Tag Archives: Discovery Bicycle Tours

*The dazzling night scene in Hoi An takes my breath away © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

When I think of Hoi An, Vietnam, I think of “dazzling” and I think of Venice. That first glimpse in the night as we walk over the Hội An bridge into Old Town and suddenly see the colored lights and lanterns popping out of the darkness, the silhouette of the sampan boats rowing on the river evoking Venetian gondoliers, the reflections on the dappled surface of the water, takes my breath away. Add to this the crush of people crossing the bridge, reminiscent of the Ponte di Rialto (but with the added hubbub of motorbikes winding their way through the crowd). And then there is the Japanese Covered Bridge that reminds you of Venice’s Bridge of Sighs.

*Hoi An, one of the most prosperous international trading ports in Southeast Asia in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, still manifests cultural diversity* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the 17th and 18^th centuries, Hoi An was one of the most prosperous international trading ports in Southeast Asia – the center of commerce for merchant vessels from Japan, China, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and India – cultures that left their mark in architecture, customs, art and festivals. Preserved intact and considered a living museum, the Old Town was recognized as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1999, and in 2023, was listed as one of the UNESCO creative cities for handicraft and folk arts – which we enjoy discovering in the many shops and market stalls.

Experiencing Vietnam’s Rural Life by Bike

Today’s ride – 20 miles through Hoi An’s countryside – on Day 8 of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-day Vietnam cultural tour, proves my favorite – especially compared to yesterday’s challenging seven-mile ride up to the Hai Van Pass and six miles down the other side. Today’s ride is not just relaxing but really interesting, manifesting the best feature of a bike tour: bringing you into daily life. We ride through villages which represent the “five pillars” of Vietnamese daily life – a carpentry village, fishing village, vegetable village, pottery village.

After breakfast, we pedal right from the five-star European-styled Royal Hotel Hoi An to the hamlet of Thanh Ha, a modest village specializing in making small pottery objects and utensils. We learn that the clay is collected from rice paddies. Several of us get to try the traditional method, and as we leave, we are presented with a gift of a clay animal-shaped whistle.

*We get to try the traditional pottery technique in the Pottery Village © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Biking in the tranquil countryside outside of Hoi An © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We continue cycling through the countryside to a small village located on the banks of the Tra Que Lagoon, 2 miles northeast of the Old Town. We meet local residents and enjoy a demonstration of making rice paper, ban xeo and the tam huu local spring roll. We get to try to make it ourselves, as we are treated to tea and rice cake. Every part of the rice plant is used, including the husk which is fuel.

*A demonstration in making rice paper © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After lunch, we bike to Cam Thanh water coconut village to learn about the daily life of families who fish on the local river, and are paddled around in a “unique” (novel) Vietnamese round bamboo basket boat, coming close to a fishing boat to see how the fisherman tosses out an enormous net.

*Visiting a fishing village © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*A fun ride in a “bubble” boat © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Back in Hoi An after our bike ride, we have the afternoon free and time to explore the delights of Hoi An.

I go off to find The Precious Heritage Museum and Art Gallery, set in a 19^th century French house in Old Town.

*Rehahn’s photographs, costumes and artifacts from his decade-long ethnography project on view in his Precious Heritage Museum and Art Gallery in Hoi An © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This is so much more than the gallery of world-renowned photographer, Rehahn – it is an ethnography exhibit of his decade long project to photograph all 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam. Magnificent portraits are displayed along with that village’s traditional dress and other artifacts (several of these also decorate the hotel). Magnificent portraits are displayed along with that village’s traditional dress and other artifacts. I love his notes telling the story behind the photograph of the people and the experience. You can also watch outstanding videos. The photos are published in his book, “Vietnam.”

The five rooms spanning 500 sq meters contain hundreds of portraits, 60 costumes and tribal songs. You are immersed in his striking portraits, stories, and heirlooms that equal the best exhibitions in the finest museums in the world and stand as a celebration of heritage and a call for conservation. (Free admission, open daily 8 am-8 pm, 26 Phan Boi Chau – Hoi An 84 94 982 06 98, https://www.Rehahnphotographer.com/)

*A line of rickshaws come through the Old Town market © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

To get there (a 20 minute walk, or about a mile from the Royal Hotel Hoi An), I walk along the river, through the markets, first geared to tourists, then local markets. But I see why the city bans buses and trucks to enter the city after 4 pm, because as I walk, literally 100 stalls are being moved into position, like a long train, as the night market takes over the street. A long line of rickshaws transporting tourists flow down, and pedestrians take over whatever space is left.

*Enjoying dinner at one of Vy’s restaurants in Hoi An © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our group meets for dinner at the Morning Glory Restaurant, which I learn has basically re-invented Vietnamese cuisine after decades of deprivation:

“We had lost a whole generation of chefs and recipes. When you’re living on the most basic rations, taste is not your priority – you just need something to fill your belly and give you energy,” Ms. Vy, founder and owner of The Taste Vietnam Group writes.

“Nowadays, having been a chef for some 40 years, I can look back at our history and understand why Vietnamese cuisine doesn’t yet occupy the position it deserves on the world stage. And this is why I, and many of my colleagues, have tasked ourselves with exposing our amazing gastronomy to the world. We hope to highlight its techniques, the philosophy at its roots, and its historical origins, while at the same time promoting its health and nutritional benefits. We have dedicated our careers to this for our community and our nation.”

These remarks crystallize for me what our Discovery Bicycle Tours guides – Phong, Vinh and Li – have related to us in their personal stories. I was reminded of Phong, standing by a rice paddy, speaking of his holiday gift wish when he was a boy not be hungry, and how so much has changed for his people over the last 40 years.

*Vy’s Morning Glory Restaurant in Hoi An. A placard notes how Vietnamese cuisine had to be reinvented after decades of deprivation © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Indeed, the meal we enjoy at Morning Glory is excellent, imaginative, exquisitely presented as we are entertained by two guitarists.

The restaurant is very clever, offering an entire store, Vy’s Market, filled with household and culinary items (“Herbal Wine for Joints”), as well as a cooking school.

(The next evening, when dinner is on our own, we happen into another of Vy’s restaurants on the other side of the river in the Old Town, with a fantastic saxophonist to entertain, stunning ambiance and delightful menu.)

After dinner, we stroll around on our own – we head toward the Old Town across the Hoi An bridge, and that’s when we come across the most spectacular sight: the colorful lanterns on sampan boats.

We enjoy looking into the shops and then come upon another scenic highlight of Hoi An: the Japanese Covered Bridge.

*The Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi An, Vietnam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Japanese Covered Bridge was built in the early 17^th century by the Japanese who lived in Hoi An town, to cross the stream to do business with the local people in the residential area. The two entrances are guarded by Monkey Gods at one end and a pair of Dog gods at the other. In later centuries, the Chinese and Vietnamese continued to restore the bridge, and built a small temple dedicated to the God Bac de Tran Vo (Emperor of the North).This religious architectural complex has a distinctive pantiled (yin-yang) T-shaped roof, which is related to the misfortune and happiness of the local people, so they often call it Chua Cau (bridge and temple). Chua Cau is also a symbol of the cultural exchange between the Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese people in Hoi An. It is thought to have supernatural power and is still a place of worship. Inside, we see the small temple and historic photos of the bridge.

The temple within *the Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi An, Vietnam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Bike Ride to My Son Sanctuary

The morning of Day 9, we transfer to Vinh Dien where we cycle 15 miles to the My Son Sanctuary. At this World Heritage Site, see the remains of the remarkable brick towers.

*Biking in the Hoi An countryside © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Visiting My Son Sanctuary is fascinating on multiple levels – it introduces us to a part of Vietnam’s heritage that few would have known – My Son Sanctuary was the spiritual capital of the Cham Kingdom, which dominated Southeast Asia for nearly a thousand years, and is one of the few sites from this era left standing. During the Vietnam (American) War; this area was a stronghold for VietCong fighters and was bombed in 1968 during the Tet Offensive – to the extent that a letter was sent to President Nixon, pleading with him to stop bombing this precious place. Apparently, the bombing was stopped.

*My Son Sanctuary © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We learn that the sanctuary had to be excavated, but the process was impeded by landmines. “In 2000, with the help of the United States, they took out the landmines.” Also, there are snakes (so don’t walk on the grass)

Another interesting thing: they don’t really know how these temples were constructed.

The monuments are considered masterpieces of brick construction of the period, both in terms of the technology of their construction and because of their intricate carved-brick decorations, “unique and without equal in Southeast Asia,” according to UNESCO notes.

The tower temples were constructed over ten centuries in what was the heart of the ancestral homeland of the ruling Dua Clan which unified the Cham clans and established the kingdom of Champapura (Sanskrit for City of the Cham people) in 192 CE. During the 4th to 13th centuries CE this distinctive culture, on the coast of contemporary Vietnam, owed its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of the Indian sub-continent.

We get back to Hoi An with the whole afternoon and evening to ourselves.

The Precious Heritage Museum and Art Gallery is so fascinating that I return with Calista Phillips (our Discovery Bike Tours guide) and Pam and we are so fortunate that Rehahn, the photographer himself!, is at the gallery, signing his newest book.

*We get to meet renowned photographer Rehahn in his Precious Heritage Museum and Art Gallery in Hoi An © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Now we can focus on the markets – when you walk from the Royal Hotel along the riverbank, you see all the tourist-oriented shops and stalls, but walk a bit further and there you have the local markets, and just a bit further than that, is the Gallery.

We stop at a woman who is carving bamboo into the most amazing heads.

*One of the craftspeople in the Hoi An market. Hoi An is listed as one of the UNESCO creative cities for handicraft and folk arts © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The further away from the river front and the further back from the center, the streets empty out, and we just enjoy the atmosphere as we walk back to the Royal Hotel Hoi An.

*The five-star Hotel Royal Hoi An © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The outdoor pool at the Hotel Royal Hoi An © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The gorgeous back patio of the Hotel Royal Hoi An overlooks the water © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802- 457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, www.discoverybicycletours.com

Next: Ho Chi Minh City

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS VIETNAM TRIP: HO CHI MINH MAUSOLEUM BRINGS NEW CLARITY TO A CLOUDY PAST

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: A BOAT RIDE THROUGH CAVES, BIKE RIDE TO TEMPLES IN NINH BINH

CRUISING BAI TU LONG BAY ON THE DRAGON LEGEND

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HUE’S CITADEL, “CITY OF GHOSTS” & THE CHALLENGE OF BIKING THE HAI VAN PASS

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HOI AN’S DAZZLING LIGHTS, TRANQUIL COUNTRYSIDE

A RENDEZVOUS WITH PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT, HORRORS OF THE PAST IN HO CHI MINH CITY

__________________

© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Historic Places, International Travel

Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Vietnam: Hue’s Citadel, ‘City of Ghosts’ & the Challenge of Biking the Hai Van Pass

October 22, 2025 krubin723

*Families in traditional dress visit the Citadel of Hue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

On Day 6 of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-Day Vietnam Tour, we get to ride (22 miles for the day), biking right from the Pilgrimage Village resort in Hue along country lanes. There is only light local traffic (mainly bicycles, motorbikes and buffaloes) to the Royal Tomb of Emperor Gia Long, the first emperor of Vietnam’s Nguyen Dynasty.

*One of the magnificent gates of the Citadel of Hue, Vietnam’s “Forbidden City” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Built between 1814 and 1820, the mausoleum of Gia Long is a complex of several tombs and temples spread across a tranquil park-like setting of 42 hills and pine forest. What makes this place all the more special is the poignant love story of the Emperor and his first wife, for whom he built the tomb so she could be buried beside him (calling to mind the Taj Mahal).

*A scene of Vietnam’s countryside © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our bike ride finishes at a pleasant restaurant in an eco-resort where we enjoy a delightful lunch before getting onto a “dragon” boat that cruises along the Perfume River to visit the famous Thien Mu Pagoda. The pagoda, with its moat now filled with lotus flowers, dates from the 1870s and has become the symbol of the city of Hue.

We next board our bus and are taken to the magnificent Citadel of Hue. Set on the northern bank of the Perfume River, the walled fortress served as the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945, the last feudal dynasty in Vietnam. The Citadel was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1993.

This vast complex – 520 hectares – has a moat and ten ornate gates guarding a palace, temples, gardens and tombs.

*The Citadel of Hue houses magnificent architecture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our local guide, Vinh, tells us Vietnam was independent from 1802-1883. Then the fourth king passed away and the French moved in, turning Vietnam into its colony, from 1885-1945. “With help of an ally,” the Vietnamese pushed out the French, but that lasted only a year and the French returned in 1946 for nine more years. That triggered the Second Indochina War (what we call the Vietnam War and they call the American War).

This very place where we stand today was the site of a major battle in the Tet Offensive – our guide shows us photos of the Battle of Hue, a siege which lasted from January 31 to March 2, 1968.

As we walk through the expansive grounds, he tells us that the restoration of the palace was only completed last year – but he points to where we can still see bullet holes.

*The palaces and tombs of the Citadel of Hue manifest gorgeous decoration © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The art, the architecture, the decoration – mosaic, enamel, sculpture –are exquisite, reminding me of China’s Forbidden City in Beijing. It turns out this is not coincidence: Emperor Gia Long modeled his palace complex after Beijing’s Forbidden City.

