The arduous journey alone
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh (30 years old, Ho Chi Minh City) has loved traveling and discovering new things since she was very young. However, due to conditions and time constraints, she only started her first backpacking trip at the age of 25, from Ho Chi Minh City to Quy Nhon.
Since then, Tuyet Minh has traveled to all 63 provinces and cities of Vietnam. In particular, this girl impressed many explorers with her solo cross-border motorbike trip, passing through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand in 65 days in 2023.
Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Tuyet Minh revealed that this trip was something she and her friends had cherished for a long time. However, due to a change in plans, after more than 25 days traveling in Vietnam with her friends, she decided to separate from the group and make a cross-border journey through Laos, Thailand and Cambodia alone.
“I have no motivation, only youth and health, so I just keep going,” Tuyet Minh expressed.
Tuyet Minh started her cross-border trip alone on July 25, 2023, departing from Tay Trang border gate (Dien Bien). The female backpacker said that this solo trip left many memories for her, because throughout the journey, she encountered many difficulties and obstacles.
Recalling the trip, Tuyet Minh said that because the procedures and paperwork at the border gate took a lot of time, she only started moving to Luang Prabang (Laos) at around 3:00 p.m.
“The distance was nearly 400km, so I had to drive all night, arriving at around midnight. On the way, I encountered many snakes, all big ones, so I was a bit scared. Not only that, because I used it so much, my phone froze. I was forced to restore the phone settings to continue using it, so all the data on the phone was lost,” Tuyet Minh recalled.
During the trip, the girl from Ho Chi Minh City encountered many obstacles (Photo: Character provided).
Luckily, Tuyet Minh received support from a Vietnamese person residing in Laos, so she was able to call home and ask her family to come to the headquarters to restore the electronic SIM card, so she could continue using it. Because of this incident, Tuyet Minh did not leave Luang Prabang until 5:30 p.m. and traveled to Vang Vieng (Laos).
Because she did not know the way, the girl from Ho Chi Minh City had to face many uncertainties on the way. Not only did she lose her phone signal, she had to travel on a deserted, dark mountain pass with only a few trucks appearing occasionally, but Tuyet Minh also had to go through many sections of road that had recently collapsed.
“On the last stretch of road before reaching Vang Vieng, I had to travel on terribly bad roads with many potholes, countless trucks and container trucks. However, these vehicles made me feel warmer, like companions protecting and illuminating my nearly 60km journey,” Tuyet Minh said.
35 million VND for 65 days across the border
On the following journeys, Tuyet Minh also got lost because she trusted the Google map too much. Sometimes, she got lost in dry rice fields, other times she went through rutted roads, the dust stuck to her body, causing Tuyet Minh's black clothes to turn white.
Tuyet Minh also commented that the weather in Laos is harsh, sometimes the sun is harsh, sometimes it rains suddenly, making her unable to react. However, for Tuyet Minh, Laos is still a beautiful country and worth exploring.
The female backpacker added that when leaving the Stung Treng – Siem Reap (Cambodia) border gate and entering a breathtakingly beautiful road, she was so captivated by nature that she forgot to check the map and forgot that she was “alone”.
“The road through the forest bordering Cambodia and Thailand was deserted, and there was no phone signal. It was getting dark, and looking ahead I could only see the sunset, with occasional farm vehicles along the road.
Because I had already gone a long way, I did not turn back to find another way, but just kept trying to continue on that road until I reached Siem Reap city," Tuyet Minh shared.
Not only that, in Cambodia, due to heavy rains, Tuyet Minh's bag got wet and important documents were also dirty. Luckily, due to her habit of taking and saving photos of important documents, Tuyet Minh did not encounter many obstacles when entering and exiting the country.
Tuyet Minh recorded memorable moments during the journey (Photo: Character provided).
Traveling across 4 countries in 65 days, Tuyet Minh only spent 35 million VND for her trip. She explained that she only chose budget accommodations with prices of 100,000-150,000 VND/night. There were even days when she stayed for free under the preferential policy of the booking application.
Regarding food, Tuyet Minh's needs are quite simple, she only eats one meal a day and drinks a lot of water. "My car consumes about 1 liter of fuel for 45km. Every 2,000km I change the oil once," she said.
Go to grow up
Tuyet Minh admitted that her trip had many difficulties, so it was not surprising to receive objections from her family. That is why the female backpacker decided not to contact anyone until she set foot in the neighboring country.
“However, I always turn on my GPS, send my location and will notify my closest relatives of my destination, so that in case of an accident, my family will still have my travel history,” Tuyet Minh shared.
Traveling through 4 countries in 65 days, she spent 35 million VND (Photo: Character provided).
The girl from Ho Chi Minh City also confided that the moment she separated from the group and traveled alone, she was a bit worried. However, she stayed in Dien Bien to prepare everything, carefully check and maintain the vehicle as well as equip herself with medicine and repair tools to confidently begin the journey.
In addition, because she is female and does not know the language of the host country, when leaving Vietnam, Tuyet Minh could not avoid inconveniences in her daily life. However, the first cross-border journey of more than 15,000km in her life is something she will never forget.
“I have been to many places and explored many new regions. I was impressed by the beauty of Koh Ta Kiev Island (Cambodia). This place is covered in clear blue water, has no electricity, no phone signal… so everything has to be transported from the mainland to the island and powered by generators.
In each region, I was able to admire different beauties. Because the weather did not allow it and because traveling alone was inconvenient, there were famous destinations that I missed. Therefore, I hope to have the opportunity to return to these places to continue admiring the beauty of nature," Tuyet Minh shared.
The 9X girl said that this long trip made her worried with many difficulties and challenges, but also made her brave, broadened her thinking and vision, learned more about the culture of each region and each country, and learned independence and patience.
In the future, Tuyet Minh has many plans to revisit the lands she has passed through as well as conquer many new lands. She sets a goal for herself that each year she will travel more, go a little further, reach many places and learn many new things.
Dantri.com.vn
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/co-gai-viet-phuot-4-quoc-gia-het-35-trieu-giua-duong-gap-ran-deo-sat-lo-20240921215459147.htm
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