Cotterell House 69 Meadrow Godalming GU7 3HS Tel: 0870 873 0060 cycling@ctc.org.uk www.ctc.org.uk
TOURING INFORMATION
Kunming
to
entering and leaving points. In both countries they may spend 20 minutes just staring at your visa and passport but eventually it is handed back with an O.K. The extent of officialdom in China was reached when we were stopped by soldiers in the street just outside their barracks. Even so, the youngest recruit was sent inside to bring us chairs while our papers were inspected. This was the only check other than the airports and land border. Guide books and maps are generally out of date and can easily be faulted. There seemed to be no high-handed officials and we did not draw any crowds to stare at us. Children would shout hello, otherwise we were ignored. The American aerial survey maps of China and Vietnam were probably made at the time of the Vietnam War, early 70’s, they do not reflect the current network of surfaced roads but they are good for contours. The Nelles Southern China 1:1 500 000 is O.K but fails to show some side roads. In Kunming we bought a town plan; we should have inspected this more closely as the insets showed the best ways out of such a large city. On its reverse was a map of Yunnan in Chinese. The ownership of such a map is very important as it can be used to ask directions. The locals cannot read maps with western characters. Also when you have worked out the Chinese characters you can look for them on the few road signs. The Lonely Planet Vietnam map is O.K. but we did do 20k along a Red River track as the map indicated a non existent bridge by Phu Tho. The Lonely Planet South West China is very good but I suspect that no guide book can keep up with pace of change. The ‘olde worlde’ centres of Tonghai and Jianshui have been demolished or are hidden behind modern shop frontages. There are large building sites everywhere; there are new road works to connect towns to the motorways between Kunming and the Vietnam/Laos borders; [these motorways are not show on my maps]. One advantage of the building boom is that there is no shortage of hotels. There was never a need to seek out hotels on the inset maps in the Lonely Planet guide. With one exception we would stop outside a 400 bed marble palace and go in for a room; usually the guests were outnumbered by the staff. The cost for a room, sometimes with breakfast, would be £10 but we always had a discount to £8. At £4 each it was hardly worth looking for anything cheaper. The first night at the Kunming Hotel was £34 but this was an exception and still affordable.
CH3.doc~Kunming to Hanoi ~ 2005. Page 1
(China)
Hanoi
(Vietnam)
Bruce Mantom writes: Dill Faulkes and I had visited and cycled in the Far East previously but we had never been to China. Our plan was to start in Yunnan, the semi-tropical southernmost province, and ride to northern Vietnam. The starting city would be Kunming and we would finish by revisiting Hanoi. As we were only to be away for 2 weeks we would take a train over the familiar areas of Vietnam. We chose Yunnan as we like hot dry weather and with an absence of ‘great’ sites, it was likely to be free from mass tourism;[in China we never saw another westerner after Kunming]. We both like the ‘buzz’ in Hanoi and for myself I looked forward to a 3rd visit. We went in the last 2 weeks of March 05 during the dry season; the 1st week was very hot, dry and sunny, 30°C. I was very badly sunburnt on the backs of my hands due to the temperature, altitude and side effects of the malaria tablets. Once our small amount of sun block was used we could not buy any more. There was 1 day of torrential rain when it was 4°C at 7000ft. For the remainder of the tour we had weak sun, 22°C, making for very comfortable riding conditions. We flew out to Bangkok and on to Kunming and returned from Hanoi also by Bangkok, all with Thai Air for £670. Initially I had thought of buying tickets for China and Vietnam in Bangkok but the Thai Air price was better than the prices I had checked when last in Bangkok. The bikes were accepted without comment, packing or charge. The Chinese and Vietnam visas were about £100 in total; the former has to be collected in person from the embassy in London. The latter can be done by post; this visa no longer requires details of
Since our last visit to Vietnam 4 years ago, an internet search will find hotels in towns where previously none were known. The total cost of our joint spending in both countries was £520, roughly split 50/50. This included accommodation, lots of eating and drinking, a 2 hour taxi ride, a 6 hour train ride and a small amount of clothes shopping. Food was wonderful, healthy and always came in large portions. Some of it was identical to what we would have in a smart English/Chinese restaurant; otherwise there were additional spices and chillies. It was not too hot and you can always remove chillies. We soon spotted the method of ordering food at roadside restaurants in towns and villages. You go into the kitchen and point to any of the large array of vegetables. Potatoes are quite popular. Next open the large fridge and choose from the poultry, pork, beef, or liver. This seems to be the way the locals do it. You may also choose from the fish tank. Each item will be placed on the table on individual dishes, rice or noodles will be bought sometime after you start eating. A large meal for 2 of fish, meat, vegetables, potatoes and rice plus 2.4 litres of beer would be about £3.50. The Chinese seem to leave as much food as they eat. In a hotel restaurant you will have to use the ‘Point It’ book, the bill will be not that much dearer and there may be wine at about £3 a bottle. Breakfasts consist of noodles in a pint of chicken or beef broth; they will serve fried eggs for you to practice your chopstick skills. Even in smart hotels the breakfast may be collected from a street kitchen. There was never a problem finding somewhere to eat at midday. Road surfaces were O.K., the exceptions being the long detours around new road works and through a few villages. Dill rode his traditional Condor touring bike with 700x28 tyres and I went on my new toy, an Orange MTB with front suspension and 26x 1½ road tyres. Dill had no punctures while I blew the wall out of a nearly new rear tyre. Kunmimg and Gegiu are cities 6000ft above sea level. From Kunming to Yuxi there is not too much climbing but there are mountains in the distance. The flat lands are intensively farmed; there are poly tunnels by the square kilometre for the growing of cut flowers and every kind of vegetable. There are also many ponds for fish farming. The vegetables look like an illustration from an allotment catalogue and