*A woman in traditional dress at the Citadel of Hue transports the visitor in time © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*A family in traditional dress visits the Citadel of Hue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Women in traditional dress at the Citadel of Hue transports the visitor in time © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The experience is enhanced by all the families who have come in their traditional dress (which seems fascinating to me in a Communist country), to pose for photos as part of their Lunar New Year celebration. But it has the effect of completing the feeling of having been transported back in time. There are also large groups of school kids in their white shirts.

*Groups of school children in white shirts the Citadel of Hue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have dinner this evening at the delightful Vy’s Restaurant in Hue and enjoy the bustling, festive downtown activity.

*Hue’s festive, bustling downtown © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*One of the Hue street merchants selling paper cut-out sculpture cards © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Covered Bridge & Hai Van Pass

Day 7 of the Discovery Bicycle Tours Vietnam tour brings the greatest cycling challenge – the seven mile climb up to the Hai Van Pass – and a visit to the intriguingly named “City of Ghosts.”

*The gorgeous pool and restaurant at Pilgrimage Village, Hue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

But the day starts off with lulling ease – a delightful breakfast at the Pilgrimage Village resort, and a visit to the Vestige of Thanh Toan Tile-Roofed Bridge, a wooden covered bridge originally constructed in 1776 with seven apartments. It was dedicated to Tran Thi Dao, a child of Thanh Thuy Chanh Village and wife of a high-ranking Mandarin in Thuan Hoa Region who provided the funding. The bridge was recognized as a national heritage site in 1990 for its beautiful architecture.

*The historic Thanh Toan Tile-Roofed Bridge* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We cross the bridge and enter a busy village market, and after, are brought to an agricultural museum where we are treated to a demonstration of the traditional way the villagers processed rice by a docent with a great sense of humor.

*Village Market* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Playing the role of an ox at an agricultural museum demonstration © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From here, we drive to the An Bang Village Cemetery, intriguingly known as “the City of Ghosts,” for its thousands of ornate mausoleums that extend over 8 km.

*Mausoleums at An Bang Village Cemetery, intriguingly known as “the City of Ghosts” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Many of the tombs we see in this section are relatively new – dating from 1999 up to 2024 – but are fabulous and enormously expensive, costing $60,000-$70,000, and mostly paid for by relatives from the US, UK and Australia.

A plaque at one of the mausoleums explains it is in honor of Nguyen Van Linh, the first ancestor who established the Nguyen Van family in An Bang-An. He was born in Ky Hoi in 1539 and died in 1588.

From here, we have a picnic lunch before “hopping on our bikes to conquer” Hai Van Pass, also known as the “Pass of Ocean Clouds.” An iconic pass known around the world, it is the highest in Vietnam at 500 meters above sea level. Discovery Bicycle Tours notes that “a new tunnel through the mountain means that the 7 miles up the pass is a very quiet section of highway. The gradient is manageable, and the views are breath taking!” Actually, as I discover, the gradient is 4.6% up to 7.5%. (I think our0 Ride with GPS app even shows 12% at some points.)

*Biking to the entrance of the Hai Van Pass © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours group at the start of the seven-mile climb up to Hai Van Pass © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Now, all of our bike rides so far have been easy, with very little elevation. But today’s is an absolute challenge, even more challenging than the ride up Acadia’s Cadillac Mountain on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Coastal Maine trip. Notably, we are the only ones doing this pass by bike (versus motorscooter or car) and I am one of the few in our group doing it with a regular hybrid bike (not e-bike).

I have my method – it may not look pretty, but it gets me to the summit: I keep looking down at the road immediately ahead of me (if you look up and see non-ending rise, you stop), try to keep my hands light on the handlebars, relax my shoulders, and think thoughts (mostly of how people have had to suffer but got through it). I stop a couple of times on a relatively flat section to refresh and then start again.

Because of this, I cannot vouch for the claim that this is “one of the great scenic drives around the world,” or a “deserted ribbon of perfection” as some have described it. It’s only later that I learn just how significant the it is: the Hai Van Pass dates back to the 1300s when it marked a physical boundary between the Champa and Dai Viet Kingdoms – you can still see an ancient grand gate at the summit which used to be a border crossing between the two kingdoms.

“Today, the road still represents a division between two distinct sides of Vietnam. Many travellers who backpack the length of the country say that the North and South of the country have two very different personalities, as well as notable climatic differences. The north is colder, more industrial and perhaps more serious, while the south is warmer, more tropical and the people are often said to be more laid-back. The Hai Van Pass is the point at which these two worlds meet.” (https://southeastasiabackpacker.com/hai-van-pass-vietnam/)

*The ancient gate at the summit of the Hai Van Pass © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I make it to the top (I’ve refused invitations to ride up from our bus driver who has been assiduously following those of us at the back). I take a quick look at the fortress at the summit, and the “spectacular view” (the rest of the group have been at the top for about 20 minutes).

Our Discovery Bicycle Tours group makes it up the seven-mile stretch to the summit of Hai Van Pass, around the world as the “Pass of Ocean Clouds,” where an ancient grand gate used to be a border crossing between two kingdoms © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

*The view from the summit of Hai Van Pass, known as the “Pass of Ocean Clouds,” 500 ft. above sealevel and a seven-mile uphill climb by bike © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From there, we bike down the other side of the Pass. Coming down is no picnic either – controlling the speed on the switchbacks. The best part of the ride is having done it. It has proved to be as tough and arduous as I expected (feared) and as satisfying to have done it as I had hoped.

In the bus on the way into the city of Hoi An, we delight in watching the massive traffic of scooters and play a game to find fours and fives on a scooter (since it seems this is the time that families pick up their kids, it isn’t hard), and interesting, the amusing decorations on helmets that express their individuality.

*A family of four on their motorscooter in Hoi An © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We arrive at the Royal Hotel Hoi An, a gorgeous, five-star luxury European-style hotel and begin our visit to this dazzling city.

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802- 457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, www.discoverybicycletours.com

Next: Hoi An’s Dazzling Lights, Tranquil Countryside

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS VIETNAM TRIP: HO CHI MINH MAUSOLEUM BRINGS NEW CLARITY TO A CLOUDY PAST

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: A BOAT RIDE THROUGH CAVES, BIKE RIDE TO TEMPLES IN NINH BINH

CRUISING BAI TU LONG BAY ON THE DRAGON LEGEND

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HUE’S CITADEL, “CITY OF GHOSTS” & THE CHALLENGE OF BIKING THE HAI VAN PASS

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HOI AN’S DAZZLING LIGHTS, TRANQUIL COUNTRYSIDE

A RENDEZVOUS WITH PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT, HORRORS OF THE PAST IN HO CHI MINH CITY

__________________

© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Cultural travel, Destinations, International Travel

Cruising Bai Tu Long Bay on the Dragon Legend

October 14, 2025 krubin723

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Soon after embarking on the Dragon Legend for our overnight cruise of Bai Tu Long Bay, we are captivated by the picturesque karst islands that dot from the water, a dreamy landscape evoking classical paintings.

It is our fourth day on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Vietnam tour, and we had set out from the magnificent Emeralda Resort in Ninh Binh right after breakfast.

Along the drive, we see massive industrial parks being built on land that had been used to cultivate rice, big enough to have 500,000 workers.

What we don’t see, though, are housing communities and roads that would deliver those workers – so I wonder if that is because workers are housed within the industrial compounds and only see their family four days in the month? I wonder why in this freer, more prosperous, modern Vietnam they do not build industrial parks with adjacent communities with schools, groceries, parks, so that workers can have a family life, while young, single workers can live in worker housing and save money.

*Friends ride along the bus carrying new military recruits to give support © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We see a bus load of young recruits starting their mandatory two-year military service. They are being followed by supportive friends on motorbikes, waving flags, seeing them off.

*As we drive through the countryside, it seems just about every square meter is farmed or built on with houses*. *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As we drive through the countryside, it seems just about every square meter is farmed or built on with houses. The new industrial parks that are being constructed near Hai Phong, Vietnam’s largest port in the north. In1964, Hai Phong, the biggest seaport in Vietnam, was the supply post from Russia and China and was the most heavily bombed.

Today, our bus is traveling on the beautiful and modern 120 km long Hanoi-Hai Phong Highway.

The government is extending the highway to go all the way north-to-south and constructing an express (bullet) train “so you would be able to have breakfast in Hanoi and lunch in Saigon.” The contractors are from Japan and China.

The rest stop on the highway offers a fascinating demonstration in the technique for oyster pearl farming devised here: a method of cutting a membrane, treating the oyster with an anti-bacterial, then implanting a seed into the oyster to stimulate the oyster to produce a pearl. “Like IVF for the oyster.”

*A demonstration of how pearls are cultivated in oysters with a kind of IVF © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Then the treated oyster is placed in a mesh bag (they can stay out of water for five hours), which will be put into the sea where it takes one to five years to cultivate the pearl.

She tells us that 30% of these oysters survive; of these, only 20% produce a pearl of sufficient quality for jewelry (there are grades like for diamonds).

At another station, we get to see the oyster opened to extract a pearl. Believe it or not, the oyster can be eaten after this.

Every part of the oyster has a use. The “irregular” ones with no shine are crushed for cosmetic pearl cream (makes you 10 years younger!); the irregular ones that have good sheen are used for earrings. “Nothing is wasted.” Mother of pearl is used for buttons and lacquerware.

*Extracting the pearl from the oyster © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Some oysters only live 1 to 2 years and are implanted once, but Black and South Sea pearl oysters, which take 2-5 years to produce the pearl, can be implanted once more after extracting the pearl.

We are then invited into a massive showroom where, we are told we can get a 5% discount and use any kind of currency or credit card. Boy, these guys are really good at capitalism!

Indeed, at this popular port of Ha Long City with loads of international chain hotels, we see massive luxury buildings that are standing empty – built during a building boom to attract those who could afford the $1 million price tag.

Cruising on the Dragon Legend

*The Dragon Legend anchors in Bai Tu Long Bay during our overnight cruise © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Dragon Legend, one of the IndoChina Junk fleet, is a gorgeous ship (my room is massive) We have all the comforts we could possibly want (except WiFi).

*The cabins on the Dragon Legend are spacious © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After lunch onboard the ship, we tender to Hon Co Island – one of the few (out of 4000 karst islands in the Bay) where people are allowed to hike. We hike up stone stairs into the hidden Thien Canh Son Cave, then down to a beautiful sand beach.

*Kayaking during our Dragon Legend overnight cruise © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The tender next takes us to a floating dock where we get into kayaks and paddle around another small karst island before returning to the ship for the sunset (at 5 pm), cocktails, and dinner.

*A scenic overnight cruise on Bai Tu Long Bay © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Back on board the ship, we are invited to a cooking demonstration while others go for massages.

*The picturesque scene at night aboard the Dragon Legend © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As night descends, several boats anchor in the same cove – their lights, reflected in the water as the sun sets makes for a stunning scene.

*The picturesque scene of karst islands in the bay aboard the Dragon Legend © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Dinner is marvelous, followed by a few entertainments (the GM does some card tricks). A few of us take up the invitation to try fishing off the boat using nothing but a bamboo pole and lure – a couple of squid are caught triggering squeals of delight.

*Trying our hand at fishing with a bamboo pole © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A Floating Fishing Village

I get up early for the sunrise Tai Chi (so fun, except it is cloudy). After breakfast, we tender to Vung Vieng, a floating fishing village, which proves a true highlight of the cruise.

Located some 22 km from any town, Vung Vieng has been the floating home to as many as 80 families since the 19th century. The homes still have no electricity (a community center and the dock where we board the rowboats to visit the village, has solar power).

A sign on the dock as we await to board the rowboats relates that the Vung Vieng fishing village began as an anchorage to give boats a place to rest and avoid storms, but over time, some households began to settle here, increasing in number until nearly 80 in 2014.

*Visiting the floating Vung Vieng fishing village © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“With the help of the people of the United States, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), nongovernmental organizations, and others, dozens of fishing village households have participated in Halong Cat Ba Bay Initiative Alliance with a model of sustainable aquaculture combining responsible tourism on Ha Long Bay, so that Vung Vieng fishing village can be preserved for the future,” the sign notes. The village has been bringing tourists to visit for the past 25 years, an important source of financial support.

Seeing the sign that credits the assistance of USAID, retriggers my fury at the destruction of America’s reputation and role in the world.

We are rowed around the karst island in a traditional wooden rowboat to where the modest homes (not much bigger than a shack) are on wooden floats, sheltered by the rock formations on either side. Those of the village who are not rowing us are likely out fishing, so we see only a few people still at home – there are more dogs than people.

While there is a solar panel in the community building, there is little electricity – no hot water shower, only a wood fire stove for cooking and heat. Barrels collect rainwater from the roofs for drinking. The villagers subsist on fish (halibut, snapper, mackerel, grouper, sea bass, tuna), and scuba divers gather scallops and oysters.

We also see an actual oyster farm and when we return to the floating dock we have another demonstration of the remarkable process of inserting a seed in an oyster to produce a pearl.

Back onboard the Dragon Legend, we have lunch as it cruises back to port. We depart the ship and drive to the airport in Hanoi to continue our Vietnam adventure in Hue, in central Vietnam.

*Riding the bus gives us a wonderful view of farming communities © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

On the bus ride to Hanoi Airport, we see pickleball and gyms, lots of bridal gown shops, a Make Up Academy. Cell phones are ubiquitous, but where are the cell phone stores?

I’m fascinated to see large advertising billboards that remind me of the 1950s. One reads “Better Kitchen. Better Life.”

