Ky Nam Beach Reflections

We woke to a deserted resort; the workers staying there had long since left for the construction sites by the time we got up.  Our room was in a small terraced outbuilding among other larger bungalows dotted about randomly.

We had the beach to ourselves it seemed, perfect for a prelunch swim.  The temperature was an energy sapping 37°C and I was glad to be relaxing on a clean and empty beach instead of pedalling hard.  My brother, on the other hand, decided to do some exercise.

Later, after the afternoon heat had abated to merely stifling, a few locals came out to the beach.  As we strolled down to explore the northern headland we met a Vietnamese worker in his mid-twenties from one of the construction firms.  He worked for the Vietnamese branch of a Thai company and we had an interesting and frank discussion about working life in Vietnam.  He described how bribery was the key in getting ahead in business.  I told him that it also happened in the West but he insisted that it was done more transparently and to a greater degree here.  To get ahead you had to pay the 'fee'.

He related how businesses often paid the government official who checked their company finances to downgrade profits which meant they would pay less tax and have more to skim off into their own pockets.  He spoke of loopholes which companies used to save on insurance for workers, whereby everyone is given a rolling three month contract which technically makes them temporary.  This absolves the employers of needing to pay for unnecessary 'expenses' such as insuring their workforce.

The government apparently allows these practices as the money stays within the party amidst all the mutual backscratching; funds are raised in other ways such as taxing foreign investment and fines for public offences such as drink driving/riding (VND1m).  He told me his salary was quite decent at VND3m.  So for the average worker, these fines were at an extortionate level.

Western companies also exploit loopholes as shown by the recent tax dodges of some major brands in the UK and it is wrong for these companies to withhold these funds.  The difference is that tax may eventually trickle down in some way to benefit the general population in a welfare state, whilst in Vietnam this concept does not truly exist.

Many people here have spoken frankly about the lack of social benefits in terms of health, housing and unemployment.  I recalled the noodle seller in Hanoi who had furtively told us how she had worked for almost 30 years in a fairly senior position within the party, only for the department to be dissolved and all the staff let go.  She had whispered bitterly that for her service she had received no pay off or pension; everybody was on their own once they were no longer of use to the party.

I thought about how corruption existed in different forms everywhere.  There is no country or society in the world where somebody in power has not taken a bribe in exchange for some privilege, now or in history.  I reasoned that the difference here was that everybody knew and just accepted it as a fact of life, it had permeated society.

In the west, deals are done behind closed doors and usually at higher levels; cases of bribery and corruption are read about as scandalous press exposés (perhaps not a surprise to some, but it is to others).  Here, there is no free press but people know that it goes on everyday and at every level.  The sight of the police stopping motorists at random only to let them off after an 'exchange' is fairly common.

In the UK, if you were to offer a bribe to the driving examiner on the day of your test you would probably not be getting your licence.  In Vietnam, it is the usual way.  Like anywhere, money will get you places, but for a country with socialist pretensions, the majority of wealth stays within the ruling government class and the well-heeled business elite who have dealings with or are a part of the cabal. Those outside are basically left to their own devices with little in the way of the redistribution of wealth.

At dinner in the resort restaurant the previous evening, a Vietnamese construction manager who had family ties to the party, extolled how the state had greatly advanced the motherland.  He told me that on one hand there are four fingers and a thumb - you need all of them equally to have a useful hand but they each have different functions and hence importance.  It was his attempt to address inequality after I had asked about party favouritism and Vietnam's widening gap between rich and poor.  So all parts of a hand have an equal usefulness but some are more useful than others.  It sounded strangely familiar.

From the poorest subsistence farmers toiling for their next meal, to the emerging middle class scrabbling to get ahead and the shop assistant dreaming of an upgraded mobile phone, these people could be from anywhere in the world with their shared aspirations of wanting something better than what the current system allows them.  But in Vietnam, the ones I have met feel that they are not empowered in any way to effect change - dissent is harshly dealt with (usually jail with no trial) and so it is generally believed to be a dangerous and pointless path.

Those better off just shrug their shoulders and say it is the price you pay to become successful.  The general belief is that the only way to get on is to accept the system and grease the palms of those able to advance you, if you have the coin.  If not, then you'll be left behind and nobody glances back in Vietnam once they are climbing the ladder.

Stage 6: Ha Tinh to Ky Nam (76km)

Stage 6: Ha Tinh to Ky Nam (76km)

Following a local lunch we took our bikes for a quick hose down at a local place which washed scooters, to get rid of the grit and mud of the previous day's wet ride.  We were waved off by the friendly hotel owner and the shop girl next door, who had both wished us strength and luck to complete our journey to Saigon.

