Trans-Vietnam: Northwest to Northeast

LabRat Runs have quickly become a PaintedRoads tradition. A group of easygoing and adventurous regulars, the 'Rats annually sate their appetite for adventure by joining the inaugural running of a PaintedRoads adventure tour. The Trans Vietnam tour was first inspected by Phong and David, on a motorbike, back in a time when the world was open and travel was easy. Since then, the tour has sat on the back boiler, awaiting some semblance of normality to return. With the route being but a hazy memory in a pair of minds dulled by time, it seems the only decent thing to do is take a look at it with the 'Rats.

The Vietnamese had, by the 1970s, suffered more than their fair share of bother with the unwanted interference of other nations. So when the Chinese crossed their northern border without invitation in 1979, the war-weary nation wasted no time defending its newfound sovereignty. The North Vietnamese Army was arguably more aware than any other military on Earth of the importance of keeping military supply lines open, and so, in February '79 military engineers set about building a supply road tracing their northernmost border - a road that was aptly named 2/79. And like the wonderful Ho Chi Minh Trail road that follows the border with Lao, QL279 is a mountain road, little used by motorised traffic but kept in good condition due to its strategic importance.

A well maintained rural road through stunning mountain scenery, bereft of traffic and leading from one side of a nation to the other - what is there for a cyclist not to like?

We begin our ride in Dien Bien Phu, the site of the battle that finally bought French colonial power to an end in Indo-China, and saw the rise of Communism in Southeast Asia. Our journey ends an unforgettable 900 kilometres later with a relaxing cruise on the UNESCO World Heritage Ha Long Bay.