15835 km Go Dau
Door: Erik en Tjeerd
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Erik en Tjeerd
11 Februari 2008 | Vietnam, Hanoi
Happy new year!!! we have officially entered the year of the rat!
It's been a nice and easy week for us. The weather has been terrific and we had a steady tailwind for most of the way. We reached Na Thrang without many problems and took a restday and some R & R there. It's the last time we'll see a beach, for a quite a while. From Na Thrang we headed inland to finally reach HCMC a.k.a Saigon. Entering town and cycling to Saigon has been a lot easier then expected. Our "bible" the lonely planet tells us Tet, The Chinese newyear, is an extremely busy time in Vietnam. The book warns us it will be hard to find accommodation and the roads will be overcrowded.
Almost the opposite has been the case for us. The roads have been very quiet and apart from a few shops being closed we could pretty much buy and do whatever we wanted. We expected Saigon to be a lot busier then Hanoi, mostly due to the fact that almost 6 million people live here. The roads are however very big here and cycling is a breeze. In Hanoi we had to manoeuvre through many tiny alleys making it a much more hectic, though also very doable, experience.
In Saigon we headed for Ngu Lao, which is the main backpacker hangout. After a lot of looking around we finally managed to find a hotel for a reasonable price (7.5 USD). The next day we went to visit the War Remnants museum. The museum is an essential visit for everyone coming to Vietnam. It states the atrocities of the Vietnam war. Inside we saw a number of American vehicles, artillery and planes and mostly a lot of photo's of all the events that occured here in the Vietnam war. Most striking was probably the many pictures showing the result of "agent orange" a toxic used by the Americans for deforestation. Many people have been mutilated by the toxin and even after the war many children born from people exposed to the toxin have horrible deformities.
It's horrific to see the results and events that have happened here and there is no doubt that the Vietnamese population had to endure a lot. Hopefully humanity will one day learn to prevent these horrors. In a week or so we will probably be shocked again when we get to see the Killing fields in Cambodia. Not the most cheerful visits, but definitely very educational.
This morning we left HCMC and headed for the Cu Chi tunnels. The famous tunnels used by the Vietcong in the war. In their peak they were 250km long and headed all the way into Cambodia. In many places the tunnels are 4 layers deep and extremely small and tight. That way the Americans could not follow the Vietnamese in the tunnels. We also saw a number of boobytraps used by the VC. Very inventive and lethal devices that made us think back of the "tour of duty" series on TV. We cycled some more after seeing the tunnels and are now staying in a little village not to far from the border. Tomorrow we'll head into Cambodia!
That's it for now, we'll get back to you in the next massage .... eh... i mean message of course ;)
Yours, Erik and Tjeerd
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa310/erikopdefiets/25%20Vietnam%20-%20Halong%20Bay%20-%20Hanoi/27%20Vietnam%203/
It's been a nice and easy week for us. The weather has been terrific and we had a steady tailwind for most of the way. We reached Na Thrang without many problems and took a restday and some R & R there. It's the last time we'll see a beach, for a quite a while. From Na Thrang we headed inland to finally reach HCMC a.k.a Saigon. Entering town and cycling to Saigon has been a lot easier then expected. Our "bible" the lonely planet tells us Tet, The Chinese newyear, is an extremely busy time in Vietnam. The book warns us it will be hard to find accommodation and the roads will be overcrowded.
Almost the opposite has been the case for us. The roads have been very quiet and apart from a few shops being closed we could pretty much buy and do whatever we wanted. We expected Saigon to be a lot busier then Hanoi, mostly due to the fact that almost 6 million people live here. The roads are however very big here and cycling is a breeze. In Hanoi we had to manoeuvre through many tiny alleys making it a much more hectic, though also very doable, experience.
In Saigon we headed for Ngu Lao, which is the main backpacker hangout. After a lot of looking around we finally managed to find a hotel for a reasonable price (7.5 USD). The next day we went to visit the War Remnants museum. The museum is an essential visit for everyone coming to Vietnam. It states the atrocities of the Vietnam war. Inside we saw a number of American vehicles, artillery and planes and mostly a lot of photo's of all the events that occured here in the Vietnam war. Most striking was probably the many pictures showing the result of "agent orange" a toxic used by the Americans for deforestation. Many people have been mutilated by the toxin and even after the war many children born from people exposed to the toxin have horrible deformities.
It's horrific to see the results and events that have happened here and there is no doubt that the Vietnamese population had to endure a lot. Hopefully humanity will one day learn to prevent these horrors. In a week or so we will probably be shocked again when we get to see the Killing fields in Cambodia. Not the most cheerful visits, but definitely very educational.
