Du durchsuchst gerade das Monatsarchiv für den Mai 2011.
It was a gift for me to spend 2 weeks in May 2010 with my son Mario cycling from Farnham, Surrey, to Switzerland, and I am grateful for this experience. He and Lea had been living in the UK for 18 months, and Mario wanted to cycle back, whereas Lea returned with her father and their belongings by VW Transporter.
On the first day, we rode southeast, for a while accompanied by Mario’s boss Darryl, passed Brighton, still enjoying nice weather, perfect for cycling.
Should I have taken the no cycling sign serious? At crowded times I surely would.
Are these huts rented out on long lease for storing beach furniture and such?
Somewhere on the way through the countryside, before Brighton, we passed by a polo tournament. My only polo match that I had so far watched was in Leh, Ladakh, close to the region where polo originated.
A dish of whelks in Folkestone, only missing a pint of beer.
Trip Summary
| 29.04.10 | Test ride Kaltenbach – Schönholzerswilen | 33 km |
| 30.04.10 | Schönholzerswilen to Farnham by VW Transporter | |
| 01.05.10 | Farnham – Brighton – Blyth | 95 km |
| 02.05.10 | Blyth – Rye | 80 km |
| 03.05.10 | Rye – Dover – Calais (F) | 68 km |
| 04.05.10 | Calais – Nieuwpoort (B) | 95 km |
| 05.05.10 | Nieuwpoort – Brugge – Geraardsbergen (B) | 118 km |
| 06.05.10 | Gerardsbeergen – Namur | 90 km |
| 07.05.10 | Namur – La Gleize (Ardennes) | 111 km |
| 08.05.10 | La Gleize – Ulmen (D) | 110 km |
| 09.05.10 | Ulmen – Cochem (Mosel) – Koblenz – Bacharach | 128 km |
| 10.05.10 | Bacharach – Bingen – Rüdesheim – Worms | 112 km |
| 11.05.10 | Worms – Speyer – Seltz (F) | 139 km |
| 12.05.10 | Seltz – Strasbourg – Marckolsheim (F) | 118 km |
| 13.05.10 | Marckolsheim – Basel (CH) | 86 km |
| 14.05.10 | Basel – Paradies | 103 km |
| Total | 1486 km |
Calais Campground, after we had crossed the Channel by ferry, was our first night in the tent. In England the bad weather had pushed us to indoor accommodation.
I did a test cooking at home with my new fantastic Primus multi-fuel stove, perfect. It accepts gas, unleaded, diesel, and even olive oil, as fuel. We cooked with unleaded gasoline. Buying gas was fun, pump no. 3, aha, 89 Cents!?
The walls of Graveline, France, a fortified star-shaped old town, with walls and water all around.
Brügge/Bruges market place.
3 km up, 3 km down, 5 km up, 2 km down, and so on, through the Ardennes of Belgium and Eifel in Germany.
We cycled 14 days without a break, in good and bad weather, slept 8 times in the tent, once at a B&B, 3 times at a hotel, and once at Leo’s, a friend of Mario’s in Basel.
My stuff was in 2 panniers at the rear, 2 panniers on the low rider rack, a bar bag, and a large roll with the tent and sleeping bag. In the front panniers were the kitchen equipment and the food, in the back panniers my clothes and other stuff. Mario cycled with his racer and could not take too much weight, although we switched for some days his roll with mine, which gave me some relief.
It was often very cold, for a few days 8 to 10 deg C, even in the afternoon.
Winningen, Mosel (D)
Container vessel on Rhine River.
Tourist boats are prepared for the summer season.
For miles we followed the wonderful Rhine dykes, actually the second spare dykes in the woods, great riding, no hills 
Weights of luggage and bicycle
Do you know how much you can check-in for a flight in economy?
20 kg, and the suitcase is heavy!!
| 2 rear panniers | 10.0 kg |
| 2 front panniers | 5.2 kg |
| bar bag | 2.8 kg |
| roll with tent, sleeping bag, mat, .. | 8.4 kg |
| bicycle | 15.2 kg |
| Total | 41.6 kg |
Writing in the diary, quite a nice evening somewhere in Germany. Camping pleasure, though not too warm, still.
Kaiserdom (emperor’s cathedral) at Speyer, a major monument of Romanesque art.
The cathedral was constructed 1030 to 1061 a.c., imagine the tools they had at that time.
25 km we cycled along Rhône-Rhine Canal, built from 1784 to 1833.