We left Ha Tinh around 1330 in warm sunshine, our waterproofs safely packed away.  On the way out we stopped to buy some 'cu do', a local sweet speciality of rice cracker wafer and peanut brittle.  Energy food which we thought might come in handy.

About 12km down the road near Cam Xuyen we rode past our first major road accident.  The others had merely been smashed watermelons dropped in transit.  This was a calf that had wandered into the road and lost a contest with some large vehicle judging by the bloodstains in the road.  A group of locals had dragged the carcass to the side of the road, leaving blood smeared all the way across it.  As we rode past we could see that it had almost been rent in half.  A bovine hit-and-run, the vehicle which killed it hadn't stopped.

We debated riding back to take pictures of the scene and decided not to as locals swarmed all around by the roadside, another accident waiting to happen as traffic continued to blare past.  We pondered how much the loss would dent the fortunes of the local farmer and noted that most cattle was tethered securely by the roadside to graze.

As we continued past green paddy field scenery with mountains looming in the distance, the odd labourer greeted the sight of us and our bikes with friendly waves.

We reached Ky Anh, 53km away at 1600 and stopped for a break to refuel at a roadside place selling noodle soup and cold drinks.  The decision was made to press on as far as we could until darkness fell.

We rode on through Ky Thinh and then the roadside dwellings became replaced by interspersed construction sites of factory buildings and barren new settlements.  Approaching Ky Nam, as the sky darkened, we saw the Hotel Hoa Sim (Descon Kyoto) advertised by the road and came off Highway 1 to investigate.  It turned out to be a spread out resort with terraced bungalow rooms by a clean sandy white beach.

We checked in as darkness fell and my brother managed a quick dip in the sea before dinner at the beachside restaurant.

There seemed to be a lot of staff about the resort with an apparent lack of guests.  At dinner we spoke
to many of them as they sat about with not much to do.  All were locals from nearby Ky Nam and they
were curious about our trip and where we'd ridden in from.  There was a distinct family feel to the place and it seemed the staff were entrusted to look after the owner's child (a 2 year old girl) whilst they were in Hanoi on business.  They all laughed when we told them how hard their Ha Tinh accents were to understand as we ordered dinner.

We were surprised to find kimchi on the menu and ordered some to go with our meal.  One of the waitresses explained that a lot of personnel from overseas construction companies at local sites stayed at the resort.  As groups of them came in for dinner it seemed that there was a mixture of Korean, Japanese and Chinese workers.  We were amazed at how one of the main waitresses was so adept at each of these foreign languages when dealing with these guests.  She told us later that she was better at some of the languages than others and only knew enough for business.  We told her that it was still impressive how she'd effectively learned these languages on the job.

The next morning we woke to brilliant sunshine with a beach to relax on and the easy decision was made to stay for a few days.

Stage 5: Vinh to Ha Tinh (50km)

Stage 5: Vinh to Ha Tinh (50km)

Waking up to thunderstorms and the sight of wet roads, we decided to aim for Ky Anh and noted the city of Ha Tinh as a possible stopping point.  Upon checking out, the friendly receptionist wished us luck on our journey and we mounted up in our waterproofs.

As we left Vinh, the dampness added to the general downbeat feeling but I remembered the humour and energy of the local ladies at the night market and it made me smile.  We rode out of the city alongside fellow waterproofed riders on bikes and scooters and along the way we encountered some strange sounding horns.

We pushed on past Can Loc with about 12km to go to Ha Tinh when the rainfall became a torrent.  Reaching the outskirts of the city at about 1530, the sky was dark with angry clouds and we decided to call it a day as it wasn't worth pushing on the further 50km or so to Ky Anh given the conditions.

Towards the city centre we found the Thanh Sen Hotel and the friendly woman owner let us wheel our wet bikes inside.  At the local market most stalls were closing up but we found a lady who still had some cold rice flour pancakes and spring rolls to sell us.  The covered part of the market had old rice sacks above to hold off the rain and there were plenty of leaks.

Further back towards the hotel we found a noodle soup place which had basic concrete walls and open windows of wire fencing with tarpaulin covers.  Ha Tinh is one of Vietnam's poorest provinces and it showed in the provincial capital's broken streets and ramshackle buildings.

Stage 4: Cau Giat to Vinh (58km)

Stage 4: Cau Giat to Vinh (58km)

It was a cloudy start with the roads drying from early morning/overnight rainfall.  We had woken to the honks of trucks and other vehicles as they approached the major junction opposite our hotel.  There was also the sound of g*vernment agenda being played through loudspeakers on trucks driving up and down the roads (we first encountered these in Hanoi).  There were also banners with statements encouraging the development of the province for the general good of society.  The odd luxury car we saw driving past locals struggling on overladen bicycles suggested that for some, personal economic development was a long road ahead.

