I loved today. We were leaving Dalat to head out of the mountain region to the coast. I knew it was going to be a really tough day because I’d read a blog from someone who did this same trip in November. He’d described a gruelling ride uphill for miles and miles. . We set off early at 7am, knowing we had a 100km to pedal.
We left lovely Dalat, first cycling round the lake as a sort of warm up. Then we did some quite comfortable ‘undulation’ as Chi calls it, but this time it really was undulating, there were downs as well as ups, for 15km. When we stopped at the coach for our usual refreshments – they really look after us on this trip with cold drinks, chocolate bars, cashew nuts and fresh fruit, each time we meet the coach, usually every 20 kms – Chi warned us that the next 5km was a very steep uphill climb. And it was. Dalat is at an altitude of 1500m. We had dropped to 1400m during the ‘undulation’ and had to rise to 1600m before starting the promised 10km descent. I was determined to do it, as I’d promised myself that I would only allow myself the pleasure of some downhill cycling if I made it up the mountain (notice change of name, but mountain it was!) without quitting and taking the coach. So up I went. And yes, I was last up, but I did it. Then began the 10km freewheel over a very potholed road, so loads of concentration, but no real effort, as it was quite a gentle descent. This was followed by a further 17km, very steep descent round hairpin bends. For the first time ever, I felt I was doing some real mountain biking. The views were amazing, although of course Sid had to be cameraman – I’ve given up trying to stop on the cycle rides to take photos as I need to put all my effort into not falling too far behind. I’m not sure at what altitude Comares (Jane and David’s village in Andalucia) is, but the views were as wide and open, the road at least as steep and winding, and it was wonderful. And when we next reached the bus, I was not even near the last of the group. Many had been stopping along the way, taking photos and views (as I had) and so it had spread out a bit. So now, we’re up to the bit that Chi describes as fairly flat. And it was. So it felt easy to just keep going. By the time we reached our lunch stop, we’d clocked up 70km. Yes, 70km before lunch (at around midday). And that’s 42 miles, in real money.
Chi then gave us the option of two routes – one for 30km direct to Nha Trang or another, where we would take the bus for around 30 minutes, visit his family in his home village, and then cycle the 30 km on a real back road to Nha Trang. Of course, we chose the latter, which allowed him to see his wife and one month old baby. They are staying with his in-laws while he is guiding this trip, and then they will return to their home in Saigon. And it was a lovely ride through tiny villages, where again, everyone came to the front of their house to wave and say hello, and giggle as we said Sinchow. They really are the loveliest people here. Always smiling, always friendly. And we drove through some really back-road villages, where carts were still pulled by oxen, cattle and hens lined the road (don’t worry, none of the hens sneezed!). Like most places, I guess, the cities and rural areas of Vietnam are vastly different. The cities have become commercial, bustling places whilst life in the villages still seems form a different age. And then finally, it was high-fives as we’d completed 103 kms – the most Sid or I have ever ridden in a day. And it felt great – that’s around 62 miles or the London to Brighton distance. Great achievement and no aches or pains tonight.
So here in Nha Trang now. Nha Trang is the premier seaside resort, very close to China Beach where the US had their airbase and used China beach for R & R. Tomorrow we will go on a boat trip and give the bikes a rest.
Tonight we had a wonderful, fish bar-b-q ‘at your table’ meal in a local restaurant and came back to the hotel where about 10 of us had a singalong with Norman who is brilliant on the guitar. Singing old Dylan, Paul Simon, Who and other folk songs with some drinks. Great fun. The camaraderie on this trip has been one of the real highlights that we weren’t expecting.
Wednesday 17th January 2007
Had a wonderful day (sorry about so many superlatives, but this IS the trip of a lifetime). We had a lie in – didn’t meet up till 8am, after breakfast, and the hotel (Golf 1) is very comfortable with a very large room. Though all the hotels have been absolutely fine. Then we set off from the hotel on the bikes, to do the first 30km around Dalat which has a huge lake right in the centre. It really is a beautiful city, (town by our standards, population c130,000) small, very wealthy by Vietnamese standards, and all the produce for the country is grown around here, because of its cooler climate. It is at an altitude of 1500 metres (ah, so that explains yesterday’s uphill cycling!). So we were cycling through the very pretty town, then out around the rural area with beautiful flower and produce fields all around us. The city was once called Le Petit Paris and is the most popular destination for Vietnamese tourists and particularly, honeymoons. The road was what Chi calls ‘undulating’. We have learned that that means hilly. But today’s cycling was really enjoyable because for every up (and there were quite a few), there was also a down. The final 15km was virtually all downhill and took us to one of the outlying ‘minority villages’. I managed to keep up (that means I wasn’t very far behind the others at all) for all of today’s cycling and thoroughly enjoyed it. Only 4 of our group chose to cycle back the 15km back up the mountain – the rest of us took the bus to lunch.
Not quite sure I’ve got the hang of what this ‘minority community’ is because it is of course, very different to what we call minorities. They are in fact Vietnamese hill villagers who speak a totally different dialect and work in the fields and in the village making the most beautiful handicrafts, mostly silk weaving into scarves, bed covers etc. There are apparently 54 such minority communities in the Vietnam hills. It was fascinating.
We were invited into the school to see the children in class and also into someone’s home in the village of the Koho tribe that we visited.
There are about 600 people in the community, which was set up by just one couple, probably a couple of hundred years ago. For the girl (their daughter) to find a husband, her parents had to give six water buffalo, one cow and one ‘chicken with nice spurs’ which I think means a cockerel. She couldn’t manage the cockerel and so died in the hills looking for it. How the rest of the community were procreated was then lost in the translation a bit. We have some brilliant photos which I will post, when Sid returns with the camera.
Not surprisingly, as we are staying at the Golf 1 hotel, Sid, Norman and Mark 1, have chosen to play a round of golf this afternoon, as I am writing this.
I’m off to use the internet room (no wifi here) now to post this and to write to mum who triumphantly sent me her first email yesterday. So pleased for her. She sounded very happy about it, so hope she’s now getting this blog.
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