We cycled ~1.700 km from Hanoi to Bangkok in six weeks from mid-November to end-December last year and loved (almost) every bit of it, especially escaping the shitty dark and wet weather in Germany that time of the year. Since I had a bit of a hard time finding info beforehand, here are a few things that might be of interest.
**Route**
See picture, or for more details here: [https://umap.openstreetmap.de/de/map/unbenannte-karte_79344](https://umap.openstreetmap.de/de/map/unbenannte-karte_79344) (pink lines were skipped on bus, pickup or train). We toured pretty slowly, ~70 km per day typically, but sometimes as little as 30 km. We usually started cycling at 7 and tried to be done early since afternoons get really hot.
**Flight**
We flew with Qatar Air, because they don’t charge extra for bikes. Bikes are just counted towards normal luggage allowance, we had 25 + 7 kg, which was enough for all our stuff. Bikes were in boxes for both flights, I packed them myself at home, in Bangkok they were packed by Velo Thailand. Both flights went smoothly.
**Maps**
Openstreetmap, I used Osmand~ on a Pixel 4a (which unfortunately was too old to have internet with a True sim card in Thailand). The road data proved to be very accurate, road size not so much. Small country roads on the map being 4-laners in reality (and vice versa) happend every now and than. POI data was quite unreliable, hotels, restaurants, shop not exiting happened very often.
**Gear**
Two Maxcycles Steel Lite with pretty much standrad Shimano parts. Schwalbe Marathon Plus 37-622, wide enough everywhere except a few small stretches in Laos. Not a single puncture. Not a single repair the whole trip, except changing brake pads, and the dust is literally eating the oil of the chains. Ortlieb Classic panniers that for the 1st time ever were not completely dry inside one day with torrential rain in Vietnam. No tent, no stove, just credit cards 🙂 Sawyer Squeeze water filter to avoid buying bottles.
**Traffic**
Much less of a problem than anticipated. Even riding out of Hanoi was fairly easy, we just went with the flow of scooters. The only really shitty stretch were the the 30 or so kms into Thakkek in Laos, where we had to share a narrow and bad road with loads of big trucks coming in from Vietnam.
**Dogs**
Docile in Vietnam. Not so docile, but mostly lazy in Laos. Both countries easy. Thailand was different. We got chased at least once a day. Pedalling very slow and talking in a calm voice worked well. Scariest encounter were 2 Dobermans guarding a fancy pickup somewhere around Ubon.
**Language**
Not much English spoken away from the tourist spots. Google Translator works well in Vietnam and Thailand, and pretty much not at all in Laos.
**Accomodation**
Easy to find, I used a combination of Openstreetmap, Google Maps, Agoda and Booking. Clean rooms, matresses usually on the harder side, prices from 3,50 US in rural Laos to 20 US in Bangkok. One night Thailand we found nothing except a fancy resort for 50 US, but they drove us the 200m to breakfast with a golf cart 🙂
**Food**
If you eat meat you’re golden. BBQ is available in all 3 countries literally everywhere even for breakfast. We are vegetarians and struggled in rural areas (especially in Laos, where language proved to be a problem). Favourite food items:
* Hmong Sesame Balls: fried sesame dough balls with mung bean filling
* Khao Jee: grilled sticky rice coated with egg
* Khao Lam: sticky rice made in bamboo tubes
* Vietnamese/Lao drip coffee with condensed milk
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We cycled ~1.700 km from Hanoi to Bangkok in six weeks from mid-November to end-December last year and loved (almost) every bit of it, especially escaping the shitty dark and wet weather in Germany that time of the year. Since I had a bit of a hard time finding info beforehand, here are a few things that might be of interest.
**Route**
See picture, or for more details here: [https://umap.openstreetmap.de/de/map/unbenannte-karte_79344](https://umap.openstreetmap.de/de/map/unbenannte-karte_79344) (pink lines were skipped on bus, pickup or train). We toured pretty slowly, ~70 km per day typically, but sometimes as little as 30 km. We usually started cycling at 7 and tried to be done early since afternoons get really hot.
**Flight**
We flew with Qatar Air, because they don’t charge extra for bikes. Bikes are just counted towards normal luggage allowance, we had 25 + 7 kg, which was enough for all our stuff. Bikes were in boxes for both flights, I packed them myself at home, in Bangkok they were packed by Velo Thailand. Both flights went smoothly.
**Maps**
Openstreetmap, I used Osmand~ on a Pixel 4a (which unfortunately was too old to have internet with a True sim card in Thailand). The road data proved to be very accurate, road size not so much. Small country roads on the map being 4-laners in reality (and vice versa) happend every now and than. POI data was quite unreliable, hotels, restaurants, shop not exiting happened very often.
**Gear**
Two Maxcycles Steel Lite with pretty much standrad Shimano parts. Schwalbe Marathon Plus 37-622, wide enough everywhere except a few small stretches in Laos. Not a single puncture. Not a single repair the whole trip, except changing brake pads, and the dust is literally eating the oil of the chains. Ortlieb Classic panniers that for the 1st time ever were not completely dry inside one day with torrential rain in Vietnam. No tent, no stove, just credit cards 🙂 Sawyer Squeeze water filter to avoid buying bottles.
**Traffic**
Much less of a problem than anticipated. Even riding out of Hanoi was fairly easy, we just went with the flow of scooters. The only really shitty stretch were the the 30 or so kms into Thakkek in Laos, where we had to share a narrow and bad road with loads of big trucks coming in from Vietnam.
**Dogs**
Docile in Vietnam. Not so docile, but mostly lazy in Laos. Both countries easy. Thailand was different. We got chased at least once a day. Pedalling very slow and talking in a calm voice worked well. Scariest encounter were 2 Dobermans guarding a fancy pickup somewhere around Ubon.
**Language**
Not much English spoken away from the tourist spots. Google Translator works well in Vietnam and Thailand, and pretty much not at all in Laos.
**Accomodation**
Easy to find, I used a combination of Openstreetmap, Google Maps, Agoda and Booking. Clean rooms, matresses usually on the harder side, prices from 3,50 US in rural Laos to 20 US in Bangkok. One night Thailand we found nothing except a fancy resort for 50 US, but they drove us the 200m to breakfast with a golf cart 🙂
**Food**
If you eat meat you’re golden. BBQ is available in all 3 countries literally everywhere even for breakfast. We are vegetarians and struggled in rural areas (especially in Laos, where language proved to be a problem). Favourite food items:
* Hmong Sesame Balls: fried sesame dough balls with mung bean filling
* Khao Jee: grilled sticky rice coated with egg
* Khao Lam: sticky rice made in bamboo tubes
* Vietnamese/Lao drip coffee with condensed milk