Crossing the border from
Cambodia into Vietnam was a simple and painless process, and there were no
bribes involved which was a nice change. We headed straight for Ho Chi Minh
City (aka Saigon) which is the largest city in the country and, like any major
Asian city, a pretty hectic place. Luckily we’d seen most of the sights five
years ago, as this time round we only had a few days up our sleeve to get
everything sorted for our next big adventure – riding motorbikes from Ho Chi
Minh in the south, all the way up the country to Hanoi in the north.
Seeing Vietnam this way is very
popular among backpackers, either in the direction we were going or the
opposite way – from north to south. For this reason we knew it would be fairly
easy to buy motorbikes and get on the road in a couple of days. After walking
around the central backpacker area we saw a few bikes for sale, then we talked
to the people at Ho Chi Minh Motorbikes whose sole business is to sell and buy
back motorbikes from people doing this trip. After some consideration and
weighing up our options, we decided to buy from the crazy scouser (for those of
you that aren’t familiar with this term, it’s used to refer to the special
breed of people that come from Liverpool in England) who runs HCM Motorbikes.
The reason being that their prices were pretty on par with what most
backpackers were selling them for, but we also got a few extras included like
new helmets, luggage rack, bungee cords, free riding lesson, a guide to get us
out of HCM City, 24 hour hotline to call for help/advice and a guaranteed buy
back at their shop in Hanoi. So after deciding to buy from them we simply had
to choose which bikes we wanted. Not having had much experience at all, I opted
for the easy to ride and reliable semi-automatic Honda Wave (US$280), which 90%
of the Vietnamese ride. Being a more experienced and confident rider, Kurt went
for the manual Honda Win (US$300). This is actually the most popular choice for
backpackers doing the ride, as 99% are guys and they want something that looks
like a proper motorbike, rather than the Wave which looks like a scooter. Once
we’d chosen our rides, Ben the scouser took us and 3 others out on a test drive
around the park before venturing out to brave the busy roads in Ho Chi Minh. We
rode around for a good 3 or 4 hours (free, even if you decide not to buy from
them) through the central and outlying districts which was a great way to get a
feel for the bikes and also for the mental traffic. It’s pretty safe to say
that if you can handle yourself on the roads in HCM or Hanoi, then you can
handle yourself anywhere.
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| Going for a test drive |
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| Our two bikes are the front and back ones |
The road rules in Vietnam basically come down to this
– do whatever the hell you like as long as it gets you from A to B in the quickest
way possible. If that means you end up driving down a major freeway in the
wrong direction or cutting across lanes willy nilly, then so be it. Also,
obeying traffic lights is generally optional, especially when it’s red.
Basically anything goes, and it’s also preferable if you have 3-5 people on a
bike and/or various live animals/household furniture strapped on the back. This
makes things way more interesting. But despite the total madness and seeming
lack of rules, things just work. It’s probably helped by the fact that no-one
is going more than 50km/h (I think our top speed on the whole ride was 70km/h)
and motorbikes make up 90% of traffic so the Vietnamese are generally pretty
aware of them. So, once we got to grips with the craziness we were good to go.
On our test drive around the
city there was also a Scottish couple, and as they were leaving the same day as
us we all rode together. They were both on the same bike so luckily they had an
extra 10cc of power! Both of ours were only 100cc, but that’s surprisingly all
you need as you have to get a special license to own a motorbike larger than 175cc
in Vietnam. Not only that, it would simply be a waste to have a big bike, as
some of the roads are so terrible that you can’t go faster than 20km/h. You’d
also just be an idiot to go faster than about 60km/h in general, as there are
so many obstacles (potholes and animals) and people pulling out in front of you
that you have to be able to stop instantly at any moment. Luckily we were all
feeling pretty comfortable so once we were guided out of the city we were on
our own.
The first day of riding was
pretty straightforward with no really bad roads, but we may have underestimated
just how long it takes to cover the miles as we didn’t reach our destination
for the night until well after dark. So on day one we broke one of the two rules
– don’t ride at night, and don’t ride in the rain. Whoops. We made it to the
coastal town of Mui Ne in one piece, and only one repair needed (I got a
puncture). Unfortunately it meant we didn’t really get to see Mui Ne, as we all
decided to just keep on going the next day up into the hills to Da Lat. Once
again, we underestimated the time and once again we arrived after dark. But
that was only because repairs on Josh and Louise’s bike took longer than
expected that morning. It was also fucking freezing for the last hour or two,
as we were still slightly damp after an earlier downpour, and the fact we were
now at an altitude of 1,500m. Da Lat is a popular town to visit, so while the others
left the next morning, we decided to stay another day so we could see what the
place was like. We’re glad we did because it’s actually really nice and we were
happy to just ride around and check shit out. And after only two days of
riding, our asses were thankful for a bit of a break.
