For most people, returning from Vietnam to France means a few hours on a plane. Clément has chosen a different route: 11,000 kilometres by bicycle.
Starting in southern Vietnam and eventually finishing in Brittany, his journey will take him across countries, mountain ranges and seasons. Clément is using the adventure to raise funds for Mekong Plus, with the goal of helping at least 200 disadvantaged children in Vietnam stay in school.
Before setting off on the long road home, he spent two days in Ninh Phuoc with Mekong Plus, discovering our projects and meeting some of the families his journey hopes to support.
A Journey Between Two Homes
Clément was born in Vietnam and adopted by a French family. He later returned to Vietnam, where he has lived for the past 11 years and built much of his adult life.
Vietnam became home. It is where he worked, got married and built friendships and memories. Brittany, where his family lives, is another home and the place where he is now returning to begin a new chapter.
Rather than simply flying from one to the other, Clément wanted to experience that transition slowly.
His first major stage will take him almost the entire length of Vietnam, from south to north.
“Cycling across the country gives me the chance to feel that connection in a deeper way, before continuing the journey all the way to Brittany.”
Travelling by bicycle means having time to see the landscapes change, meet people along the way and reflect on what he is leaving behind and what lies ahead.
For Clément, the 11,000 kilometres are not simply the distance between Vietnam and France. They are the distance between two homes.
A Chance Encounter With Mekong Plus
Clément’s connection with Mekong Plus began almost by coincidence.
Two of his friends were already working with the organisation. Then, during a flight from France to Vietnam, he came across a short documentary about Bernard Kervyn, founder of Mekong Plus.
The following day, back in Vietnam, Clément was riding his motorbike when he spotted a man cycling on a bamboo bicycle.
He stopped him.
“Hey, are you Bernard? I just saw you in a documentary today.”
Bernard’s answer was simple:
“That’s a good sign.”
That unexpected encounter eventually helped give Clément’s journey another purpose.
11,000 km for Education
Initially, Clément had thought about supporting orphans, a cause that resonated strongly with his own experience as an adopted child.
But as he learned more about Mekong Plus and its work with vulnerable families, education became the obvious choice.
Mekong Plus works with disadvantaged communities in Vietnam and Cambodia, helping families improve their living conditions while supporting children at risk of dropping out of school.
For Clément, the principle behind his fundraiser is simple:
“Whether a child is an orphan or not, a child is still a child, and every child deserves the chance to go to school and build a future.”
His objective is now to raise enough money to provide scholarships for at least 200 children in Vietnam.
What began as a deeply personal adventure has therefore become something larger.
“The trip is no longer only about me, the distance, or the challenge. Every kilometre can now contribute to something beyond my own adventure.”
Two Days With Mekong Plus in Ninh Phuoc
Before beginning the long journey north, Clément spent two days with Mekong Plus teams in Ninh Phuoc, in south-central Vietnam.
He cycled through the area, visited villages and met families supported through Mekong Plus projects. It gave him an opportunity to see firsthand the realities behind the fundraiser he was about to carry across thousands of kilometres.
What affected him most was not a particular project or statistic. It was the people.
“More than anything, it was a human experience. And I realised that I had not felt something like that for a long time.”
For Clément, the experience was also a reminder of something easily forgotten in the rhythm of modern life.
“We need each other. We can become so focused on our own lives that we forget to look around us, sometimes even at our own neighbours.”
A Family That Felt Familiar
Among the families Clément visited, one encounter particularly stayed with him.
A grandfather and grandmother were raising their young grandson after the child’s parents separated and neither remained responsible for raising him.
The boy was at school during the visit, but Clément was struck by the way his grandparents spoke about him.
Their story resonated with his own.
Clément also grew up without his biological parents in Vietnam, although on the other side of the world he had the love and support of his adoptive parents and family in France.
“What stayed with me most was the love I could see between the grandfather, the grandmother, and this child who was not even in the room.”
It was one of the encounters that transformed the fundraising goal from an abstract number into something much more tangible.
Two hundred scholarships means 200 individual children, families and stories.
