Euphoria and the wonderful feeling of belonging a little bit
N 16°49'22.1'' E 107°05'39.8''
Date:
02.01.2017 until 11.01.2017
Day: 552 – 561
Country:
Vietnam
Province:
Quảng Trị
Location:
Đông Hà
Latitude N:
16°49’22.1”
Longitude E:
107°05’39.8”
Daily kilometers:
62 km
Total kilometers:
21,400 km
As the crow flies:
28 km
Average speed:
23.5 km/h
Maximum speed:
47.7 km/h
Travel time:
1:45 hrs.
Soil condition:
Asphalt
Maximum height:
30 m
Total altitude meters:
58.361 m
Altitude meters for the day:
349 m
Sunrise:
06:20 am – 06:21 am
Sunset:
5:29 pm – 5:30 pm
Temperature day max:
16°C
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
Although my knee and Achilles tendon are still whimpering slightly and it’s still raining cats and dogs, we decide to set off. While Tanja carries the rest of the equipment out of the room, I fetch the bikes and trailers from the cellar and push them in front of the hotel entrance. “I’m so nervous,” I say, clicking the panniers into place. “It’s not that far today. If the inflammation hasn’t cleared up, we can take a longer break in the next town,” Tanja reassures me.
We say goodbye to the hotel manager and set off on our bikes. For the first few kilometers, we roll along the choppy China Sea until we leave the coast to reach Highway One. Because of the monsoon rain, we wear overshoes, rain pants and a rain jacket. Waiting for the stinging pain in my knee and Achilles tendon, I pedal cautiously. “How are things looking?” asks Tanja after the first 10 kilometers. “So far, the systems are working great,” I reply and give them the thumbs up. 20 kilometers further on I still feel no pain. “Yay!” I shout into the gray rainy sky. “Suuuuper!” Tanja is delighted with me. So, despite the bad weather, we enjoy a great day’s cycling. After almost 60 kilometers, we reach the capital Đông Hà in the province of Quảng Trị, which served as a base for the US army during the last Vietnam War and was almost completely destroyed during the Easter Offensive in 1972, completely soaked. Certainly one reason why the rebuilt city has no sights, but will be the starting point for us to travel from here to Laos, about 80 kilometers away, for a new Vietnam visa.
Because my body is functioning perfectly again, I float through the city on a euphoric wave. We stop in front of a hotel and ask if they will take us with the dog, bikes and trailer. After 20 minutes and a chat with the general manager, we are inside. “Hooray!” This time the room is large and dry. We are allowed to hose down all our equipment in the courtyard with a water hose, so the mess in our room is manageable.
Although there are not exactly the tourist highlights to see in Đông Hà, we visit the Truong Son National War Cemetery, a war museum and the rebuilt Hien Luong Bridge (Bridge of Suffering) over the Ben Hai River, which once connected North and South Vietnam. Because Vietnam’s recent past is closely linked to wars, we have inevitably been confronted with it again and again in recent months. It was and is important for us to deal with this. In this way, we really understood what these terrible wars meant and still mean for the people living here today. We learned a lot, much more than expected. The findings have strongly influenced and changed our global political views and cast them in a different light. In this way, the e-bikes transport us away from the road and into the depths of Vietnam, helping us to no longer recognize ourselves as mere visitors, but to feel as if we belong a little. It is a wonderful feeling to understand a culture, its way of life and way of life a little and this includes not only beautiful beaches, lush rice terraces and sights, but also the other, perhaps not so pretty, side. However, we are happy to experience and travel through several facets of the country and are excited to see what the next kilometers of travel will reveal…
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
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