Ever wanted to cycle in a foreign country? Take your mountain bike along a tropical beach or through a high mountain pass?
Well, join Dave and friends as his organised tour doesn’t go exactly to plan. Beginning their adventure in Saigon, Vietnam, the idea is to have a nice, relaxing trip through one of the friendliest countries in Southeast Asia, enjoying its rich cultural heritage and amazing food.
Not normally one to write about his holidays, Dave couldn’t let this one go without a few words. Join him on a journey of discovery that would tip many of us over the edge. Will you get flashbacks to Vietnam after reading this book or will you too want to venture there?
Find out inside.
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Sample chapter
Introduction
At first, I wasn’t going to write this. It felt silly – it was only a holiday, after all. Why would anyone turn a holiday into a book? Well, apart from Bill Bryson, perhaps. Millions of people travel every year, so what made this trip any different?
If I’d cycled from Hanoi to Saigon, over a thousand miles, that might have justified it. Especially given that I’m, at best, an enthusiastic amateur, with emphasis on the amateur. That would have been something to write home about. But this journey was organised, something I rarely do, and the distance was a fraction of that, and modest by comparison. Also, there were plenty of rest days, and a support crew never far away. Hardly a Richard Parks type of endurance challenge, nor as exciting as my previous biking books.
And yet, looking back, I found myself thinking this story was worth telling after all. I hope you think so too.
I suppose this story really began a couple of years ago, in mid-2024. I’d come across a trip that caught my eye on one of those overland truck websites – a cycling tour through Vietnam. That sounds pretty cool, I thought. The only problem was timing: I’d already missed the ideal window. April, it turns out, is the month to go. Not too hot, and you miss a lot of the rain.
The route itself ran from Hanoi, the capital, all the way down to Ho Chi Minh City, still known locally as Saigon. The cycling distances looked manageable, even for me, and I made a promise to myself that if I could arrange it, I’d book for the following year, 2025.
The new year dawned, and my mam, aged ninety, wasn’t well. My wife, Sue, had recently retired and wanted to travel, but I was still working, earning less than minimum wage by helping people self-publish their own books. I also started caring duties for mam, although luckily she only lives across the road from us.
My own writing was suffering too, as it was always the last thing I had time to do. In fact, the more I thought about it, I was always rushing to get books finished and rarely edited as much as a good writer should. Something had to give.
Sue had already decided she was off to India. Like wives do. A two-week stay at a yoga retreat, close to a semi-deserted beach in south Goa. So, with Christmas over and the New Year hangover fading, off she went to eat lentils, while I studied the Vietnam itinerary and looked for flights for my own trip.