Vietnam Xmas 2024
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richie
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OK, sorry maybe I am a bit too early in the year for my predictions, by the time I might get there it will be cold and damp, winter is short in north Vietnam, maybe.
Absolutely stunning, they are my kind of roads, I love the twists and turns, mountains are magical places. Thanks for sharing. Ride safe and enjoy.
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What a day.
A little over 200kms again today and six and a half hours riding.
Light cloud high up in the sky as I left and quite mild.
I started off on the reverse route of what I did yesterday. Mostly main highway for about 50 Kms or so. Brisk riding for over here, cruising along at about 70-80 Kph.
Mostly pretty good roads.
Throw in a few passes and some lovely scenery along the way and the odd bit of roadworks as usual.
I came across a massive market in the middle of the only large town I passed through today.
Incredible.
I then plotted a route that was a bit longer than Google decided was the better route,
110 kms to go and a time of 3hrs 45 mins.
Off we go. It started out reasonably with what I expected very twisty again up into the mountains.
Then I started hitting the roadworks. A couple of Kms at a time. Mostly a lot of gravel and dodgy surface. Many landslides too that had taken out parts of the road, they must have had a monumental task clearing all of those a couple of months ago ,
I had heard of the torrential rain they had had and some of the problems they had up here. But to see how many landslides there have been over my last week of travelling has been quite an eye opener. Many roads must have been totally shut until they could clear all the mud and rocks. In one village there was a tipper up past it's axels stuck in mud where they were dumping loads of soil. Even that caterpillar couldn't push it out.
The roadworks got even more extreme, the roads totally dug up in places and I travelled on between 20-30 KPH where I could manage it. It probably went on for 50-60 Kms along this one part of the route all along mountain passes through thick jungle lined roads. It probably took 3 hours to do this section.
Some great views though of the mountains and valleys. More terraced rice fields and farmland in some of the massive valleys down below.
It was dry at least so although extremely dusty it wasn't too slippery.
Google was trying to take me down some tiny tracks to my destination. I ignored some as they looked quite dodgy and took one in the end which was a narrow concrete road cutting across to the road I needed to be on, this one wasn't too bad.
Then next road was again through thick jungle lined tarmac, mostly
When I got to a point I knew I needed to cross to get to where I wanted to stay there was a new bridge being built. Bugger I couldn't go that way.
I saw a young girl come up from a dirt path on the right of it and she waved in that direction and pointed across. I thought ah! There must be a way across.
I rode down the steep mud path and at the bottom of it were 2 guys and a lady with a home made bamboo raft that they were punting across with bikes on it.
There was also a bamboo bridge for pedestrians. I think I'd rather swim than use that.
Anyway I paid the girl my 30,000 dong for the crossing and carefully rode into the raft. Left the bike in gear and spread my legs as wide as was possible and braced myself.
Actually it wasn't too bad. I rode off the other side and up the mud bank and carried on to find a homestay for the night .
The first couple I tried to get too were also along another rough dug up road as another new bridge was being built. I had to turn around after 2 Kms of this as the path had a stretch of newly laid concrete. No way through this way.
I backed up a few Kms and found a homestay down by the lake. That'll do. And it has a wonderful view from my room of the lake. Sorted. Phew
A little over 200kms again today and six and a half hours riding.
Light cloud high up in the sky as I left and quite mild.
I started off on the reverse route of what I did yesterday. Mostly main highway for about 50 Kms or so. Brisk riding for over here, cruising along at about 70-80 Kph.
Mostly pretty good roads.
Throw in a few passes and some lovely scenery along the way and the odd bit of roadworks as usual.
I came across a massive market in the middle of the only large town I passed through today.
Incredible.
I then plotted a route that was a bit longer than Google decided was the better route,
110 kms to go and a time of 3hrs 45 mins.
Off we go. It started out reasonably with what I expected very twisty again up into the mountains.
Then I started hitting the roadworks. A couple of Kms at a time. Mostly a lot of gravel and dodgy surface. Many landslides too that had taken out parts of the road, they must have had a monumental task clearing all of those a couple of months ago ,
I had heard of the torrential rain they had had and some of the problems they had up here. But to see how many landslides there have been over my last week of travelling has been quite an eye opener. Many roads must have been totally shut until they could clear all the mud and rocks. In one village there was a tipper up past it's axels stuck in mud where they were dumping loads of soil. Even that caterpillar couldn't push it out.
The roadworks got even more extreme, the roads totally dug up in places and I travelled on between 20-30 KPH where I could manage it. It probably went on for 50-60 Kms along this one part of the route all along mountain passes through thick jungle lined roads. It probably took 3 hours to do this section.
Some great views though of the mountains and valleys. More terraced rice fields and farmland in some of the massive valleys down below.
It was dry at least so although extremely dusty it wasn't too slippery.
