No safety or surprise, the end

Ha Tinh already really felt like the end through there was still another 360 km to Hanoi. The ride started

along the coast and very much reminded me of a day spent riding along the coast of southern Thailand only salt farms were replaced by rice paddies and there were far fewer people about.  The objective was to stay off the #1 as long as possible though with Hanoi drawing closer at every turn of the cranks we would eventually face it.  First though it was through Vinh and up to Cua Lo.



Arriving at Cua Lo felt like the first time we had properly been at the sea side since leaving Hua Hinh in Thailand weeks ago so after finding suitable accommodations at a place called the Green Hotel (for some reason it is painted blue) we hit the beach stalls in search of refreshment and a meal of squid and prawns.  Settling on one of the many stalls with no menus

we managed to place an order and get some drinks.  The meal arrived, we ate, we enjoyed, we tried to pay, and the trouble began.  Until this point we had been spoiled, no hassles, no sense of ever feeling cheated and no aggravation; time for a change.   The woman hastily scrawled our bill on a piece of paper and brought it over; apparently we owed 1 million dong (about 50 USD) - no chance!  Immediately we we shoved the paper back and refused to pay, the bill is changes to 850 thousand, better but still too much.  Our turn to throw out a number and I came back with 200 thousand (more in line with what we have been paying) and the Mexican stand off begins (yes I know this is Vietnam).  The woman has now stormed off, we have not paid and this small meal has a chance of turning ugly if we don't play our cards carefully.  The woman eventually comes back we stick 200 thousand in her and and start to walk off, she shoves the money at us and now we are afraid she may call the police, time for a new approach.   Gambling that the only other customer who is eating what we ate speaks English we ask what he is paying, he doesn't want to get involved and doesn't speak English  it is not looking good.  The arguments continue and we eventually pay 400 thousand; no one is happy, we feel cheated and the woman has lost face and missed her chance to really gouge the white people.  In the end we discover the 400 thousand was probably the "right" price but if she had just given us a bill for 500 thousand we probably would have paid and walked away with no arguments.

Doggy dinner truck (literally)

Out of Cua Lo it was off to highway #1. This is not a road for the timid, traffic goes all sorts of speeds, the horns never let up, and you will see every sort of vehicle and load.  As the buses wiz by its as though they are playing chicken with each other like in the film Red Heat.  On occasion it also means they are playing chicken with us on our bicycles, and yes we always swerved! though sometimes it felt as though there was almost no where to go.

The closer we got Hanoi the more of a circus freak Neil becomes for the passing people in passing vehicles. At just under 2 m tall he looks like a giant to many people and by the time we reached the outskirts of Hanoi almost everyone passing is taking his picture and trying to talk to him, his 20 mins or more like 100 km of fame I guess.

Arriving in Hanoi for me was bitter sweet, it is the end of what has been a fantastic journey.  Nearly 8000km in total over 3 months of cycling in 6 countries.  So much more to do and see but now it is time to go home.

Mekong to the Coast

The end of new years in Lao was quieter than the start but that was to be expected after 4 days of celebrating and a light but refreshing drizzle.  The plan like the route was a pretty simple one, start early and either find a guest house in Lao right near the border or cross in to Vietnam and ride until we found a guesthouse, worst case stick the tent up somewhere.  With all expectations that we would find something somewhere and that they would let me in to Vietnam with my now dodgy visa (water damage from Lao New  Year celebrations) we set out.

The ride started out like most, busy, uphill and slow; it is always slow coming out of towns.  Once over the hill and out of town though a transformation of the landscape started to take place, beyond the farms that intersected with the roads were beautiful mountains, much like those of Southern Thailand except here views are unobstructed, the roads quiet, and the scenery just goes on and on.  Even villages are infrequent on this stretch of road, and through a combination of choice and necessity we pushed our distances between drink stops up to 30 and 40 km, and these very rural stops only added to making this ride special.

At one stop we encountered some small children who loved to have their pictures taken and then see themselves on the camera screen; they also became the proud new owners of a squirt gun.  While having our final stop in Loas  we had to (the shop owner insisted) have a glass of beer (thankfully not the bottle with the green label - some sort of local poison I am sure) and have water pour down our backs. What more can you really ask for?

