Hue-then on the road to Hoi An

Von and two French cyclists in Hoi An ( yes I got to use my poor school girl french but combined with his english and my french we had many a conversation - just missing a few words)
what is Hoi an well known for - tailors!
Sunset in Hoi An
Market lunch
Scenery of Hoi An ( one of many many photos)

Yvonne (Aust) and Yvonne (Alaska) - both with Bike Fridays riding HaiVan pass from opposite directions-true story!
Scenery on the way down ( very hazy)
Preparing for the long climb
My new friend at the top of the Hai Van Pass who insisted I needed a massage

Scenery enroute to Lang Co beach (i think)
people on the way, very hospitable
the road and ps there are no rules except avoid things that may hit you! But the noise from the horns will give me holiday induced hearing loss
LangCo beach end of Day 1 ride 73.6km from Hue

Thuan's family where I had dinner (moto driver and 2 day guide)
Getting ready to leave Hue
People along the way, this was a drink stop, much amusement with the bike and the helmet
Hmmm are we there yet? day 1 on on the south bound journey, luckily the km stones vary the destination not all TPHCM !
Thuan in the thermal swimming pool

Hot springs about 30km from Hue-visited by Moto (I was one of two foreigners there, the other is an visiting young intern from Holland)
Friday getting a lift to the railway station in Hanoi by moto, the panniers and I were on the other bike
Hue historical day lots to see, too many photos to load
Noodle soup breakfast - Hue
Note : I had to spend an extra day in Hue to wait for my bike to arrive as it was not able to travel on my train (even though I checked and i was too slow to fold it up and carry it on)

2 nights Hue

1 night Lang Co bch

3 nights Hoi Anh

if you are confused I should have loaded the photos in reverse so read from the bottom up it is more geographically sound

Hanoi and Halong Bay Cat Ong Island

Cat Ong Island 2nd night of Halong bay trip. Last cabin on left was mine, tide comes in underneath. Kayaking. beach volleyball, swimming, bush bash to hilltop. Great seafood bbq on beach. Recommended.
Badminton and a cup of tea before breakfast Hanoi
Sunset Halong Bay
Sunrise Cat Ong Island from the hut window
Enroute to Cat Ong Island

Cave dwelling dolphin rubbish bins Halong Cave
Floating Village Halong Bay
Halong Bay near the cave
Floating Village
Von and Mr Ving at the Cave enroute to Halong Bay o'night

Bangkok airport waiting for flight to open
Dorm room "the nunnary" at Hanoi Hostel (nearest is mine)
Old Quarter Hanoi
Dyes?
Taste of street vendor, ricewine steamed rice

LaoCai-Sapa ride

The start of the uphill ride at lao Cai at 7.30am. I managed to find a motorbike place to pump up my tyres for 5,000vmd
the valley at Sapa

3 young boys who walked alongside me for a while in the middle part of the ride total of 35km
Local family who shared their snacks with me ( loaded on my front bike bag are tube like corn/rice crackers. the little girl was about to go off to get water with a 4 litre container
View of the valley and Mt Fansipan from my hotel window
Scenery on the slow ride up

This is an attempt to add illustrations to my previous emails.

I have selected somephots from the LaoCai - Sapa ride which took me 5 hrs of riding time up a 10% incline and yes, the lowest gears were well used. In the 7 hrs of travel I was stopped for photos, meeting people and generally getting my breath back for 2 hrs.

My speed up hill was around 5kphI only had half the pannier weight on board for this trip so i was a bit apprehensive of th HaiVan Pass later in the trip.

but i did not have to resort to walking the bike. Total ascent 1275m descent 159m (sapa @1473m above sl)

Return journey took 1hr and 31 mins, max speed 53.6kph to LaoCai (100m above SL).

The overnight train trip back to Hanoi with Bike friday booked on as cargo was just as well, the 4 berth cabin already had a large screen tv in box, 2 fold up chairs, 2 large suitcases and then a very large coil of rope.