The first 15km flew by as the roads had dried by the time we'd set off after breakfast.  The roads were fine apart from a few early sections of roadworks which disrupted our smooth progress.  Green paddy fields passed by under cloudy skies which became ominously darker as we went through Dien Chau and to within 40km of Vinh.

Soon after, we received our first taste of riding in the wet as rain started to lash down hard.  After a few kilometres of riding through the downpour and spray from traffic, we dripped into a trucker rest station which had a restaurant for lunch and gave us a chance to dry off.

We had a good chat with the waitresses who had the Hue influenced accents of the province (Nghe An).  As usual, they thought we were mad to ride from Hanoi to Saigon and asked why we didn't do it by motorbike instead.  Our replies that we preferred the challenge of cycling the route and that we could enjoy the landscapes more at our sedate pace made them laugh.

After donning waterproof jackets, we pushed on along the final sodden 26km to Vinh.  We reached the city outskirts, marked by ladies offering corn for sale by the roadside - obviously a staple crop of the local region.  After riding towards the centre, we found a small hotel with decent rooms for a good price and checked in.

The friendly receptionist recommended the local specialities of 'chao luon' (eel congee) and gave us directions to the night market where we would find local food stalls for dinner.  We headed there and noted that Vinh had big ugly concrete buildings (it was apparently rebuilt in an Eastern German/Russian style after after being bombed during the war).  There were also some newer tall buildings which all seemed to be banks and hotels.  Overall, the place had quite a downbeat feel which I attributed to the bright spark who thought modelling the city on concrete eastern bloc architecture would be a good idea.

We found the night market and sat down at a food stall run by a loud and formidable looking lady who took her food seriously when we asked what dishes she offered.  After ordering the local speciality we ate and watched on in awe as she prepared orders for other local diners like a whirling typhoon.  After plenty of banter, by the time our meal was over we were firm friends!

Stage 3: Thanh Hoa to Cau Giat (80km)

Stage 3: Thanh Hoa to Cau Giat (80km)

We were up at 0900 and went for breakfast at a nearby noodle soup place.  The girl who served us was very curious about our trip and about life abroad in general.  She told us that she'd travelled within Vietnam but didn't think she'd ever go beyond.  Most people we'd met so far asked about the quality of life abroad and more directly about money.  She also wondered how much people earned in the west and we explained that earnings and also the cost of living were generally higher.  We also explained that differences in quality of life also lay in social services, which were non-existent in Vietnam.  She spoke of people she knew who had married in order to live abroad and we concluded that being in a relationship for money and not love was probably not a happy place.

Graham had left us a note saying he'd departed early at 0500 to press on to try to reach Vinh 140km away.  Our plan was to push on towards there and see how far we could get before it got dark around 1800.  After loading up our panniers, we left the hotel in hot sunshine around 1000.

Riding out of Thanh Hoa, we stopped by a roadside shop to buy some 'nem chua' (fermented pork roll) which was the speciality of the region.  A snack to go with the beers we'd treat ourselves at the end of the day.

A quick roadside pitstop

Some of the roads had broken surfaces and the hard shoulder was basically a dusty strip by the side of the road into which we were pushed from time to time by charging trucks and coaches.  They sped up behind and warned you with a horn blast to move out of the way before steaming past.  The use of the horn was not to let you know of their position, but rather a warning to move as they were coming through at speed.

On the straight and narrow

We stopped at a small roadside place for lunch and found the owner friendly and open.  He told us how he'd lost his leg in a road accident in his previous job as a truck driver.  He spoke about the lack of insurance in Vietnam and the dangerous disregard for traffic laws.  We'd already seen how the drivers of larger vehicles along Highway 1 drove as if nobody else on the road existed.  His experience highlighted the lack of social services and compensation in Vietnam for victims.

Lady frying sweet potato cakes for our lunch

Transportation even slower than us

We saw children riding bikes in their tracksuit like school uniforms, many under shade from the sun.  It was common to see people covered up to save themselves from becoming darkened by the sun.  In Vietnam, darkened skin is indicative of lowly jobs such as farming and pale skin is considered much more attractive.  Those we passed whilst playing in front of their homes waved and shouted enthusiastic hellos.

With about 75km to go to Vinh, we stopped for a drinks break.  It was about 1630 and after checking our bearings we realised that we wouldn't reach Vinh before dark.  The drinks stall owner told us that we could reach Cau Giat about 15km away.  She was friendly and we spoke to her at ease, comparing the number of people in our respective families.  Like almost everyone we met she was curious about us, our trip and our lives abroad.  I noticed that she spoke with a Hue influenced accent.  In fact, the accents had changed noticeably since we'd left Thanh Hoa, one of the last northern central provinces.