From our final bucket of water and New Years toast it was on and in this case up to the border.  I've have certainly done longer and steeper climbs but not many after 150 km and the road started to seem a bit endless and the afternoon sun was starting to tilt towards the horizon.  Final the exit check point and litmus test one for the once water logged passport and visa.  Not that the Laos border guards really should have cared, they could have sold me a re-entry visa but there was some serious scrutiny of my damaged paper work but after much humming and hawing I was given my exit stamp, I was no clear to enter 2 km of no-mans land.  To this point on the trip no-man's land had always been a few hundred meters and the next check point visible not so here, 2 km of the worst roads we had seen since before leaving Cambodia (clearly no one is willing to pay to maintain the infrastructure here) and we eventually reached an enormous immigration building that seemed oddly out of place.

With hope and a bit of trepidation I entered the building and Neil and I handed over our passports.  One look at my visa and its smudged stamp and illegible expiry date and the guard clearly wasn't happy.  The guard took my explanation and the added fact that it was one number of Neil's, issued at the same time and place and disappeared in to the back room.  Sit down have a snack and wait, and wait, and wait.  When he finally did come back at first it looked like now neither of us was going to get in, that would be really bad - the nearest guest house is probably 140km back in the direction from where we just came. Suddenly out came the stamp, click Neil had his stamp and his passport back, mine still lay on the desk being curiously examined. More discussion with a colleague. Finally he opens my passport flicks the pages and hovers with the stamp, then puts it back on the desk and flips back to my visa.  The guard must of repeated these actions 3 times, I would swear he was teasing me; suddenly the blissfully click-click-thud sound I am in!

Hastily documents are collected and we get out of there before anything else can be said; I'm not sure I could handle it if the guy suddenly had second thoughts.  Anyway we are now officially in Vietnam and only a few hundred meters down the road from the boarder and Neil and I both notice that a dramatic change has taken place; physically our surroundings have changed dramatically after crossing a little man made line on a map.  Suddenly we are being pelted with insects, the air is damp and cool, and the vegetation is completely different.  Crossing in to Vietnam here from Laos is physically probably the most drastic change I have had crossing a land border.

At this stage we have minimal water, a handful of biscuits to eat, and no idea how far it is to the first real town or possibly/hopefully a guest house and the sun is starting to set rapidly; we may be using that emergency tent stop, not ideal as I sent my Thermarest back to Canada in a box of extra stuff while in Malaysia.  As it is about to get dark Neil spots what could be a guest house and there are people and with nothing to lose we roll our bikes up to the small building.  The building we quickly figure out is a school not a guest house and the people speak no english or french.  Not deterred we start communicating with gestures that we are searching for a place to sleep and are quickly invited in.  A with no shirt (I think he is the head teacher) starts motioning for us to sit down.  They had just finished dinner and we can have the leftovers - a roof overhead for the night and a feed, result!

As we ate little thimbles appeared on the table and from the iced tea bottle come the smallest glass of water.  Thirsty and not thinking we quickly accepted and poured back the life giving juice and as you probably can guess it was not water.  Probably made from rice behind the school I think this was the teacher's special home brew - good for stripping paint and fueling camping stoves. The thimbles were steadily refilled until the bottle, thankfully small, was empty and with bellies fueled with food and warmed with liquor it was time to sleep in a class room floor under the watchful eyes of Grandfather Ho, before the teacher was able to force his wife or daughter or niece or whom ever she was upon one of us for the night.

The next day predictably started early and the only surprise was that as we prepared to set out at 0630 the children started arriving for school.  I am not sure at what time the school day ended but I do know you would have had a hard time getting me to school for 0630 as a small child never mind me getting myself there like these kids.

The remaining ride was mountainous (though in the good mostly downhill sort of way) and though different the landscapes remained stunning.  Through the mountains, up the Ho Chi Minh Trail and across to Ha Tinh. Armed with dollars with managed to barter for food, drink, and eventually find comfortable accommodations and an ATM in the big city.

That was possibly 2 of the best days of riding in 4 months.

"Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world"

Three days in Kampong Cham City recovering from bad water or food or both and it was time to hit the road again and head north, up the Mekong.   Eastward over the Mekong down state highway 7 for thirty eight uneventful kilometers, where we should turn north and start following the river to Laos.
The turn is where for me the days entertainment began and for Neil hassle and embarrassment.  We left the road and entered the forecourt of a crowded petrol station in a hopeful and futile search for refrigerated drinks, the stop looked very promising.   As I set my bike against a bench and headed inside there was a crash and rumble of voices, mostly angered Cambodian supplemented by genuine but unhappy "sorry! sorry! sorry!"  Neil had knocked over a cooking pot full of dumplings and the vendor was clearly furious and demanding payment of $10 - not an outrageous sum but probably double the actual selling price of the whole pot.  Safely uninvolved I admit that I did little to help Neil out of the ever growing crowd of women demanding money and young men standing back mimicking Neil's plights of apology, but what could I do.  After much bargaining a price of 7$ was agreed upon and I loaned Neil some of my small bills and we managed to depart with only slightly more grace than that with which we arrived. Onwards to Kratie 
Looking back to that junction my only real regret is that I was not sharp enough to pull out my phone and start videoing.

From the turn is probably the point at which the quality of the road started to seriously degrade.  No longer was the road nice sealed tarmac but it became a surface that is riddle with potholes or worse completely unsurfaced corrugated and dusty from kilometers on end.  From Kratie to Stung Treng was probably the worst stretch and having read Mr. Pumpy's 2001 description and know the road is so much better now I can only imagine what the journey would have been like 12 years ago, especially if it was wet.

In the end though it all proved to be a worthwhile journey and apart from the pot quite peaceful as Cambodia took on and especially rural feel as we headed to the boarder.   Unlike our departure from Thailand leaving Cambodia was easy and the only hassle obtaining our visa on arrival in Laos was the $2 stamp fee (on top of a $42 visa fee) that the border guard demanded to grant us entry.  Sometimes it is easier to just pay rather than argue.  An exiting Dane whom we met in no man's land had clearly tried to argue about the fee for his exit stamp but only succeeded in frustrating himself.

Arriving in Laos both Neil and I had expected more roads like those we had traveled on up from Kratie and we were pleasantly surprised to find Highway 13 to be in excellent condition with very little traffic.  30km from the border we reached the ferry for Don Khong and for a mere 5000 kip were motored across to the island where we found good accommodation a that had the added benefit of treating us to a magnificent sunrise over the Mekong.

From Khong, the road has been pretty straight forwards with 3 days of travel up to Savannakhet by way of Pakse.  Nearing Pakse at the days final drink stop we managed to have a top notch encounter with some local truck drivers who didnt seem to care too much that we still had 25km or so to go.   They quickly exchanged our iced teas for tumblers of beer and it became a competition (for them at least) to see who could get the most down the quickest.  It was quite a bit of fun and we managed to engineer an escape after about 30 minutes but that last bit of riding was more demanding than one would have hoped after already covering 100km.

The final day of riding marked the hottest temperatures we have seen and by great coincidence the start of Lao new year - which means everyone is out throwing water at each other, I cant think of a better way to beat the heat. 

The party ends today with the first day of the new year but it has been a wonderful 3 days.  

Sohkdee pbee mai

Khmer Country

What to say about Cambodia? Perhaps "hello!" sums it up. We considered trying to count how many times we heard this simple phrase but realised this to be a futile task when we got well in to double digits in mere seconds. The population here is just so young and the people incredibly friendly and full of smiles.

The people also seem to really like their pyjamas. It is hard to say if this is merely a reflection of poverty and clothing that is available or a bit of a fashion statement. Everywhere you go people are out I pyjamas, never bare threaded and old but new and brightly coloured and worn with pride. If TESCO ever manages to move in from neighbouring Thailand they will not be able to ban this fashion faux pas the way they did in England.

Crossing in to Poipet Cambodia and buying a visa on arrival proved to be easier than actually exiting from Thailand. Unusually we had only been given 14 day visa for Thailand (30 days is the norm) and had failed to notice. With the original plan of a quick in and out of Bangkok having turned in to 3 days we inadvertently tried to exit 2 days late - could our run of small misfortunes really be continuing? Actually no, the guy at the border gave us our exit stamps before he even noticed we were late and we quickly crossed in to Poipet Cambodia before much was said.

