel. Daniel will be taking pain killers to get him through the ride tomorrow as it is so he may feel differently when we get to the next town.

I haven't taken many photos over the last few days but i wanted to show you all the lovely art work on the wall in our hotel to give you a flavour of the kind of joint we are in.

 

Thanks so much to Daniel's dad John who has been helping us find somewhere to stay in Ho Chi Minh as we have been without internet access. This is great for me as i have written loads of my book but Daniel gets very sad without his hotmail/the age/bbc/news etc fix.

Day 14: Long Khanh to Ho Chi Minh City

We took this at 6am just before we left for our last day.

I look far too eager!

Our day started with a broken pannier bracket which meant we didn't leave til 6.05 am, also known as the weirdest rush hour traffic in the world - only in Vietnam would the roads be so bad at this time on a Saturday. It felt like rush hour the entire morning, getting steadily worse as we approached and entered Ho Chi Minh. 

It was quite foggy to start with and later on the white mist turned to brown smog and black smoke.

 

I took this early morning and would like you to note that i risked life and limb to take this shot while riding. It's always a bit touch and go when i take one hand off the handle bars.

 

By the way the traffic was far worse than these shots show, we just couldn't stop or take photos when it was manic i.e. most the morning.

The 50 km marker. Wooooo hooooo.

 

We stopped to have a drink at the side of the road here and to check the map. This was the first of many interesting roundabouts. Daniel kept shouting at me to stay behind the truck as we went round then started to panic that i was going to follow the truck down the wrong exit but luckily i had seen the sign saying straight on so when i lost Daniel it wasn't a problem.

The trick with the traffic is to pick your line and go for it, and have eyes in the back of your head of course.

I think we passed a fun park and the big head in the photo was a ride, otherwise i have no idea what was going on. I know that the roadworks and the intersections and the bus stops in the bike lane made the roads interesting to ride along.

  
 

I am so proud that we cycled all the way through the city to our hotel. It was just brilliant when Daniel told me to look up and i saw we had finally reached our last hotel in Vietnam. We had booked The Windsor Plaza, a 5 star hotel in District 5, Ho Chi Minh as Daniel had found a good deal and it had a pool and gym so we could keep up the fitness programme. 

When we arrived either the doormen had never seen anyone arrive on bikes before or the sight of us, hot and panting from the 5 hour ride, because they wouldn't let us up the drive to the hotel!!

I don't think they believed we could be staying at the hotel as we said we had a reservation and it didn't help. We were told to go with our bikes to the garage below but when we tried to park our bikes there so we could unpack the panniers etc before checking in the guy down below wouldn't let us without paying. Daniel was really getting mad now, we were tired and hungry from 3 days and 2 nights with little food or sleep and I suggested that i look after the bikes while he went and sorted things out. 

Daniel had some trouble at first getting up to reception but once he did the staff were exceptionally lovely and apologetic. They upgraded us to an executive suite which has a balcony and loads of cool stuff in the room and in the exec lounge and they gave us a free massage each. They have been super lovely and even Daniel is appeased.

 

Having two rooms, each with its own 50+ inch TV means that after 2 months in each others pockets we can finally get a break from each other! Not that we need one. It's all good. 

THANK YOU so much to everyone who has sponsored us and supported us with e-mails and comments on annaventure. It has been an amazing few weeks and I hope Ben Poole would be proud of me undertaking something i would never have dreamed I could do. He really has inspired me and i want to say a huge thanks to Nick and Madeline Poole for their support throughout. 

So that's The Challenge done.

14 days riding

915 kms

3 punctured tires

5 pannier bracket meltdowns

47 near death experiences

Awesome.

So if you haven't already and feel like you may want to... please sponsor us for this challenge as we are raising money for the Help for Heroes and Brighter Futures Charities through Challenge4Ben.

You can email either of us at

annaventure@live.com 

danielcorden@hotmail.com

Thanks and stay in touch.