Done and dusted

Well we made it, five and a half weeks in Vietnam, cycling. We didn’t keep much of a diary, and avoided computers as much as possible, but we did take a lot of photos, and survived the cycling and carrying our gear just fine. I’ll post some diary notes and photo links shortly, and our route with notes of course.

One of the great things about the trip was throwing away the careful plans at the start due to the Bangkok airport troubles. We made it up a bit as we went along, and had a great time discovering and exploring. We certainly met more locals who were interested in the nutty foreigners who chose to ride when they obviously had enough dosh for buses and taxis.

We didn’t have any bike dramas- not even one flat tyre! And the nice men at Hotel Sophia in Ho Chi Minh kept our boxes for us to return to…
The only “problem” had, was that we only just started to get into our stride week 4… I felt we could have just kept going!

Highly recommended!

New Route..sort of.

ok…

Well well.

One week to go.

Plan now is:

Bangkok for 4 nights exploring the city and then flying directly to Ho Chi Minh City to do the first cycle of the Mekong Delta….we want to get to  Da Nang and Wue  and Na trang, but may catch a bus there and cycle when we are there. The trip seems very unplanned and illformed at the moment…at least the bikes are ready.

change of plan still waiting

Well, we have been trying to change our flight in to Ho Chi Minh for about a week now, no luck this far. Worst case is we fly to Bangkok and get a flight straight out to Ho Chi Minh. We are re-planning our cycling around the south of Vietnam- the Mekong Delta. 

Bangkok Airport opened yesterday, but the political situation won’t be any easier untill a new government is put in place that is at least acceptable to the PPP and PAD. Chances don’t seem good…hmmmm.

change of plan 1.

Well…the political situation in Thailand is pretty bad at the moment with the airports closed and people being shot … and could become more tense today when government supporters stage a mammoth rally in Bangkok as the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy protesters continue to hold hostage the city’s two airports.

With respect to the current political and civil situation in Thailand, we are reconsidering the trip plan.

Our new plan is to change our flights from Bangkok to Ho Chi MIn and catch an internal flight up to Hanoi and ride down the Vietnamese coast back to Ho Chi Min….more later.

Knee Savers are knee savers…

Yay! We are just back from a 35km training ride (short I know).. with absolutely no knee pain! Though there are a number of  bruises (hip and wrists) from an embarrassing non removal of feet from cleats incident (yes there were many witnesses and family watching a woman fall sideways onto the road without any obvious provocation….)

The trick to the more comfortable knee has been to:

• restrict the ride length to 35kms (not 50-100)
• adjust the distance between the feet with knee saver pedal extenders (added 2cm each side)
• wear good cycling shoes with carefully adjusted cleats
• adjust the seat fore/aft position and height
• rub arnica/emu oil liberally on the said knee.

knees no bees.

Ok. Sarah’s knee is not exactly behaving, over 50kms results in lateral ligament pain and swelling. Might be the new bike and slightly longer cranks. Knee exercises continue. Arnica liberally applied. New cleats and riding position to test. Spacers for Q measurement (distance between pedals). Fingers crossed.

Going places…

This is the little blog for Liz and Sarah’s SE asia cycling adventure part 1. In a moment of inspiration and consternation about travel destinations, Sarah decided it was both exciting and possible to plan a tour of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam by bicycle in 2 months.
Fitness? Bah, it’ll be okay she said. (Sarah has a bung knee from an encounter with a taxi cab which left yellow paint embedded in her jeans and a fractured lower vertebrae as well).
Cycling technique? Bah, it’ll be okay she said (Liz has only recently learnt to ride, though is now proficient in Sydney traffic!).
Training? Yes we are doing some.
Bicycles? Yes sorted!
Panniers etc? Yes sorted, thanks e-bay and Sarah’s stash from a previous life in the shed.
Itinerary? Mr Pumpy and an old dog-eared Lonely Planet Guide.
Air Tickets? Yes done!

The plan thus far:

Our optimistic and enthusiastic trip plan. The red lines are cycling, the blue flights. We fly into Bangkok, put our bikes together and head off for Chiang Mai for the first 800km leg.