Google was trying to take me down some tiny tracks to my destination. I ignored some as they looked quite dodgy and took one in the end which was a narrow concrete road cutting across to the road I needed to be on, this one wasn't too bad.
Then next road was again through thick jungle lined tarmac, mostly
When I got to a point I knew I needed to cross to get to where I wanted to stay there was a new bridge being built. Bugger I couldn't go that way.
I saw a young girl come up from a dirt path on the right of it and she waved in that direction and pointed across. I thought ah! There must be a way across.
I rode down the steep mud path and at the bottom of it were 2 guys and a lady with a home made bamboo raft that they were punting across with bikes on it.
There was also a bamboo bridge for pedestrians. I think I'd rather swim than use that.
Anyway I paid the girl my 30,000 dong for the crossing and carefully rode into the raft. Left the bike in gear and spread my legs as wide as was possible and braced myself.
Actually it wasn't too bad. I rode off the other side and up the mud bank and carried on to find a homestay for the night .
The first couple I tried to get too were also along another rough dug up road as another new bridge was being built. I had to turn around after 2 Kms of this as the path had a stretch of newly laid concrete. No way through this way.
I backed up a few Kms and found a homestay down by the lake. That'll do. And it has a wonderful view from my room of the lake. Sorted. Phew
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Day 10 on the road today.
240kms today. 6 1/2 hours riding again.
The sun came out by 10am and it stayed lovely all day.
I picked a mixed route again today. Some main roads but mostly twisty back roads, which I prefer even though you're lucky to average 40kmh on them.
It was a pleasant ride with the usual roadworks and rough bits of road along with some fairly good bits here and there.
Plenty of landslides still all the way along the route. Lots are cleared now but many have just had some of the rock and mud cleared to open a single lane to get through. In the UK this would entail either a road closure or traffic lights because we can't be trusted to sort it ourselves, over here it's just left up to people to manage.
Though the amount of traffic is fairly small.
The massive cyclone that hit this area in September really did cause a huge amount of damage.
One lot of roadworks on a narrow road I even rode through while they were all working with rollers etc. cars and lorries had to wait as there wasn't room.
The route I took was actually very nice in the middle section, the road gradually got higher and higher over a lovely pass with the usual astonishing views of the valleys below.
There were many small villages along the route even though this area was very isolated.
More fantastic roads along which there were many places with sheets of wood all along the road again drying in the sun. They do process a lot of timber up here.
A lot of tarpaulins laid out along the road drying out corn and rice all over the place as usual everywhere it seems, they even lay them out on the tarmac on major roads.
It does amuse me when you see a sign saying curvy roads ahead for 3-400 metres. Just about 95% of the roads are curvy, no Roman infrastructure over in this part of the world.
There have been a fair few forest fires along close to the road on some of the mountain roads too. Most didn't seem to spread too far. I've found a very nice hotel for the night, once again a rip off price of about £9.00. No food here tonight so I'll go for a wander later.
Note to oneself .
Don't put a bottle of water in the topbox where it can bounce around and rupture then soaking everything in said topbox including my spare gloves. Luckily my trainers were on top of the waterproofs and other stuff and didn't get soaked.
240kms today. 6 1/2 hours riding again.
The sun came out by 10am and it stayed lovely all day.
I picked a mixed route again today. Some main roads but mostly twisty back roads, which I prefer even though you're lucky to average 40kmh on them.
It was a pleasant ride with the usual roadworks and rough bits of road along with some fairly good bits here and there.
Plenty of landslides still all the way along the route. Lots are cleared now but many have just had some of the rock and mud cleared to open a single lane to get through. In the UK this would entail either a road closure or traffic lights because we can't be trusted to sort it ourselves, over here it's just left up to people to manage.
Though the amount of traffic is fairly small.
The massive cyclone that hit this area in September really did cause a huge amount of damage.
One lot of roadworks on a narrow road I even rode through while they were all working with rollers etc. cars and lorries had to wait as there wasn't room.
The route I took was actually very nice in the middle section, the road gradually got higher and higher over a lovely pass with the usual astonishing views of the valleys below.
There were many small villages along the route even though this area was very isolated.
More fantastic roads along which there were many places with sheets of wood all along the road again drying in the sun. They do process a lot of timber up here.
A lot of tarpaulins laid out along the road drying out corn and rice all over the place as usual everywhere it seems, they even lay them out on the tarmac on major roads.
It does amuse me when you see a sign saying curvy roads ahead for 3-400 metres. Just about 95% of the roads are curvy, no Roman infrastructure over in this part of the world.
There have been a fair few forest fires along close to the road on some of the mountain roads too. Most didn't seem to spread too far. I've found a very nice hotel for the night, once again a rip off price of about £9.00.
No food here tonight so I'll go for a wander later. Note to oneself .