We had some problems with the bikes. I had 3 punctures in one day in Belgium, all originating from the same cause: one of the rims had an internal crack, pinching the inner tube. After the 2nd puncture I realized it and put some cardboard from a nearby waste basket with duct tape on the crack, but it happened a 3rd time due to a weak bonding of the repair patch. Each time we had to stop, disassemble the wheel, pull off the tire, repair the inner tube, and put all together again, not to mention the pumping with a small travel pump.
Mario rode his vintage racer of the famous Italian Gios brand. The rear rim showed a crack at the side, from breaking abrasion over the years. As the bike shop did only sell wheel sets, he exchenged both front and rear wheel somewhere in Belgium. My first puncture was in fact just a few hundred meters before we reached the bike shop that we had looked up in our guide book.
And yes, on the first day, before even reaching the sea, the chain on Mario’s bike broke and we fixed it, quite a troublesome exercise. A 100 meters further up the road, we passed a bike shop and bought a new chain. Why had we not asked for the nearest bike shop?
Rain, again. On the second last day, shortly before reaching Basel, Switzerland.
This meant the end of my trip, 15 km short of reaching home. Mario rode home while I had to be fetched by car.
Ironically, the location where it happened is called Paradies (paradise), hence, the heading could be “From Farnham to Paradise”.
I had a great time, despite the cold and the rain, and I know that Mario enjoyed it, too. It really was an experience. Thank you, Mario.
The last longer cycling trips I did were from Manali to Leh in Northern India in 1998 and from Auckland to Queenstown in 1992.
Click on map to enlarge
My biking was in the very north of Thailand, both trips started and ended in Chiang Mai, for trip 1 summary click here.
Marked on the map above are the routes of my 2nd bike trip out of Chiang Mai. On the last day, the 17th day, I rode a beautiful round north-west of Chiang Mai, see map below.
Last day round trip, 159 km
Time Schedule
28.10.09 Wednesday Day 1 – 186 km
CM – Chiang Dao – Arunothai – Doi Ang Khang
29.10.09 Thursday Day 2 – 29 km
Doi Ang Khang
30.10.09 Friday Day 3 – 138 km
Doi Ang Khang – Fang – Tha Ton – Doi Mae Salong
31.10.09 Saturday Day 4 – 63 km
Doi Mae Salong – Thoen Thai return trip
01.11.09 Sunday Day 5 – 0 km
Doi Mae Salong, cooking class
02.11.09 Monday Day 6 – 90 km
Doi Mae Salong – Mae Sai
03.11.09 Tuesday Day 7 – 103 km
Mae Sai – Chiang Khong
04.11.09 Wednesday Day 8 – 17 km
Chiang Khong
05.11.09 Thursday Day 9 – 261 km
Chiang Khong – Pu Chi Fa mountains – Ban Huak – Thoen – Chiang Rai
06.11.09 Friday Day 10 – 0 km
Chiang Rai, relax day, curing my flue, blogging, sorting photos
07.11.09 Saturday Day 11 – 80 km
round trip to Mae Kok valley
08.11.09 Sunday Day 12 – 89 km
Chiang Rai – Mae Salong
09.11.09 Monday Day 13 – 85 km
Off-road to Thoet Thai and further to Mae Moh – Phayaprai and back to Mae Salong
10.11.09 Tuesday Day 14 – 8 km
Mae Salong, relaxing day, visit to Akha village
11.11.09 Wednesday Day 15 – 120 km
Mae Salong to the lake above Mae Suai
12.11.09 Thursday Day 16 – 221 km
From the lake via Phrao to Chiang Mai
13.11.09 Friday Day 17 – 159 km
Roundtrip near Chiang Mai
Bike Rental
Kawasaki KLX 250, 250 cc
(further pictures here)
C&P Services, Mr. Lan
51 Kotchasarn Rd (near Thapae Gate)
Chiang Mai
50100 Thailand
Tel 053 273 161
700 Baht/day
Total distance: 1649 km
Near Mr Lan’s workshop is POP, a rental company with dozens of bikes, but they are by far not working as professionally as Mr Lan, in my opinion. I can strongly recommend Mr Lan and his C&P Services. He can count on vast experience with roads, routes and off road biking in Northern Thailand, and he gladly gives you any information he can.
These 2 maps, published by GT Riders www.gt-riders.com are essential for biking in Northern Thailand.
Mae Hong Son Loop
1:375’000
Golden Triangle Loop
1: 360’000
They are available at bookstores or from Mr Lan. Laminated strong editions cost 175 Bht. and 250 Bht. respectively, non-laminated editions are cheaper.
