Excuse the long blog entry – been a while! It’s been a challenging week of riding followed by a chilled out week of relaxation before the retreat next week. I’ve basically hibernated!

Thursday
Today I think I cracked. At some point along the highways and byways of southern Vietnam, I realised I had done enough, that I had had enough. I had ‘done’ Asia, and I was ‘done’ with Asia. I’m tired of the danger, exhausted from the hyper vigilance you need just to stay alive, and I found myself increasingly pissed off with the utter moronic, death cheating driving. Too many times this week I have escaped by luck. I don’t feel lucky anymore! And I don’t want my lasting memory of Vietnam to be one of ‘never again’. I’m learning how to say ‘enough’ and do that with gratitude.

But as has been the way on this trip, just when things seem a bit bleak, something or someone comes along and things get better After pulling off the main highway (which I had to take as the other road was a dirt track!) I found this wonderful meandering road that took me gradually up hill towards my accommodation- Bamboo Lodge. On arrival it was sheer delight; a forested area with traditional huts on stilts, next to the river. It nestled on the edges of the Cat Tien National Park.

And wonderfully….English speaking travelers – Canadians, English, German, New Zealand, American. It was just simply lovely to talk and listen and actually understand, and be understood! It’s incredible how tiring it is to try communicate and constantly fail! There was a restaurant on site so ….after a day of surrender, it was a surreal way to end the day. I stayed at the forest hut for two days, spending most of it fixing and cleaning Bob….he was destroyed after the mud tracks and showing all the signs of wearing out. I put on a new chain and stripped everything down to regrease and reset.

Morons in motors
Saturday was an incredible day, as I eventually got in to the mountains. The road started to rise almost straight away in to the 92k ride, but what also started straight away was the scenery – gone were the endless flat roads with shops, traffic, dust, exhaust fumes and endless horn beeping, to forest, streams, waterfalls, and mountains everywhere. It was a tough climb but immensely enjoyable. That is if one sets aside the brain dead moronic driving, which significantly reduced the joy of the climb, and diminished the opportunity to actually look at the scenery to momentary glances. Words fail me when trying to describe the stupidity witnessed on the roads. What I concluded was that there is an ignorance, an arrogance, a belligerence, a ‘fuck you’ attitude which prevails. Nothing else can even come close to explaining what one endures when riding here – countless times I’d be going round a bend, trying to hold the bike upright at such a slow pace, only to find a coach or lorry on my side of the road overtaking on a blind bend, forcing me off the road. They would see me, and just keep coming. There’s no where to go. Whilst I accept that these people don’t give a jot about my life, surely they must have a modicum of care about their own life. Clearly not. It defies logic. They are seemingly prepared to play ‘chicken’ with their lives, the lives of their passengers and the lives of other road users who are on the correct side of the road.

Whinge over….I needed to get that off my chest! But over the past week I have found myself becoming more and more agitated and frankly, scared.

I made it to my evening accommodation, a small motel Lu had found half way to Da Lat. What was great was ….no aircon or fan as neither were needed! The temperature has dropped considerably to a very pleasant 20 something! After grabbing some food I crashed for the night, delighted to be in the mountains!

On Sunday I resumed the climb to Da Lat. In fact, I climbed all day. After a particular tough part of the climb my attention was drawn to the powerful (and delightful) smell of coffee coming from a small cafe roasting its own beans. The coffee I had was divine! I eventually got off the main road and continued on a smaller road which initially was in very poor condition, and I wondered whether this would turn in to another Maps detour to no where. But as the road meandered through the forest and clawed and twisted its way up the mountain, it was clear that whilst the surface was at times crap, it was delightfully quiet of traffic. I loved it. Eventually, Da Lat appeared through the clouds. Or rather. It erupted. Out of nowhere this humongous city appeared, wth towering and sprawling buildings clinging precariously to every inch of the mountainous valley. Quite extraordinary. From the quietness of the final climb came manic traffic and an explosion of colour.

I eventually found my hotel amidst hundreds of others. A quiet little oasis. Da Lat is a tourist town, very popular with the Vietnamese and a favourite place for weddings – so it’s utterly geared to the tourist dollar, but that comes at a cost of it having any genuine ties to Vietnamese culture …you can find that in the backstreets, but it’s been consumed by chic coffee bars, karaoke bars and pretend Rolls Royce sightseeing taxis!

