Focus Hawaii Dr. Marc Shlachter Bike Trip across Vietnam

Authors

• Lance Chase
• Marc Shlachter

Files

Description

Hosted by Lance Chase, this 1995 episode of Focus Hawaii features Dr. Marc Shlachter, a family physician and seasoned traveler, who recounts his extraordinary 1,100‑mile bicycle journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Over three weeks, he and a group of 35 cyclists rode along Vietnam’s Highway 1, navigating rough roads, intense heat, monsoon rains, steep mountain climbs, dehydration, blisters, and countless flat tires. Dr. Shlachter shares humorous and heartfelt stories—from the challenges of training, saddle sores, and hydration mishaps to unexpected kindnesses from Vietnamese families, who offered repairs, fruit, baths, and hospitality without expecting anything in return. He describes cultural highlights, including Hanoi’s traditional water‑puppet theater, remnants of the “Hanoi Hilton,” and Saigon’s bustling nightlife, as well as emotional encounters among veterans in the group revisiting sites from the war. The discussion explores Vietnam’s friendliness, its rapid growth after the lifting of the U.S. embargo, the contrasts between northern and southern cities, and the lingering complexity of war memory. Combining adventure, cultural insight, and personal reflection, the episode offers a vivid window into Vietnam in the mid‑1990s through the eyes of an American doctor pedaling across the country.

Length of Video

00:29:53

File Size

411.5 MB

Archives Call Number

22.FH

Air Date

Fall 10-10-1995

Keywords

Lance Chase, Focus Hawaii, Dr. Marc Shlachter, Vietnam bicycle tour, Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Highway 1 Vietnam, Vietnam travel 1990s, Vietnamese hospitality, water‑puppet theater Hanoi, Hanoi Hilton, Saigon vs. Hanoi, Vietnam War veterans return, travel adventure, cycling expedition, dehydration story, saddle sores, Vietnamese culture, rural Vietnam, post‑embargo Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Outside Magazine exotic trips

Recommended Citation

Chase, Lance and Shlachter, Marc, "Focus Hawaii Dr. Marc Shlachter Bike Trip across Vietnam" (1995). Focus Hawaii. 17.
https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/focushawaii/17