Thanks! The roads in Da Nang are in pretty good condition. Though the roads quickly go really bad outside of Da Nang. One example is the Hai Van pass. The way up from Da Nang is beautiful pavement, but the way down into Hue is very rough some some potholes. Going by bike though is the best way to explore a new city 😁

Thanks! Thuong has gotten a lot stronger lately and has been KOM hunting here 😅 Enjoy the racing, I miss it!

That's true, Japan used to be very polluted, but they eventually made it a priority to clean things up. It's hard to group the whole of the USA together since each state is very different, but some places seem to be getting really bad lately. 😢

Good points, Long.

The LA and SF problems are very different. The homeless are generating the trash. They collect things and eventually just leave them all over the place. After years and years of this, you end up with piles of garbage wherever they've been camping.

Vietnam has some serious problems with govt corruption that need to be changed before these reforms can occur. Unlike Korea n Japan, Vietnam is a communist oligarchy and there is no government oversight so those guys have free reign to redirect and extort tax revenue as they see fit with no repercussions.

Haha. Vietnam will get there, maybe in another couple hundred years.

Thanks 👍 Yeah, the overall speed of drivers is much slower here compared to Thailand. People need to be more cautious with the open intersections and people randomly pulling into the road. So in that sense, there are probably less fatal accidents. But I think the motorbike drivers here are more aggressive with weaving through traffic. We frequently get passed by on the inside (right side) if we leave even the tiniest of gaps (which we need to do because of people driving the opposite way)

I have a car n drive around here. It's more like steering a giant ship in a narrow channel than driving a car because of all the hazards pointed out in the video so yep you need to drive slow.

We do a lot of cycling, which helps make it easier.

@@TwoWheelCruise I guess so. 👍

Thank you and yes, there are many good points here and so much to explore with many different unique regions.

Thanks! I've cycled in NYC a few times, loved it!

Thanks 👍

Good point haha!

Thank you! She really is a trooper to walk in this heat, but she is missing the rain walks so looking forward to rainy season. It is a lot more dangerous to walk here though since there are few sidewalks and even if there are some, you cannot walk on them because they are blocked by parked motorbikes.

Thanks!

Strangely enough I do better in the heat than Thuong. The weather should be considerably cooler though once "summer" is over.

Thanks!

Thanks 👍

Glad you enjoyed it!

Having ridden in both italy and vn, I'd have to say vn road dangers are on another level lol.

Glad you enjoyed it!

We ride most days usually around sunset time.

Thanks! 💪 Thuong has been getting a lot stronger lately and is going for some KOMs.

Thank you 🤗

Thanks 👍

Saigon is cooler in summer because of regular afternoon rain storms.

Oh wow, that's scary 😬

That's NOT how Thais cross the road in Thailand. LOL

Overall we are enjoying it and the views are amazing.

We need to find more Japanese speakers here haha

😁

We've definitely been heavily influenced by our 7 years in Japan. I'm probably gonna be almost as shocked as Thuong once we make it to the US. I haven't been there in over 5 years now.

Thanks! The sunset is about 6pm now, so a bit early here. Most streets are lit up at night. I don't trust many restaurants here (mainly because of cleanliness), so we usually cook at home or only go to places with good reviews.

Thanks! The electric scooters seem to becoming a big problem in a lot of western countries. We haven't experienced those over here. Cycling over here isn't for everyone, but despite how chaotic it looks things aren't as bad as it looks. Japan is definitely a lot safer for cycling, hopefully they open up back to normal international travel soon. We're also anxious to go back and visit :)

I'll take cycling in Vietnam over cycling in Australia any day of the week. In Vietnam you know to be careful and just be mindful of everyone. That said...I road 100km out of De Nang in a few directions. North, South and inland, and literally never had one issue at all. That's not to say my experience is fact...but I found trucks and cars gave space when riding on highways or narrow roads and there was no malice. Unlike Australia where it feels every driver despises you being on the road and using their 'precious' space. I've never had so many close passes and cut offs here. And this occurs every single ride where without some reactionary move an incident would have occurred. You get beeped to let you know someones coming up behind you, not because they hate you being on the road and just want to scare you as they pass you. But everyone has a different experience and bases their decision and perspective only on that, not what actually occurs.

Szwajcaria jest swietnie przygotowana na rowerzystow!!POLECAM!! a jesli myslisz o czyms egzotycznym to swietne drogi ma Chile i N.Zelandia..........tez polecam!!🚴

Thanks! When we ride together, we usually only have the person riding behind have their rear light on.

Yeah, always best to yield as much as possible with those. Luckily, most vehicles will honk before entering.

Yep, gotta choose. Crazy early, crazy hot, or crazy busy.