This morning we left HCMC and headed for the Cu Chi tunnels. The famous tunnels used by the Vietcong in the war. In their peak they were 250km long and headed all the way into Cambodia. In many places the tunnels are 4 layers deep and extremely small and tight. That way the Americans could not follow the Vietnamese in the tunnels. We also saw a number of boobytraps used by the VC. Very inventive and lethal devices that made us think back of the "tour of duty" series on TV. We cycled some more after seeing the tunnels and are now staying in a little village not to far from the border. Tomorrow we'll head into Cambodia!
That's it for now, we'll get back to you in the next massage .... eh... i mean message of course ;)
Yours, Erik and Tjeerd
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa310/erikopdefiets/25%20Vietnam%20-%20Halong%20Bay%20-%20Hanoi/27%20Vietnam%203/
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11 Februari 2008 - 15:12
Paul:
Peter had het in z'n vorige bericht al over Tour of Duty, maar nu krijg ik het Tour of Duty gevoel bij het zien van de foto's. -
11 Februari 2008 - 15:20
Paul:
Peter had het in z'n vorige bericht al over Tour of Duty, maar nu krijg ik het Tour of Duty gevoel bij het zien van de foto's. -
11 Februari 2008 - 15:20
Karen:
Leuk, eindelijk een foto met jullie erop! weten mijn collega's dat ik geen broodje aap verhaal heb verteld... -
11 Februari 2008 - 15:24
Peter S.:
He boys! Weer heel leerzaam en dit keer ook een peu triste. Oorlog zuigt. Live to ride, ride to live amigos! -
11 Februari 2008 - 15:28
Gloria & Gerard:
Beautiful pictures, as usual. A number of them remind me of Malay, Singapore and Indonesia.
Just spoke to the local cycle repairman. He was amazed at the mileage you got with your first set of tyres. Nice to see that two healthy Dutch boys have a better average than a French couple. But you do not mention the Swedes?
Indeed, all wars are terrible for the innocent bystanders, no matter what.
Success in Cambodia.
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11 Februari 2008 - 15:31
Erik:
The Swedes are heading from Singapore to China. I guess around 7000 km total -
11 Februari 2008 - 16:06
Jeroen:
Guys,
It feels like you left recently - still see you at the farewell party. Time travels fast. Tomorrow Hans, Peter and I will have dinner together and we will definately discuss your adventures and have a drink on you! -
12 Februari 2008 - 07:24
Marielle:
Hey mupke,
Ik ben zo jaloers op al die mooie dingen die jullie zien! Hoop maar dat ik snel een keer de loterij win dan ben ik ook vertrokken hahahaha. Maar leuk dat er weer een foto op zit waar jullie beide op staan. En zoals je al zei, die benen van je zijn echt niet normaal! hahahaha.
Dikke kus
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13 Februari 2008 - 10:57
Peter H:
Hey de Vries,
Gisteren met Hansel B en Jerommeke U wezen eten en we misten jou wel hoor. We vroegen ons af hoe het met de dames is onderweg of rennen die allemaal hard weg als jij aan komt fietsen ??? Daarnaast hopen we je snel weer in ons midden te hebben, want we missen je mooie verhalen!
Groeten uit Rotterdam!
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16 Februari 2008 - 13:38
Sabina En Just:
Prachtig verhaal over Saigon. Gaan jullie ook naar het noorden, of is dat niet toegestaan?
We volgen jullie en gaan straks ook even fietsen, want de zon schijnt volop hier(amsterdam). Veel plezier!! -
16 Februari 2008 - 22:49
Truus:
Gaat lekker zo. Goodby Vietnam, welcome Cambodia. Zoals al eerder gezegd, leuk een foto van jullie beide. Gaan jullie na Cambodia naar Thailand? Het is nu lekker in Holland, goed koud maar zonder regen en veel zonnenschijn.Vannacht plus minus -5. Verder niet veel te melden. Ook wij hadden soms hele andere ervaringen dan wat de LP zei, grappig jullie dus ook!!!
Hou jullie haaks, groeten Truus -
17 Februari 2008 - 13:36
Hans B.:
Hello Guys,
Het is me wel wat met al die mooie avonturen van jullie. Gezellig gegeten met Peter en Jeroen. Elke keer weer hebben we het over die lege stoel, maar Erik, jij bent dan ook lekker op avontuur. Geweldige ervaring. Mooie foto's en bij terugkomst kijken we uit naar een mooi weerzien en overige verhalen. Hou jullie goed en natuurlijk veel plezier gewenst!
Groet,
Hans -
18 Februari 2008 - 03:24
Justin:
Hey Erik and Tjeerd. I have a cool photo of all of us just outside the Cu Chi tunnels. I will email it when i have a chance. I just got back into China last night and back in the office right now. Have a great time and keep in touch. -
20 Februari 2008 - 12:25
Olivier:
Massage > Ja, ja happy finish zeker.. -
20 Februari 2008 - 14:37
Mat:
Orgy borgy! Orcen borcen jorgen borgy!
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