Don't put a bottle of water in the topbox where it can bounce around and rupture then soaking everything in said topbox including my spare gloves. Luckily my trainers were on top of the waterproofs and other stuff and didn't get soaked.
An incredible trip so far. Thank you very much for posting. 
Absolutely brilliant 
210 or so Kms today.
About 6.1/2 hours on the road again too.
It was sunny first thing, but as I headed off it clouded over a bit with some pretty dark clouds looming from the north. As I progressed east though they did disperse and the sun stayed out. The first part of the route was main highway and a bit of Vietnamese progress was made, in other words I did get up to 60-75 Kph in places. Along this route there were also a couple of massive industrial areas processing the limestone and other stuff. Many many big trucks and cement mixer lorries, the whole of the area there was covered in a layer of thick white dust. Not mentioning the amount being kicked up by all the trucks.
Unfortunately the route I needed to take took in "Asia Highway one".
More and more big trucks and lots of traffic. Crazy overtaking manoeuvres abound. There were many ladies at the side of this massive road selling stuff. What a way to earn a living amongst the noise, dust and pollution. A hard life. I pushed on anyway because there was a place I wanted to see out this way or I wouldn't have got onto this road.
There are major roadworks too all the way down on the next road where they are widening it to make a new highway/motorway. More dust and rough roads. At one point all the traffic was on the left side of the huge dual carriageway, no contraflow or any kind of markings, a total free for all. It was crazy.
I finally turned off and headed up onto a mountain road. It became very alpine looking with many pine trees etc, a big change from the usual jungle. More roadworks in a couple of places and a couple where you had to wait until a lorry was loaded with rubble before they let people through. There was a guy in front of me with two piggies in the baskets on the side of his bike.
The road went higher and higher until I eventually arrived at the top of the mountain. It's only 1,2 Kms or just under 4,000 feet above sea level but as the valley was so deep it seemed higher.
Absolutely stunning panoramic views in every direction. What a beautiful place. I stayed up there for sometime just enjoying the view. It was still very misty so the photos don't really show how it looked in person.
There are the ruins of an old french fort there too. Plus other buildings from many decades ago.
The reverse route was needed to get back down. Then I headed south east again. More roadworks for a long while until I could turn off. The next road towards where I planned to stay was lovely. Away from the dust and trucks. More terraced tea plantations. A few more wood processing factories. Some big lorries along this road shipping the wood but not too bad.
The town I headed for was actually bigger than I expected from the map.
I found a motel at the far end. I shall have to venture out for food again later by the looks of it.
I think I've breathed in enough dust to cough up a brick today.
About 6.1/2 hours on the road again too.
It was sunny first thing, but as I headed off it clouded over a bit with some pretty dark clouds looming from the north. As I progressed east though they did disperse and the sun stayed out. The first part of the route was main highway and a bit of Vietnamese progress was made, in other words I did get up to 60-75 Kph in places. Along this route there were also a couple of massive industrial areas processing the limestone and other stuff. Many many big trucks and cement mixer lorries, the whole of the area there was covered in a layer of thick white dust. Not mentioning the amount being kicked up by all the trucks.
Unfortunately the route I needed to take took in "Asia Highway one".
More and more big trucks and lots of traffic. Crazy overtaking manoeuvres abound. There were many ladies at the side of this massive road selling stuff. What a way to earn a living amongst the noise, dust and pollution. A hard life. I pushed on anyway because there was a place I wanted to see out this way or I wouldn't have got onto this road.
There are major roadworks too all the way down on the next road where they are widening it to make a new highway/motorway. More dust and rough roads. At one point all the traffic was on the left side of the huge dual carriageway, no contraflow or any kind of markings, a total free for all. It was crazy.
I finally turned off and headed up onto a mountain road. It became very alpine looking with many pine trees etc, a big change from the usual jungle. More roadworks in a couple of places and a couple where you had to wait until a lorry was loaded with rubble before they let people through. There was a guy in front of me with two piggies in the baskets on the side of his bike.
The road went higher and higher until I eventually arrived at the top of the mountain. It's only 1,2 Kms or just under 4,000 feet above sea level but as the valley was so deep it seemed higher.
Absolutely stunning panoramic views in every direction. What a beautiful place. I stayed up there for sometime just enjoying the view. It was still very misty so the photos don't really show how it looked in person.
There are the ruins of an old french fort there too. Plus other buildings from many decades ago.
The reverse route was needed to get back down. Then I headed south east again. More roadworks for a long while until I could turn off. The next road towards where I planned to stay was lovely. Away from the dust and trucks. More terraced tea plantations. A few more wood processing factories. Some big lorries along this road shipping the wood but not too bad.
The town I headed for was actually bigger than I expected from the map.
I found a motel at the far end. I shall have to venture out for food again later by the looks of it.
I think I've breathed in enough dust to cough up a brick today.
