After this journey, I will go to my office everyday by bicycle. A cross-country bicycle journey begun by three young men from Ha Noi is raising awareness of the public about the importance of saving the environment by reducing car and motorbike emissions.
With the slogan, "For a Green Viet Nam", Pham Thanh Long, Vu Quang Anh, and Nguyen Hoang Long have pedaled through almost every province in the country since December 20, 2008. The trios started the journey in HCM City and are expected to finish in Ha Noi tomorrow.
Thanh Long, who also is director of the Gia Pham Law Firm, says there are several advantages of bicycling: it is an effective method to improve health; bicycles do not impact the environment as much as other transport means, and they do not take up as much space on the road.
"Through our journey, we really expect every Vietnamese will understand more about the benefit of bicycles; then they will use this ‘green’ transport means more often," said Thanh Long.
"Another very good reason for using bicycle is that it will help your pocketbook in an economic downturn," Quang Anh added.
After traveling to different places, Long realised that in developed countries, people tend to come back to this simple means of transport; in Viet Nam, people save their money for speedier methods, which cause environment pollution.
This cross-country bicycle trip has been a dream of Thanh Long and two his fellow-travelers for a long time.
"By joining the journey, we are now turning our dream into reality. After this journey, I will go to my office everyday by bicycle," he said.
The three-member team wanted to challenge themselves by starting from HCM City instead of from Ha Noi, where all of them are now working and living. The reasoning is because, "we have to pedal against the wind," Long explained.
To prepare for the journey, the men spent three weeks intensively training. "We are not professional bicyclists, but we wanted to prove that a long journey by bicycle is within our ability," Quang Anh said.
According to Anh, the leg from Phan Ri in Binh Thuan Province to Phan Rang in Ninh Thuan Province was the most difficult and miserable part of the journey. "Strong wind and a lot of slopes are the words to describe the stage. A very strong wind even bucked me off, causing a knee injury," Anh said.
Defying the blazing sun, rain and the cold, the team has now almost achieved their goal.
"We overcame the hardest stage. We also passed the longest stage – 180 km - from Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh Province to Quang Ngai Province. We have gotten over the Hai Van Pass - the highest pass of Viet Nam, which is 500 m above sea level," said the youngest member Long.
The men are also members of the photography website www.photo.vn, and have not ignored chances to capture beautiful landscapes and impressive moments during their journey. "We realise more and more with each stage of our journey, how beautiful our country really is," he said.
They also took pictures of the other forms of transport, which are polluting the environment.
During the journey, the team also met with local residents at every stopping point to talk about the necessity for environmental protection. "We have received the great support of many people. They even also joined us in some stages."
The trio hopes to entice other members of the website www.photo.vn to join in other bicycle journeys, which they will organise in the future.