Vietnam. It's country not a war

As I mentioned in the last post, the route into Vietnam involved one last stretch of dirt road to get the border crossing. Not what one might expect of the approach to an international border but then again after years of war Cambodia is still very much a developing country.

Good morning Vietnam

As soon as I crossed over the border I was back on sealed road and in just the same way as I'd really noticed the change going into Cambodia so I really noticed leaving it. The roads improved, traffic levels went up as did the prices of hotels as I found out at my first stop was Ha Tien. One of my first things to get done was to get hold of some local currency as the US dollar is not a de facto second currency as it is in Cambodia. I'd changed US$20 at the border at a rate of 17,000 dong to the dollar (don't snigger) and then got another million out at an ATM... after the power came back on that is. The Rough Guide (I've had enough of the Lonely Planet but that's another post), published in late 2009, indicated that the going rate was 17,000 to the US$ and D25,000 to the pound.

Ha Tien was a pleasant enough place to explore for the afternoon and have my first experience of Vietnamese coffee which is taken somewhat like espresso, small and strong. It's often taken long over ice, making for a refreshing drink on hot days. I also found a good veggie place to eat quite easily, which served up a mix of dishes for the princely sum of D7000. Handy hint here, if you're ever in Vietnam look for "Chay" on the signs, which are food outlets that will serve exclusively vegetarian food.

The next day saw me heading through the north of the Mekong Delta region towards Long Xuyen. There were some potentially interesting side trips from my route but having no proper map aside from a Google Maps print out and an estimated 160km day I decided it was probably best just to push on. Turns out the Google estimate was out by a good 30 km in the end which should be no surprise really.

Freshly made incense sticks drying in the sun

From Long Xuyen it was off to Vinh Long. Vinh Long proved to be a pleasant little town where I managed to pick up a map and check the exchange rate. D30,000 to the pound! Always good to find that things are a sixth cheaper than you thought. Thanks to my new map the next day I found some back roads through some stunning fruit growing countryside. Lychees, rambutans and mangos, amongst others, were ripening away by the sides of the road amongst the rice paddies. The whole region probably conforms to a stereotypical view of Vietnam as a country of people in conical hats and pyjamas toiling in fields against a tropical backdrop while travel involves plenty of bridges and ferries.

Did I mention the fresh honey as well?

My last stop before Ho Chi Minh City (nee Saigon) was the town of Ben Tre, where during the 1968 Tet offensive a US major famously declared "It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it". Today it's a pleasant enough place from which to explore more of the Mekong Delta.

Victory over the US Navy statue in Ben Tre

From Ben Tre my final cycle was along Highway One into Saigon. If you've been to Saigon or Hanoi you might see why the prospect of cycling into it didn't fill me with joy. In the end though I was pleasantly surprised. Whilst people didn't actually treat me differently from other traffic it was quite survivable.

Now this is going to be fun to cycle over! The last major bridge I had to cross in the Mekong Delta

I had a couple of days in Saigon, time I'd given myself in order to prepare the bike for travel, a task proved to be remarkably easy. Well, I say remarkably easy. Finding a box was easy but actually getting the bike in ended up proving an interesting 3D puzzle and disassembly job. The prospect of rebuilding it in Heathrow at 7AM after an overnight flight was beginning to sound a bit daunting.