We fly into Danang Airport – yet another modern, comfortable, well organized international airport just bustling with travelers from all over the world. (Normally, Discovery would fly us directly into Hue but there weren’t enough plane tickets to accommodate the group.)

Danang is a familiar name for Americans – it was a base for Americans during the War. In the last 20 years, like the rest of Vietnam, Danang has seen extraordinary growth, progress and prosperity. In 1975-80, the population was 50,000; today the population is 1.5 million and has become the fourth largest city in Vietnam after Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hai Phong. It is a popular place to live– just 10 minutes to the mountain, 10 minutes to the beach and seaport.

We are headed to Hue, a city of 300,000, where we will spend two nights at the Pilgrimage Village, a gorgeous five-star resort surrounded by lush gardens, 10 minutes from the bustling downtown.

As it is, our truck driver and bike mechanic have been driving for two days to bring our bikes from Hanoi to Hue so we can begin the biking portion of our Vietnam cultural tour.

*The colorful, bustling nightlife of Hue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have dinner on our own – and since the downtown is a distance from the hotel, the bus takes us and picks us up (we have a devil of a time finding our way back to where the pick-up is).

I am dazzled by Hue, a bustling, colorful, festive downtown, jam-packed with people crowding the restaurants, the merchants hawking crafts on the streets.

*The lush garden pool at Pilgrimage Village resort in Hue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

And I really love our stay at the Pilgrimage Village, with its lush garden setting – especially swimming in a picturesque pool as darkness falls and having breakfast in a lodge overlooking the water and gardens.

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802- 457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, www.discoverybicycletours.com

Next: Hue’s Citadel & the Challenge of Biking the Hai Van Pass

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS VIETNAM TRIP: HO CHI MINH MAUSOLEUM BRINGS NEW CLARITY TO A CLOUDY PAST

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: A BOAT RIDE THROUGH CAVES, BIKE RIDE TO TEMPLES IN NINH BINH

CRUISING BAI TU LONG BAY ON THE DRAGON LEGEND

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HUE’S CITADEL, “CITY OF GHOSTS” & THE CHALLENGE OF BIKING THE HAI VAN PASS

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HOI AN’S DAZZLING LIGHTS, TRANQUIL COUNTRYSIDE

A RENDEZVOUS WITH PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT, HORRORS OF THE PAST IN HO CHI MINH CITY

_________________

© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Culture, International Travel, Outdoors Adventures

Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Vietnam: A Boat Ride Through Caves, Bike Ride To Temples in Ninh Binh

October 8, 2025 krubin723

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours group is rowed in a traditional wooden boat into the Tam Coc (three caves) in Ninh Binh © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

One of the most heavenly experiences in Ninh Binh, Vietnam, is to visit Tam Coc (three caves), a peaceful valley set amid karst hills. Here we are rowed along a gentle river between paddy fields and through the trio of caves on a traditional wooden boat where the oarsperson paddles using her legs and feet. It is inexplicable how the oarsmen (most are women) are able to maneuver.

The endpoint of this thrilling and gorgeously scenic water route is a Tran Dynasty temple where Saint Quy Minh Dai Vuong, an earth and water deity, and his wife are worshipped. It is mind-blowing to realize the temple was first constructed 1000 years ago during the Dinh dynasty.“The Temple contains four stone pillars, each of which is a piece of art that our forefathers left behind for posterity, but which remain a mystery, with clever, artistically carved patterned borders. The spirits were known to the ancients as Long (dragon), Ly (Qilin, a unicorn, part dragon, part horse), Quy (turtle) and Phuong (phoenix) – indeed, the four sacred animals we had seen during the Water Puppet cultural show in Hanoi.

*The 1000-year old Tran Dynasty temple at the Tam Coc (three caves) in Ninh Binh © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This is our third morning on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-day Vietnam cultural tour, and after a fabulous breakfast at the Emeralda Ninh Binh Resort, we travel by bus through the picturesque countryside. It will also be our first day biking in Vietnam.

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours group is rowed in a traditional wooden boat into the scenic Tam Coc (three caves) in Ninh Binh © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After lunch at a local restaurant, we pick up our bikes and set out on our first bike ride.

*Setting out on our first Discovery Bicycle Tours ride in Vietnam, in Ninh Binh © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We turn off local roads to cycle among the rice paddies and our guide, Nguyen Hong Phong, stops to explain the rice culture that has been so fundamental to Vietnam for 4000 years. (I can see how the “water puppets” we saw in Hanoi reflect this wet rice culture.)

Vietnam’s 4000-year old wet rice culture is still very present in modern-day Vietnam, though with new challenges of keeping workers and the rise of industrial complexes © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Before 1986, communal farming prevailed – the property was owned by the government and the farmers earned a share (theoretically equal but apparently not really, Phong suggests). But production wasn’t sufficient and people didn’t get enough rice.

Phong tells us that when he was a boy, his biggest wish at the Lunar New Year was to have enough food and clothes without stitches. When there wasn’t enough rice, they would mix in corn, tapioca, and “privately, secretly” catch snails, snakes, rats from the rice paddies. Even dogs and cats were protein for people.

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours guide explains Vietnam’s rice agriculture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

But a new law in 1986 allowed private ownership and open markets. The government divided up the land among the farmers. By 1996, Vietnam produced enough rice not only to feed its own population but to export, becoming one of the biggest rice exporters in the world.

*In 1986, the Vietnamese government allowed farm allotments to be privatized © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

But a new problem has arisen because young people can make more money in factories than on the farm, and farms are being abandoned or farmers have to hire workers.

Phong explains the process: dropping a seed and the sprout grows, within one month to 20 cm high, then the sprout is uprooted and transplanted. They have to build fences to keep out rats, mice, and fill with water to stop snails. After 3 ½ months growing, the rice plants are put into a nursery for one month more. By the time the plant is one meter tall, ripened to yellow, it is cut by hand or machine.

We learn how every part of the rice crop is utilized. But what I don’t understand is why white rice prevails even through the lean years of hunger and deprivation, when brown rice would be more nutritious and less costly to produce.

We stop along our cycling route to visit a community cemetery for war soldiers. Between 1945 and 1975, 3 million died in war, including one million soldiers. “Each community has a memorial, with the remains and the name of the person who died for freedom.” July 27 is the Day of the War Soldier, when families come and burn incense. A white flower on the grave indicates the soldier died without a family, a yellow flower denotes the soldier had family. We see the ages of these fallen soldiers, some as young as 18.

Biking to Hoa Lu, Ancient Capital City

After pedaling through several villages set amid a landscape of magnificent limestone peaks, we reach Hoa Lu. Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam from 968 to 1009 during the first two imperial dynasties of Vietnam: the Đinh founded by Đinh Tiên Hoàng, and the Early Lê founded by Lê Đại Hành. When the Lê dynasty ended, in 1010, Lý Công Uẩn, the founder of the Lý dynasty, transferred the capital to Thăng Long (now Hanoi),60 miles away, and Hoa Lư became known as the “ancient capital.”

*Statues memorialize Vietnam’s early kings, Dinh and Le, in the ancient capital city of Hoa Lu © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Here, we visit two temples – one dedicated to Emperor Dinh and the other in memory of Emperor Le – both with exquisite wood carvings and statuary.

At the entrance is the “stone dragon bed,’ where the king would have gotten off his elephant transport and walked the central path through the archway into the temple, while the mandarins entered through the sides.

Phong relates that in a feudal society, when a king passes away, they build several mausoleums so people don’t know where his actual body is buried – those that buried him are killed to keep the secret.

The thought occurs to me: To go from a king who can execute and torture at will to a dictator, even one who imprisons, tortures, and kills dissidents to preserve power but nonetheless is focused on bettering the lives of his people rather than his own aggrandizement, was a step up for the Vietnamese. But for us who are used to “rule of law”, “due process”, “equal rights”, “no man is above the war,” “justice without fear or favor,” and the ability to vote out an elected official, to find ourselves under the thumb of a dictator who politicizes justice, rules by violence, extortion, intimidation and oppression for his own benefit, is horrifying.

Also, what a difference peace makes to progress and quality of life.

We have a brief visit to the Old Palace.

We continue biking and stop at a cemetery– one of many we see in these rice paddies. Phong tells us it is common for the families to build a tomb for their ancestors within their allotment.

*A cemetery within the rice field keeps ancestors close in daily life © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Driving on the highway, we stop at one of several modern rest stops which also house handicraft shops employing people with disabilities. This one employs some 500 people and specializes in really fine embroidery (others specialize in painting, sculpture, lacquerware and other crafts)

The manager who greets us explains that these handicraft shops were opened in 1996.”Before they worked here, they stayed at home and couldn’t work. Now they get trained and can support themselves and their family. They have housing and are bused from home.”

*Skilled embroiderers at a handicrafts shop located in one of the highway rest stops © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We watch how these craftspeople embroider these magnificent scenes that match a photo. The manager says it can take 2 ½ months to make one smaller embroidery, 4 months for medium sized and 8 months for large; 65% of the purchase price goes to the worker.

These folks have really perfected capitalism. The general manager finishes his introduction saying, ‘It’s the new year. We give good price. No tax.” They make it easy to spend US dollars, use credit cards and ship purchases home.

It’s a private company but gets support from government, so I ask Phong, “so this is a private non-profit”? “Nothing is ‘nonprofit’” he replies with a note of cynism. (He made a similar reply when describing how after the Communists took over government, ostensibly to give equal portions, he snidely inserted, “of course, nothing is really equal.”)

Later I ask Phong about taxes people pay and am surprised that they are similar structure to what we pay: under $500 income, no tax, then a progressive rate up to 35% based on income that includes their equivalent of social security, plus 2% for health care. With health care, they also have some covered and some out-of-pocket expense but I can imagine the cost of their health care is a fraction of what we pay in the US.

*The magnificent outdoor pool at the luxury Emeralda Resort © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We stay for a second glorious night at the magnificent Emeralda Resort, sprawling like its own village with a palace-like entrance, outdoor and indoor pools, kids club, restaurants, and rooms the size of apartments. I get in a swim before enjoying a fabulous dinner together at the restaurant.

The next morning, we head to Bai Tu Long Bay for an overnight cruise on the Dragon Legend.

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802- 457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, www.discoverybicycletours.com

Next: Dragon Legend Cruise on Bai Tu Long Bay

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS VIETNAM TRIP: HO CHI MINH MAUSOLEUM BRINGS NEW CLARITY TO A CLOUDY PAST

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: A BOAT RIDE THROUGH CAVES, BIKE RIDE TO TEMPLES IN NINH BINH

CRUISING BAI TU LONG BAY ON THE DRAGON LEGEND

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HUE’S CITADEL, “CITY OF GHOSTS” & THE CHALLENGE OF BIKING THE HAI VAN PASS

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HOI AN’S DAZZLING LIGHTS, TRANQUIL COUNTRYSIDE

A RENDEZVOUS WITH PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT, HORRORS OF THE PAST IN HO CHI MINH CITY

_________________

© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Attractions, Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Historic Places, International Travel, Monuments, Places of History

Discovery Bicycle Tours Vietnam Trip: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Brings New Clarity to a Cloudy Past

October 1, 2025 krubin723

*Visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-day Vietnam trip is a profound experience © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi is a profound experience – revelatory, even. I had not expected to see the great liberator of Vietnam’s actual body, lighted from above. And shortly after, standing outside the Soviet-built mausoleum, I realize as we listen to our guide, Nguyen Hong Phong, that I had no actual understanding of who Ho Chi Minh was. Combing the recesses of my mind, I realize I saw Ho Chi Minh simply as the enemy and likely a brutal dictator (more like China’s Mao Tse-Tung). And even though I had lived through the Vietnam War (known here as the American War), I really hadn’t understood that either.

But here in Hanoi on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Vietnam tour, I can see how Ho Chi Minh is justifiably venerated as a hero to his people – George Washington, Lincoln and FDR rolled into one. Visiting is like a pilgrimage with rules that accord him maximum respect. We walk up the stairs into the mausoleum, and slowly walk around his actual body, lit from above, as if he is merely sleeping – the still sleeping Liberator.

Ho Chi Minh, Phong tells us, “is the most respected in Vietnam. People changed their name to Ho. He is worshipped like a god in homes. He overcame the French, Japanese, Chinese and Americans for independence and freedom. Now we live in a peaceful country because of Ho Chi Minh.”

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours group at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum*

Coming back to the front of his mausoleum (built by the Soviets), Phong relates that Ho Chi Minh was born in 1890 into an educated family – his father was a Mandarin, working for a royal family. In feudal society, only men went to school and women stayed at home. He and his brother went to a French school.

He attended college in Saigon in 1911, studying culinary arts and applied to work as a cook in France. He wound up working on a ship, traveling to America, Britain, France, Russia and in 1928, went to China. Seeing the world in this way is what cultivated his revolutionary ideology and zeal to liberate Vietnam from foreign imperialists. On Feb 3 1930, he gathered party leaders and set up the Communist party.

“What he really learned was the importance of making Vietnam independent. He left Vietnam to learn enough about the French to kick them out,” Phong tells us.

*The Founding Fathers of the Republic of Vietnam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

He returned to Vietnam in 1941, having been away for 30 years. In 1944, Ho Chi Minh and General Japp (also a national hero) set up the Viet Minh, to resist foreign occupation by theFrench and Japanese during World War II.

When the Japanese and the French (who had occupied Vietnam since 1868, introducing Roman alphabet to replace Chinese characters the people used for 1000 years) left in 1945 at the end of World War II, on Sept 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam. But after only one year, in 1946, the French attacked, forcing Ho Chi Minh into the mountains and retaking control.