And Then the Rain Came
After two days discovering Mekong Plus projects, it was time to leave Ninh Phuoc and begin the journey for real.
Nature provided an appropriate introduction.
Torrential rain arrived, followed by thunder and lightning. Clément faced his first significant climbs and descents on a bicycle carrying everything he would need for the months ahead.
Then darkness fell.
At one point, even his bicycle light ran out of battery.
“That is when the adventure really started for me.”
There was no easy way back. The only option was to continue.
For Clément, those first difficult kilometres were an immediate reminder that however carefully a journey is planned, the road will always have the final word.
“You can prepare as much as you want, but you cannot cheat with nature.”
Preparing for the Unexpected
Surprisingly, Clément did not follow a specific physical training programme for the expedition.
The real preparation, he says, has been mental.
The project had been in his mind for around a year and a half before departure. He spent countless days and nights imagining the route, the challenges and everything that could go wrong.
There will undoubtedly be difficult moments: exhaustion, mechanical problems, bad weather, loneliness and uncertainty.
But the hardest part is more personal.
Leaving his wife behind.
Clément knows that the journey also asks a great deal of her: months of distance, worry and uncertainty while he continues west.
The support of his wife, family and friends is what allows him to begin the adventure with peace of mind.
From Vietnam to the Pamir Highway
After crossing Vietnam, Clément will push further across Asia, making his way toward the high mountain regions of Central Asia.
His route will bring him to the Pamir Highway, tackling remote mountain passes rising to more than 4,600 metres above sea level.
Stretching for about 1,200 kilometres between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, this high-altitude corridor is widely regarded as one of the most isolated and challenging roads in the world.
He aims to arrive in October, a time when early winter weather could bring snowfall and turn high-altitude tracks into treacherous or impassable terrain.
Yet, it remains one of the sections he looks forward to most.
Beyond the mountains, his path will weave through Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, before leading on through Georgia, Turkey, the Balkans, across the Alps, and ultimately home to France.
No two days will feel the same on the road.
Some days will pass quietly, while others will turn into unexpected challenges.
That element of the unknown is a fundamental part of what draws Clément to this journey.
What Will Be Waiting in Brittany?
Eventually, after approximately 11,000 kilometres, Clément hopes to ride into his hometown in Brittany.
Completing the distance will undoubtedly be an achievement. But when asked what would make the journey truly successful, kilometres were not the first thing that came to mind.
It was people.
His wife. His mother. His family. His friends.
Months on the road will also mean months without many of the simple comforts we rarely think about: a familiar place, a hot shower after a cold day, a good meal or simply being close to the people we love.
“Maybe that is part of the point. You leave those things for a while, and when you find them again, you appreciate them differently.”
If he reaches Brittany having fulfilled a dream, helped children along the way and learned to appreciate those simple things even more, Clément will consider the adventure a success.
Help Clément Support 200 Children
Clément has already started pedalling.
Now, every kilometre between Vietnam and Brittany carries a second objective: helping more children continue their education.
His goal is to raise enough funds through Mekong Plus to support at least 200 children with school scholarships.
You can be part of the journey by supporting his fundraiser. Whether large or small, every contribution brings Clément closer to turning 11,000 kilometres of adventure into opportunities for children who need them.
Support Clément’s 11,000 km fundraiser and help more children stay in school:
https://www.helloasso.com/associations/mekong-plus-france/collectes/from-home-to-home-11000-km-a-velo-pour-scolariser-200-enfants-au-vietnam
And keep following Mekong Plus over the coming months as we share updates from Clément’s journey from Vietnam to Brittany.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clementcuong/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/l.tcuong33
More Ways to Help
Here’s how you can get involved:
- Sponsor a child with a scholarship: https://mekongplus.org/en/sponsor-a-child/
- Buy the wonderful craft made by our women artisans: https://mekongquilts.com/
- Finance a microcredit: https://mekongplus.org/en/finance-a-microcredit/
- Join our eco-tours: https://mekongplus.org/en/mekong-bikes/
- Make a donation to our programmes: https://mekongplus.org/en/donate/
- Follow us on Facebook: Mekong Plus & Mekong Quilts