We reached Cau Giat's paddy fields under cloudy skies which meant slightly cooler conditions.  Linh, a 13 year old schoolgirl who was keen to meet foreigners and practice her English followed us as we stopped to check our bearings.  She had lofty ambitions of becoming the President when older and spoke very good English for her age.  We asked her about local hotels and she directed us to the Quynh Luu Plaza a little further down the road.  We debated if she'd even get to ever leave this small town despite her potential as we continued on towards the hotel.  I had the sad feeling that her provincial life would probably hold her back but we had wished her luck all the same.

That evening we saw the first instance of a Saigon beer, an indicator that we were moving away from the northern provinces perhaps.  The short walk back to the hotel along the road showed that nightfall didn't slow the traffic flow of trucks and their near constant horn blaring - Highway 1 did not sleep.

Stage 2: Ninh Binh to Thanh Hoa (63km)

Stage 2: Ninh Binh to Thanh Hoa (63km)

Our second ride was a less ambitious 63km down the road to Thanh Hoa.  After a hearty fishcake noodle soup ('bun cha ca') breakfast to set us on our way, we joined the traffic on Highway 1 and rolled out of a cloudy Ninh Binh at 0930.  The plan was to push on steadily with the hope that our cycling fitness would soon catch up with our aching bodies.

About an hour later we stopped at a small roadside drinks stall for a break and had a friendly chat with the lady owner about our trip.  Further down the road we had a few gradients to go up as we headed through Bac Son ('Son' became an ominous word for us at it means mountain) which was a bit testing on my legs which were feeling the effects of our first big push.  The usual blaring traffic streamed past us as we encountered locals on their way to market.

A few kilometres further on we were joined on the road by a fellow cyclist doing the Hanoi to Saigon run.  Graham turned out to be from Manchester and was also heading for Thanh Hoa.  We rode on together along patchy sections of road, but the going was noticeably better than the chaos caused by the roadworks around Phu Ly.  Some sections of the road even became a proper dual carriageway with a central reservation but they were depressingly short.

The three of us reached Thanh Hoa and we set about trying to find a hotel.  A quick internet search threw up a few choices and we headed to one.  There, we spoke to a grumpy manager who told us that he didn't want the hassle of a western guest without giving any real reason!  We promptly left and found another hotel which was much more welcoming (Duc Anh Hotel).

We left Graham to relax in his room as he planned to leave early in the morning and headed to the nearby beach resort at Sam Son.  It was low season and the place had a downbeat feel to it as the clouds rolled in over the empty beachside seafood restaurants.  We sat over some beers and grilled squid watching a group of local kids having a game of beach football.

As darkness fell, we found a small place for dinner.  A lady was cooking fresh 'banh cuon' (steamed rice flour pancakes) and we sat down to a few plates.  The family were curious about us and where we were from outside Vietnam.  We chatted about our family and they told us about theirs.  The lady was amazingly adept at steaming the pancakes, filling and rolling them quickly as locals came to eat. 

It seemed that these 'binh dan' (common people) were left to their own devices by central g*vernment.  Subsistence was the name of the game for them and generally they did what they could to make a living and put their children through school.  Having spoken to others on the road about education, there was a belief it was key to a better life, but even then there was no guarantee that good students would graduate with the grades they deserved.  Certain students would always come out on top as money and networking had greater weight.

They gave us friendly advice about the area (warning us of the inflated prices of the beachfront street hawkers) and even called a taxi to take us back to Thanh Hoa as the last local bus had long since departed.

Ninh Binh And Trang An Caves

Following our first proper ride we had a rest day in Ninh Binh.  It was fairly busy as we were staying on a road just off Highway 1, which ran through the city.  The same trucks and buses which shunted us into the hard shoulder the day before, now had traffic lights and traffic police to tone them down within the city.  There was plenty of traffic around including students on their bikes exhibiting various riding styles.  We also saw some kind of roadside building project and the sight of men having a tea break whilst women labourers worked.

We decided to visit Trang An, an area of natural limestone landscapes and caves just a few kilometres north of the city.  After buying tickets for the boat cave tour we joined another four young students in a boat rowed by an experienced looking guy.

It was peaceful just gliding along the calm river waters on our way to explore a series of thirteen caves in the area.  The landscapes were reminiscent of the limestone karst of Ha Long Bay except this was an inland river system.

As the sun set I thought back on the previous day's cycle, the chaos of leaving Hanoi and the tough
riding on the broken roads plus the manic traffic.  Somehow, my legs didn't ache as much as my backside.  On our way back some ladies displayed alternative rowing techniques.

That evening, after a meal of local specialities including grilled goat and toasted rice, we relaxed at a local street side drinking joint selling the local brew.  When we stood up my legs felt like jelly and I don't believe the beers were that strong; the cycling had caught up and we were due to ride on the next day.