Thanks! 😁

I like to bring those on our longer rides 😁

Thanks! It's a lot different here for sure. The weather isn't too bad in the evening.

Not yet, but soon!

Thanks, that makes sense with the ships in international waters. That's true, there are plenty of small shops that sell some cold drinks.

Thanks for watching

Thanks 👍

They are awesome, I love them.

Nothing workout specific, just ride alongs like this so far.

Thanks! I see people throwing trash on the road while riding their motorbikes everyday, especially cigarettes. I'm gonna start saying things to them. Hopefully they will feel embarrassed from being called out by a foreigner and think twice next time.

@@TwoWheelCruise ask them, do you love your country? If they reply yes ask why they treat it like a trash can.

Oh wow, it does look pretty similar.

I'll add this to my watch list.

The being passed on the right side (inside) happens quiet often and people try to squeeze through gaps that are really dangerous. Thuong says she is comfortable with her position, but thanks for noticing!

We get a crazy amount of marketing calls and texts here. I think a big part of it is we have had more time (in the US/EU anyway) to develop laws to protect against these kinds of things so we are more used to an environment without them. So we are more sensitive that these things are allowed to happen here, but for local people it is just normal. Maybe in time things will change here, but on another hand the "lawlessness" of things here can be one of the appeals.

@@TwoWheelCruise agreed. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.

When I heard the loudspeaker it was another thing that reminded me of China. Made me miss it

That's true, I pointed those places out in some of my older videos.

The problem isn't trash left outside to be picked up, but the trash all over the sides of the roads and on the empty property lots.

Yeah, my Monkey Mountain times have been getting slower despite my fitness improving. The heat has been really draining me lately so I think it's time to take it easy for a while until it cools down. We've been wanting to try the local group rides, but they all leave way too early for us.

@@TwoWheelCruise I hear ya... I can only deal with waking up that early for a few months at a time... People aren't meant to ride bikes fast at 5am.

The only quiet road I've found here so far is the backside of Monkey Mtn 😅 The road to BaNa hills is pretty nice too with few cars.

Da Nang is probably the best of Vietnamese cities regarding traffic and noise. Hanoi and Saigon are next level haha 😂

Thanks! Not decided yet, but we will announce it when we do.

We're still getting used to the prices here so we're not sure about inflation changes. But we have noticed the gas price increases affect things like taxis, etc.

Thanks you still make me want to come to Vietnam 🙏🙏 so I guess maybe it’s not so bad there after all as some others are saying!! Can still get some things for cheap and stay at cheap places thanks again and can’t wait for more Vietnam adventures 🚴🚴

Yeah, most people follow the rules but still a lot of people break them at each traffic light.

Yeah, it's not too bad. And yes, we have front lights for when it gets dark.

@@TwoWheelCruise well not as crazy as Saigon but still need good concentration. I enjoyed the episode, will have to watch more of your channel.

Thanks! That's why we're doing a trial run here to see if we can last. But we would like to find somewhere that is more walkable with more safe infrastructure.

Vietnam is first world when compared to many parts of the Philippines ..

What would you expect from a third world communist country

Plenty of cheap bikes to rent. Haven't looked for higher end stuff, but doubt there's anything in larger sizes.

Very true, I miss them so much!

I don't think so

A lot of curbs are designed like that for easy access for the motorbikes. It is really scary since many people will just pull out into the street with their bikes without even looking for oncoming traffic (sometimes even pulling in then going the opposite direction)

Hard to compare.

Thanks! It is very unfortunate to see. It would be great if they restricted plastic shopping bags and started a can/bottle deposit return program. The zebra crossings are meaningless on this first stretch of road since beach-goers are randomly walking into the road everywhere.

Yes, most of these problems are easily fixable once they become a priority. Also with the growing middle class here, I'm sure more people will want to prioritize cleaning up things.

We really want to, but we're horrible night owls

You will not regret it. A popular ride is the Ironman route but you really have to do hai van pass. It’s a lovely 11 km climb at around 5% grade. Set off in the dark and catch the sunrise as you climb.The bike club meet up opposite the a la carte hotel for their fast blast to Hoi an and back. We moved back to uk a couple of years ago, to get the kids in a uk school, after living in Danang for 5 years. We still have our house there as our plan is to move back . I think you can tell , I miss it.

Also a consideration, though we haven't been yet.

Yeah, we wanna go!

GoPro 10

It sounds like India is next level 😅 That's a good idea! Maybe we could try to organize something and find some sponsors to help.

We are super friendly, that's for sure :)

Planning to go there this or next month. Hopefully we can find some bikes to rent while we're there.

@@TwoWheelCruise plenty places to rent bikes there..riding up the mountains is nice there

Hope we can go sometime in the near future 😁

Chiang Mai #1 for sure, lots of smooth roads to ride, safest and huge community. Da Nang has better views though, especially the seaside mountains. Hard to compare Bangkok since it is a major city.

