Touring in Asia

[deeaimond]

Just out of curiosity but has anyone here toured in an Asian country/region before? What were your experiences like?

DEe

[SJCzar]

I have never biked outside of the US but I would sure love to one day.

A son of the owner of my LBS is in the middle of a trek from Europe through Asia. You can watch his progress at his website.

http://cyclenavigator.com/home/

[Melalvai]

I know a woman who biked across China: http://cyclex.com/page.cfm?pageID=480

[PamNY]

Melalvai, that is fascinating. I will read it all when I have time. She writes well.

Pam

[deeaimond]

yup, Thanks Melalvai, I'll be reading that tmw

[Melalvai]

I liked all 3 of her trips. I looked up her route when I was planning my route through Missouri. She was pretty influential in me conceiving the idea to bike to Omaha. (My mom & husband would say "blame" where I'd say "inspire".) The China one actually sounded like the least fun. She hasn't done any more touring since she graduated. She's tenure track now.

I hope the tenure track job I applied for works out, but I hope it doesn't mean the end of my touring.

[alimey]

Hiya

Have toured in Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Sri Lanka & India. Friends have been to Laos. It is a really fabulous region to tour - my absolute favourite. It is extremely safe. Women don't attract undue attention when wearing skimpy clothing - although no one understands why a rich white person would choose to be on a bike! I have had many experiences of being separated from my group & cycling on my own when a group of lads come by on motorbikes on on a truck. They often ask where you are from - but are very polite & don't bother you at all. Mostly people wave & sometimes even salute. I generally get encouraged because they think I am in a race because I have a helmet on & am wearing lycra.

I have come across nothing but extreme politeness & helpfulness. The food is virtually always fantastic, the beer is cold & everything is cheap. Camping is not really an option (not many/any campsites) - but it's very cheap to stay in a guesthouse or hut.

For a first-timer to Asia I would suggest Vietnam - maybe combined with a train?

[shootingstar]

Hiya

Have toured in Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Sri Lanka & India. Friends have been to Laos. It is a really fabulous region to tour - my absolute favourite. It is extremely safe. Women don't attract undue attention when wearing skimpy clothing - although no one understands why a rich white person would choose to be on a bike! I have had many experiences of being separated from my group & cycling on my own when a group of lads come by on motorbikes on on a truck. They often ask where you are from - but are very polite & don't bother you at all. Mostly people wave & sometimes even salute. I generally get encouraged because they think I am in a race because I have a helmet on & am wearing lycra.

I have come across nothing but extreme politeness & helpfulness. The food is virtually always fantastic, the beer is cold & everything is cheap. Camping is not really an option (not many/any campsites) - but it's very cheap to stay in a guesthouse or hut.

For a first-timer to Asia I would suggest Vietnam - maybe combined with a train?

Would be interested in hearing from deeiamond for those of us, who LOOK local or close to it, North Americans of Asian descent, how they are perceived in lycra on bikes. Meaning women. They are probably perceived as having "more" money.

I found her comments interesting (ie. perceived dangers from thieves, etc.) ...if I were to be cycling alone in Asia vs. a white woman-- would it be any different? Probably abit.

My instinctive reaction for Asia, is not to look too skimpily dressed when not on the beach. Of course, I seldom wear tank tops around home town....I wish to protect my skin across my back and front. And you won't find me downing a beer anywhere (I get drunk too easily and prefer wine)...so I would fit in real well among alot of Asian women there.

[NadiaMac]

I went on a 500 mile supported tour in Laos over christmas and it was a fantastic experience. Relatively low traffic roads except when we were rolling into Luong Prabang and Vientienne, beautiful countryside, fantastic friendly people and such an interesting experience riding through rural mountain top villages. Some pictures are up on my blog, see dec 2008-Jan 2009.

I would recommend looser-fitting clothing when touring in SE Asia (eg, mt bike shorts rather than ordinary road shorts, looser tops with sleeves, or simply pulling a loose pair of gym shorts over spandex, etc.) because it is considered immodest to wear tighter fitting clothing, especially in the more rural northern bits of Laos. We were advised that spandex while riding was OK, but to pull on a sarong if stopping in a town or to chat with people. I hadn't packed with this advice in mind, so did the entire trip with regular bike shorts and a loose short sleeved jersey. I didn't suffer much harassment (some cat calls and jeers in northern super rural areas), but if I were to go again, I'd definitely take looser clothes that did not attract the attention of the spandex.

We also rode in Northern Thailand, which was a bit more relaxed about the clothing issue, but again, if you stop at a roadside temple (which we did fairly frequently), you wanted to have more clothing on than the usual spandex bike outfit (knees and shoulders covered) as it's considered disrespectfully to enter the temples with less attire and in some cases to even be on the temple grounds without suitable attire.

I really recommend riding/touring in rural Asia. Although I did a supported tour, I think an unsupported tour in Laos would be manageable despite the profound language barrier and relatively small number of folks who speak english. There just aren't that many roads and the people were so friendly and helpful. There was an 85 year old guy on my tour who had been on 5 unsupported tours in Laos and Vietnam in the last ten years...

[deeaimond]

Shootingstar is right, asians and non-asians are treated slightly differently. I think they can be more judgemental with the asians. in a 'what is this girl trying to do showing so much skin' kind of way, but once they figure u're not local... they label you as a crazy foreigner too and leave you alone.

