We boxed up the bikes and bags and boarded a flight from Perth, Australia to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam – our starting point in southeast Asia. As soon as we stepped off the plane in Vietnam our clothes stuck to our bodies like we had just stepped inside a sauna dressed as Santa Claus, beads of sweat instantaneously rolling down our face. This was going to be a completely different type of challenge to crossing Australia.

After reassembling the bikes, spending a few days acclimatising to the heat, visiting the Chu Chi Tunnels, The War Remnants Museum and the villages along the Mekong Delta, we hit the road.

With the humidity and the heat – not suited to the Irishman – we decided to head to a Vietnamese Island off the south coast called Phu Quoc to run ultramarathon number two of 28. We are running one in every country we pass through. The idea was that the humidity wouldn’t be as bad down there.

From Ho Chi Minh to Rach Gia (where we would get the ferry to the island) is about 280km.

As we cycled through the countryside, along elevated concrete paths no wider than a car, there were rice paddies both left and right, fed by the vast maze of Mekong rivers and swamps. Mopeds parked on the sides, we watched men and women wearing conical sun hats dotted all over, knee high in water attending to the crops.

In the middle of many of these paddies are large graves, where past generations are buried when they pass on

It is very rare to see any mechanical machines been used, agriculture is highly labour intensive, nearly all done by hand and ploughing done using water buffalos. Each field is tended to with care. Their family depends on a successful crop to stay above the poverty line. Hunger and poverty are real in these highly populated areas.

There is a stark contrast in income in urban and rural areas, with many in rural areas having to survive on as little as the equivalent of €40 a month. In the middle of many of these paddies are large graves, where past generations are buried when they pass on.

Mopeds are the main means of transport and used for everything. Everyday we saw the equivalent to a small trailer, loaded and strapped to the back, filled with everything from bananas to mattresses.

Mopeds are the main means of transport and used for everything.
Some with loads you have to see to believe.

Twice a day we found ourselves in the middle of the school run, thousands of kids on bicycles cycling to and from school, all waving and shouting hello and some with the basic questions stopping to ask: “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?”

We completed our 64km ultramarathon on Phu Quoc island, a day we will not forget.

Our purpose is important to us, a few hours of suffering, is nothing to what children and families go through when there is a sick child in the family

The humidity was relentless. About 30km in, the sweat from the top of our heads was running down into our runners, our feet started getting badly cut up, eventually slowing us down to walking pace. We pushed through the pain, each step excruciating, but when a person has a purpose it takes a lot more than some blisters to stop them. Our purpose is important to us, a few hours of suffering, is nothing to what children and families go through when there is a sick child in the family, if we can help them in their tough times then any pain we go through is worth it. Next up, Cambodia.

After learning from our Vietnam experience we started this run at 4am to avoid the heat

Two days later we were back on the bikes and entered Cambodia. Very similar to Vietnam with one noticeable difference that it is not as highly populated. We spent a day in the capital Phnom Penh visiting the hard-hitting killing fields and the famous S-21 Prison where the Khmer Rouge Regime wiped out 25% of Cambodia’s population only 40 years previous.

Next stop, was Siem Reap and our Cambodian ultramarathon around the 906-year-old temples of Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. After learning from our Vietnam experience we started this run at 4am to avoid the heat. It was another tough run but being around such a historic place, running past elephants and monkeys, led to a surreal day. Ultramarathon number three of 28 done and dusted.

€30,000 of our €100,000 goal to raise vital funds for the Children’s Hospital Foundations in Sydney and Crumlin has been reached

Siem Reap also saw us hit our first major milestone of our journey – 5,000km cycled. What is even more incredible is after 20% of our journey complete, €30,000 of our €100,000 goal to raise vital funds for the Children’s Hospital Foundations in Sydney and Crumlin has been reached. We cannot thank everyone enough for the support, it inspires us each and every day.

If you would like to donate you can do so online at 2cycle28.com and click donate. All monies is split 50/50 between Sydney and Crumlin children’s hospitals. You can also keep up to date with our travels on our Instagram page: of_mountains_and_men or Facebook: Of mountains and men.

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Diary in the saddle: cycling from Australia to Ireland