“He wanted peace and agreed to divide the country in two for two years. They agreed to divide along the 17^th parallel. It was supposed to be temporary. Five million people (mostly Catholic), fled south while one million southerners moved north. Then there was supposed to be national elections.”

But the US blocked the election (claiming concern for a “domino effect” of Chinese-led Communism spreading across IndoChina) and set up a puppet government in the south

*Ho Chi Minh is still the most venerated hero to the Vietnamese © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

When the war ended in 1975, Vietnam was united under the Communist regime.

The South Vietnamese who worked for the Americans were terrified of retribution and left (they were the “boat people”)

But Vietnam was still not at peace. China set up a new government in Cambodia that attacked South Vietnam. Fighting continued from 1979-1988.

Vietnam has only had real peace since 1988.

In 1986, the government implemented a “revision policy”: “We close the past, and look to the future,” Phong tells us. “The state still owned industry but allowed people to own their own businesses, allowed private enterprise and open markets. The rice fields were divided so you worked for yourself.”

*Ho Chi Minh shunned the Presidential Palace, built by the French © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From the mausoleum, we visit the complex where he lived – the Presidential Palace taken over from the French (Ho Chi Minh refused to live in it and only used the palace as an office and to receive dignitaries). Instead, from 1944-48 he insisted on living in a modest one-bedroom house, then moved to a house on stilts (reminiscent of where he lived with a Thai family), which again, was absolutely beautiful, but very modest.

Looking through the window into *Ho Chi Minh’s house on stilts © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In 1967, Ho Chi Minh became sick with lung cancer and was moved into another house, steps away from his house on stilts. This one looks camouflaged like a bunker, and was connected to underground bunker because by then, the US was bombing Hanoi. When he died in 1969, at the age of 79, the location of his body was kept secret and moved multiple times. His body was kept inside a cave until 1973, when the US left, and then asked Russia to build a complex. Until 1977, they moved his body nightly, keeping the coffin hidden underground. Peering through the windows of his homes provides a window into who Ho Chi Minh was in life.

*A house built like a bunker where Ho Chi Minh lived his last years © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Before we leave the complex, we visit the One Pillar Pagoda, which dates back to 1049. The French destroyed it in 1954, but the Vietnamese rebuilt it in 1955. There is a billboard that lays out the moral “do’s” and ”don’ts” of Buddhist/Confucian/Taoist society.

*The One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

If I had questioned how Americans would be received in Vietnam, I soon get my answer standing in front of a monument to John McCain at the lake where McCain’s plane was shot down in 1967. McCain began six years as a prisoner in the dreaded Hoa Lo Prison, infamously known as the “Hanoi Hilton” – famously refusing to leave until his comrades were also freed. (We don’t get to visit but today it is a historic museum which has an exhibit devoted to the American prisoners, but is mostly showcasing French colonialism, see “Museum Hopping and Shopping in Hanoi”). The monument dates from 1992, when John McCain became one of the first Americans to come to Vietnam to heal relations; President Bill Clinton established relations in 1993 and helped revive Vietnam’s economy.

*The John McCain Monument in Hanoi © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In December 1972, American B52s bombed Hanoi, surrounding villages and hospitals. As we look around Hanoi today, there is little evidence of that.

If Vietnamese still resent Americans you do not feel it at all. When I ask our guides about that, I am told “We are a Buddhist country. We do not look to the past; we look to the future.” If anything, though, there is still resentment between North and South Vietnamese, similar to the cultural divisions that remain between north and south since America’s civil war.

“The Vietnamese love Bill Clinton, the first US president to visit after the war, and we love John McCain. The United States is one of seven countries with the best relations,” Phong says – US, France, Australia, and Russia. “We close the past and look to the future.” Interestingly, considering one of the excuses for the US to enter the Vietnam War – the “domino theory” that China would take over IndoChina – is that Vietnam is wary of China, which had dominated Vietnam for 1000 years. “Local people feel cautious about China’s ambition to invade.”

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours guide Calista Phillips with Mr. Trung, Vietnam’s national champion cyclist, where we get our rental bikes © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is our second day on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-day Vietnam tour, and we’ve come to the Mausoleum after stopping first at the bike rental shop owned by Mr. Trung, a 70-year old former national champion and president of the Giant UNCC (he poses with us and shows magazines that feature him), where we are fitted for bikes that we will use in Ninh Binh, Hue and Hoi An.

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours is rowed into the Thung Nham bird sanctuary © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From here, we drive a couple of hours to the Thung Nham Ecotourism Zone (I enjoy looking out to the scenery, how soon we find ourselves amid rice paddies and farms). It is sunset when we are taken by traditional boat into a bird sanctuary. Flocks of birds – storks, herons, teals, tropical starlings – take their positions in the tree tops over the Thung Nham wetland. There is a stunning resort set within the preserve, all the more gorgeous as lights and lanterns come on as the sun sets.

It’s another 45 minutes drive to Emeralda Ninh Binh Resort, a fabulous five-star resort where we will stay for two nights.

*The luxurious Emeralda Ninh Binh Resort where our Discovery Bicycle Tours group will stay for two nights. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802- 457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, www.discoverybicycletours.com

Next: Ninh Binh: A Boat Ride Through Caves, Bike Ride To Temples

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS VIETNAM TRIP: HO CHI MINH MAUSOLEUM BRINGS NEW CLARITY TO A CLOUDY PAST

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: A BOAT RIDE THROUGH CAVES, BIKE RIDE TO TEMPLES IN NINH BINH

CRUISING BAI TU LONG BAY ON THE DRAGON LEGEND

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HUE’S CITADEL, “CITY OF GHOSTS” & THE CHALLENGE OF BIKING THE HAI VAN PASS

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HOI AN’S DAZZLING LIGHTS, TRANQUIL COUNTRYSIDE

A RENDEZVOUS WITH PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT, HORRORS OF THE PAST IN HO CHI MINH CITY

_________________

© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Benefits of travel', Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Culture, Destinations, International Travel, Places of History

Unexpected Delights in Hanoi on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ 12-Day Vietnam Trip

September 23, 2025 krubin723

*Train Street is as colorful as it is thrilling an experience in Hanoi © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Biking Vietnam tour is designed along the best principles of travel: to explore, discover, learn, make connections, be present, experiential, meaningful and revelatory, and do it in a way that maximizes the benefits and minimizing the negative impacts of tourism.

*Taking a traditional boat ride into the Thung Nham bird sanctuary © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Of the 12 days we spend in Vietnam, traveling from north, to central, to south (flying between regions), we bike on six of them. That might seem odd for a biking tour, but you don’t travel 30 hours to Vietnam and miss the important highlights, like Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in Hanoi, taking a traditional row boat through the caves of Ninh Binh; cruising overnight on the Ha Long Bay; discovering the Citadel and Imperial City of Hue; walking the colorful markets and enjoying the nightlife of Hoi An; or touring the War Remnants Museum, the historic Ben Thanh Market, or miss the experience of street food in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) because you are obsessive about biking. We get to do all of these, and also bike through villages, stopping to learn about traditional crafts, and amid the rice paddies to learn about Vietnam’s 4000-year old wet rice culture and ancestor worship.

*Riding the bus between destinations affords an opportunity to see vietnam’s countryside © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Riding in the bus between destinations lets us see the countryside (and I have set myself a challenge to get photos of people working in the fields and four people riding a motor scooter); the way the homes are laid out, the ancestral tombs in the fields, the occasional tractor, the massive, new industrial parks under construction. You see progress unfolding at the speed of the bus, all the more impressive when you realize what a young country Vietnam is, having proclaimed independence in 1945 but only “reunified” in 1975.

*A family poses in traditional dress for formal photograph during the month-long Lunar New Year celebration © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The essence of this tour is about familiarizing us with the Vietnamese people (who, we learn, are a mosaic of 54 different tribes), the rich cultural heritage and today’s achievements in overcoming literally millennia of conflict, war, oppression, colonialism. When we bike, hike or walk, we barely have to think a question, let along ask it, before our guide, Nguyen Hong Phong, stops and answers. “This is normal for me, curious for you,” he tells us at the outset, as we sit for tea in the Apricot Hotel on our first afternoon together in Hanoi. “When you are curious, just ask,” he adds.

*A government building in Hanoi. Political symbols are less prominent than would be expected, while motorscooters and Starbucks and KFCs are ubiquitous © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

2025 marks the 50^th anniversary since the Fall of Saigon that so abruptly ended an interminable war (and reunification as an independent country). You can’t escape the fact of the “American War” (which frankly was the tail end of a decades long war for independence before the United States interceded), but our tour seems to sidestep the past in favor of the present. This is probably a reflection of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ primary focus for its guests: “You’re on vacation!”

(There are several important sites that are not included in this tour that I would recommend setting up pre and post days: the Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, infamously known as “Hanoi Hilton” and the Chi Chi Tunnels which is an excursion from Saigon. Even the War Remnants Museum, a must-see in Ho Chi Minh City, was not on the itinerary but we visit when we could not visit the Reunification Palace as planned.)

*Ho Chi Minh’s last residence, where he lived from 1968 to 1969 when he died is camouflaged and connected to escape tunnels © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Still, there is no escaping the past: in Hanoi when we visit Ho Chi Minh’s 1968 residence, built like a camouflaged bunker with escape tunnels and learn they moved his body regularly when he died in 1969; when we visit the John McCain Monument where the American hero’s plane went down and he was captured; when we see the bullet holes in the Citadel in Hue and are shown photos of fighting that took place on the very spot where we stand; and when we visit My Son, a sacred historic site outside of Saigon, and learn that the Vietnamese appealed to President Nixon to stop bombing. I think Americans who visit Vietnam have an obligation to see what was done in our name, especially because it is so important to learn from history so not to make the same mistakes, and not be duped by an administration determined to go to war for its own political agenda.

Our Discovery Bicycle Tours group gets to learn how to make rice paper during our ride in Hoi An. Americans are warmly welcomed in Vietnam and have opportunities to visit people where they live © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I frankly didn’t know how I would react coming to Vietnam – I am the generation that lived through the Vietnam War (known here as “The American War”), or how Americans would be received. My questions are soon answered – the Vietnamese warmly welcome us Americans (and French and Chinese and a list of nationalities that have oppressed Vietnam). Vietnam is nothing like what I expected – in a good way. It’s in this capacity that one of the important attributes of travel come to fore: we travelers are ambassadors, promoting mutual understanding and connection.

*Celebrating a birthday in Hue, Vietnam. What a difference peace makes © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In Vietnam today, you can see the impact of peace, free markets, free enterprise have to achieve prosperity – a lesson to all those who are inciting conflict and war. You see the benefits of trade and globalization – a lesson for those who would disrupt and unravel alliances and build barriers instead of bridges.

Old Hanoi

Since our group is first meeting together at 1 pm for a walking tour, I have the morning to myself to explore. I walk across the street from our luxury hotel, The Apricot, to the park that rings the small, picturesque lake.

*A woman poses in traditional dress for formal photograph during the Lunar New Year celebration in Hanoi © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are here during the month-long Lunar New Year celebration, made even more festive because of the 50^th anniversary of reunification – everywhere that is possible has decorations reminiscent of how we celebrate Christmas. People dress in their formal, traditional costumes and pose for photos taken by professional photographers. People travel on holiday. There is a festive atmosphere everywhere.

There are political symbols, posters, flags and such but no more than the giant advertising billboards and the Starbucks, KFCs, McDonalds, Burger Kings. Also, I am flabbergasted at the proliferation of motorscooters and the paucity of bicycles. Crossing any street takes fortitude and a measure of fatalism, but where there are traffic signals, the systems are sophisticated and effective. Also, cell phones are ubiquitous.

*The proliferation of motorscooters in mind-boggling © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I head into the Old Quarter where I am intrigued at the “old propaganda posters” shops, the coffee shops (who knew Vietnam was such a major producer and exporter of coffee?), and massage parlors as common as nail salons at home.

The Propaganda Poster Shop seems more to satisfy the American and European tourists who visit (“Make Art Not War”).

But here at the Propaganda Poster Shop I happen to see many postcards for Train Street (reminding me of Lisbon) which suggests it is an important site and inspires me to go in search of this place.

*Old Propaganda Posters shop © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After getting lost (my WiFi isn’t working and I can’t figure out the map) and stopping numerous people to point me in the right direction, I look up and am drawn to colorful lanterns, walk up a staircase and find myself quite literally on the train tracks. Train Street!

People have set themselves at café tables and chairs and are even hanging out on the tracks taking photos. It is all the more amazing because it turns out it is just 5 minutes before the train is due (and I am so lucky because only a few trains come through a day). With 5 minutes to go, there is even a baby playing on the track!

I am standing alongside the track and a lady yells at me to sit down in one of the plastic chairs, like a kid’s chair. As the train comes tearing through at what seems a very fast speed, it is so close that had I held out my hand, it would have been taken off. I reflexively suck in my breath and try to make myself as small as possible until it passes. Unbelievably thrilling.

I feel proud of myself for being able to find my way back to the hotel by 1 pm in time to meet our Discovery Bicycle group for our first activity together, a walking tour of the Old District. I have already been traveling with 8 of the group for Discovery Bicycle’s four-day Cambodia pre-tour and now we meet the other 10.

