• "Indochina refers to the lands historically within the cultural influence of India and China." - This will be my first visit to Asia and it will be a cultural baptism of fire.

• "Pursuit: a cycling race where the competitors are chasing each other" - Indochina is a popular place for cycle touring. With a little bit of effort, I will most likely meet up with one, if not several of them.

After my previous trip, I had so many ideas floating in my head. So I searched for airline tickets to any destination in South East Asia on any airline with fairly flexible dates.  Ho Chi Min City (HCMC) with Qatar Airways won this great big competition on the Internet.

So I had to apply for a 3 month multientry the visa for Vietnam. But it was shockingly expensive. So I decided to thoroughly tour the country. So I changed my starting point to Hanoi, by booking a domestic airline ticket from HCMC.

PS: While I like the CrazyGuyOnABike website, it's owner does not want people to write for this new website. I cannot condone such uncompetitive behaviour.

Airline return ticket to HCMC $558 (Qatar)

Oneway HCMC to Hanoi $55 (Jetstar) Being a budget airline, everything is extra. Their website explicitly mention bicycles as an "oversize" optional extra.

3 Month Multientry Visa for Vietnam $102 (Embassy). The Visa On Arrival process would have been cheaper. But that would have involved prearrangement through an agent. And the reputable agents like myvietnamvisa.com have hiked their fees so much, that there is little difference in price.

26 inch mountain bike $300 (Bouwer Broers) with

  new chain and spare $18 (Solomons)
  2 new outer tubes $16 (Solomons)
  3 new inner tubes $8 (Makro)
  carrier $20 (Solomons)
  front basket $14 (Solomons)
  mirror $16 (Solomons)
  bottle $2 (Solomons)
  patch kit $2 (Solomons)
  new brake pads $6 (Solomons)

Handlebar bag $16

Pocket knife, tyre leavers, multitool, 15mm spanner for removing pedals

Helmet

Box for bicycle (147cm x 23 cm x 78 cm) $0 (Hot Spot cycles)

2 Duffel bags, luggage strap and nylon rope.

Cellphone, Powerbank  and charger with long cable.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and mouth wash.

Pepper spray for use against dogs $6

Thyphoid, Quad and Hepatitis vaccinations $160 (Local GP and travel clinic).

Lariam Antimalarials would have been cheap ($20) but it's not currently available in South Africa. A full course of the generic version of Malarone will cost me $160.
Anti-mosquito cream 2x$5
Lots of sunscreen
5 pairs of pants and 5 shirts