One of the most challenging rides on the tour included a six mile climb up Hai Van, which means Pass of the Ocean Clouds. We rode slowly so we didn’t overheat while we climbed almost 2,000 vertical feet to the top. The views were fantastic!
Along the road we saw altars with incense.
After a fun descent we saw oyster farms along the bay. The wooden poles are used to hold old bike and scooter tires that have the oysters attached to them. There were tires on the road that the bus ran over – this was done to clear out the old oyster shells so that the tires could be reused for the next crop of oysters. One of the riders on the trip got a flat tire when he ran over the sharp oyster shells on the road.
Most riding days on the tour also include riding on the bus. Our tour leader Chi often tells us about Vietnamese history and culture on the bus rides. He told us how superstitious Vietnamese people are, especially rural folks. For example, babies shouldn’t be fawned over and told they are cute, as the bad spirits would hear and could decide to take the child into the spirit world. As a further precaution, most country children are given both an ugly name and a nice name. The ugly name is what the parents call the child, so that the bad spirits aren’t tempted to steal them. Chi’s ugly name was “cu”, which means penis, and he had a friend whose ugly name was “cut”, which means shit!
We have seen many burial plots as we cycled, as this is preferred to cremation. Often the plots are lavished with adornments and quite large. It was common to see the burial plots next to houses, rice fields and roads instead of confined to a cemetery.
This year in Vietnam the Buddha’s birthday was celebrated on May 23rd. It appears that a different lunar calendar is used here than in Korea. While riding we saw similar temple decorations and floats as Korea, but less elaborate.
We enjoyed cycling in the city of Hue, which has a lot of history and the most monasteries of any city in Vietnam.
We saw incense for sale along the side of the road.
This was the oldest pagoda in Hue, named Thien Mu pagoda. It was on the banks of the Perfume river.
This dragon boat cruised for 30 minutes on the Perfume river to take us to lunch.
There were seven giant lotus sculptures on the river, to commemorate the Buddha’s birthday.
This is a Merry Rose tree and it blooms all summer in Vietnam.
We took the Reunification Express train traveling overnight from Hue to Hanoi. It took 13 hours to go 400 miles, so it wasn't really an "express" way to travel. Then we took a bus to Ha Long Bay for a boat cruise on this boat, which was named the Sea Wind Cruise.
Our time on the boat was quite deluxe and the meals included outstanding seafood dishes. This was our room, which had charming round windows for enjoying the views.
Ha Long means “descending dragon”, named because the islands look like the backs of dragons diving into the sea. There are about 3,000 of these limestone karst isles. The bay has unbelievable scenery and is a UNESCO world heritage site.
We always enjoy kayaking and here we could get close to the islands for great views of the steep limestone formations. We used our waterproof camera and took photos as we approached this arch, paddled through it, and came out the other side.
We walked through this cave which was deliciously cool and huge inside - it could have held 1,000 people. The limestone formations were varied and beautiful, and the lighting inside the cave added nice colors.
The sunset was dramatic and gorgeous. (We didn’t get up early enough to see the sunrise!)
The last day of the cycling trip included a walking tour of Hanoi where we visited some of the city’s historical highlights. This is the Temple of Literature, which was built in 1,070 as the first Confucian university in Vietnam. After 3-7 years of study, a student would take a national exam, hoping to be awarded degrees in literature and poetry writing. Kristina is in front of the Constellation of Literature pavilion, which is a well-known landmark in Hanoi.
During our two week cycling trip we sweated our brains out, made new friends, pedaled over 300 miles and had a great time seeing Vietnam!
Along the road we saw altars with incense.
After a fun descent we saw oyster farms along the bay. The wooden poles are used to hold old bike and scooter tires that have the oysters attached to them. There were tires on the road that the bus ran over – this was done to clear out the old oyster shells so that the tires could be reused for the next crop of oysters. One of the riders on the trip got a flat tire when he ran over the sharp oyster shells on the road.
Most riding days on the tour also include riding on the bus. Our tour leader Chi often tells us about Vietnamese history and culture on the bus rides. He told us how superstitious Vietnamese people are, especially rural folks. For example, babies shouldn’t be fawned over and told they are cute, as the bad spirits would hear and could decide to take the child into the spirit world. As a further precaution, most country children are given both an ugly name and a nice name. The ugly name is what the parents call the child, so that the bad spirits aren’t tempted to steal them. Chi’s ugly name was “cu”, which means penis, and he had a friend whose ugly name was “cut”, which means shit!
We have seen many burial plots as we cycled, as this is preferred to cremation. Often the plots are lavished with adornments and quite large. It was common to see the burial plots next to houses, rice fields and roads instead of confined to a cemetery.
This year in Vietnam the Buddha’s birthday was celebrated on May 23rd. It appears that a different lunar calendar is used here than in Korea. While riding we saw similar temple decorations and floats as Korea, but less elaborate.
We enjoyed cycling in the city of Hue, which has a lot of history and the most monasteries of any city in Vietnam.
We saw incense for sale along the side of the road.
This was the oldest pagoda in Hue, named Thien Mu pagoda. It was on the banks of the Perfume river.
This dragon boat cruised for 30 minutes on the Perfume river to take us to lunch.
There were seven giant lotus sculptures on the river, to commemorate the Buddha’s birthday.
This is a Merry Rose tree and it blooms all summer in Vietnam.
We took the Reunification Express train traveling overnight from Hue to Hanoi. It took 13 hours to go 400 miles, so it wasn't really an "express" way to travel. Then we took a bus to Ha Long Bay for a boat cruise on this boat, which was named the Sea Wind Cruise.
Our time on the boat was quite deluxe and the meals included outstanding seafood dishes. This was our room, which had charming round windows for enjoying the views.
Ha Long means “descending dragon”, named because the islands look like the backs of dragons diving into the sea. There are about 3,000 of these limestone karst isles. The bay has unbelievable scenery and is a UNESCO world heritage site.
We always enjoy kayaking and here we could get close to the islands for great views of the steep limestone formations. We used our waterproof camera and took photos as we approached this arch, paddled through it, and came out the other side.
We walked through this cave which was deliciously cool and huge inside - it could have held 1,000 people. The limestone formations were varied and beautiful, and the lighting inside the cave added nice colors.
The sunset was dramatic and gorgeous. (We didn’t get up early enough to see the sunrise!)
The last day of the cycling trip included a walking tour of Hanoi where we visited some of the city’s historical highlights. This is the Temple of Literature, which was built in 1,070 as the first Confucian university in Vietnam. After 3-7 years of study, a student would take a national exam, hoping to be awarded degrees in literature and poetry writing. Kristina is in front of the Constellation of Literature pavilion, which is a well-known landmark in Hanoi.
During our two week cycling trip we sweated our brains out, made new friends, pedaled over 300 miles and had a great time seeing Vietnam!
