torsdag 22 mars 2012

Vietnam

Im right at the border Vietnam-China. Entering China in about one hour. Down in the center Vietnam i continued cycling, made it up to Tuy Hoa where i decided to head into the mountains for a bit. Getting of the main AH1 highway(im sure it cannot be called a highway). The road was quieter and everything was more relaxed, until one afternoon when i must have been peddaling to hard in thoose mountains, I started getting pain in my right knee. The day after it was even worse. I could not continue anymore, I was cycling with only my left leg and still the pain in my right knee got worse. Well, i cannot continue all the way to china anyway. I've been staying to long in good people homes and the time of my visa is not enough to reach the far north. Getting a bit tired of this anyways. Yes china was calling me. The knee was a great reason to give my bike away and make nonstop hitch towards China. The last evening i ended up stuck in a small mountain pass, a missunderstanding forced me to cycle the last10 km in pitchblack darkness, so black i could hardly see the road even less the possible holes in the road, my flashlight was stolen a few days before but thats another story. It was raining and everything felt pretty miserable for a while. However i reached the city of Chuse. I never thought iwould make it with the knee, forcing me to slow down and take it so easy. In Chuse the road 25 connects with a bigger road north so would be a great place start hitchhiking.New owner of bicycle

I was hosted in a restaurant that night and traded mybicycle for two slices of watermelon with a young man who worked as an mechanic. Then i caught a few rides towards the Ah1 mainroad again. Slow hitchhiking, missunderstandings, understandings. Finally managing to make it to Quang Ngai and the AH1 road again. Hosted in an internetcafe full of mosquitos i slept badly and were tired in the morning, caught a ride with a guy heading for Hoi An, he had driven nonstop from Muine, 14 hours, and i was complaining i was tired! Outside Hoi an i planned to continue directly but met some great people who offered to host me for the night, decided to take one day to rest. Next morning i was walking along what seemed to be an never ending narrow road with construction work on both sides, not the best place to hitch a ride, however in this place where i walked and occasionally hitched i caught a truck, a man and his son heading north. And a great ride it was, we were driving nonstop for 30 hours until we reached, guess where, Lang Son, border with china. A good 1000 km+

So here iam now, ready to cross over to china. My original plan was to go to Kunming, but with the ride i had ichanged my plans and now heading for Nanning, the Kunming. And it looks like it might be a wet hitch looking at the dark clouds making this morning look like a late evening. I'll wear a raincoat.Vietnam

torsdag 15 mars 2012


Roadside painting close to Phan Rang,Vietnam
+ kid that wanted a tattoo
Desert and sky

Still cycling.. I dont know where iam, but around 40 km south of Nha Trang, on road AH1 in Vietnam.. I started of cycling down to Phnom penh, that feels like some time ago now.. Stayed a few days in this city. Then headed for the vietnamese border. Teamed up with a cyclist from Catalunya for two days across to Vietnam and to Ho chi minh city. Cycling into this city was crazy and crowded. Never seen that amount of motorbikes before. Food made me sick, took me a week to fully recover. The 200 km to Phan Thiet was the hardest cause i weren't feeling all that great. A few days of relaxing in Phan Thiet. Cycled the small coastal road which in some places looked more like the top of a sand dune than a road. Desert. The bumpy road made a puncture in back tire, luckily i was close to a village and got it fixed, then it broke again cause of bad fix at the same place on the road, i walked back once more.

I stayed a couple of days with a family in Phan Ri an quite amazing small city. Planned stay no more than one night but ended up staying four. Heading north the wind headed south and made my progress slow, constant in my face. There were times when even i had to fight going downhills.. This morning i decided to give my bike away, had another puncture in the back tire and there were no inner tube in the village. A reason for me to give up cycling with this terrible wind going against me all the time. Just when i started unpack the bike someone showed up with a inner tube and i decided to continue a bit further. Less wind today and i have new energy. I'll go on for few more days. 1000 km so far from Battambang..

Note to self, never again go long distance cycling without tools to repair bike.Bike and the south china sea

Camouflaged sleeping next to AH1