Phong leads us to the St. John Cathedral, the oldest church in Hanoi. Built on the site of the biggest, most sacred Buddhist pagodas of the Ly-Tran Dynasties, the cathedral was constructed at the end of the 18^th century of wood, then reconstructed with baked clay in 1884-1888. Phong tells us that Catholics are a minority; the biggest religion in Vietnam, he says, is “triple religion” – a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism (ancestor worship).We will see evidence of this everywhere we go.

*St. John Cathedral in Hanoi. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Phong volunteers that the Communist government “allows free religious worship and free press” (though I question what he means by “free press”), then adds that protest against the Communist Party is not allowed; nor is there an opposition candidate in elections. Vietnam has been a one-party government since 1954, but in 1986 introduced new freedom in commerce and open markets.

“We have more freedom than in China. They block media there, here they block the BBC but we can get CNN.” Whatever they block, he says, people get curious and have their ways of accessing.

*Walking through Old Hanoi © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“Society is improving for ordinary people. Since 1988, we are living in peace. We feel more freedom, a peaceful country. We are now friends with Russia, Ukraine, the European Union. The USA is one of seven strongest friends. Peace is good for people, good for the country. [Tourists want to] come to a peaceful country.”

Phong tells us he learned English (as well as French and Chinese) at university where he studied tourism, but today, children are taught English as early as 3 and 4 years old in school. Public school is free he tells us, even in the mountains where parents are actually given a money incentive to send their kids to school.

*Tin Street in Old Hanoi © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We walk through Hanoi’s Old Quarter where the name of the street may well describe what enterprises take place there, established generations ago by the people who resettled in the city: Tin Street, Silver Street, Basket Street, Copper Street.

We return at 3 pm for tea at the Apricot Hotel – an elaborate affair – that includes an introduction and orientation to our 12-day tour (with biking!) with Phong as our lead guide.. Indeed, we will go first thing the next morning to get sized for our rental bikes which we will use for five of the days (the driver and bike mechanic who travels will us will travel 2 ½ days to Hue, when we fly), and will pick up a different bike in Ho Chi Minh City (way too far to drive and return).

I realize that we have just enough time to see the 5:15 pm traditional Water Puppet Theater cultural show just across the street from the hotel, before we meet again to go to dinner.

I had seen this heritage show when I was in Ho Chi Minh City six years before, so was enthusiastic to see it here, and encourage my traveling companions to come.

*Water Puppets Theater is a delightful cultural show © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Most of our group from the four-day Cambodia pre-tour (we really bonded) are game and we actually purchase the last tickets for this immensely popular program. The show is a cultural treasure that utilizes this traditional art form, with musicians performing with traditional musical instruments and song, fables and folk stories enacted by these marvelous puppeteers (yes, the puppets are in a pool of water!).

Captions and notes about the theater and the scenes are flashed on the walls beside the stage. Vietnam water puppetry, I learn, was born from the rice civilization in the Red River Delta, so agriculture is vividly depicted by the puppets, with farmers and familiar images such as riding buffalo, plowing, harrowing, transplanting rice, slapping water, harvesting. (Later, when we bike among the rice paddies, we will see how this tradition originated.)

*Water Puppets Theater has its origins in rural rice production © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

One of the scenes enacts “The Legend of Returning the Sword by King Le Loi” where LeLoi caught a holy sword by chance as he led the resistance war. After defeating the invaders, he proclaimed himself king. King Le Li goes out boating on the Green Water Lake, when suddenly a large turtle surfaced, took the sword from King Le Loi’s belt, and dived back into the depths, carrying the glowing sword in his mouth. (This is all enacted with puppets in the water).

The humor that is integral to the culture is displayed where the puppets enact an old farmer “Chasing fox away from the flock of ducks”. “It creates Vietnamese optimistic farmers,” the notes say.

The notes for “The Spirit Mediums Spiritual Dance,” say that “Vietnam’s Mother Goddess worship has been honored by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. In today’s life, Mother Goddess worship is mainly known to the community through the concept of ‘The Spirit Mediums’. Traditional cultural elements such as costumes, music, dance and folk performances imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity are created, developed and passed on from generation to generation.”

The ”Four Sacred Animals Dance” brings together Long, Ly, Quy and Phuong (Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, Phoenix) “praising the nature of heaven and earth, hoping for a peaceful state and a peaceful and happy life.”

*Water Puppets Theater puppeteers come out for their curtain call © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There are fire effects and of course water effects and amazing choreography – you actually cannot figure out how the puppeteers coordinate so well (and underwater!) – and then the puppeteers appear for their curtain call, up to their waist in water.

The show finishes just in time for us to walk together to dinner in a charming restaurant in the Old District.

*A delightful restaurant in Hanoi’s old district © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A note on the table about the apple cider makes us giggle: “Cider drinkers get more refreshment and excitement while still keeping their sanity. Especially suitable for women.”

Our lunches and dinners at restaurants are typically pre-ordered and served family style, with multiple courses so that we typically have chicken, beef, seafood, vegetable, rice, soup dishes – always with more than enough to satisfy even American appetites, and to get a really excellent idea of the cuisine.

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours guide Calista Phillips and Jake can’t resist purchasing these hats at the night market © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We walk back to the Apricot Hotel through the bustling night markets that take over the streets, brightly and colorfully lit.

*The Apricot Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel set just across from the picturesque park and lake © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Exploring the Apricot Hotel (we will be leaving early in the morning after breakfast), we discover an exquisite rooftop indoor pool and bar with a giant video screen. The artwork around the hotel, the elegant (French-inspired) furnishings are gorgeous.

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802- 457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, www.discoverybicycletours.com.

Next: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ninh Binh Bird Sanctuary

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS VIETNAM TRIP: HO CHI MINH MAUSOLEUM BRINGS NEW CLARITY TO A CLOUDY PAST

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: A BOAT RIDE THROUGH CAVES, BIKE RIDE TO TEMPLES IN NINH BINH

CRUISING BAI TU LONG BAY ON THE DRAGON LEGEND

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HUE’S CITADEL, “CITY OF GHOSTS” & THE CHALLENGE OF BIKING THE HAI VAN PASS

DISCOVERY BICYCLE TOURS’ VIETNAM: HOI AN’S DAZZLING LIGHTS, TRANQUIL COUNTRYSIDE

A RENDEZVOUS WITH PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT, HORRORS OF THE PAST IN HO CHI MINH CITY

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© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Adventure Travel, Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Ecotourism, Historic Places, Museums and Exhibits, Outdoors Adventures, Places of History

Discovering Cambodia’s Angkor Archeological Park, Among the World’s Most Fabulous Monument Complexes

September 16, 2025 krubin723

The dramatic sunset scene of the warrior statues on the Tonle Om Gate bridge outside the Preah Khan temple on our Discovery Bicycle Tours four-day Siem Reap, Cambodia pre-tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Today – technically the third day of our four-day Discovery Bicycle Tours Cambodia pre-tour in Siem Reap – is our first real bike ride, planned for 36 miles. We pick up our bikes at the tourist office where we also pick up our passes for the national historic sites, and cycle right into the Angkor Archeological Park. We cycle on the Angkor Bikeway and hidden trails through the ruins and forest of Angkor. (Calista Phillips, our Discovery Bicycle Tours guide, and I have already acquired our passes on the first evening when we went to see the sunset at Phnom Bakheng; the three-day pass allows for three, nonconsecutive days of visits. Discovery purchases our tickets and reimburses me the $62 I spent.)

*Biking lets us experience the sights, sounds and feeling of Siem Reap’s countryside © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We bike on country lanes with rice paddies and fields on either side, seeing homes with thatch roofs, water buffalo. Our guide, Ta, shows us a cashew nut as it is plucked from the tree, the outer layer opened releasing a noxious acid; and the abandoned skin of a snake.

*Biking lets us experience the sights, sounds and feeling of Siem Reap’s countryside and how people live © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

What feels like 10 of the miles (though probably less), is riding through a thick layer of sand (like skiing on ice). Once I get the hang of it (the trick is getting into a lower gear), it is still stressful, requiring concentration, but not as scary, with immense and lasting satisfaction when we come to the end of this country road, where we come to a literal archway. Here we find a USAID hat in the middle of that sandy road – crumpled, ripped, dirty, trampled – a metaphor it seemed for what Trump/Musk had just done by shutting down USAID.

*Mastering how to bike on sand © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Our guide,Ta, shows us what a cashew nut looks like on the tree © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We ride a bit further on regular streets and have our first snack stop – with local foods (best cashews ever), dragon fruit, bananas, and coconuts cut so we can drink the juice with a straw, and then come upon a wedding, where the uncle of the groom comes rushing out to greet one of our riders, Pam, who he had helped rescue just two days before when their taxi had car trouble on the way from the airport. Small world!

*Coming upon a wedding, the groom’s uncle recognizes one of our riders © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*We get a personal view of a wedding and learn something about the two-day rituals © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Calista Phillips, our cheery Discovery Bicycle Tours guide, takes us on a country road in Siem Reap © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Seeing a metaphor in a dirty, dusty, crumpled, ripped USAID hat found on the sandy Cambodian road © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We come to our first temple, Banteay Srei, a 10th century temple dedicated to the Hindu gods Shiva and Parvati, which is considered a “jewel of Khmer art” because of its intricate carvings.

*Exploring Bateay Srei © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The full ride is 36 miles but we have to cut it short by 6 miles for time, so are transported to the last two temples by bus (others could cut short the ride even earlier because the bus and bike truck pretty much follow us).

*Ta Som © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our next stop is Ta Som with its dramatic ficus (fig) tree enveloping one of the towers. It was constructed at the end of 12^th century, beginning of 13^th century during the reign of King Jayavarman VII and features monumental gateways and a central shrine decorated with intricate carvings that I find dazzling. It was destroyed centuries ago and lay in ruins until international partners provided assistance to restore it. The temple earned a place on the World Heritage list in 1992 and was the first project to be managed by the World Monuments Fund’s Cambodian staff.

*At Ta Som, you feel you are walking through art because of how the gateways line up. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We next come to the stunning and significant Preah Khan which I find most intriguing and spell-binding – perhaps because one of the guides offers to give a private tour for $5 and points out views and details we never would have seen or appreciated, like the only carved image of Shiva holding a mirror among these temples, and an alcove where he tells us to beat our chest to hear the resonance. (This winds up being a common practice and I recommend it highly.)

Preah Khan *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Preah Khan (it means “Royal Sword”) was built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII to honor his father on the site of his victory over the invading Chams in 1191.

The guard explains that the King built this temple with an aim of bringing Hindus and Buddhists together – a Buddhist sanctuary is offset by satellite Hindu temples. Half of the temple has Hindu carvings; the other half is Buddhist. (I wonder if this is why the temple was intentionally destroyed.)

*The Preah Khan guard points out the only carved image of Shiva holding a mirror so far discovered among these temples © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

What is so fascinating about these vast temple complexes is that they were not just for worship but would have been like palaces, castles or fortresses, housing hundreds, if not thousands of people. The Preah Khan complex combined the roles of city, temple and Buddhist university and would have had 97,840 attendants and servants, including 1000 dancers and 1000 teachers.

The stone – which mostly appears grey-black- becomes a blazing orange in the setting sun as we leave.

We cross a bridge lined with impressive military figures – several with the heads cut off, very possibly to sell on the black market.

*The dramatic sunset scene of the warrior statues on the Tonle Om Gate bridge outside the Preah Khan temple © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Impressive military statues line the Tonle Om Gate bridge outside the Preah Khan temple © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As we cross, the sun, glowing a fiery red, offers a spectacular scene and our guide, Hang, stops the bus for us. We have just two minutes to capture the setting sun before it falls behind trees.

Between 800 and 1200 A.D., hundreds if not thousands of temples were built through the region. The oldest ones have all but disappeared due to weather, war, religious conflict and greed (stealing the art for sale). The ones we see today have had to be excavated from overgrowth and restored and represent the Golden Age of monument building. They have a certain common style – largely because of they were built in the same era, and many of the ones we see were built by King Jayavarman VII, which makes you wonder about how he had the resources and manpower. But the temples are remarkably individual for their art, theme and most especially how you experience of discovering them, so I come away with my favorites.

The most famous – for good reason – is Angkor Wat, a religious complex spanning more than 400 acres (five times the size of the Vatican) and widely recognized (confirmed by the Guinness World Records) as the largest religious structure or monument in the world. It was originally built by the Khmer Empire, commissioned by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as a Hindu temple before being converted into a Buddhist site by the end of the century.

What strikes me, though, after seeing several of these, particularly those built by King Jayavarman VII and King Suryavarman II, is how similar to Peru and the temples built in the mid-1400s, most famously Machu Picchu, by the Incan emperor Pachacuti, known as the “Alexander the Great” of the Inca. It makes you think about the commonality of the human history.

Back at the Aviary Hotel, I get in a 20-minute swim in the rooftop pool before meeting our group for a 10-minute walk to Chamrey Tree, an elegant restaurant filled with gorgeous art, where we have a fantastic dinner.

After dinner, Calista and Jake go off to explore the night market, where Jake is game to try any unusual food. The next morning, he reports back of his experience eating insects (not sure if he also snacked on snake or just observed).

Departure Day: Angkor Sunrise & Biking

*Sunrise at Angkor Wat © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Day 4 is our departure day from Cambodia, but our last morning in Siem Reap starts at 4:30 am (we are given a bagged breakfast to take with us) so we can be at Angkor Wat for the sunrise (with thousands of others). The famous view would have the iconic temple back-lit and reflected in two large pools in front – alas the sunrise is not all that impressive and even coming so early, it is hard to get a good enough position for “the money shot,” but the experience is exciting enough.