I am resting/hibernating….perhaps decompressing is a better term. – here in Da Lat. I’m stopping completely for a week. I’m exhausted. Fatigued from the emotionality of living on the edge whilst riding. I need to take stock and refill.

I was reflecting with my dear friend Susan about why this part of the journey has been so emotionally tough and mentally draining. She commented on how I have relayed in my blogs my ability to use my time on the bike to reflect, to be in a zone, to focus on myself…,and it suddenly became clear that that was what I couldn’t do in Vietnam – I couldn’t relax.I couldn’t just be in my zone, in my head…but rather be totally consumed with staying out of harms way, being hyper vigilant and constantly trying to predict the behavior of the next moronic move. It probably also triggered something in me about that sense of being ‘unseen, unheard and unknown’. Of being dispensable, inconvenient. The parallels between my feeling on the bike in Vietnam, and feelings I am coming to name and understand in my life, are fascinating.

Having managed to get some Dong, I have been traveling north west to south east in southern Vietnam. It’s been incredibly hot and humid and has been a struggle to be honest each of the last three days of cycling. Day one proper took me in to rural Vietnam which I quite enjoyed – dusty, bumpy and chaotic, but all manageable. I went to the local ‘mountain’ which is a bit like Uluṟu in that it seems to have plonked itself amidst the flatlands of rural Vietnam. You can’t cycle up it as there’s no road but there is a track that takes you about a 1/5th of way up -around 200metres. I gave it a go! At times it pitched up over 20% but the whole thing is about 800 meters so the pain wasn’t too long! At the top was this most incredible oasis of calm with streams and forestry – just delightful. There was a plaque to cyclists there which I think related to what must have been a time trial event up that stinker of a climb!

I stayed in a ‘homestay’ farm – took me ages to find it such was it’s elusive positioning off the beaten track. The accommodation comprised of a mossie netted mattress in a shed, with an adjacent drop toilet and cold shower….and no aircon of course! But I really enjoyed the experience of seeing rural Vietnam up close and personal with the host family – sitting watching the World Cup with the owners outside amidst chickens, dogs and cattle was wonderful!

On Tuesday I headed for Vinh An, around 100k east. I hadn’t booked accommodation, chancing my arm in the hope of finding somewhere. A pretty tedious day of riding on main roads mainly bar some usual Maps screw ups! When I got to Vihn….no accommodation could be found. I rocked up to one final guest house but he was closed and the old units he used to rent out were derelict. But he took pity on me as I was shattered and told me I could stay in one of the disused ‘sheds’ for free. So…I pitched my tent inside the room…and stayed there! I didn’t sleep – it was disgustingly humid and hot, and at 2:30 the rooster started up its ‘morning’ chorus!!! But it was an experience for sure!

F$&k Maps
I may have mentioned it once or thrice but Maps as an App is shite! The ‘bike’ function has taken me down dead ends, in to car parks and peoples homes, but often it’s a matter of seeing where that stupid detour comes out, and just stay on the perfectly good road you were already on. Today, Maps truly screwed me over. To get from X to Y it took me through a gorgeous undulating forest road to a small town, then signalled to turn right, which I did. Soon the road became a track, then a quagmire. It literally was impassable. After 30 minutes of wrestling and walking my bike through streams, trenches and track, I made the decision to turn back -it was dangerous, hot and a little scary. I returned to the small town to regroup (and fix Bob!). It turns out that is the ONLY ‘road’ to where I was going. My only option was to cycle all the way back to where I started the day and take a completely different route tomorrow. I tried putting in the ‘car’ option in to Maps, and absurdly, it took the car down the same track!! I don’t mind the odd few hundred metres of deviation here and there to accommodate Maps.me idiosyncrasies, but to take a cyclist (or a driver) to a dead end after 40ks is monumentally bad!
So, having liaised with wonderful Lu, had a feed and water, and Bob mended, I retraced my ride back to Vinh An, where Lu had found me a motel which had – a bed, a toilet, aircon, wifi….

Today was an exercise in problem solving ‘in the moment’ and taking time to just stop, breath and be sensible! Whilst I did 80k and went no where, it was a good lesson in just being patient and being willing to adapt to what’s happening…I’m pretty proud of myself for handling it without a panicking -mind you, I think I would have panicked a lot more had I not had Lu to do much of the problem solving with me! Let’s try that again tomorrow….but on a different road!

