In accordance the the Hue Agreement the main Chinese force has pulled out of the North but leave a third of their troops behind. With the civil war in the North looking ever more grim for the KMT by the day we expect only the least experienced and most ill equipped troops to continue the occupation. General Nguyễn Chí Thanh will lead a campaign to harass Chinese troops and cut as many supply lines to China as possible in order to even the odds against the French. Whereas the Chinese scrounge for bullets for their antiquated rifles, possess little to no artillery, and are renowned for their mutinous factionalism, our troops are experts of jungle warfare, fully saturated with both Soviet and American hardware, and have an undying loyalty to freedom (It's likely their home provinces which they are defending from the Chinese who raped and pillaged everything.) Once more we push back the Imperialists!
[TL;DR] 100,000 Vietnamese troops try to kill 50,000 Chinese troops in Northern Vietnam.
Here's the general area for discussion: http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#9/-255.99792/21.20234/blue/bike
I'm planning to cycle into Vietnam at Tay Trang from Laos, then continue to Hanoi. From the border crossing it's NE on AH13 via Điện Biên Phủ to Tuần Giáo. Then there are two choices:
- Go SE on AH13 via Sơn La and continue as it bends NE to Hòa Bình then Hà Nội.
- Go NE on QL279 via Quỳnh Nhai and Mường Kim to QL32 SE via Nghĩa Lộ, Thanh Sơn, then NE to Cổ Tiết and again SE to Hà Nội.
The first is mostly on AH13 and seems to go through more substantial towns. The second is mostly QL32 and seems more remote (which is some concern as this is a credit card tour with road bikes and no sleeping gear).
Both routes seem reasonably popular on the Strava Heat Map apart from one 10-15km section which is totally blank for some reason--see here: http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#11/-256.05698/21.29641/blue/bike - the part just south of Sơn La. I really wonder why this one section is blank, but then again it's not the only weird spot like that in the region.
AH13 is classified as an "Asian Highway" (whatever that means), whereas QL32 is a Vietnamese "National Highway."
Which would you choose? Have you done either before?
Pics for inspiration:
- AH13: http://noipictures.photoshelter.com/image/I0000QfzykiNtCwg
- QL32: http://noipictures.photoshelter.com/image/I0000Gt6joZT_A2M
