Vietnam - "Corona, Corona"

Location: Nam Phao International Checkpoint
Km on the clock: 10,519

"No, no, no", yelled a shop owner into my face as I stood at the doorstep. He made dismissive gestures with his arms so that I wouldn't even attempt to enter his shop. All I wanted was to buy some food supplies for the day. Today I'd leave Vietnam and enter Laos.

I went across the street to another shop. The three elderly ladies inside covered their mouths and noses with their hands, yelled at me in Vietnamese with aggressive face expressions and also made obvious gestures to make sure that I also wouldn't enter this shop.

Approximate scrible of my route

I tried again and again at other shops, restaurants and street vendors. Every time I got opposed with similar reactions. Nobody let me enter his shop let alone wanted to sell me any food. Being confronted with such reactions only because I looked different than the locals triggered a mixture of feelings inside of me. First I got irritated and nervous but also mad the more I got refused and was yelled at. I felt like an alien which the people seemed to rather let starve instead of selling some food so that I could simply leave their country.

I tried to keep a cool head but was anxious on the inside since I didn't know when and where to get food again. I hoped it would be in Laos at the latest and tried to think about out my options right now. My only reasonable idea was to ration the little food I had until I'd reach Laos. I checked my panniers and found half a package of crackers and two oranges.

With an empty stomach I pushed my bicycle slowly up the steep mountain road to Nam Phao International Checkpoint.

What happened?

One month earlier I flew into Hanoi from Muscat, Oman. As I arrived at the international airport, I loaded my bicycle and my luggage on a cart, got on a taxi to the city center where I checked into Hanoi Centre Hostel which by the way serves free beer for one hour every evening. ;)

The news reported about an outbreak of a new kind of a virus in Wuhan, China the last few days which was spreading to other countries now. Most conversations started now like: "Did you hear about this virus in China?" but nobody really knew anything about it besides that it was called Covid-19. Many people assumed that it was some sort of a flu and thus it would be over soon.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Chris Fritze (@fritzechris)

I reassembled my bicycle the next morning and started to explore the city. Since I just came from Oman, where was barely any traffic, Hanoi was another story. The streets were crowded with scooters. At first it seemed chaotic but I quickly realized that it was actually quite well organized and the traffic was always flowing. Cycling between the scooter masses and with the traffic stream turned out to be a lot of fun.

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A friend of a friend told me that the Ha Giang Loop is the one thing in the north of Vietnam that I really had to experience. "I went around the loop on a motorbike two years ago and it's the most beautiful area that I've ever seen in my life", he said. "It'll be a challenge on a bicycle but I think it's doable". Other guests at the hostel also told me about their loop experiences and how much they loved it.

I thought: "Alright! Why not!? It really seems like the one thing to experience in northern Vietnam." One week later I left Hanoi in direction Ha Giang.

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A few days later I pedaled out of Ha Giang and followed a river. The road was flat and I wondered why everyone said that it would be a hard ride. It didn't take long to realize why! The road turned into a steep and windy mountain road. I slowly pushed my bike uphill. The Exertion made me do ugly grimaces. :D

The road signs stated slopes of 12 percent. My bicycle device however gave me numbers above it. Throughout the next days I realized that every sign stated 12 percent which gave me the impression the road authorities got the 12 percent sign in bulk and put them out there no matter what the slope actually was. :D

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It took me six days to make it around the loop via Dong Van, Meo Vac and then alongside the Gam River back to Ha Giang. Without the help of some motorbike drivers it would have taken me longer. It occurred three times that I got towed to the top of the next mountain or town. I found myself often sitting knackered on the side of the road and wondered why I was doing this to myself. But whenever I reached the next peak or view point I got rewarded with spectacular views and immediately forgot about the pain until I faced the next slope. Some views were that spectacular that I got goosebumps.

So yeah, traveling around the Ha Giang Loop is definitely worth it but I personally wouldn't do it again on a bicycle - at least not on a fully loaded touring bike. Out here I got once again remembered that I'm definitely not a mountaineer. :D

Meanwhile no Chinese citizens were allowed to enter Vietnam anymore. I took a night bus from Ha Giang to Ha Long to save some time on my visa. I entered Ha Long which appeared to be a ghost town. Many shops and restaurants were closed. Barely any people were walking outside and the streets were that empty that I was able to cycle in zig-zag lines on them.

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Visit my Instagram account for more pictures from the Ha Giang Loop

The hostel owner, as well as some other small business owners, told me that about 90 percent of tourists in Ha Long come from China but since they were not allowed to enter the country anymore the city and their businesses were besically dead.

A boat cruise through the world famous and spectacular Ha Long Bay and a couple of days later I pedaled in direction Ninh Binh. As I cycled alongside the bay I reached the 10,000 kilometers mark. I couldn't have asked for a better location for this milestone.

Thus far I didn't have any issues regarding Covid-19. Wherever I came and whoever I talked to considered it as a "Chinese thing". So I was always welcomed in a very friendly manner.

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A guest house manager and I already agreed on the price for one night but then he changed his mind and said that he can't accept me as a guest due to Covid. I was a bit puzzled since just a few seconds earlier everything was fine. I crossed the street and checked into another guest house for the night. The owner, an elderly lady, seemed happy to have me as her customer.

I stayed at NEXT 68 Hostel in Ninh Binh the following days. Despite the low number of tourists, everything was calm in and around the city. Thus I thought that I got once declined at a guest house was a onetime incident.

Well, it wasn't! From now on things changed tremendously. I followed the coastline for half a day and arrived in a sleepy coast town. My idea was to quickly find an accommodation and spend the rest of the day on the beach and do some snorkeling. This plan didn't work out at all! Every possible accommodation rejected me. All for the same reason - Covid! For the first time in my life I didn't feel welcomed at all in a place.

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It got already dark as I finally found a small home stay that was willing to host me. The young lady asked me for how long I was already in Vietnam. As she realized that I was already for a while in the country she said: "I think you can stay here but I also need to convince my mum. She's afraid of the virus." A few minutes later they showed me my room.

"Can you please not leave the room tonight anymore?" asked the young lady. "Officially we're not allowed to accept any guests right now due to the virus and we don't want to get in trouble with the authorities if a neighbor sees you and reports it."
I assured to stay inside. "But I also need something for dinner."
"We'll cook and give you something", she said. "Oh, and one more thing. You also have to leave before eight tomorrow morning."

A little bit later she brought me a tray with a home cooked meal. Hiding in a room didn't feel good at all and now I got nervous how traveling on a bicycle would go in future.

I thanked the home stay family for taking me in and left early the next morning. From now on more and more people covered their mouth and nose with their hands and turned their backs at me when they saw me coming down the street. Kids pointed at me and shouted: "Corona, Corona". The more often I was confronted with such reactions the more I didn't feel welcomed anymore in Vietnam. Thus I cycled from sunrise to sunset the following days to cover as many kilometers as possible to make it out of the country in hope the situation would be calmer in Laos.

Now, a couple of days later I slowly pushed my bicycle up the mountain road to the border post. Half way up I took a break, ate one of my oranges and only a couple of crackers. I thought to better safe the other half for later. Who knows if I'd get food on the other side of the border? It was probably the most delicious and juiciest orange of my life.

A Vietnamese border official asked me to put on a face mask. I did and left Vietnam. A few minutes later I got my Laos visa and entered country number 18 on this journey.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Chris Fritze (@fritzechris)

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