Andrei Zviagintsev

The landscape is like something out of a painting..

Two life lessons I learned on the road:

1. After every climb, there's always a descent. No matter how difficult it is, the rest is always easy, so much so that in a minute you forget all your past problems.

2. Sometimes what seems like an uphill road is actually a descent. You can fool your eyes, but not your pedals. The effort you put in always clearly tells you whether the road is up or down. And how many times have I felt like I was going uphill, when in fact I was going downhill easily?

It's just like in life. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's harder, one thing follows the other. And what seems difficult to the eye can actually be a pleasant experience. And on the road, all this happens and changes so quickly that it's simply impossible to ignore such philosophical lessons!)

Hoi An is a city of a thousand boats and a million Chinese lanterns.
Desolate streets during the day transform into an impenetrable human jungle by evening. Cafes with delicious food, souvenir shops, ancient architecture, photo ops in traditional costumes, and, of course, river rides on boats decorated with lanterns—all this attracts thousands of tourists. This is probably the most crowded town I've visited so far. And I understand why people from all over the world come here; I'm the same way!

And from here begins my journey north. If you look at the map, you'll see that I made a significant detour south, although I was planning to head towards China. This was, so to speak, a test drive.

Knock on wood, it seems I've bought everything I need, adjusted my bike, and gotten a bit more comfortable with the road lifestyle. Now you can just drive and explore Vietnam as you please. There are about 1,000 km left to the border.