Hanoi to the mountains.

7 days, 500km, 6,000m elevation gain.

This has got to be one of the prettiest bike rides in the world.

5 more days to the highest pass in Vietnam (2900m), then on to China!

Hanoi

Beautiful North Vietnamese city, and large (3.7 million people).

Good eats, great urban fabric, crazy Moro drivers, and the typical Frenchy touches.

Now to the mountains in the north, some hard riding to come...

Central Coast Riding

A four day ride between Hoi An and Dong Ha. High passes and beautiful views of the sea.

The best stretch of the ride was a large pass that formerly was the main highway, but has been mostly abandoned for a new highway tunnel. Perfect for a couple of cyclists.

Hoi An

An old international trading post with heavy French and Chinese influences. Now a UNESCO world heritage site.

Touristy, but for great reasons.

Hank got a suit tailored here, and it looks good....

A rendezvous

A knock on the door from a German cyclist who had seen our bikes brought us to a get together hosted by some Saigon bike enthusiasts.

And they were riding Surlys! A Long Haul Trucker, and a Troll. Quite a surprise.

Oh, and all the meat on the table is dog. Yep, we tried dog. It does not taste like chicken.

Errrrr.....

Saigon

Saigon is nutty.

Biking in traffic was an amazing experience. 99% of the traffic is scooter based, and they flow trough the city like water. And like water, when their volume reaches a critical mass, they flow up onto sidewalks, through the tightest constrictions and effortlessly around men pushing air compressors across the busiest intersections in the city.

The street food culture is amazing, unparalleled in our travels in terms of freshness, diversity and quantity.

Next we head north to Hoi An, via the Dong Dong Express.

Grubbin

Best meal of the trip? Bite sized shrimp dumplings, bon chiet, and a plate of greens topped with a crispy rice and shrimp cake similar in texture to croutons.

Bot chiet is hands down the best street food we've been lucky enough to eat. It's a gelatinous rice flour cake that is cut into cubes and fried, very similar in appearance and taste to potatoes. Once these cubes are crisp, 1-2 eggs are added along with small bits of onions fried in pork fat, fresh scallions, and diced red peppers over a bed of shredded, lightly pickled papaya and radish. Result: mouth party.