Saigon, former village in the forest
N 10°53'53.7'' E 106°23'43.6''
Date:
23.03.2017
Day: 632
Country:
Vietnam
Province:
Long An
Location:
Đức Hòa
Latitude N:
10°53’53.7”
Longitude E:
106°23’43.6”
Daily kilometers:
92 km
Total kilometers:
23,002 km
As the crow flies:
60 km
Average speed:
23.8 km/h
Maximum speed:
37.3 km/h
Travel time:
3:48 hrs.
Soil condition:
Asphalt
Maximum height:
75 m
Total altitude meters:
70.054 m
Altitude meters for the day:
183 m
Maximum depth:
12 m
Sunrise:
05:57 h
Sunset:
6:05 pm
Temperature day max:
35°C
Departure:
7:00 Ur
Arrival time:
3:00 p.m.
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
The closer we get to Saigon, the worse the traffic gets. On the straight, boring stretch without any elevation, it becomes increasingly noisy, hectic and dirty. The hard shoulder that protects us to some extent disappears into thin air, forcing us to weave our way through the flow of heavy bus, car and moped traffic. With today’s temperatures of 35°C in the shade, soon to be 55°C in the sun, a real challenge. Our thirst seems unquenchable. We are constantly sucking on the hose of our hydration packs. We discover one of the notorious dog restaurants on the side of the road. You have just received a new delivery. Three dog cages, each with three or four dogs inside, are being carried into the house. Outside, signs advertise delicious dog dishes. I’m too exhausted to stop and unpack my camera. We roll stoically past the restaurant.
“There’s a turn-off to the west in about 20 km. We mustn’t miss it, otherwise we’ll end up in the traffic madness of Saigon,” I shout to Tanja. Because we had already visited the capital of Vietnam on a previous trip and we wanted to avoid getting lost in the chaotic, crazy traffic of this city, which is currently boiling in the heat, at all costs, we did everything we could to avoid the mega-metropolis as much as possible. Nevertheless, the traffic increases immensely with every kilometer further south. It’s crazy to think that this huge city was founded between the 1st and 6th centuries as a fishing village by a Khmer people and that there were no Vietnamese living in the region at that time. The kingdom of Funan, which lay further to the west and was a forerunner of the later Khmer kingdom of Angkor, ruled over the area. (Today’s Cambodia). The once small and insignificant fishing village was surrounded by swamps and forests, which is why the people who lived there called it Prei Nokor, which translates as ‘village in the forest’. But because the settlement was on solid ground, directly north of the marshy river delta and surrounded on three sides by navigable waterways, its rise began. For example, in the 15th century it became a transshipment port for Cambodian ships traveling across the huge Mekong River to the South China Sea. In the 17th century, the Khmer Empire of Angkor established a garrison and trading community in the former settlement in the forest, where Indian, Chinese and Malay traders lived.
Tuuuhhhhht! Tuuuhhhhht! Tuuuhhhhht!, the truck and bus horns roar at us. Apart from countless half-ruined huts, simple and better houses, numerous high-rise buildings, hustle and bustle, stress and dirt, little beautiful remains of the former village in the forest. At least when you’re pedaling a heavily laden e-bike over the asphalt, which is groaning and melting in the heat. When we reach the crossroads and turn west, once again moving away from the capital kilometer by kilometer, the frantic twitching, the terrible jostling, the swirling dust and the loud honking actually subside. We are relieved to find a roof over our heads this afternoon where our dog and the bikes are accepted…
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
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