On July 4, the student fulfilled a long-cherished dream: cycling 1,870 km from HCMC to Hanoi, passing through 18 different provinces and cities.

For Dung, this was not merely a vacation, but a physical and mental milestone marking his 18th birthday before entering university.

Tien Dung (residing in An Tuong Ward) mentioned that his passion for cycling began in 8th grade. Prior to this cross-country trip, Dung had cycled from Tuyen Quang to Ninh Binh. His physical endurance was built over years of training Muay Thai at the Tuyen Quang Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center.

"I had a plan to cycle across Vietnam for a few years, so I built a training schedule, maintained my health, and accumulated problem-solving skills. However, my parents were worried because I had previously suffered from knee joint effusion, which could easily recur with overexertion," Dung shared.

The 18-year-old's luggage was quite compact, mainly clothes, bike repair tools, a mini stove, and necessary medicine. Total cost for the trip was nearly 17 million VND, of which family supported 4 million, the rest Dung saved and accumulated from his job selling shirts.

The male student said that from Hanoi he took a train to HCMC and toured the city for a few days. On June 20, Dung started cycling from HCMC to Vung Tau.

Each day, he cycled about 6-7 hours. He usually started at 4am, when it was still cool,  went until noon to find a place to rest, and continued the journey in the afternoon. In the early days, the distance Dung covered was about 115-130km. In the last three days, when time became tight, he cycled 145-160km per day.

To save money, Dung usually had breakfast and lunch at roadside shops. In the evening, he bought food to cook himself and stayed at budget guesthouses.

On the second day of the journey, Dung experienced exhaustion. On the leg from Vung Tau to Lam Dong, he traveled about 30km of deserted road, with almost no shops to buy water. Dung's body fell into low blood pressure due to hunger and lack of water.

At a moment when he seemed to have no strength to continue, Dung found a piece of leftover hardtack in his luggage. After that, he was lucky to meet a traveling ice-cream seller passing by. A little food and a sweet ice cream helped the young man regain strength to continue cycling.

In the days that followed, challenges appeared consecutively. The harsh sun of the Central region caused Dung to have severe sunburn, blistered and peeling skin. When in Tuy Phong area, Dung had to face the hot, burning Lao wind, temperature near 40 degrees C. Some days he had nosebleeds several times and had to treat himself with medicine prepared in advance.

On the way over Hai Van Pass, Dung's bike had a puncture right at the foot of the pass. Fortunately, he met a local who helped, so he didn't have to spend too much time replacing the inner tube.

"There were days when my whole body ached, the road was deserted, the feeling of wanting to give up appeared in my head. But I reminded myself: Try a little more, if tired then rest, definitely must not give up," the male student said.

When he arrived in Thanh Hoa, he received news that a storm was about to hit. To complete the journey in time, Dung decided to pedal three consecutive sprint stages, each day going 145-160km, completing nearly 500km in just three days.

The kind supporters

Looking back on the journey, what Dung remembers is not only the vast, blue Central beaches, the majestic passes of the country, but also warm human kindness.

Dung forever remembers Hung, owner of a budget rice shop in Khanh Hoa. When he stopped by to buy dinner, the uncle's family insisted on inviting the young man to eat together. After the meal, the family also cut watermelon, gave him a bottle of cool water, and told him to take it on the road.

On some deserted stretches, Dung was accompanied by motorbike taxi drivers riding alongside for about 30km to support, or water sellers who gave the young man a bottle of cooling drink.

Those small acts of kindness became special memories of his journey.

Linh Trang