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| Roadside puncture repair |
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| Mui Ne |
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| Da Lat |
The next four days were
spent riding on the Ho Chi Minh trail up in the western highlands, staying in
some relatively small and off the beaten track towns. It was during this time
that we also experienced the worst roads on the entire trip. There were
stretches of 30km or more that were dirt/mud ‘roads’ (that’s a very generous
term) that were in such shocking condition you couldn’t even call them
potholes. It was more like the road had just been bombed, and we were reduced
to riding no more than 10km/h to navigate our way through this nightmare of a
track. Not only was it frustrating, but it was ridiculously time consuming, and
the novelty of going ‘off road’ wore off after about 5mins. There were many
sections of road like this that we had to cover, and if they weren’t muddy then
they were dry and dusty which meant our faces and hands (the only exposed bits)
were covered in dirt. And to top things off, while we were on one of these
roads out in the middle of bum fuck nowhere, some local Vietnamese guy came
riding up beside us and waved for us to pull over. I thought he was being nice
and telling us we had a bag or something coming loose, but no. For the next
five minutes he stood in front of us, refusing to let us past while he was
calling someone on his phone. We had no idea what was going on, but after a
while we knew something was up and we just wanted to get the hell out of there.
But every time we’d try to ride off he’d straddle our front tyres and stop us
moving. I eventually got through in the wake of a local woman who rode straight
past (obviously), and when Kurt tried to follow the guy ripped his key out of
his bike. Well, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Kurt dropped
his bike and went after the guy, got him in a headlock and stomped on his foot
to get his key back. I thought he showed remarkable restraint in not decking
the guy. I don’t why this skinny little shit even tried to fuck with Kurt who
is about 5 times bigger. In the end Kurt got his key back and we continued down
the road, but the little fucker followed us and stopped us again. Luckily this
time he didn’t try to mess with us so we just kept going. We were worried he’d
called a posse of his mates and that they’d soon appear behind us, but thank
fuck they didn’t as we were still on the dodgy road and couldn’t go fast to
escape. We reckon the whole plan was to get more people there and try and get
money out of us one way or another, so we’re glad we got out of there in time.
Half way through the trip we
were back out on the coast in Hoi An, which is a beautiful historical town that
we loved last time and were happy to visit again. It’s an extremely popular
tourist spot, and while there were shitloads of foreigners around it was still
an enjoyable place. So much so that we spent 3 nights there, in an enormous
room at a quiet little homestay in a back street. The guy was lovely and had
another room, so we gave directions to Josh and Louise who were coming the day
after us. Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Old Town area is a
really beautiful place to just wander around. There are a couple of things you
can see and do in town, but we were happy to walk around and people watch and
just take it easy. We were there in time for the monthly Lantern Festival,
which is a time to honour their ancestors and set up altars outside their homes
and businesses. Down by the river all the locals are selling lotus flower shaped
cardboard lanterns with a little candle to set alight and float on the water.
Unfortunately it was a bit of a non-event as we were expecting the river to be rammed
full of glowing lanterns, but we managed to soothe our disappointment with many
glasses of beer hoi, which is a local fresh beer. And at about 20cents a glass,
it’s probably the cheapest beer we’ve ever had.
From Hoi An we all headed up
the coast and over the famous and scenic Hai Van Pass to Hue, another hot-spot in Vietnam with many historical and cultural
sites. During the Vietnam War the city suffered a lot of damage as it was in a
vulnerable position near the border between North and South, but now a lot of
the historical areas are being restored. We spent a couple of nights there and
had great intentions of visiting the Imperial City, but we just ended up riding
around the walled section of the city instead. For free.
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| Hai Van Pass |
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| Entering the walled Imperial City in Hue |
From Hue it was a couple
more days of riding back up on the Ho Chi Minh Trail until we reached the
National Park area of Phong Nha. The day we rode from a little town called Khe
Sahn to Phong Nha was by far the most incredible ride of the whole trip. It was
also the longest day at 230km, and because most of it was along a virtually
deserted road we had to carry extra petrol, as there were no petrol stations
along the way. It was a beautiful sunny day, and for 8 hours we were surrounded
by the most spectacularly stunning scenery. It was hard not to stop and take
photos every 5mins, but around every corner was a jaw-dropping view. And what
made it even better was that there was pretty much no other traffic on the road
– only a few other motorbikes and one car the whole day – so it felt like we
had it all to ourselves. Except for the 5 other backpackers we kept
leapfrogging that is. Surprisingly, the road was in great condition, and that
made the ride so much more fun. When we arrived in Phong Nha we were almost sad
for it to end. What an unforgettable day.