They say things happen in 3s!
Friday….my last day in Cambodia. And it threw everything at me to ensure I remembered it! Not 2k in to the ride the road simply disappeared in to a slippery quagmire choked with frustrated drivers and mopeds….and me. Last night there was an almighty tropical storm that flooded roads and took the power out. The fall out was that this stretch of roadworks had become utter chaos – I tried to video it (see above) in its more saner moments. Bob was slipping all over the shop. This went on for around 5ks. I was stuffed when the tarmac resumed and needed a coffee to calm the nerves! The road, whilst now tarmac at least, was utterly wrecked and unrideable in places. This by the way is the main road to the Vietnam border!

I stopped in a town to see if I could buy a stand for Bob – trying to lean the bike up against things had already broken two mirrors and was always a struggle. Found a great clamp on stand which I got fitted and bingo – Bob could be freestanding! Well….so I thought! At my next coffee stop I threw Bob on the stand and went to order my iced coffee when….crash….Bob had crashed to the floor, with the stand clamp gashing the rear hydraulic hose. I think I said ‘oh dear’ or something like that. The gash was deep but didn’t rupture the inner pipe so I think I got lucky though it’s seriously compromised. $15US stand nearly blew the trip to smithereens! In the evening I did a bodge job on it and reassembled the stand clamp but….I’m not overly trusting the stand will hold Bob fully loaded. Live and learn! But wait…..there’s more! As I approached 10k to the border I started to look for accommodation but wasn’t having much luck, so when one ‘guest house’ offered a room I took it! Mistake! What a shithole! I’ve stayed in some rough places in my time but this one capped them all! It was only after paying that I realised my error – I could have just walked away, but I simply had no idea if there were any other options. A lot of people do what’s called the ‘visa run’ where they live in Vietnam but have to leave and come back in in order to renew their visa, so accommodation is scarce. So I stayed. I got my sleeping bag and crashed on the mattress on the floor – no wifi, no flushing toilet, no sink, no hot water….just like camping I suppose! Only smellier! All part of the travelling experience.

I awoke Saturday morning ready to get the hell out of ‘hell’. It was a short 14k to the border crossing. Because Cambodia Riel is not possible to exchange out of the country I quickly dispensed with what I had left and, as luck would have it, had a last minute thought to convert some to Vietnamese Dong. I was confident that they’ll be loads of options to get Dong in Vietnam but… ‘just in case’. See why that was a stroke of luck below 😊

Anyway….got out of Cambodia very quickly then queued for ages on the Vietnam side while people queue jumped ….mind you if you don’t understand what a queue is I guess you’re not ‘jumping’ it! Then I had to take everything off Bob to have it scanned – total nonsense but you play the game! Took an hour! So, Bob all loaded up again we set off in to Vietnam 🇻🇳. I only had a short 55k to my first stop, and was pleased to have an early shower. And then the fun started. I innocently asked ‘so, where’s the nearest ATM?’. 4K away came the answer. This is a town bigger than Adelaide! ‘And there’s only one’. Sorry, what! So off I stroll to the lonely ATM….which wasn’t working! So here I am in Vietnam with about $40 in Dong and no chance of getting any more! I was very hungry, very tired and very frustrated. I walked back and by pure chance found another ATM….which refused both my cards! I returned to the hotel deflated and confused – this was a problem I hadn’t expected or experienced before. I went to bed tired and hungry ….very hungry. I needed all of the Dong I had for the room! And I really felt quite lonely …not helped by the ferocious thunder storm that pounded the place for over an hour.

One thing I did find was an excellent article from another cyclist who posed 7 questions for intending long tour riders – and boy did he hit it right on the head! If you get time, have a read. It’s funny but 110% spot on!

Planning A Really Long Bike Trip? Ask Yourself These 7 Critical Questions First

Cambodia is a confusing place – dangerous, and confusing. It doesn’t seem to quite know what or who it is….it had a schizophrenic relationship with itself – with its continued ‘dollarisation’, it’s fake hotels which rest obscenely against (or on) the abject poverty immediately surrounding them, the madness and lawlessness of its traffic, the unenviable status of one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and scant regard for life, mixed with a passion for itself, hard working people subsisting on less than a $ a day, and seeing families on the street and in doorways huddled around a meal, sharing stories, laughing and attending to their children. That said, I will continue to be baffled by the contradiction of a clear love for children, yet every other moped having a baby or toddler precariously balanced over the speedometer while the parent weaves, one hand on the kid the other on the throttle, through mindless, unrelenting traffic. It truly is a country of profound contradiction. It has an undoubted collective trauma which is etched across the landscape – I passed a museum for land mines, (still a significant issue) and I was moved my a political billboard that read ‘Wipe away the tears…keep moving forward’. This was not from the ruling and absurdly inaccurately titled ‘Cambodian Peoples Party’….their countless ‘offices’ are grotesquely plonked amidst shacks and squalor and demonstrate a contempt for their own people by building these obscene mansions.