We've seen a few of his videos. I didn't know he used to be a competitive racer 😮

@@TwoWheelCruise Yeah, he mentioned it in a couple of videos and showed a pic of him racing with Team USA in Italy or something like that.

Yes, we plan to visit Da Lat soon.

We took some photos there too which we will upload on Instagram and Facebook 😃

Small plastic chairs. The pop-up food carts and some restaurants use them.

No mirrors. We can hear most vehicles, but always shoulder check when moving.

Us too!

@@TwoWheelCruise would be great to move back to Japan one day or Thailand for retirement.

We're using Kaze road bikes from Thailand.

That's closer to my bedtime than when I get up LOL

Vietnam has come a long way in the last 30 years considering all of the obstacles it has had to face and continues to face. I realize that change takes time, but I also believe that pointing out these issues and how they effect potential tourism income will help to make solving these problems more of a priority.

@@TwoWheelCruise Everyone sees that, but the important thing is money, money to build a waste treatment plant, money to buy a garbage collection car, pay a driver's salary... it's all money. And when Vietnam was still poor, there were things to accept in exchange for, the government had to invest in infrastructure, seaports, industrial parks... first. And we have to invest a lot of money to buy weapons, not to go to war but to defend and fight a lousy neighbor for thousands of years.

@@NguyenHai-vx2kn I think the money that went into building all the luxury hotels (they are over the top luxurious and there are too many of them going up too quickly...pretty sure there's more theme parks like Ba Na Hills in Vietnam than in the US and our population is much bigger) and resorts could go towards other things like taking care of litter and preserving nature. I'm sure it doesn't take the government that much money to tell it's citizens to quit littering and go easy on the overuse of plastics (every drink I've seen gets it own plastic bag and when you buy banh mi, they sometimes put them into separate bags instead of one...drives me nuts). Someone posted a gorgeous video of the beach area outside either Nha Trang or Da Nang and I was taken aback by how much trash was in the foreground with the amazing beach/sea views in the background...what made me sad was there were two trash receptacles right there, but people still tossed garbage around instead of into the garbage bins. I think they can charge a tourist tax and use it to pay people to go and clean up the country of garbage...I bet tourists don't mind paying an extra $50-100 to have a litter free vacation (assuming they are using it for that and pocketing that money for themselves). Also, the whole cattle-ing of people into touristy sites like Ha Long Bay makes for an unpleasant experience. People want to have fun, be relaxed/peaceful, not be surrounded by people swarming a gorgeous place like Ha Long Bay and be loud (karaoke on the boat late at night? Really?). Focus more on quality vs quantity. Raise the price, less people, but you'll make up for it with the higher prices...makes the experience better for the Western tourists, if that's your target audience.

@@doodahgurlie A lot of what you say is absolutely true, but after the war and the embargoes, 99% of Vietnamese people didn't have enough to eat, and all we thought about was food and survival. I still remember in the '89s, me and the other kids went everywhere around the block looking for everything to eat, from the green fruits, bugs or frogs, mice... My parents or neighbors almost always Most of them had no childhood and no schooling, they grew up in bombs and guns when they were just old enough. From 78 when my father was discharged from the army until 2000, my father never went out of the city, because after the war my father returned and only worked at the factory, after work, he went to the railway station as a loader. late at night...and do you think people in my parents' generation need to care about the environment or waste? And the number of people born and raised during the war in my country still accounts for about 40% of the population, so it still takes a while for the younger people to learn and absorb the good things, to preserve and protect them. long term surroundings. We have to wait for the new generation to be knowledgeable enough to hold important positions in the country before we can make changes for the better

@@doodahgurlie The fact that so many recreational facilities are built and the natural landscape is destroyed is because our educational and economic foundations were interrupted for so long during the war, most of the leaders in our country are soldiers, they did not learn about management, about planning or economics. And the way they destroy so many beautiful scenes in my country is because of their weakness and short-term vision. They accept a lot of copies from all over the world just to attract the locals who have never seen the outside world

Hoping to go sometime in the near future!

Both issues are resolved if you can get up very early for your rides. 😅 We do want to try visiting some other places in Vietnam first before making a decision.

@@TwoWheelCruise thanks for the reply. Vietnam is certainly beautiful, what with the mountains right there rolling into the ocean. And family nearby is important. I hear you about rising early. I have struggled with that all my life. Until I met my wife, that is. She is an early to bed person, so I have converted to her schedule. We get up at first light, or sometimes a bit later (or earlier during the winter). Which is great to do here in Tucson during the hot months because we can get out very early for a walk, run, or bike ride. And for me morning has always been the best time of day, so full of hope and promise. Good luck with it!