The Wise Elder Speaks

Short Version:
Nene's Ma's take on the Vietnam cycle tour experience

Long Version:
An invite was issued from Nick and Nene to join them in their travels. “Do it” urge Robin (hubby) and
Susan (nicer and more agreeable daughter). “Wish we could take time off to go too”. So here I am in
great company, getting cycling fit and seeing many interesting things along the way – in Vietnam!

I did some training, even managed a few 45km - possibly 50km - rides, and here we are in the heat
negotiating main highways, back roads, even some off road, with some big hills thrown into the
mix. All of this is under good tuition and watchful eyes of my cycle savvy travel companions. I am
pleased that the route decision making is in the hands of the phone/GPS holder so I get to just follow
directions.

Today is the last day on the bike (sad face). Da Lat to Mui Ne, via Phan Thiet. “It’s downhill all the
way to the coast” Nick tells me. “Yeah, right!” I think to myself; our trip in the bus from Nha Trang
to Da Lat followed a ridge that was very undulating, why would this road be any different?

We knew it was going to be an epic day but we were hoping that the large sections of downhill
would make it doable. However, at the end of the day when Nick asks “Does anyone wish to
ride another 5km to make the 200km mark?” we are stunned that we have ridden that far but
emphatically shake our heads. It’s been almost 12 hours since we started and after all the downhill
had run out we rode through a section of desert where the afternoon heat was rising off the tarmac
in waves, then we ran into scooter mayhem - rush hour traffic in Phan Thiet - and I’m now focussed
on a shower and beer, not reaching the elusive two hundy!!

It was a great day of riding!

We started the day with a short little climb to get out of Da Lat city and then a 7km downhill
followed by - you guessed it - some undulating sections. The scenery was varied; big towns to small
villages, crops to forests, lush and tropical to dry and crisp. It was also a day of smells; intense
perfume of flowering coffee bushes; warm pine smell from the forest being baked in 30+ heat; the
toxic stink of smoke from a burning rubbish tip; and then later on when we first entered the desert
section the smell of burning wildfires…..“What was that?” Janine asks looking up into the parched
trees. My calm reply was “Oh, just the birds leaving the tree as the flames race up it” but I was
thinking to myself “Let’s keep cycling, fast!”

The undulating section cruised on and on until I realised we had reached a real hill, and not the
promised downhill. It was upwards for 400-450m in my post-trip map-based estimates. While
I did have to have one scenic stop halfway up the hill, I did ride the whole way up it. Thankfully
there was very little vehicle traffic, apart from an extra wide truck and trailer unit carrying a digger,
which needed the whole road to make it around the corners, leaving not much room for bikes with
panniers.

Then the downhill. “See you at the bottom,” Nene and Nick call out on their way past…………Oh no!
False call! More undulations! So we decide to have a well-deserved and much needed drink stop
before the real downhill started.

Nick and Nene descriptions of the downhill will no doubt be far more exciting than mine as I
followed along behind heating up my brake discs; I think I might have worn a groove in them, as I
tried to maintain control of my speed. I’m not into surprises at speed. 41km later and I can honestly
say I enjoyed it and would even love to do it again despite my aching hands from holding the brake
handles so tight, especially on the 10% gradient sections with switchback corners.

With the downhill done and dusted all that was between us and our beach side resort was the flat
hot plains. The sound of the chainsaw cicadas was intense as the heat. As we got nearer to Phan
Thiet the barren fields gave way to rice waving in the wind and plantations of dragon fruit.
The hardest part of the day were the last 5kms between Phan Thiet and Mui Ne as we climbed a tiny
ridge between them and rode past resort after resort, restaurant after restaurant and bar after bar
until we finally made it to our resort. What a day! We celebrated with a shower/swim, beers, food
and an early night.

Unfortunately this spelled the end of the cycling part of the trip. Bus transport is about to take
over and then air flights. I’m thinking that I will have to plan to do another cycle tour in the not too
distant future so that I have motivation to stay cycle fit!

Thanks Nick and Nene for inviting me to join an unforgettable and enjoyable journey and for making
me do those hill climbs - conquering those hills made the downhills extra sweet!

Diane