The real thrill comes after, when we go to explore the temple. Most of the sunrise-goers leave, so we are able to visit with comparatively few people if we hustle – our guide urges us to get on line fast so we aren’t trapped in an hour-long wait to climb the steep staircase.

*Climbing the steep staircase into Angkor Wat © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We get inside the temple just as the sun is penetrating the structure.

*Angkor Wat © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It took hundreds of thousands of workers just 37 years to build – (the 37 year deadline coincides with the belief in 37 heavens and 32 hells and there are 37 steps to enter. Like Machu Picchu, these temples were built by devotees as well as slaves. The stones came from a quarry 35 miles away (during COVID, they had time to study and discovered a canal, which they now believe was used to float the stones).

*Angkor Wat, the largest religious complex in the world, had to be reclaimed from the forest © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The temple would have been overgrown after centuries of abandonment; it was rediscovered in 1941 and the French helped restore the temple after a collapse in 1947. The World Monuments Fund has been working to preserve and restore these temples since 1991 and Angkor Wat was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

Built in early 12^th C under the reign of Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat was both the grandest of all Khmer temples and a city in its own right.

Angkor Wat houses what are considered the finest examples of Khmer art – carved bas-reliefs stretching nearly 600 meters.

In the eyes of Khmer people, the most significant bas-relief in the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery portrays devas and asuras in a dramatic tug of war representing the eternal struggle of good and evil that churns amrit, the elixir of everlasting life, from the primordial ocean.

*The bas-relief Churning of the Sea of Milk portrays heaven and hell and the eternal struggle between good and evil © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Heaven and Hell is depicted in an astonishing 68-meter-long wall carving: heaven above consists of two tiers while hell has 32 tiers. The inscriptions tell what kind of sin a person may have committed in life judging by the tier the sinner ended up on after death.

*Angkor Wat’s Hall of a Thousand Buddhas* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas (Preah Poan) a few stand out dramatically from the grey statues for their gold robes. Sometime in the late/post-Angkor eras after the temple converted to Buddhism and eventually Theravada Buddhism, monks began collecting Buddha statues here.

Banyon Temple

*Encountering monkeys on the trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From Angkor Wat, we bike to the Bayon Temple, with its enormous, fantastical enigmatic faces looking in every direction from every stone tower – 216 in all. It is not known who the face represents – we heard they represented Buddha before achieving Nirvana, or possibly the ruler who built the temple, Jayavarman VII.

Dating from the late 12^th century (after Angkor Wat) and the last to be built in the Angkor, the Bayon is a Mahayana Buddhist temple built to pay homage to the king responsible for its construction, Jayavarman VII, and dedicated to his mother. We are told that 12,640 people would have lived within it, including 650 dancing girls.

We note the sign: “Beware of Monkey Attack” – sure enough, one of our group reports being “accosted” by a monkey.

With time growing short before some of our group has to get to the airport, our 12-mile bike ride is cut short (though some have biked along the top of the defensive walls of Angkor Thom). and we travel by bus to the last temple we get to visit Ta Prohm, famous for scenes from Angelina Jolie’s “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” film.

*Ta Prohm Temple © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You really feel the age of the Ta Prohm temple with massive trees growing out of the stone and massive stone blocks in heaps.

Of the statues consecrated here in 1186 by Jayavarman VII here, most important was Prajnaparamita, the personification of the Perfection of Wisdom, a figure whom the king identified with his mother.

Given its fame and the dramatic setting, as well as the time of day, it is no surprise that the temple is fairly overrun with tourists.

It’s fairly amazing how much we do on Day 4, our departure day when we fly to Hanoi to start the 12-day Vietnam Discovery Bicycle tour: three temples, a fabulous bike ride, lovely lunch, and since they have arranged a late check out (the flight several of us are on is at 7 pm), I even have time for a swim at the Aviary Hotel. But then I remind myself: we got up at 4:30 am!

*Discovery Bicycle Tours organizes the four-day pre-tour in Cambodia to make our visit to Siem Reap to be satisfying, productive and comfortable © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery Bicycle Tours organizes everything to make our biking as satisfying and our brief time here as productive and pleasant as possible – which means we are accompanied by a third guide/bike mechanic; the bike truck typically is nearby; and the bus that takes us to the start/finish, and various stops accompanies like a SAG vehicle, so we don’t have to bike with our big cameras but have access when we get to a site. The snack (and rest) stops are also really marvelous – typically with local foods – well planned and well timed.

*Enjoying local treats, like coconut juice, for our snack on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ four-day Cambodia pre-tour in Siem Reap © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In addition to the Discovery Bicycle Tours guide, we have two local guides here in Cambodia – one who likes to be called “Hang,” and the other who likes to be called “Ta” – both take care of us like mother hens, though I would have liked more background information about the different sites we visit. (An excellent source is “Angkor Temples in Cambodia” www.angkor-temples-in-cambodia.com.)

*The Aviary Hotel, an eco-conscious boutique hotel, is our base in Siem Reap for the four-day Discovery Bicycle Tours Cambodia pre-tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery does a great job of providing advance materials, the day-by-day itinerary, packing lists; excellent bikes (e-bikes are available but not really necessary) and helmets, and even though we do ride together with guides at the front and back (and not a great idea to go off on our own), we have Ride GPS so we can follow the route.

Get the required visa and arrival document at Cambodia’s website (evisa.gov.kh), where the fee is $30 (if you use a visa service it costs something like $197), but give yourself enough time to get the confirmation.

Also, always double-check the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory and make sure no vaccinations are required or recommended.

It is also recommended to purchase travel insurance – especially for the medical and evacuation coverage. You can check a site like travelinsurance.com to get recommendations.

On to Vietnam!

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802-457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, discoverybicycletours.com.

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Adventure Travel, Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Outdoors Adventures, Places of History, Uncategorized

Hiking, Biking Adds Dimension to Experiencing Siem Reap, Cambodia’s Ancient Archeological Sites

September 10, 2025 krubin723

Our six-mile hike through Kulen National Park leads to the Reclining Buddha, said to be the largest reclining sandstone Buddha in Cambodia. Hiking and biking adds a physical even spiritual dimension to experiencing the ancient temples and monuments during our Discovery Bicycle Tours’ four-day Cambodia trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Biking back roads of Siem Reap, Cambodia, passed farmland and fields, through small villages our Discovery Bicycle Tours group chances upon a wedding – but not just any wedding. As it happens, the uncle of the groom was the man who came to the rescue of a couple of our riders who had car trouble on the way from the airport. When Pam gets off her bike to take a photo of the wedding, he recognizes her and dashes out – even inviting our Discovery Bicycle Tours group inside the tent to participate in the ritual underway. The experience gives new meaning to the expression, “small world.” Biking has that effect of making the world smaller, more intimate, more connected.

*Coming upon a wedding is one of the delights of biking in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ four-day pre-tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You don’t go to Cambodia to bike, but biking adds a whole extra dimension – and perspective – to the travel experience, as I find on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ four-day Cambodia pre-tour add-on to the 12-day Vietnam bike tour that follows.

You bike in Cambodia to have such immersive experiences, to see scenes unobstructed and at a pace where you can really observe, even stop and get off the bike for a better, lingering view, to ride through villages, alongside homes and farms and fields that you would never see otherwise, and to have such serendipitous encounters as coming upon a wedding. Discovery Bicycle Tours’ four-day Cambodia is tailored, so we bike on country roads and back roads rather than through the intensely trafficked towns, and we are taken by bus to far-flung locations so we are not deprived of seeing the important highlights of Siem Reap.

*Discovery Bicycle Tours’ guide Calista Phillips takes us on Siem Reap’s back country roads © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Siem Reap has justifiably become a major attraction for visitors – as evidenced from many lovely hotels in the city, the bustling markets and shops and the modern new international airport that opened (for logistical planning purposes it is important to take note that it is more than one hour’s drive from downtown, not the 20 minutes of the old airport),

Indeed, Siem Reap is a long way to go: it’s taken me 32 hours, three planes and three, long immigration lines, though it could have been less had I flown east from JFK instead of west; also when you book your travel, be aware that you cross the Dateline so you lose a day; and be very aware of the online process to get the visa and arrival document).It’s too long a way to go to miss the extraordinary sites by obsessing over biking point-to-point exclusively.

I make my way to the Aviary Hotel in the heart of Siem Reap (Discovery has arranged an airport pick up but somehow I missed it), riding a shuttle from the airport with a local woman who now works in Sweden, home to visit her family. I have the good sense to ask her where to go for the best place to see the sunset. Phnom Bakheng, she replies without hesitation. Armed with this information, as soon as I pull up to the hotel where I am met by Discovery’s guide Calista Phillips (I actually had just traveled with her on Discovery’s Idaho Trails bike tour), our local guide, Hang, arranges for the hotel’s tuk tuk driver to take Calista and me at 4:30 pm. (Others in the tour had other plans.)

*The Aviary Hotel’s garden pool provides a cozy sanctuary. The boutique eco-hotel is a great base for our four-day stay in Siem Reap © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I organize my afternoon so that I recover my energy for our adventure, and resist my inclination to explore the area, taking advantage of the Aviary Hotel’s stunning garden pool (it also has a rooftop pool) at the Aviary, a delightful 43-room eco-friendly boutique hotel which is our home base for our four-day stay.

Sunset at Phnom Bakheng

The 35-minute ride through the streets on the tuk-tuk – basically a carriage pulled by a guy on a motorcycle – to the Phnom Bakheng temple is extreme fun (what a ride!).

We immediately see why this is the most popular place for the sunset. Situated in the heart of Angkor Archaeological Park, the Hill of Phnom Bakheng offers gorgeous views of surrounding monuments and countryside. (Calista and I have purchased our three-day Angkor Archeological Park passes online, which the others will get their pass later; the 3-Day Pass is valid within 10 days of purchase; Discovery reimburses me the $62.)

Because of heavy seasonal rains causing damage, the eastern stairway is closed, so we hike for 15 minutes along a shady gentle sloping path which provides a panoramic route to reach the temple.

*The first glimpse through the trees is of the 10 century Bakst Chamkrong glowing orange in the setting sunlight© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The first glimpse through the trees is of a temple, glowing orange in the setting sunlight. This is Bakset Chamkrong, built during the first decades of the 10^th c at the foot of Phnom Bakheng, the only pyramid temple in the area that has survived. The notes describe a rare Sanskrit text engraved in the doorjamb about the mythic succession of Khmer kings. According to the myth, the dynasty descended from the union of the hermit Kamba, said to be “born from himself” and the celestial nymph mera. (Note: this architectural jewel can also be visited.)

Continuing on, we come to beautiful views over treetops in haze to the water.

*Phnom Bakheng, which is undergoing restoration, is the best place in Siem Reap to see the sunset* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

And then we come to Phnom Bakheng, which is undergoing restoration– a cooperative project begun in 2004 of World Monuments Fund (WMF) and APSARA National Authority of the Kingdom of Cambodia.with funding from US Dept of State, US Ambassador fund for Cultural preservation and US Embassy Phnom Penh.

We climb the steep stone steps to the top of the temple, and I am struck at the people who have taken up their position facing away from the sunset. I ask why and a woman points down and to the side, and mutters, Angkor Wat. Indeed, this majestic structure –one of the largest religious sites in the world –emerges from the haze and rises above the tree tops. Oh. The hope (expectation) is that when the sun dips, it will turn the grey/black stone a firey orange like the temple we saw on our walk up.

I squeeze my way into one of the last positions that would give me that view and wait.

*Our sunset hike to Phnom Bakheng gives us this view of Angkor Wat, rising out of the haze and the tree tops © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Alas, when it is clear that the weather will not cooperate (it is still a beautiful sight), I take another position to watch the sun, now a firey red ball, skirt alongside two of the temple’s stone towers, and when it finally dips into the clouds, go to study more intently the carvings on the temple.

*Phnom Bakheng is the best place in Siem Reap to see the sunset* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Notably, many of the faces in the carvings have been mutilated – testifying to the religious struggles and ping-ponging of theocratic power, while the several monks here and people worshipping at the temple testify to the temple’s continuing role as a sacred place.

*Surveying the beautiful carvings on Phnom Bakheng temple © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are among the last to start down after the sun has dropped into the clouds, and by the time we get all the way down, it is actually dark – just adding to the atmosphere. Our ride back in the tuk tuk (the guide has waited for us and we cleverly have taken down his telephone number in case we have trouble finding him) is tremendous fun. We get to see how people gather together at night. (Graffiti spotted from the tuktuk: “Love Cambodia. Hate Fascism.”)

*Phnom Bakheng temple is still a holy site © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our driver very kindly asks if we prefer to be dropped at the hotel or at Pub Street, about five blocks further than the hotel so we can get a sense of the colorful night life. We opt for the night market and immediately are engulfed in the neon lights and activity. We come upon crafts people and food sellers.

*The lively night scene at Siem Reap’s Pub Street © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hiking Kulen National Park

Our first full day in Cambodia is not spent biking but hiking. After a delightful breakfast at the hotel, the nine of us who are doing the Cambodia add-on (of the eventual 19 of us who will be doing the Vietnam tour), gather together and set out for Kulen National Park.

The six-mile hike through a jungle on the Langur Trail, named for leaf-eating monkeys that live here) brings us to historic places – where religious symbols have been placed in a stream, a temple, and, most interestingly, a rocky hideaway that was used for the Khmer Rouge.

