In English the name is usually combined as one word, “Vietnam”, however this only became after the French colonised the country and is correctly written as “Viet Nam”, as used by the Vietnamese government, and the United Nations.  The country’s currency is the ‘Dong’ (₫), with approximately ₫33,000 equal to £1.
Motorbikes and mopeds are the most popular means of transportation, with a population of 90 million people there are (according to the Ministry of Transport) ~ 37 million registered motorbikes, compared to only 2 million cars.



The Nam Phao border crossing sits in relatively low-lying mountains and from the closeness of the South China Sea was producing low-lying drizzly clouds.  Approaching the border checkpoint I could see the Belgium cyclist whom had zipped passed me just before the Laos border checkpoint.  On the last few hundred meters of the Laos road he’d pretty much ignored me as he cycled past, maybe triumphant he’d over-taken me uphill - I found that strange as 99% of other cycle tourers always stop / slow down to exchange a few words, I guess he was the 1% - nevertheless whilst I was being stamped out of Laos I talked to him.  He was on a few weeks holiday therefore travelling ultra-light, hence managing the good pace at which he’d passed me by.  Saying he’d get his Viet Nam visa at their check-point I informed him [from what I’d Googled] that was not possible - visa research is essential when going from one country to another, some issue visas at the border whilst some don’t.  Had Mr. Belgium have taken 5 minutes on-line to check this fact he could have avoided toward the checkpoint official his outburst of foul language, child-like ‘thrown his dummy out the pram’ behaviour and having to cycle back 370 km to the Viet Nam embassy in Laos’ capital…he certainly wasn’t looking so triumphant now!

Delayed by Mr. Belgium, and my reluctance to pay the requested U.S. $1 entry stamp fee (on top of the embassy’s rather high $60 visa charge) dusk was well underway.  I’d been looking forward to the mountain descent but now with little light remaining would have to wait until the morning.  Finding a suitable spot to camp on a narrow twisty windy mountain descent proves difficult but luckily one of the hairpins bends I’d passed had a reasonable grass verge just big enough to set camp.

As I lay in my tent I could hear distant trucks labouring up the mountain, with the occasional squeal of brake’s as one descends,  some of them tooting their horn as they pass my headlight-illuminated roadside tent - at first amusing and welcomed, but later - on the post side of midnight -  no so!!
The following morning the abundance of mountainside greenery was covered in a blanket of mist along with grey clouds further up...and down!, fortunately the rain held off until I’d packed the tent away.  The route down was as twisty and windy as it gets, occasionally screeching to a stop for a few photographs.  My plan once down the mountain was to head south on the inland route following the mountain range, but that would soon change.  The rain continued throughout the day, making it rather cold and feeling slightly depressed I booked in a hotel for the first night. 
The second day looked much the same, grey clouds in every direction.  Vehicles kept tooting (blaring!) their horn’s as they passed, initially thinking they were saying hello I’d wave, but soon realise they were just making their presence known.  A few hours into the morning I stop under the shelter of a building in one of the many villages and upon finding it was actually a train station temptation got the better of me…or rather the rain did, and I’m soon on the platform with ticket in hand, deciding to head for the coast, hopefully away from the mountain clouds.

Arriving at the city of Dong Hoi showed little change in the weather. so finding a cheap room I amend my plans.  Other blogs I’d read said to avoid the main coastal road if possible, from experience I was aware they’re always the busiest of roads, checking the 5-day weather forecast revealed the entire country to be covered in clouds.  Contemplating taking the train all the way to Ho Chi Minh City, but feeling the tour had already taken seen too many forms of other transport than what [in my opinion] a bicycle tour should permit, so decide to take the following day off to ponder over matters… the following day regretting it as albeit cloudy gave no rain until 4pm, hopefully it was a sign of change.  Ho Chi Min City was about 1200 kilometres away so to simply jump on a train for such a long distance was a definite no no, planning ahead I contact a WarmShowers host in the city, proposing my arrival within ten days.

The main road out from Dong Hoi had extensive road-works underway with sections of new aggregate awaiting tarmac, diggers and road-rollers galore, then a kilometre of so of new road, then another section of aggregate.  From the overnight deluge of rain the road was covered in thin layer of mucky brown water, that, the above clouds threatening to rain at any moment and the persistent TOOOT TOOT TOOT from predominantly mopeds didn’t exactly make for an enjoyable ride, I consider these pesky vehicles the mosquito’s of the world of transport, extremely annoying and difficult to get rid of!
The third day I cross over a 300 metre pass within the Bach Ma National Park  (Vườn quốc gia Bạch Mã) strangely enough, descending down the southern side the weather was so different, being several degrees warmer and the clouds soon dispersing, lets hope the horns would do likewise, TOOOT TOOT TOOT.

Stopping to have a look at a Buddhist shrine I see something on the ‘offerings’ table, packets of U.S. dollars, they turn out to be fake and are quite common-place.  I found this to be extremely strange, firstly, I know it’s better to forgive and forget but to offer the currency of a foreign country that had - through its extreme paranoia and fear over the spread of Chinese communism - bombed the hell out of the country killing totally innocent Vietnamese people, seemed unbelievable.  Secondly money, surely the root of all evil that breeds greed and capitalism into a society must be the most offensive offering one can make to a god?  If the god had created the entire universe in the first place what need would be?

