Most Inspirational Moment
Everyday was inspirational but one of the most memorable moments was time trialling for 15kilometres out of Dalat with our leader. We averaged on Mountain Bikes 28-30klm Per hour, had a good laugh at the end and drank as much water as we could pour down our throats, it was 34 deg celsius! Every pit stop we had an amazing amount of fruit and munchies to consume, I looked forward to this everyday. Another memorable moment was riding our bikes through the streets of Dalat with all the mopeds, taxi's, buses and trucks, it is not dangerous at all and every road user is courteous.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Chi was brilliant, lots of fun, a great Bike rider, very organised and knowledgeable on anything and everything we asked of him. The bus driver and mechanics were also exceptional, they kept everyone safe and looked after us and the bikes extremely well.
Advice for Potential Travellers
We brought our own bikes and the downside to this was the train Journey from Hue to Hanoi. The bikes travelled with us in the cabin as they do not have a freight car attached. My wife and I needed to share a bunk and the bikes were placed on the one above. Unfortunately it did not end there, we then had to speak to the train official and he reminded us that the bikes should not be on the train and we will potentially be fined for oversized luggage in Hanoi. When arriving in Hanoi our bikes were grabbed and placed on a trolley for transportation by platform officials, they charged us 150.000 dong to do this, naturally I thought this was the fine so said nothing and paid the money. When clearing the train station another official stopped us and demanded another 150,000 dong for oversized luggage. Fortunately our guide Chi stepped in and negotiated this down to 75000 dong. Exodus you need to sort this out for future travellers with bikes, it was a very unpleasant experience.
Reply from Exodus
We would like to thank Jason for his review, although we were sorry to learn of his experience on the train; unfortunately it appears that there may have been a miscommunication as his tour leader, Chi, has explained that there should have been space under some of the beds for the bikes to be stored. We regret, however, that this led to an understandably uncomfortable night and for the disappointment caused.
Megan Devenish – Trip Manager for Vietnam