VietnamVianoce vo Vietname

Vietnam is bustling. Vietnam is diverse. Vietnam is a challenge.

In the south, endless rice paddies where the rising sun glints every morning. Here and there, lone stone tombs rise up out of them. You're born in the field, you live in the field, you're buried in the field. Small and large irrigation canals snake between the fields, crossed by narrow bridges. Many of them are welded together "on a knee," out of old scrap metal. I'm always on edge about whether they'll hold up under my loaded bike.

In Saigon the fields end, and as planned I meet up with Kika, who flew here directly. From now on we're pedaling and discovering the country together. Saigon has atmosphere. Bustle, markets, narrow alleys, and incredibly good and varied food. Western brands are sewn here, so we leave the market with technical clothing for a fraction of the European price. At night there's music, dancing, colorful LED lights. Saigon is alive.

We continue along the coast heading north. Jungle gives way to desert with yellow sand; one bay further the color shifts to blood red, another bay has sand as white as in promotional photos from the Caribbean. Our archenemy here is the wind. It blows, it howls, it throws dust in our eyes. We arrive at our accommodation at night, at the last moment. The wind is already unbearable, we can't move forward, it knocks us off the saddle, we alternately push and wait for each gust to pass. We try for 3 days, but in the end we admit defeat and load ourselves and the bikes onto a night train heading north. Our mistake, this type of wind is a common, everyday thing here at this time of year.

We get off the train by the coast in central Vietnam. Up here they're already in the rainy season, which means constant drizzle, occasional showers, and cooler weather (meaning 23 degrees).

Vietnam has schooled us. It showed us how small we are next to the forces of nature. But it also showed us beautiful moments and generous people (thank you for the pomelo, unknown lady). I believe I'll come back here one day (and I already know which direction I'll be cycling in :)).