Restarting the post count, today was the first official day of the biking trip, called Northeast Vietnam (NEV). No cycling yet, not until Monday, but after moving to the hotel provided by the biking company, we met the group in the evening.

First thing, after the final lovely breakfast at the Art Hotel, we headed out to the Museum of Military History. It was an interesting collection of full historical breadth of the Vietnam military experience, hopefully back to the 1600s and up through the modern age. It was a great museum in so many ways, but of course I tend to be more interested in the American War period, most often called the American war of aggression. (Chatted for a bit there with an Aussie who had served there during the war. A fascinating perspective…)

In comparison to the Vietnam War Museum in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City that I visited on my last trip here, this museum was much more tame in a sense because it lacked the massive displays of the gruesome and tragic results of our war, nor was much anti-American sentiment or propaganda present in the displays. (Just a side note, the Vietnam War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City is a fascinating look into the War from the Vietnamese perspective, not to be missed!) The Vietnamese people have survived invasion and occupation by the French, Americans, and the Chinese in the modern age and have always remained in full control of their country, eventually driving the invader away. There was a fantastic sculpture here that represented a downed B52, but actually is a composite of many aircraft…

Then it was back to the wonderful Art Hotel for check out since we are moving to the hotel provided by Redspokes, the UK cycling company running this trip…

Do you know that feeling when you’re in the middle of a moment and when the moment has gone you wish to hell that you had taken a photograph of it? That’s what it was like leaving 54 Traditions the other day, and again today leaving the Art Hotel. The staff there was consistently attentive and helpful, and particularly the two young women that ran the front desk; Sue and Von, were so very nice and helpful, made us feel really special. Have you ever felt that way about a hotel? Yeah, I’m sure every time you check into the red roof inn…😁 Maybe I will sneak back there for a photo today…

The next hotel, the Boutique 2 is such a letdown in comparison, but realistically more typical for the cycling trips I’ve taken in terms of quality. The first room they put me into had absolutely no windows, I was fortunate to get into a different room but still a much less desirable place in every measure. Oh well, it’s about the cycling, right?

On arrival, we met Dermot in the lobby. I first met Dermot years ago on my very first bicycle bicycle tour in Laos. My group was heading north, and Dermot was leading his group south and we just met briefly one day when both groups crossed paths in the same hotel. Dermot is a vivacious and enthusiastically unique Scotsman brimming full of life stories. Of course, I can only understand about 75% of what he says because of his thick accent, but what a life this guy leads. He, as far as I can tell, is the main owner of Redspokes and also the chief architect of all of the tours they provide.

On meeting us, we chatted for 15 minutes, and he told the story about his recent trip to Syria. This was a trip that I had looked at and considered for joining prior to the uprising and violence that has occurred there began. He was there scouting the trip, and was heading towards Homs when he noticed that the place was essentially a ghost town and nobody was around. He had stopped outside of Homs and asked three gentlemen who were sitting on the side of the road drinking coffee for info, and they happened to speak very good English. He suspects they were plainclothes police for Assad. He asked how to get to a specific hotel in Homs, and they all looked at each other strangely and then asked him why does he want to go there? Well, because that was the hotel they were planning to use for the cycling tour. It all seemed very strange to him, but they actually escorted him into at the Square just in front of the hotel. Unbeknownst to him until later, that was the site of a massacre for scores of Syrian opposition were killed in just two days prior. All of the damage from bullets was still very visible in the area. To me, that’s a fascinating story and an example of how we typically forget how much government-sponsored violence still occurs in our world every day.

Dermot…

Changing gears, no pun intended, Paul and I then set out for yet another Asian floss quest. Somehow, despite the fact that Paul purchased loads of floss in the US, somehow none of it made it into his bag. A similar thing happened to me in China where I unexpectedly ran out of loss. It appears to be a Herculean task to find floss anywhere in Asia. Make a note to yourselves about that in case you find yourself flossless in Fuzhou!

Tonight we overnight train north to Lao Cai and get on the bikes the following morning, Monday. I suspect that once we start climbing up and down and up and down and up all of the hills that are on this trip, I will be posting less frequently; at least there will probably be less commentary and more pix.

The group is huge with 17!!! All great folks on first impression; mostly repeat tour customers like me; from US, UK, Australia, New Zealand; the usual cast of characters. Prospects for fantastic cycling looking good!