*We hike along the River of a 1000 Lingas © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We hike along the River of a 1000 Lingas – the phallic symbol of the Hindu god, Shiva – and rock carvings depicting Hindu deities made during the Khmer Empire.

The six-mile hike through a jungle on the Langur Trail, brings us to historic places – where religious symbols have been placed in a stream, a temple, and, most interestingly, a rocky hideaway that was used for the Khmer Rouge© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The trail takes us to a fabulous 16^th century Buddhist monastery and sacred site for pilgrims at Preah Ang Thom. There is such reverence that we need to take off our shoes before we climb the steps to where the massive Reclining Buddha is housed – in fact, we are told, it is Cambodia’s largest sandstone reclining Buddha. The pose, the colors are simply jaw-dropping magnificent.

*The six-mile hike on the Langur Trail, brings us to a 16^th century Buddhist monastery and sacred site for pilgrims at Preah Ang Thom © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Face of the reclining Buddha at Preah Ang Thom © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our hike continues into what seems to be a village and central marketplace for the national park, where we have lunch in a delightful restaurant. From there, we walk a path that takes us to a steep staircase (103 steps) to the scenic, 81-foot high Phnom Kulen Waterfalls.The area evokes the water cleansing of the Ganges, and was a holy place in 802 AD. We swim (fish nibble at our dead skin – actually a spa treatment), frolic under the forceful spray, before busing back an hour to Siem Reap.

*We enjoy swimming at the 81-foot high **Phnom Kulen Waterfalls** © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Taking into account that we won’t be getting back for the rest of the group to experience the sunset at Phnom Bakheng which we raved about, our guide, Hang, stops at Pre Rup, for us to explore as the sun sets. This temple was built in honor of Lord Shiva in 961 AD by King Rajendravarman while Siem Reap was the capital of the kingdom of Koh Ker, before the capital was moved to Angkor. (It is not nearly as impressive, so do not miss an opportunity to see the sunset at Phnom Bakheng.)

*The sunset from the top of Pre Rup © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We gather at 7:30 pm for dinner at Spoons Restaurant – a delightful restaurant which is also a social enterprise where young people from disadvantaged circumstances are trained for jobs in hospitality. The food, the presentation, the ambiance are superb.

The Aviary Hotel

Our base for our four-day visit to Siem Reap is the Aviary Hotel, a 43-room eco-friendly boutique hotel that offers a luxurious, comfortable, modern environment with delightful Cambodian flourishes celebrating the Kingdom’s birdlife and filled with locally commissioned art. The Aviary’s turquoise pool has a garden-like setting curtained by vines and flowers that drape over the balconies above and comfortable lounge chairs, from which you can order drinks and food – a truly relaxing sanctuary. A rooftop pool seems as big as an Olympic pool and is particularly delightful at the end of the day and into the evening. Each morning we enjoy a marvelous buffet breakfast. The hotel also offers its own café. (Aviary Hotel, #09, Tep Vong Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia, +855 12 241 602, reservation@theaviaryhotel.com)

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, 802-457-3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, discoverybicycletours.com.

Next: Biking Siem Reap’s Angkor Archeological Park
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Benefits of travel', Biking Tours, Outdoors Adventures, Sustainable Travel

Rails to Trails Conservancy Highlights Benefits on Celebrate Trails Day, April 26

April 15, 2025 krubin723

Biking the Great Allegheny Passage trail with Rails to Trails Conservancy. The trail is part of the Great American Rail-Trail that ultimately will create a transcontinental network of trails 3,700 miles from Washington DC to Washington state. Find a trail near you on Celebrate Trails Day, April 26. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Rails to Trails Conservancy is hosting its Celebrate Trails Day on April 26. This annual spring celebration of America’s trails, which Rails to Trails has organized since 2013 on the fourth Saturday of April, invites one and all to “come outside to experience the joy and impact of America’s trails”.

Every Celebrate Trails Day, RTC teams up with partners—trail groups, agencies, nonprofits, businesses, brands, clubs and every other type of organization in between—to offer scores of events and activities that encourage physical activity, stewardship, community engagement and opportunities to see how fun it is to switch a car trip for a walk or a bike ride and help lower their individual carbon footprint.

*Bike or walk the 2-mile long trail alongside New York’s Cuomo Bridge for a spectacular view of the Hudson River © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“Celebrate Trails Day creates a unique opportunity to show off the many ways trails are essential to communities across the country,” said Ryan Chao, RTC’s president. “Thousands of people get outside with us to send the message that when we connect trails, good things happen.”

*Cycling over what used to be a railway bridge from Peebles Island at the end of Parks & Trails NY’s eight-day, 400-mile Cycle the Erie Canalway biketour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

What good things? “The nation’s 42,000+ miles of multiuse trails on the ground nationwide lay the foundation for 150+ trail networks in development means we have space to move our bodies and be active outside, which is good for our physical and mental health. We support our local economy and create new connections in the neighborhoods where we live. And we can get around safely without a car. These spaces bring incredible value to our everyday lives, improving the quality of life where people live, work and play. When we show up on trails, we send a message loud and clear that these spaces are essential to our communities.”

*Biking over the famous Rosendale Trestle on the Walkill Valley Trail, now part of New York’s 750-mile Empire State Trail network © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

RTC has curated resources to help you plan a day of biking, walking, hiking, running and/or exploring outdoors. These include an interactive map to find events near you (more events being added all the time). Using the map, you can find hikes, spring cleanups, group rides, fun runs, family-friendly festival. You can also find organizations hosting events and events where complimentary non-alcoholic beverages are being provided, courtesy of Athletic Brewing Company, the premier sponsor for Celebrate Trails Day. Go to the website, https://www.railstotrails.org/celebratetrailsday/. (You can also find out how to win prizes for participating.)

Find Trails: Any day of the year, you can find trails near you around the nation using RTC’s free trail-guide app and website, TrailLink.

Impact of Trails for People, Places and the Planet

*Biking the Delaware-Lehigh Trail on a Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Sojourn © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Many of the more than 240 events taking place on Celebrate Trails Day highlight the return on investment as the nation’s more than 41,000 miles of multiuse trails are connected into trail networks that make it safer and easier for people to be active outside where they live, with the potential to deliver more than $138 billion to the economy each year in health cost savings, climate savings and direct spending.

Last year’s Celebrate Trails Day was a celebration of unprecedented opportunity for trails, walking and biking – in part made possible by the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – and demonstrated the widespread demand and benefit of dedicated and sustained investment in the nation’s trail networks.

The Highline, the urban art park trail created out of a highway on Manhattan’s west side, is now one of the most popular and used attractions in New York State, and a main artery in a neighborhood it spawned the size of a city © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Participants in Celebrate Trails Day reported mental health benefits of time spent being active on the trail (97% of people agree that using trails makes a difference for their mental health and well-being) and the majority say that having events or programming on the trail motivates them to be physically active (85%). More than three-quarters (78%) indicate that they would use trails as part of their everyday routine (e.g., going to the store, school, work or for exercise) and 76% of respondents indicated they chose to swap a car trip for a walk, bike ride or other active transportation on Celebrate Trails Day and at other times in their day-to-day routines.

“Everyone gains from staying active and should have safe and convenient access to trails. It’s also great when these places include green space, welcome all ages and abilities, and include activities like culturally inclusive programs,” said Ken Rose, MPA, physical activity and health branch chief at the CDC. “Good walking and biking trails can help us stay physically and mentally fit by making physical activity a part of our routine. They also bring communities closer together by giving us spaces to meet up and socialize.”

The Centers for Disease Control, which finds increasing physical activity is one of the best things we can do for our health and recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a day, reports that only about 1 in 4 adults do. Connected trail and active transportation infrastructure makes it possible for more people to incorporate physical activity into routine, everyday activities, like getting to work or school or running errands. Outcomes from Celebrate Trails Day underscore the impact of park, trail and greenway infrastructure improvements—combined with additional interventions, such as events and programming in these spaces—to increase awareness, enhance access and encourage participation as outlined in recommendations by the Community Preventive Services Task Force to increase physical activity.

*The Centennial Trail from Washington State into Idaho goes through downtown Spokane © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Since 1986, Rails to Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit organization with one million members, has been “dedicated to creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people.”

“We reimagine public spaces to create safe ways for everyone to walk, bike and be active outdoors.”

RTC’s most ambitious program to date is the creation of the Great American Rail-Trail, that will ultimately connect more than 125 multi-use recreational trails 3,700 miles across the continent, from Washington D.C., through 12 states, to Washington State. (https://www.railstotrails.org/site/greatamericanrailtrail/)

Some iconic trails are already in place along the Great American Rail-Trail route, while communities, nonprofit partners, state agencies and volunteers are working to build trails to benefit their local area by linking up to the trans-continental network.(See the full list here, https://www.railstotrails.org/site/greatamericanrailtrail/content/route/)

As of January, 2025 the Great American Rail Trail – America’s first trans-continental network – is 55% complete with 2,059 miles of trails out of the total 3,700 miles.(see: https://www.railstotrails.org/resource-library/resources/great-american-rail-trail-route-assessment-2024/)

Rails to Trails Conservancy, 2445 M Street, NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20037, 866-202-9788, railstotrails.org.

Bike Tour Companies Embrace Rail Trails

Several bike tour operators offer itineraries on segments of the Great American Rail-Trail:

Wilderness Voyageurs already has tours on many segments of the Great American Rail-Trail – indeed, it is actually headquartered on, the famous and picturesque Great Allegheny Passage, one of the primary building blocks of the east-to-west route.

With the addition of the Iowa Trestles Tour in 2021, Wilderness Voyageurs offers supported rides on more than 820 miles of the route. Its multi-day, inn-to-inn, bike tours on the Great American Rail-Trail visit 14 different trails in eight states These include:

*Biking through the Pinkerton Tunnel on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), a key part of the Great American Trail 3700-mile transcontinental network Spokane © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is an iconic rail-trail that runs 150 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was built in partnership between state agencies and many local trail groups and volunteers. The GAP is featured on three different trips: a four-day Great Allegheny Passage tour from Pittsburgh to Cumberland; six-day Pittsburgh to D.C. tour, and Pennsylvania and Maryland Easy Rider tour. (Wilderness Voyageurs is headquartered right next to the trail in Ohiopyle, Check out the Great Allegheny Passage for info and travel tips.)

The C&O Canal Towpath from Cumberland to Georgetown is featured on a six-day Pittsburgh to D.C. bike tour Following the Potomac River, the C&O Canal Towpath traverses the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park for 184.5 miles. Hundreds of original features – locks, lock houses, aqueducts and other canal structures – are reminders of the canal’s role as a transportation system during the Canal Era, which peaked in the mid-19th century. The C&O actually connects with the GAP.

Its Pittsburgh to D.C. bike tour includes an optional ride on the Capital Crescent Trail, a paved trail that parallels the canal towpath. The 11-mile trail follows the former route of the Georgetown Branch rail line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Both its Gettysburg and the Civil War bike tour and Shenandoah and Skyline Drive bike tours visit part of the towpath near historic Harpers Ferry.

The Cincinnati to Cleveland Tour features a corridor that will ultimately connect the Ohio River in Cincinnati to Lake Erie in Cleveland. Of its planned 326 miles, more than 270 miles of trail are complete visiting six different trails and many beautiful small towns. Besides knocking out a big chunk of the Great American Rail-Trail, you visit Cuyahoga National Park, one of the newest national parks.

The Iowa Trestles Tour is a 4 day meander that cycles 3 different trails that are part of the GART: the High Trestle Trail, the Heart of Iowa Nature Trail and the 2021 inductee to the Rail Trail Hall of Fame, The Raccoon River Valley Trail.

Idaho’s Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, part of the Great American Trail network, is featured on tour programs of Wilderness Voyageurs and Discovery Bicycle Tours, among others © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Idaho Coeur d’Alenes and Hiawatha tour spends time on the NorPac Trail that follows the old right-of-way of the Northern Pacific Railway (hence the trail’s name) in western Montana and the Idaho Panhandle, crossing Lookout Pass. The trail runs from Idaho near Mullan at the trailhead for the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, past the East Portal of the Route of the Hiawatha (south of Taft, Montana) and on to the small town of Saltese. The entire trail offers spectacular views of the forested Rocky Mountains as well as lakes and streams.

The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes covers nearly 72 paved miles through scenic mountains and valleys in Idaho’s Panhandle. The area has a rich mining, railroading and Native American history, and hugs the Lake Coeur d’Alene shoreline, rolling foothills in the Palouse prairie, and goes over the impressive Chatcolet Bridge.

The Washington Olympic Peninsula tour cruises the Olympic Discovery Trail, which is the western terminus of the Great American Rail-Trail. Starting in the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend and ending on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the ODT is filled with views of snow capped peaks, ocean vistas, fast flowing rivers and pristine lakes, and everywhere the majestic forests of the Pacific Northwest. Olympic National Park, which was established in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is truly special, with 922,650 acres of rain forest, old-growth forest, glacier-topped peaks and alpine meadows. Its forests are home to cougars, bears, deer, woodpeckers, golden eagles, mountain goats and peregrine falcons nesting above the trail on Pyramid Mountain.