In general in Southeast Asia, no one would harass you. It can be quite nice. I did a day-tour on a bicycle unsupported in vietnam once and it was a very lovely experience.

I still wanna do the east coast of malaysia in 2 weeks time.
My only problem right now is intense opposition from my mother. I'm trying to keep peace in the home so the touring might have to wait. She insists on a group of four, I don't really like travelling with more than 2, and I have not been able to find people who want to do it (that I can hang around with constantly for a week or more etc)

When holidaying in asia etc, I generally try to keep cleavage and legs covered. arms aren't so bad. the locals soon establish that you're not local and get curious, they'd ask where you're from etc, probably nothing different from any tourist.

I'm wondering about cambodia, but I think the main problem would be the dust and the lack of mechanical support on the way. (make yr mechanic ride with ya hahha) bad roads and speeding vehicles hmm.. heard good things about thailand..

On my ride in malaysia, I wore full length tights and a long sleeved shirt to protect from the sun. People tend to not give any trouble. men might look a little, but seriously, whats new?
In vietnam, it was just regular 3/4 length pants and a wide-necked t-shirt with bikini peeking out, but no problem there either. some guy on a motorbike did ride tut-tutting all the way up this steep slope next to my swiss friend though, trying to talk to her...

sigh... I guess I need to look more actively for more touring partners to make up this group i need....

D

[/I]

Would be interested in hearing from deeiamond for those of us, who LOOK local or close to it, North Americans of Asian descent, how they are perceived in lycra on bikes. Meaning women. They are probably perceived as having "more" money.

I found her comments interesting (ie. perceived dangers from thieves, etc.) ...if I were to be cycling alone in Asia vs. a white woman-- would it be any different? Probably abit.

My instinctive reaction for Asia, is not to look too skimpily dressed when not on the beach. Of course, I seldom wear tank tops around home town....I wish to protect my skin across my back and front. And you won't find me downing a beer anywhere (I get drunk too easily and prefer wine)...so I would fit in real well among alot of Asian women there.

[shootingstar]

I still wanna do the east coast of malaysia in 2 weeks time.
My only problem right now is intense opposition from my mother. I'm trying to keep peace in the home so the touring might have to wait. She insists on a group of four, I don't really like travelling with more than 2, and I have not been able to find people who want to do it (that I can hang around with constantly for a week or more etc)

When holidaying in asia etc, I generally try to keep cleavage and legs covered. arms aren't so bad. the locals soon establish that you're not local and get curious, they'd ask where you're from etc, probably nothing different from any tourist.

I'm wondering about cambodia, but I think the main problem would be the dust and the lack of mechanical support on the way. (make yr mechanic ride with ya hahha) bad roads and speeding vehicles hmm.. heard good things about thailand..

On my ride in malaysia, I wore full length tights and a long sleeved shirt to protect from the sun. People tend to not give any trouble. men might look a little, but seriously, whats new?
In vietnam, it was just regular 3/4 length pants and a wide-necked t-shirt with bikini peeking out, but no problem there either. some guy on a motorbike did ride tut-tutting all the way up this steep slope next to my swiss friend though, trying to talk to her...

sigh... I guess I need to look more actively for more touring partners to make up this group i need....

[/I]

Unlike you, not sure I could wear full length lycra tights in humid hot weather for cycling. It would have to be knee-length slightly loose shorts. Long sleeved shirts yes, I know what works for me since I've done this before on some touring trips in Canadian eastern summers 35 degrees C at 100% humidity, cycling for 6 hrs. during the day, ...since I've done it as long as it's abit loose on me.

Hope you find a way to go cycle touring over time.
Your mother might benefit from meeting some Asian women of her age bracket, who do cycle-touring internationally....to allay her fears. At least 1 other cycling companion who is an experienced cyclist, is sufficient for touring unfamiliar areas.

[crazycanuck]

I found a post over at BNA about a female cycling solo round SE asia. I'm not sure where they are now but you can always try & contact them..

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/vi...php?f=3&t=9320

[lucky]

it is very dreaming if u r interested go for it.no doubt feel heavenly.

[bikerbarb]

I cycled in Japan in April for 2 weeks, starting in Hiroshima and covering the southern 2 islands. My son was cycling for 3 months seeing the entire country and this is the part I joined him on. We used motorcycle map books to plan our route which worked out well. Cycle touring isn't a well known concept there, most people just ride utilitarian bikes to work, market and school or they are performance/racers call 'pro bikers'. Japan tends to be either flat or mountains, no real in between.
I was a real novelty, being the mother of a 23 yr old and riding self contained. When people found out we were a mother/son trip they were always amazed, admired the generations enjoying each other (their generation relationships are similar to the US in the 60s) and my son loved telling them that I was 52 yrs old, which no one believed (helmet covers the gray!).
We camped by the side of the road, in camp grounds, stayed in hostels and one night in a hotel. We took trains into sizable cities when the traffic got too much, which was never easy for me as you are required to put your bike in a bag and carrying it w/the wheels removed along with panniers was hard. My son had a Bike Friday folding bike and his smaller bike bag had straps that he could carry on his back.
We had a lovely time--exotic yet modern in interesting combinations. People generally were very gentle and friendly. Maybe they are different in the crowded big cities, and drivers were very curteous.

[deeaimond]

From what I've heard about cycling in Japan, its extremely civilised. People don't steal bikes. Someone took a picture of some guy's pinarello chained to some train station fence. Imagine that still being there where you left it when you get beack from work? It must have been a great experience for you.