Travel Reports and Photos
Photos were uploaded onto the net http://picasaweb.google.com/houdini49 in various Picasa albums. Click on the respective album cover picture to see the photos, use slide show, and full screen view with F11.
Travel reports in German language, with summaries in English, almost on a daily basis, are uploaded to my travel blog “Houdini’s Travels” at http://houdinitravel.wordpress.com/
Assistance, Infos
In case of questions I may be in a position to assist, give further information, etc. Just contact me with the comments function. I will be advised and will then contact you by email.
Flights
Flight Zurich – Moscow – Hanoi by Aeroflot, arrival in Hanoi on Oct 10, 2008 at 11:00 hrs.
Flight Hanoi – Paris – Zurich by Air France, departure Hanoi on Nov 14 at 19:55 hrs.
It was a bonus miles ticket of ‘Flying Blue’, the mileage program of Air France – KLM, and it cost me the airport fees only.
Bike Trip Operator
Offroad Vietnam, Mr Anh Wu & colleagues, Hanoi
Web: http://offroadvietnam.com
Email: tours@offroadvietnam.com
Bike Trip 1
1227 km roundtrip from Hanoi to the northwest of Vietnam.
Duration: 10 days
Participants, from right to left: Pat from Brisbane, Robbie from Scotland, Jeroen from Tokyo, Glen from Mt. Isa, and I (Eric from Switzerland)
Guide: Mr. Thoi
My bike: enduro type Honda XL 125 cc
Overnight: 5 x hotel, 4 x homestay
Cost: US$ 760 incl. protector rental and bike upgrade from Honda road bike 160 cc. The fee is very high considering the actual cost in Vietnam, but they have those bikes, they know the way, they repair the bikes on the road, they know the homestays, they speak the language, and they want to make money, nothing wrong with that.
Route: Hanoi – Vu Linh (Lake Thác Bà) – Yen The – Bác Hà – Coc Li – Lau Cai – Sapa – Ban Ho – Lai Chau – Muong Lay – Tuan Giao – Son La – Mai Chau – Hoa Binh – Hanoi.
Saigon
Flight Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi, 4 days with Rolf in HCM, stayed at “My Anh Hotel” at Le Lai Street for US$ 25 per night, camera got stolen as a negative highlight.
Bike Trip 2
996 km roundtrip from Hanoi to the northeast of Vietnam.
Duration: 7 days
Participants: Kenny & Rachel from Singapore, Vincent from South Africa, and I.
Guide: Quinh
My bike: enduro type Honda 250 cc
Overnight: 2 x hotel, 4 x homestay
Cost: US$ 770 incl. protector rental and costly bike upgrade from Honda road bike 160 cc.
Route: Hanoi – Lang Son – Quang Uyen – Ban Gioc Waterfall – Cao Bang – Ba Bê Lake – Namh Kanh – Vu Linh (Lake Thác Bà) – Hanoi.
Halong Bay & Cat Ba Trip
Operator: Vietnamopentours, booked through travel agent at my hotel, US$ 93
Duration: 3 days, 1 night on the boat, 1 night hotel in Cat Ba
I left the tour after the 2nd night and spent 2 days in Cat Ba, then went by public transport via Haiphong to Ninh Binh.
Ninh Binh and surrounding areas
I stayed at “Thun Thuan’s Guesthouse and New Hotel” in a single room at US$ 18 per night, rented a 125 cc scooter for 4 days at US$ 7 a day, visited Cuc Phuong National Park, Tam Coc, Hoa Lu, Bai Dinh, etc.
Hanoi
I stayed a total of 7 nights at “Camellia 4 Hotel”, 1 night before and 2 nights after each bike trip, 1 night before my return flight to Paris and Zurich; 5 nights booked through Offroad, 2 nights at US$ 20 booked directly.
Distance on motor bike
On the 2 bike trips plus the scooter rentals on Cat Ba Island (~ 70 km) and Ninh Binh (~ 400 km) I rode approx. 2700 km on bikes in Vietnam.
Total costs
I spent an average of US$ 66 per day, including the full cost of the bike trips and also including the not really necessary domestic return flight from Hanoi to HCM. The airport fees for the free bonus flight were not added, hence, the average daily expense corresponds to the costs in Vietnam.
Exchange rate Amex T/C on 08 Nov 2008: 16’820 Dong (VND) for 1 US Dollar at Vietcombank.