(Wilderness Voyageurs has trips on many rail trails in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, South Dakota, Idaho and Washington. (See a complete list of rail-trail bike tours)

Wilderness Voyageurs, 103 Garrett Street. Ohiopyle, PA 15470, 724-329-1000, 800-272-4141 wilderness-voyageurs.com

Discovery Bicycle Tours, similarly, offers several trips on rail-trails that are part of the Great American Rail-Trail: C&O Canal Trail; Great Allegheny Passage, Pennsylvania; Silver Comet Trail; the Centennial Trail, the Hiawatha Trail and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes on its Idaho Trails tour), as well as many others.

*Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ six-day Idaho Trails trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Other Discovery Bicycle Tours rail trail trips include 200 miles of the Empire State Rail Trail from Battery Park, Manhattan to Albany (part of the 750-mile long Empire Trail Network that goes from Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan up to the Canadian border, and east-west on the 360-mile-long Erie Canalway from Buffalo to Albany); the longest rail trail in New England, the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail; Appalachian rail trails of Virginia and West Virginia; Mickelson Trail, South Dakota, 6-Day Washington Cascades Trails, and the P’tit du Nord rail trail in Quebec.

*Bike from Battery Park in Manhattan along the Hudson River Greenway, up to Albany, on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Empire State Rail Trail tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 888-459-3265, info@discoverybicycletours.com

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Biking Tours, Historic Places, Outdoors Adventures, See America, US Destinations

Six Days on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Idaho Trails: Biking the Coeur d’Alenes

February 2, 2025 krubin723

*Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho on the last day of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ six-day Idaho Trails trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

On Day 4 of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ six-day Idaho Trails trip, after breakfast at our base at the Silver Mountain Resort, we are shuttled to Shoshone Park in the mining town of Mullan for an easy downstream ride through the “Silver Valley,” home to several historic mining communities.

We soon pick up the official start of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, enjoying views of the rocky, forested mountains, as we make our way to the utterly charming “wild west” town of Wallace.

*Biking on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes to Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have been primed for Wallace’s character (and humor) when we had a talk by a local historian at the Roosevelt Inn in Coeur d’Alene so are prepared for the “history (and some hilarity!) that await us as citizens of Wallace have tenaciously preserved their town amidst an ever changing landscape of fortunes lost and gained.”

Now, we stroll around the town looking for some of the sights she pointed out, like the town’s last brothel, a mining museum, a silver shop, before we join the Sierra Silver Mine Tour that Discovery has arranged for us. It begins with a delightful narrated tour of Wallace in an open-air trolley that takes us up to the mine.

Who knew that Wallace was the “Silver Capital of the World” – some $138 billion worth taken out of these mines –$20 billion of metals just last year (did I hear that right?) – 1 million ounces of silver. In the 1960s, incredulously, Wallace was the “richest little city” in America with the highest number of millionaires per capita, as well as a thriving brothel industry. (The last running bordello was shut down in 1989 when the FBI raided tax dodgers – there is still resentment in the town – but you can visit the Bordello Museum.)

When mining began in 1886, Wallace’s population was 500; at its peak, in 1940, when some 200 mines were operating (quartz, gold, silver, copper, zinc), the population peaked at 4000, but, with the collapse of silver prices in March 1980, most of the mines closed, the miners left and the population fell to the present number of 800. Today, there are still four active silver mines, including the Lucky Friday and the Galina mines, and one gold mine.

In 1890, a chimney fire destroyed most of the town – the buildings we see today date from 1890-1920. Indeed, Wallace has the rare honor of the entire town being listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

Other tidbits: only one sitting president has visited Wallace: Theodore Roosevelt came in 1903 on a campaign whistle stop; the town spent $5000 just on flags to welcome him. There was a shootout on Valentine’s Day, 1951 – one of the tommy guns is on display in the museum. And Wallace’s most famous native is Lana Turner went one day to a grocery store where she was discovered.

You would be forgiven if you thought Wallace was a theme park creation (the 1997 movie “Dante’s Peak” was filmed here), but the history and the heritage are real, as is the miner, “Fast Freddie,” who is our guide into the silver mine.

*“Fast Freddie” guides us on the Sierra Silver Mine Tour, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“Fast Freddie” is a colorful character (he looks as if he came from Hollywood casting), with a marvelous sense of humor, amusing and engaging, but most important, he is authentic, speaking of his own experience working 21 years underground in these mines. “You need a good sense of humor in a mine,” Freddie tells us. “We used to play tricks.”

This mine was only briefly used, he says, because the silver was very low grade and not worth the expense. It was turned into a mining school, where students learned the techniques of mining and could be hired right into a job.

After the collapse of the silver market and the closure of mines, Wallace looked to tourism to compensate. This mine was turned into an attraction, getting as many as 18,000 visitors a year.

*A skeleton wearing a hard hat greets us as we enter the Sierra Silver Mine in Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As we enter the mine and pass a skeleton sitting on a chair, Freddie tells us that one of the worst mining disasters in history took place on May 2, 1972 when 91 miners lost lives and just 2 survived. ‘It took 2 weeks to recover all of them. They didn’t have a system to know who was down there.’ After that, the Mine Safety Administration mandated a tag system – larger mines have more sophisticated program.

*The proverbial canary in a mine. “Fast Freddie” guides us on the Sierra Silver Mine Tour, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We actually see a canary cage – used to let the miners know when oxygen is low (the proverbial “canary in a coal mine.”)

In this mine, future miners were taught to run the jack, the drill, and to blast. The miners work alone at different levels, so each one has to do everything – digging, setting the dynamite charge, moving out the ore. “You have to get everything done so you can blast before the next shift arrives.”

How to protect against the noise? “A cigarette butt was ear protection” (not sure he was joking.)

The veins of silver go down for miles – in 1964, they were mining at 250 feet. The Lucky Friday Mine, the largest in the area, is operating at 9600 feet below ground. The deeper they go, the hotter it gets – at 9,000 ft, as much as 170 degrees – so they designed a refrigerated ventilation system to cool to 100 degrees.

After being returned by the trolley, we have time to wander around Wallace before biking back on the trail on our own to the Silver Mine Resort.

*The last brothel in Wallace, Idaho is now the Oasis Bordello Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Wallace is really interesting – like a time warp and not really just “tourist quaint”, quirky and fun. Just strolling around, you find the Wallace District Mining Museum, the Idaho Silver Shop, Northern Railroad Depot Museum, and everyone’s favorite, the Oasis Bordello Museum.

*Wallace, Idaho, claims to be the “center of the universe.” Prove them otherwise. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

These folks in Wallace have a sense of humor – and an eye for a profit-making tourism-promoting gimmick: they designated a manhole at the crossroads in the middle of town as the “Center of the Universe” (that’s what is engraved on it). Based on what? “What’s the evidence that it isn’t?” comes the reply.

*A mummified mermaid, one of the curiosities and collectibles on view in the Trading Post, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I find a shop that sells guns, antiques, curios, and collectibles. In a glass cabinet is a large mummified “mermaid” (calling to mind a similar fantastical creature displayed in a store in Banff, Canada, and P.T. Barnum’s museum of oddities).

*Poster above rifle barrels in the Wallace, Idaho gun shop: Americanism © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It’s a delightful bike ride from Wallace to the Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg, where later we have dinner together in the mountain village base.

DAY 5: 39 or 46 miles, Cataldo Mission and the Coeur d’Alenes

The plan on Day 5 is to set out from the Silver Mountain Resort biking on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, and after 11 miles or so, to visit the Cataldo Mission, Idaho’s oldest standing building, lunch at the Rodehouse before continuing biking, with a choice of 39 or 46 miles of cycling to Harrison, where we are to be shuttled back to the resort for a celebratory dinner in Kellogg for our last night together.

But it is a drenching rain.

Our guide, Calista Phillips, says “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing” and says her job is to cheer lead for biking, but if we don’t want to, we can choose to shuttle the first 11 miles instead of bike to the Cataldo Mission. After assuring us we won’t be missing much in the way of scenery and that the portion from Cataldo to Smelterville is the pretty part, we vote to take her up on her offer to drive us to the Mission. (I’m just so grateful it wasn’t raining like this when we did the Route of the Hiawatha, especially when I see another bike tour heading out there this morning.)

The visit at the Cataldo Mission starts with an excellent video that explains how the local tribe invited the Jesuits (“Black Robes”) to come here and build the mission. At the time, the introduction of the horse meant that tribes that had coexisted in their own land before, began to encroach on each other’s territory. The tribe believed that the “Black Robe” missionaries had a superior power, a Great Spirit, who would enable them to triumph over their enemies.

The Mission of the Sacred Art was built in 1850-1853, by Father Pierre Jean De Smet, chief of the “Black Robes” who answered the tribe’s invitation to come, along with Father Ravalli, an Italian-born religious leader who designed the building and supervised construction with simple tools and without nails.

*Old Mission church, Cataldo, Idaho’s oldest standing building © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Old Mission church is simple and beautiful – the wood-beamed ceiling painted blue with huckleberries, to make the native people more comfortable since they were used to praying outside. We learn that the walls were decorated with fabric bought from the Hudson Bay Company and a hand-painted newspaper from Philadelphia that Fr. Ravalli had received in the mail. Tin cans were used to create the chandeliers. Both wooden statues were carved by Fr. Rivalli with a knife to look like marble.

What I find most fascinating, though, is the museum there that better represents the tribe’s point of view – how they were initially drawn to Christianity with its values of “comfort, community” the sense of miraculous to be found in nature, and a Great Spirit with power to grant protection, like their own spirits, which seemed (at first) to conform with their own values and beliefs.

The Coeur d’Alene people – the Schitsu’umsh, meaning “Those who were found here” or “The discovered people” – were initially drawn in because the early Jesuits were tolerant of native culture and traditions, even blending the cultures together.

The mission became a stop and supply station for traders, settlers, and miners traveling on the Mullan Road, and a port for boats heading up the Coeur d’Alene River.

Over time, the Coeur d’Alene people regretted the decision to give the Black Robes a stronghold when they realized the Jesuits’ mission was to create an Empire of Christianity. At the same time, white settlers looking to exploit the region’s resources, who brought guns and small pox, were taking territory and pushing out the indigenous tribes. In 1877, even the mission was forcibly relocated from the ‘House of the Great Spirit.”

The museum displays photos and artifacts that show the effort to Christianize and eradicate native heritage and culture – but done in an understated, polite way since this museum, is apparently a partnership between the tribe and the mission. (The Cataldo Mission became a state historic park in 1935, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.)

We have lunch at the Rodehouse, right across the road from the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. By this time, the rain has all but ended – it is grey and humid – and we get back on the trail for the 16-mile ride back to the resort. The cloud formations make for dramatic scenes.

*Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho through marshland © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We cycle along an enchanting stretch of wetlands – part of the trail is a berm with marsh on either side. We have been told “just after Metamonk Village (mile 20) to be on lookout for moose.

I spot an osprey with fish in its claws so heavy it couldn’t take flight so dropped it; a black furry creature (otter? muskrat?) carrying what looked like a mouse dashes across the path; a flock of blue heron, a family of deer, and finally, when we are almost at the end of the trail, we come upon a moose with her baby.

*Finally! We come upon the promised moose and her baby on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

DAY 6: 16 miles to the end of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes

Day 6 is our final day of riding. We pack up our luggage, have breakfast, and shuttle to Harrison, the point on the trail where we ended yesterday’s ride. Today, we bike the last section, 16 miles, through a series of chained lakes to the end of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. It is glorious.

It’s a perfect day – sunshine, cool temp (60 degrees), a bit of a headwind. We ride along the Lake Coeur d’Alene, then cross over the Chatcolet Bridge, a really interesting bridge which was once a swinging trestle (the challenge is to ride over the hump), then into the forest where we climb for about seven miles, through the Coeur D’Alene reservation, to finish at the trail’s end, at a moving Indian Warriors and Veterans Memorial.

Here we have a picnic lunch, feeling extremely satisfied and happy, before we pack into the van again for an hour-drive back at Spokane Airport or downtown.

*At the end of Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho is this monument to the Warriors and Veterans © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery Bicycle Tours Merges into Active Adventures

*Our Idaho Trails group. Discovery Bicycle Tours specializes in small-groups and personalized service. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery Bicycle Tours has just joined Austin Adventures, a Montana-based North America National Parks small group tour company, under the umbrella ownership of Active Adventures, a New Zealand-based small group adventure travel company. These companies primarily offer hiking and multi-sport options, and just like Discovery Bicycle Tours, focus on small groups (averaging 12 guests).

Austin Adventures is a Montana-based North American National Parks expert offering small group tours with personal touches, flexible options to do as much or as little as you want, and “wow” moments. Austin Adventures also specializes in family and multi-generational tours across North America and around the globe.

Active Adventures, based in New Zealand, has expanded over the past 30 years to South and Central America, Europe, the Himalayas and Africa. They offer small group, inspiring bucket-list adventures worldwide, with a mix of activities ranging from hiking, biking, and kayaking to snorkeling and caving. Each trip is designed to be flexible, so if you’re a little short on time or you’d prefer to skip an activity, they can alter the itinerary to suit you.

The merger means that the teams behind Discovery Bicycle Tours, Active Adventures, and Austin Adventures are located around the world in five countries, 15 cities, and even a campervan.

“Across the three brands, we’ve been running tours in North America for 77 years, Europe for 50 years, New Zealand for 25 years, South and Central America for 20 years, the Himalayas for 14 years, and Africa for five years. That’s a world of knowledgeand deep local experience across our brands,” Scott Cone, Discovery’s owner, stated.

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 800-257-2226, www.discoverybicycletours.com

__________________

Going Places, Far & Near

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