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December 06, 2004
Bridget's Vietnam riding essentials
My old college friend Bridget (I'm the old one, not Bridget) went bike riding in Vietnam a couple of years ago - here's her take on what we should take:Never got a chance to talk to you directly about your upcoming trip to Vietnam. Here's the short list of what I would call indispensable items for a bicycle trip in that wonderful country. Are you taking your bikes? Bring your own saddle and pedals if you can. Makes a huge difference. We brought some powdered Cytomax, and the trip leader had some powdered Gatorade that she shared, but I would have brought a lot more. It really got me up the mountains. Food. Vietnam has amazing food, you'll love it. The only thing is that out in the countryside there are no little charming restaurants, or shops, or anything really. I brought a few dozen Cliff Bars, but I could have retired if I brought a trunk of them and sold them to my fellow riders. You're sweating, you're working hard, it's humid and when we were there the only snacks you could buy were Pringles and Oreos. Now they are fine, but they really don't get you too far. Butt butter for sore saddles. Anything you can to keep the sweat off your body. Sunscreen and lots of it! Make sure you take the waterproof kind. We didn't bring nearly enough and only could find some in a department store in Saigon, 3 weeks after we arrived. We went through 2 of those huge bottles from Costco and could have used another one. Woolite or shampoo or something to wash your bike clothes in your room. If you send them out, they'll get boiled, or bleached or at least poached in hot water. Better to wash them in your room. Visit the travel medicine clinic at the UW if you haven't already. They'll give you the drill about Imodium and the other stuff you should take with you. Also get you current on the inoculations you should have, the drill about Malaria, etc. Lip balm with sunscreen. I'll let you know if I think of anything else. I hope you have a fabulous time. I'm envious of your trip. I'd go back in a second, it was a great experience, beautiful country, friendly people, wonderful food, ahhh.
Posted by oren at December 6, 2004 01:56 PM