Cycling in Vietnam is certainly an experience.

(TRAVPR.COM) VIETNAM - December 27th, 2011 - Cycling in Vietnam is certainly an experience. Where should you start your journey in Vietnam? There are two ways, from north to south or the other way around. Some claims the south is not much of interest but I disagree.

Ho Chi Minh

The journey will start for many travelers in either Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi. Let's follow the route from south to north. After staying a few days in Ho Chi Minh you will want to see more of the country. The Mekong Delta is mostly flat, plenty to see, and easy to spend a lot of time wandering from city to city watching the Vietnamese living in and around the mighty Mekong river. It is also the doorway to Cambodia in Chau Doc. The Mekong Delta is also the most populated area in Vietnam.

Near Ho Chi Minh City, there are the Cu Chi tunnels and the Cao Dai temple. And further north the hill station Dalat. Dalat with its amazingly mild climate at 1500 meter altitude, its wide green open lands, waterfalls and excellent fruits is a major tourist destination in southern Vietnam for both local and foreigners.

Nha Trang

Nha Trang is one of the main beach holiday destinations in Vietnam. Over 500 km further north lies Hoi An. There are two distinct different roads from Nha Trang to Hoi An, one through the Central Highlands and the much easier road along the coast (highway 1). The beautiful town of Hoi An is a must visit for all travelers in Vietnam. Plenty of excellent accommodation is available. Several kilometers from Hoi An you will find Cua Dai beach, if you ask me, a much nicer beach then China Beach, further north near Danang.

Hue

Further north in Hue, you will find the Vietnamese Forbidden City, although not a shadow of the glory of the Beijing Forbidden City, still worth a visit. And there are plenty of royal tombs in the area too. The DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone which separated North and South Vietnam should be visited by anyone who wants to understand some of Vietnam recent history.

I would recommend to take the train from Da Nang to Ninh Binh and start from there for the best part to cycle, Ninh Binh - Son La - Dien Bien Phu - Sapa - Hanoi. This is the area of the minorities of Vietnam. Here you will enjoy the Vietnamese hills, the tribes and the hard life people still live here.

Halong - Hanoi

Hanoi is of course a must visit and so is Ha Long Bay. As you see, south to north, or north to south, both ways is possible. It's likely you will keep meeting the same people on the way as there is basically one road. The road we will follow goes from Saigon to Hanoi. However, many cyclist and backpackers travel north-south. Nowadays it is easy to extend you visa in either Hanoi or Saigon so there's not a problem to overstay.

Vietnam is an amazingly populated country with 86 million people. It is also a stretched out country, from Saigon to Hanoi about 2000 km but it is quite narrow too, at some points no more than 100km. The borders to cross are limited. In the south you can cross to Cambodia, central Vietnam is the main Gateway to Laos (and no, you can’t cross the border near Dien Bien Phu). Further there are three borders open with China: Lao Cai (near Sapa) leading to Yunnan, Cao Bang and Loc Binh, both leading to Nanning in Guangxi province.

How much time you need? If you want to cycle the whole road above mentioned, take 2 months. However, if you have no problem with using some public transport, you can do it in 3 to 4 weeks depending what you skip. But if you want to see the whole road as mentioned, even traveling by public transport it will take about 6 weeks.

Source: bicycle-adventures.com

Recommended tours by ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA (http://www.activetravel.asia):

Biking Ho Chi Minh Trails: http://www.activetravelvietnam.com/tour.php?op=detail&tourId=65
West to East Biking Exploration: http://www.activetravelvietnam.com/tour.php?op=detail&tourId=20

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