Unaware when the official Vietnamese wedding-season commences, almost daily I’d pass a marquee either being erected for a wedding, one in full swing - complete with music blaring, or one being packed down - with the surrounding ground smothered in a blanket of litter.  Here’s a newly married couple;

What better way to cool down and get a caffeine fix than with an iced-coffee, tea is also just as common, a traditional drink in much of South-East Asia.

I expect I’ve mentioned this before but I do miss having a good packet of crunchy biscuits, although the sesame seed snacks on the left were not crunchy were delicious, but unfortunately regional as the further south I headed availability appeared to dry-up!  The packet on the right was almost like a poppadom, but sweet.

On the fifth day I’d had enough of the TOOOT TOOT TOOT, heavy traffic, continual road-works, oncoming mopeds heading down the shoulder on my side, TOOOT TOOT TOOT so at the city of An Hon headed west for the mountains, toward the city of Pleiku. 

Here is a slideshow show of some of the people and sights I met along that section.


Unfortunately the road-works if anything got worse, but at least the scenery greatly improved and the skies stayed blue.  On Pleiku’s outskirts a moped rider befriended me and offered to join him and some friends for a coffee, the girl in the second-but-last photo?  Through China and south-east Asia, youngsters when smiling for the camera regularly display the piece sign, excellent for international relationships!...but many times unknowingly actually have their hand the wrong round, totally oblivious to what they’re really saying, ah it always made me chuckle!  Here’s the moped chap and myself.

Departing the city I was now back on a southerly route and planned to visit Da lat, an extremely scenic area that’s popular with tourists.  This route was wonderful, with scenery improving even more-so, revealing a side to Viet Nam that up to that point I’d only read about.

Nearing Da Lat I decided against going there as being approximately 20 kilometres against my westerly direction did not want to have to back-track again.  I’d finally enjoyed some wonderful views and partly not wanting to postpone the inevitable busy roads to Ho Chi Minh City ‘took the bull by the horns’.  A few days later I arrive there - formerly Saigon.  Having never toured with a phone of any type whatsoever there had been many occasions (more-so on this tour) where a smart-phone would have proved itself, being able to download city maps.  (I guess a smart-phone’s mapping feature is in essence an electronic map, unlike a Sat Nav that ‘tells’ you where to go, and that for me is, and will remain, a definite no no on subsequent tours).  Having asked about 15 people for directions I finally roll up to my Warmshowers host’s apartment.

Michel (pronounced as Michael) is from Belgium.  Initially stating he’d be away when I arrive I’m let in by the apartment’s security guard and arrives the following day, along with a new staff member he’d just employed.  James had actually grown up in a village on the outskirts of Aylesbury, and one that I’d occasionally cycle through whilst out training…in what a small world we live! 
On the weekend Michel invited me to join him and a few cycling friends on a ride.  Regularly cycling south of the city into the Mekong Delta - a vast maze of rivers, swamps, islands, interconnecting ferries, home to floating markets, pagodas and villages surrounded by rice paddies.  This was more of the hidden Vietnam I’d been searching for, so yet to be won-over by Vietnam was only one possible answer.  Riding slightly further than expected through the labyrinth of paddy-field routes and river crossings was well worth it.  Stopping in the town of Go Kong for food and beverages then headed back, all in cycling ~ 150km.  Here’s some of what was seen.

This was really nice, bamboo sticks filled with rice + coconut milk, also popular with black beans and certainly make for really convenient food to bicycle-tour with (although I was on a few days off).

The city centre had its fair share of grand buildings - both old new, decorated with L.E.D. illuminations and with the up-and-coming 40th anniversary end of the war celebrations (30th April 2015) had been decorated with additional night-time illuminations that made for some good photos.

Previously thinking of taking the shortest quickest route to following country’s border (Cambodia) the weekend’s ride had helped to polish my rather tarnished view of the country, so amend plans and decide to take the slightly longer way, perched on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand head for the furthest south-westerly Viet Namese / Cambodia border, crossing at the town of Ha Tien.  Departing the huge city, again, having to ask countless people for directions I’m soon reminded of the benefits that a smart-phone would yield, eventually giving-up on navigating the maze of streets of the chance of finding my pre-plotted route - a shame as my only option was to follow the busier roads that were shown on my paper maps, would that inevitably lead to the loss of my newly found feeling for the country?

Another moped rider befriends me, inviting me to join him for a coconut-milk drink, cheers!

I’d seen these on the weekend ride, incense sticks, ‘Did you know?’ The term actually refers to the material itself, not the actual aroma it produces as commonly thought, there's quite an interesting read about them here.

Managing to find a few river-routes kept me smiling, little traffic with occasional bridges and ferries made it most enjoyable.



Stopping at one of the café’s for an iced-coffee I help some youngsters with a few words in their English language book.

The last few miles proved even quieter.

One of the fishing ports, just a few miles from the border town. 

The town was relatively bigger than what I expected and had a fair share of westerners, soon finding a room for the night and a money-changer I was ready for the next country.  Until next time, TOOOOOOT TOOOOT TOOOOOOOOOT!!