CYCLING IN Central Vietnam is always amazing thanks to the lovely natural scenery and interesting history and culture, but visiting the end of April and beginning of May can be startlingly different from any other time of year. It’s “holiday time”.
Hue, perhaps the most glorious of the three stops on our tour, is all history. It was the country’s imperial capital in the 19th century, but it’s now crowded and bustling, and mostly with motorcycles. Vietnam is the world’s fourth-largest motorbike market after China, India and Indonesia, according to the Vietnam Ministry of Transport.
This time there seemed to be even more bikes, though that was mainly because the Hue Festival was underway, centred on Liberation Day on April 30. Thailand was among the countries providing entertainment for the occasion.
Our cycling odyssey actually started in Da Nang, Vietnam’s third-largest city, on the Eastern Sea coast midway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Da Nang is more tranquil than Hue and offers some great bicycle paths. It’s fantastic cycling around the city, soaking up the atmosphere amid the beautiful coastal mountain roads rimmed with sandy beaches.
In this gorgeous setting we saddled up and headed out along the shoreline, enjoying glimpses of the fishermen going about their daily routine, the oyster farms and stilt houses and the coloured boats bobbing in the Lang Co lagoon.
No one was so impatient to get on with the journey that they wouldn’t pause to get photos of the picturesque scenes and check out the vendors selling oysters. Seafood restaurants that welcome tourists were a constant distraction as well.
Sajja Wongkittithon of VIP Siam Travel in Mukdahan, who helped organise the trip, explained that Lang Co means “village of storks”.
“There used to be flocks of storks that nested here, and in autumn the whole area is immersed in mist, making it even more appealing,” he said. “The people here these days sell clams, mussels and cockles and raise oysters. It’s a great spot for tourists and cyclists to take a rest before moving on to Hai Van Pass.”
The famous pass, frequently shrouded in clouds year-round, deserves its reputation as a sight not to be missed. It’s the longest and highest mountain passageway in Vietnam, with breathtaking panoramic views from the summit over the sea and countryside.
One of the hosts of BBC’s “Top Gear” motoring show called it the most beautiful coastal mountain road in the world, and we weren’t about to disagree.
For cyclists from around the globe, this is a dream ride. Quite apart from the beauty of the setting, it’s an invigorating challenge riding the twisting 11-kilometre stretch uphill, even if the gradient is just 7 per cent.
At the top, along with the view, your reward is seeing historic Hai Van Gate, built of bricks in 1470 by King Tran Nhan Tong of the Tran Dynasty. He proclaimed Hai Van “the most marvellous wonder”.
Cycling enthusiasts, busloads of tourists and the boys from “Top Gear” aren’t the only ones who appreciate this wonder. It’s so romantic that courting couples are always to be seen there, some having their pre-wedding photos taken.
“Vietnam’s National Cycling Team changed its practice run from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang two years ago,” Tran Mau Thao of the Hue Cycling Club told us. “Central Vietnam is becoming one of the main cycling destinations in the country.”
The annual Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup Cycling Tournament in the southern city still usually referred to as Saigon had 78 participants this year on 13 national teams. It ranged far outside the city, covering 19 stages and a total of 2,100 kilometres.
“Cycling helps people stay in good health and contributes to their happiness,” Tran Mau Thao said as he pedalled alongside us, pleased that more of his countrymen are taking up the pastime.
Just the same, we needed a motorised ride to Hoi An, a town that’s in its entirety a World Heritage Site. The architecture there, mostly French colonial but also with Japanese and Chinese influences, is gorgeous.
We arrived in time for the lively Liberation Day and May Day celebrations, with locals and foreigners alike participating. Some were taking tours of the old town by cyclo – the bicycle rickshaw – or boating on the river with sweethearts and floating the Vietnamese equivalent of floral krathong.
We stopped for cao lau (noodles), ga nuong (grilled chicken) and dessert of mango cake and breathed in the hectic scene.
The next morning we were off to a factory where marble and sandstone is sculpted into statuary and the Ba Na Hills, navigated by a cable car that’s in the Guinness Book of Records for both height and length. There’s even a golf course designed by former World No 1 Luke Donald – one of only four golf links in Vietnam, we were told, though that’s hard to believe.
Nearby is an amusement park featuring a model of Hue’s Dai Noi Palace. We had no time for the rides, just a short pause for some musical performances, because we were in a hurry to try the route from Da Nang Bay to Sontra Island.
Along the way you reach a maximum altitude of 693 metres above sea level, high enough to host a radar antenna that US forces used during their invasion of Vietnam but now tuned to much calmer fare – broadcasting radio and TV shows.
SEE FOR YOURSELF
– Cyclists, whether “serious” or just out for fun, can sign up for a ride around Central Vietnam by contacting VIP Siam Travel in Mukdahan at (81) 051 2666.
– Find out more at www.VIPSiamTravel.com or vipsiam@yahoo.co.uk.
This source first appeared on The Nation Life.