everything is so neat. As the countryside becomes more undulating the polythene disappears and we saw rice being planted for the first time, it surprised me that there seemed to be just as many fields of potatoes as rice. The fields were small as they all have to be irrigated by hand from the ditches around the field. In Europe, by the late 20th century, we are so used to there being a separation between countryside and industry. In rural surroundings it was quite common to find rolling mills, brick works, cement factories and blast furnaces, all belching out smoke and other pollutants. The reaction to visitors varies greatly in the 2 countries. After crossing into Vietnam we were offered currency exchange, train ticket buying services all while we sat down for a drink. It was all done in English for very little commission; they then bribed the train guard for a better seat next to the luggage van. Most Chinese have a job with no connection to the tourist industry and as such you have to seek out everything. Even in hotels you may have to use the ‘Point It’ book to get a bed and bathroom, the young ladies in reception may run away as you approach them. By contrast in Vietnam as you walk into the reception the owner will hold out a room key together with a slip of paper with the cost written on it in US$. Chinese people are very happy to give directions and pleased when you eat most of the food put before you. Our route was as follows. I have not listed hotel names as they seem so easy to find. Hotels were seen en route in Jincheng & Yuxi; There was probably a second hotel in Manhao, and nearby Zhonglinggan was large enough for a hotel. Day 1. Kunming to Jinning on the west side of the lake. Day 2. To Tonghai Day 3. To Jianshui. At this stage there were long climbs to be made. Day 4. To Gegiu. The climb into this town was 27km and the temperature was still 30°C. Day 5. To Manhao, a village on the banks of the river Yuan Jiang. On this day things did not go according to plan. It was raining heavily as we left the hotel using our compass as there were no road signs. The rain kept the locals indoors and there was no one to confirm to us that we were on the right road. We went on for nearly 2 hours to 7500ft
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and arrived at a tin mine. A shop owner took sympathy on our freezing and wet condition and lit a fire in the middle of his shop, [not in a fireplace but actually in the centre of the floor]. We warmed our beer by the fire as he laughed and indicated we had come the wrong way. This shop sold everything a miner from the 1849 California gold rush might need plus beer and whiskey. Chinese mining must be quite primitive. The descent to return to Gegiu was so dangerous that it almost took as much time as the ascent. We had not covered many miles and it had been a very hard morning. We ate lunch and considered our position. We decided against taking a room and going to bed to get warm and instesd chose to take a taxi, at least we could have the heater on. With 2 bikes hanging out the boot and the lid tied down with a clothes line we set off. Remember never take your best bike on tour! To get out of town there is a long road tunnel where bikes are prohibited; either a taxi or a long mountainous detour is required. It is 70km all downhill to the river Yuan Jiang, every bit is downhill, the bends are long and sweeping, the drop is from 6000ft to 400ft and we were in a taxi. The final 20km drops to 200ft, [I know imperial + metric], but there are some small climbs. The good side of not cycling down the hill that morning was that the storm had washed boulders from the slopes and cliffs onto the road. There were thousands of football sized ones and a dozens at 1½ metres across. As far as I can remember the fare was £15. This village was one of the few places we were apprehensive about finding accommodation. We found a hotel, more basic than the ones in the large towns but O.K. A double en suite room with a squat toilet was £4, dinner and breakfast extra. Day 6. To the Vietnamese border Hekou, China and Lau Cai, Vietnam. It was a pleasant ride beside the river and between the mountains. We were intending to cross the border that evening but a sudden storm in Hekou drove us into the first hotel we saw. Day 7. Train, 6½ hours to Phu Tho The old border crossing doubling with a railway bridge has gone. There is a new road bridge with a ‘People’s Palace’ at each end. It took 20minutes in each one to read the passports. It was Saturday morning and, having ridden the 4k out of town to the station, we went to a bar in the
square to change money, get train tickets, bribe a guard, and of course have a drink. Just round the corner from Phu Tho station there are 3 hotels next to one another. It is easier to get services in Vietnam than it is in rural England or Wales. Day 8. To Son Tay There is no river crossing at Phu Tho, so we took the unsurfaced road along the embankment. The hotel in Son Tay was opposite the main entrance to the very large market. Day 9. To Hanoi. The suburbs still have thousands of bikes, but the centre is becoming almost bike free outside the rush hour. The Viet Anh, www.vietanhhotel.com is a good choice of hotel in the centre of the old city among the narrow streets. Just round the corner we had both bikes cleaned and hand washed for £1.25 to make them acceptable for the airport baggage handlers. Hanoi should be seen before it is changed by affluence. It’s still more fun and interesting than Saigon.
Bruce Mantom, 01562 851388 April 2005.
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