Phong Nha is back on the
tourist trail, as it’s a National Park with several caves that have only
recently been discovered and opened up to tourists. We ended up spending 4
nights there so we could spend a couple of days visiting different caves. The
first day we rode out with the 5 guys to Paradise Cave, which is 31km long and
was only discovered in 2005 by a local man. It was absolutely pissing down but
that didn’t stop us, as it rained most of the time we were there. Paradise Cave
is pretty damn impressive for the sheer size and scale of it. When you think of
caves you normally imagine small, cramped places right? Not this one. You walk
down some stairs and are presented with an enormous cavern that reaches way up
to 100m. There’s only about 1km that’s open for tourists to walk through, but
there are so many massive stalactites and stalagmites and other random
formations that it doesn’t feel like you’re being cheated. There’s lighting all
around, but not in a tacky way, so you don’t miss anything.
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| View from our hotel room in Phong Nha |
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| Paradise Cave |
The next day we went to the
Black Cave with Josh and Louise who’d arrived the previous day, but
unfortunately for them they didn’t love the ride like we did, as they had a
miserable day of riding in the rain. Sucks to be them. The Black Cave is about
an hour and a half of fun, where we started off ziplining for about 100m to the
bank of a river, where we then jumped into the pretty frigid water and swam a
short distance to the cave entrance. With our headtorches on we were guided
into the pitch black cave, walking/swimming through water then into a narrow
and muddy passage which opened up into a pool of thick, squelchy mud. It was
impossible to sink into, much like the volcanic mud pool in Cartagena,
Colombia. After a therapeutic mud bath we then had to slip and slide our way
back to the cleansing water, and after a swim we emerged back into the
daylight. Next was a short paddle in a kayak to the final event – zipping down
a flying fox which ended in being flung into the water once more. It was a
whole lot of fun, and it only cost about AU$14. I love Asia.
When we left Phong Nha we
only had 3 more days of riding to reach Hanoi, our final destination. The last
couple of days weren’t so amazing in terms of scenery, and slowly but surely
the traffic reappeared. When we rode into Hanoi it was like re-joining
civilisation, and it was the most traffic we’d seen since we left Ho Chi Minh.
Thanks to GPS on our phone and Kurt’s ridiculously gifted powers of navigation,
he guided us to the area we’d be staying in. After 12 days of riding we’d
covered 2,272km, and our trusty little bikes were still going strong. We’d only
had to make minor repairs along the way, probably totalling less than $15 per
bike, so all in, including the cost of petrol, it would have been cheaper than
taking the bus. And aside from being a million times more fun than sitting on a
bus, we got to see parts of the country that it simply isn’t possible to travel
to by bus. I would say we also got to see the most beautiful part of the
country too. With absolute freedom to go where and when we wanted and get off
the beaten track, seeing Vietnam from the back of a motorbike is without a
doubt the best way to travel the country. It’s one of the best things we’ve
ever done (and there’s been a few), and we’d happily do it all again.
We reached Hanoi a few days
earlier than we expected which turned out to be a good thing, as it took us a
few days to sell both of our bikes. Kurt went to one of the hostels to put up some posters to try and sell our bikes, and out of the blue he heard someone say, "Is that you Kurt?". Much to his surprise it was a woman from his hometown, the very first random bumping into of someone from home for us on this entire trip. Alyson is managing the hostel and we got to spend some quality time with her over the course of the next 5 days or so. It was great to bump into her, she is living the dream and loving life in Hanoi. So if you're ever in one of the Vietnam Backpacker Hostels in Hanoi then say hi for us. She will probably have a few beers with you and talk some shit about us. Alyson is one in a million, a great gal.
Kurt’s bike was first to go for US$250, and a
few days later mine was sold for US$200. So all in all we only lost out on
US$130 for both bikes. Not bad at all. However, because we were focusing all
our time on selling the bikes, we didn’t get to see much of Hanoi. Except for
bars and sitting street-side drinking cheap beer hoi. Not that we’re
complaining, but I guess it just means we’ll have to go back again one day so
we can explore Hanoi. We don’t need much of an excuse to return to Vietnam, so
it’s pretty safe to say we’ll be back.
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| Beer Street in Hanoi |
