Twelve members of the cycling club Land Saigon will start their 1,000km journey from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok on March 6, and they will be certified as the first Vietnamese traveler team to bike to Thailand.
The seven-day journey will have four stops in Cambodia, including Neak Luong, Phnom Penh, Pursat, and Sisophon, before arriving in Sa Kaeo, Nakornayok, and Bangkok in Thailand.
The ride is a trip, not a competition, and the participants will be provided with a feast by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which has expressed interest in the event.
The trip can be used as a model for the promotion of trans-national tourism by cycling among regional nations, according to TAT.
In Bangkok, the team will be awarded a certificate as the first Vietnamese traveler team to cycle to Thailand.
To prepare for the trip, 12 members of the club ‘ignored’ the recent Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday to train every day.
Amateur cyclist Tran Tam Quang, 75, is the eldest member of the team.
“I have an unforgettable memory in Bangkok when I ranked fourth in men’s track cycling at the 1966 Asian Games. I will now have the chance to return to Bangkok after 49 years,” he said.
Vo Huu Thien, 53, founder of Land Saigon and chairman of the board of directors of the real estate company Saigon Vi Na, said, “We first planned this trans-national cycling journey five years ago.
“Our target is to race with ourselves.”
It costs each participant around VND20 million (US$961) to join the journey, which is not cheaper than flying.
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