To cycle Vietnam from North to South is to watch a movie of landscape and culture play out in slow motion. You begin in Hanoi, a city of thousand-year-old pagodas and misty lakes. You pedal through the limestone cathedrals of Ninh Binh, conquer the cloud-wrapped Hai Van Pass, navigate the coffee-scented plateaus of the Central Highlands, and finally, descend into the tropical frenetic energy of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).