Inspiration & feasibility
Years ago, I was inspired by an article in Wanderlust to take a cycle trip round Cambodia and through Ankor Wat. When we talked about heading east for the next trip, this immediately sprung to mind. Quickly followed by loads of other places (relatively) nearby that I wanted to go to – we’ve never been to Laos or Myanmar, or southern Vietnam. The beginnings of a route started to take shape.
A quick Google search showed there were plenty of travel companies offering cycle holidays in that part of the world. It looked like much of the journey could be done on traffic free tracks, through gorgeous countryside, and with enough accommodation options at regular intervals. In other words, it seemed feasible.
I was able to plot a rough route based on stitching together trips offered by various companies. We ditched the idea of going to Myanmar (too dangerous), and came up with a circular route through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.
Where to start and when to go
Originally, I was thinking of starting in Vientiane, Laos, because it is probably top of the list of places I want to go. However, given that we haven’t done any real fitness training, it felt more sensible to start in Hanoi and do the relatively flat part of the journey first. Hopefully by the time we get to the foothills of northern Thailand we’ll be a bit fitter though I don’t think I will ever find mountainous terrain easy!
In terms of when to go, we are heading off at the end of the rainy season, in October. We think it may take 6-9 months, but we’ll see how we get on. Hopefully we’ll finish before the next rainy season comes along.
Detailed planning
Ben is working on this, and it is something that will continue throughout our journey, and adapt as we understand what the roads are really like when we get there. He is splitting the overall route into cycle days, based on distance, elevation gain and accommodation availability. We’ve learned that what may seem like a feasible and enjoyable distance for a single day won’t feel like that when you do several days or weeks consecutively. And we don’t want this to be a test of stamina or perseverance – we are going to immerse ourselves in the places and culture, and cycling needs to be an enjoyable way to get around. At least that’s the plan!
For each day, Ben is plotting the route in Google Maps, looking at the nicest way to get from A to B. He is then saving the route using a new app we’ve found called Wanderlog. It’s a pretty amazing app for this kind of trip, allowing you to create an itinerary, save flight and hotel details, add notes about places you want to see.
The Wanderlog App
There are some bits of the journey we won’t cycle. For example, around Bangkok, where the only roads seem to be 5-lane motorways. In a couple of places it looks like we can take our bikes on boats along the river, which I’m really looking forward to. I think we may catch the train in a few places too.
Generally, we won’t book accommodation more than a day or two in advance to give us as much flexibility as possible.
Bikes
We originally intended to buy bikes in Hanoi, but found that its pretty easy to take bikes on the plane as check-in luggage, at no extra cost. Each airline has different restrictions in terms of size and weight, so we were restricted in terms of which airlines we could use. Nevertheless, this seemed like the easiest option in the end.
A local bike shop gave us 2 bike boxes that they didn’t need. Before buying the flights we test packed our bikes into the boxes to get an accurate weight, and then selected flights based on the size and weight of the bikes.
Packing
We’re pretty used to traveling light by now. Our kit will consist of:
Tools and spare inner tubes & brake pads for the bikes
A medical kit
A mosquito net
Electronics – for a trip of this length we will need laptops etc.
Our odds & sods bag with a penknife, washing line, lighter, and other useful bits & pieces
Wash kit and one towel to share
Clothes – around 5 days of clothes for cycling & non-cycling, plus swim wear and a raincoat. We may add an extra day or two of clothes if the weight restrictions for the flight allow.
Our bikes are not very light-weight and we’ve found you always end up carrying the bike at times… whether onto a boat or train, or into accommodation. So packing our bags as light as possible will help.
Best laid plans
One thing we know from previous trips is that things don't tend to go exactly as planned. I'm sure the route will vary, we'll discover places we hadn't heard about before and I already know now that we'll find parts totally exhausting and want to stop for longer. But whatever happens, it will be a new adventure, and I can't wait!
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