16/5/25
Sleep didn’t come easily. We lay awake much of the night being bumped around. It was air conditioned. There were four bunks. We were glad that they were unoccupied. The whole train seemed less than full. There were water machines. They only delivered scorching water. It was no less comfortable inside the cabin than sleeper trains in Europe. The only difference was the corridors and carriages.
The train arrived at 5am. It was a horribly hot and polluted affair from the off. Our bikes weren’t visible on the platform after we got off. We ended up putting all of our panniers on a little airport style trolley. having turned down the offer to pay 100k Dong for a man to carry them for us. After asking multiple people we headed, with difficulty, across at least 10 sets of tracks. On the other side we were turned back. It was not the right place. It was an infuriating experience, there were even more tracks on the way back. We’d restrained the bags but they kept falling off. A man jumped in to help. The heat and stress made it hard to be as grateful as we should have been.
When we got to the other side of the station we had to navigate the scooter car park. They park 10m from the platform. This was to be our first interaction to start our hatred of scooters for the day. It boggles the mind that they could be so unaware of the pollution it was creating. The station staff screamed at us when we tried to take our trolley in the waiting room. They blocked the entrance and barked “5 minutes!” People were shouted at as they reached the platform. We figured it was some kind of matron role.
When we were allowed through, the trolley wasn’t. We resigned ourselves to carry the luggage to the seats. Jonathan went off to find out what had become of our bikes. He found a lovely calm woman manning the luggage station. She explained it would be another 30 minutes. We sat in the waiting room drinking a hot coffee. It was almost three times as expensive as we were used to.
We didn’t rush. An hour later, at 7am, Jonathan collected the bikes. We had to pay another 22k Dong. The black Surly had a slightly buckled front mudguard. Other than that they were fine. We loaded the panniers in front of the station. A guard repeatedly told us to buggar off. We just ignored him. There was nowhere else to go. Once we were ready we tried to ride off. It was futile. The whole place was gridlocked. We stopped at some traffic lights for 5 minutes then tried to weave our bikes down the pavement. It was some kind of insane motorcade we were all waiting for. When we say ‘all’ we mean most of Hà Nội!
We ended up walking most of the way to the accommodation we’d booked. It was faster than trying to cycle. The number of scooters was pure moronity. Why they subjected themselves, and us, to such hell was beyond us. The place we’d booked was down a little side street. No through road. It seemed quieter. And leafy. It was still very early though. So we sat and had a coffee. Dodging cows milk and having coconut by a whisker. We’d learnt to be vigilant when they made our drinks.
Four long hours later we were able to check in. Success for bicycle friendly accommodation again. Jason met us to let us in the house. We were staying in the old quarter and had selected a house for its quietness. We were in a leafy side street. We rolled the bikes straight in and onto some cardboard that Jason had laid down in preparation. It was spacious accommodation. We were happy to have a separate sleeping and living area for a change. Luxury. After a short amount of downtime we did the unheard of. We split up. Rarely does this happen. Jonathan went to seek out bicycle shops on the bus. Frankie did some perusing of the local shops, bought some water and flour then watched tv. Just peaceful time, without Jonathan!
Jonathan’s time alone
The bus tracking app for Hà Nội is called ‘Tim Buýt’. Surprisingly simple but very accurate. It tracks every bus via gps and shows its route and speed. Live. It’s far better than the experience in the UK. The 09A was empty apart from the driver and conductor. It was cheap. 10k Dong (30 pence) for a ticket. The air conditioning was ample and the driving beeped his way along.
The first shop was called Ridebikes. It was one of the recommended, higher end, shops. There were lots of road bikes. A young man sat behind the counter. He seemed disinterested in the conundrum. A reluctant helper. I picked his brain for as long as seemed viable. Finding a 36 spoke rim was impossible.
The next stop was Lam Velo. A quick motorbike taxi away. The owner was older and a lot more bullish. The exact opposite. He was a little too confident in his knowledge. He had some Hope hubs, Velo Orange and Velocii. I’d only heard of Hope and he wanted a lot of money for them. All were 32 spoke and were to be paired with a Velo Orange rim. He reckoned he could build a wheel in a few hours. No rush to make a decision. I took another scooter ride to get back home. The young driver was powering me home quickly, it was hard not appreciate. Good thing I had a helmet.
We spent another couple of hours looking at wheel options. It was looking more and more likely that we’d have to get some rims delivered from the UK. Then we could reuse the existing hubs and have a high quality touring rim. We’d been awake for a long time given our lack of sleep. We walked through the old quarter to a cheap vegan Pho restaurant. It was a tiny place and very busy. We ordered three delicious dishes of hot soupy noodles with soya pieces.
On the way back we wondered how long it would take to be fed up of the hubbub. The streets were jammed with tourists. Lines of bars and restaurants. It was both good and bad. We bought some bananas from the market close to our house. They weren’t overpriced. We watched some Shield. Sleep came easily despite the air conditioner being noisy.
Surly They Won't Make It 