Anyway….back to cycling! Before I left Siem Reap I went to a Killing Fields memorial – the photos are a bit graphic so not for little eyes (Niamh!!) or sensitive souls.

My initial poor impressions of cycling here in Cambodia were, I think premature. After the first two days of utter chaos and sheer panic on the roads, there was some improvement, in that there have been times where there is a hard shoulder on a number of roads, and once I got the hang of how to survive the chaos, it wasn’t too bad. There has been an unrelenting head wind all across Cambodia but…..I’ve learnt to ‘cheat’ …by jumping on the back of slow (ish) moving vehicles and getting a ‘tow’ sometimes for 10+ Ks if I get a good one…so I’m able to plod along at 25/30 as opposed to 15-18! I’ve made it my business to stop in bustling market places and soak up the atmosphere (and food), and occasionally I’ve taken a ‘minor’ road …for that, read ‘track’, but doing this allows me to see a hidden Cambodia.

What I’ve loved are the kids….always smiling, shouting ‘hello’ and riding their bikes with me for a bit…so special. I’ve mostly stayed in guest houses, which have been rough and ready! On Wednesday night I had had no luck with accommodation, but noticed that there was a number of hotels on Bronze Lake, about 3k off the main road down a track. So…I headed down only to find them all abandoned! I cycled in to (yes, literally) one which had its doors left open, and I decided to ‘camp’ there as I was shattered. It was a massive hotel completely deserted. As I made myself comfortable, a guy rocks up and says I can have a room! The place was shut since March but was hoping to reopen in December (gee they’ve a lot to do!) but was happy for me to have a room…which I did! Dusty, dirty and smelly, crawling with all sorts of wildlife, but a bed, a shower, lights and he even got the wifi to work. So I spent the night completely alone in this derelict hotel!

I have finally got my visa to Vietnam so….I’m off to Vietnam on Saturday!

Siem Reap…temples and toilets!

Angkor Wat is one of the 7 wonders of the world, so it was with respect to that title I discarded my usual disregard of touristy ‘things’ and headed to the main temple. First you need to buy a ticket at the official (and only) ticket office, which bizarrely isn’t near the temple complex! So I jumped in a tuk-tuk, got me a ticket ($US37 ….ouch) and got to experience the incredible temples up close. Built in the 12th century, they are mind blowing in terms of the sheer intricacies of every etching on every stone ….and I mean every stone. Quite extraordinary. I understand they were initial a bright red stone but with centuries of wear, tear and rain the whole complex is a rather dull grey/black…..such a contrast to the explosions of colour in more contemporary temples. Three hours of that and I was done as the heat started to really ramp up. But I’m glad I went…it’s odd being without the bike and simply being another western tourist….I guess that’s what I’ve always been but the bike brings something different to the hoards! What I have noticed is how children shout ‘hello’ to you on the bike, and school kids going to and from school on their bikes jump in and ride a while.

There is a yawning inevitability when travelling that you’ll end up with the runs – In Africa we had such endearing (and not so subtle) terms like the ‘Casablanca kick-step’, the ‘Rabat revenge’, or my favourite…the ‘Tuareg trickles’. Not sure what term to use here – Siem S*^ts’? Cambodian Craps?? Anyway….they duly arrived! I think it’s more a case of heat exhaustion than food poisoning of any description. So I’ve done the sensible thing (I know, right, who’d have thought..me…sensible!) and booked myself a longer stay here in Siem until I’m recovered. Quietly, I’m not unhappy to have an ‘excuse’ – I’m not liking the riding here one bit, and with temperatures in the ‘feels like) range of 40-45, I’m getting agitated whenever I’m in the sun for any time at all. Plus….I have to wait for my visa to Vietnam to come through so I can print it off….once I leave here there’s no major towns until vietnam (or accommodation options but I’ll meet that challenge when I have to!).

I’m keen to get to the Killing Fields museum here soon – I hear it’s gut wrenching, but I want to learn more about this country’s brutal past, and to pay my respects to the challenges contemporary Cambodia has to face in coming out of the shadows of that collective trauma.