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Journal of Vietnam Bicycle Tour

Vietnam, spring 2000 [I]

Agelasto
2004-05-20 20:10:01

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I. To cycle or not to cycle

I start this Viet Nam trip with the purchase of a guidebook. I select Lonely Planet over
Footprint Books or Rough Guides somewhat reluctantly as a simple browse suggests that this is
one of LP?s most snide presentations. Still, LP has better maps and relatively speaking is the
most current, three years more recently published than its competition. I also buy the
accompanying Viet Nam Atlas, which shows most (probably 80%) of the country?s surfaced
roads. (Overall, the guidebook and atlas will prove to be about 80% correct in the information
they provide. Given the US dollar?s present strength, all the listed prices are at least 10% too
high. This is the first time I have ever used a guidebook that inflates prices!) The books talk
vaguely about road quality, stating that some roads are atrocious, but implying that there are
numerous paved highways to accommodate a cycle, and even suggesting several routes for
which cyclists have given good reviews. Should I cycle?

If I am to cycle, I decide that the part of the country I want to visit over 30 days, the maximum
amount of time allowed by my visa and air ticket, is northwest Viet Nam, populated by ethnic
minorities, the central coastal backpacker alley, and the southern highlands, also populated by
indigenous minorities.

Up to now my bicycle touring has been restricted to the planet?s developed countries, those
with good roads and enough of a travel industry to support me, a Western tourist, with my
Western tourist tastes and needs. In today?s language of political correctness among the
backpacker (and ?bikepacker,? the new-age rubric for me) crowd, I guess I am supposed to
call myself a traveler rather than a tourist. But when I visit a country, I rely on the industry
which accommodates tourists almost as much as its travel industry, ...