Poipet itself felt like a cowboy border town where like in much if Cambodia (as we soon discovered) there is little light after dark apart from mopeds driving up and down the streets. Given what the town and much of the country is today, it is hard to imagine what it was like even 10 years ago. The landscape is largely flat and the scenery dry (for the moment) rice paddies which makes the contrast with Angkor Wat ever more incredible.

 

 

Riding has been challenging with distances over 100km between accommodation the norm and proper cold drinks hard to find outside larger towns where there are usually refrigerated drinks available. Riding similar or longer in Thailand was much easier as most stops offered the luxury of cooling down in an air conditioned shop. Though not as effective I have taking to dunking myself under a bucket of well water where available. With air temperatures over 43deg though it only takes 20 min or so to fully dry off.

 

 

The last days have been hampered bout of food poisoning or bad water. We still managed to cover over 300km but it is not an experience I would care to repeat.

Onwards to Laos!

Thailand ups and downs but I miss it now

Hard to believe we crossed the boarder from Malaysia only 2 weeks ago as it feels as though we have been here much longer.
Entering Thailand near Satun was easy and we managed to find lodging, money, drink and food (in that order) only an hours ride in to the country. The hotel still remains the best overall accommodation and the second cheapest only 450 baht.

The first full day of riding in thailand started badly with multiple punctures and ever increasing temperatures, 52 deg Celsius in the late afternoon, though a light rain shower did offer up some relief.
Overall things went fairly smoothly from there with a rest day in Karbi, which failed to be too restful when we got ourselves locked out of our hotel for the night as we got carried away watching football and missed the hotel nightly lock up.
The situation was partly salvaged when we found a couple beds in an ultra cheap dorm room, though the rooms only occupant was probably not in agreement. The poor guy must of thought he had a result with a cheap dorm room all to himself, little did he know we would turn up at 0130 while he lay speard eagled and naked on top of his bed sheets. After all why would 2 people show up at that hour with no luggage and leave at 6 am?
A late start and out on the road again heading up the west coast where we eventually met up with Benji from Seattle who road with us for a few days.
Following the Thai/Burma border for a couple days we eventually road across to the east coast (width of Thailand now cycled) and eventually north to Bangkok. The coast here was amazing, quite tranquil and faith a greater proportion of Thai tourists.

On this section of the ride we met Stu and Charles from Calgary who were also headed for Bangkok and after passing them we thought we might not might again. On to the outskirts of Bangkok where we eventually found a hotel. Sitting outside some stalls having dinner (night had set in) we spotted 2 flustered cyclists. It turned out to be Stu & Charles. The told us they had sorted out a free place for the night so we agreed to meet in the morning. For the rest of the story you will have to read their blog
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuartcharles/1/1364661851/tpod.html
(The story to which I refer starts about the ninth paragraph)

Despite their troubled the day before Stu and Charles breezed in to Bangkok the next day will what felt like endless trouble began for Neil and I. Two flats and getting lost in the maze of Bangkok started if off and our troubles from there can be summed up in a dying smart phone, lost ATM card and a broken wheel. The broken wheel actually lead us to delay another day in Bangkok. What seemed like the only bit of good luck in this mega city was to find Bok Bok Bikes which had all the parts we were after and who were able to rebuild my wheel with a new rim in one day.

Out of Bangkok proved less eventful than arrival and was trouble free until the Cambodian boarder where upon exiting Thailand we discovered we had overstayed our welcome by 2 days. Luckily we were able to sneak through without much trouble.
Next stop Cambodia

Some photos attached and for a more in depth look see Neil's video.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=plcp&v=UzcaMuLzCaQp

Goodbye Malaysia

Seems like I have been here a long time but I guess 3 weeks off the bike can do that. Day one riding out of KL was hard and brought back memories of fighting the heat on day one in Morocco, you do adapt though.
So far the roads and drivers have been good (even KL) if not a bit dull with the landscape mainly palm plantation where jungle once stood. Accommodation and good food are always easy to find and this may be the easiest country in which I have ever cycled. Must come back and tour Borneo.
Including the boarder crossing which had been easier than any airport cycling in Thailand has been excellent, may the good fortunes continue.
Another 9 or 10 days to get to Bangkok