Vietnam Motorcycle Adventure

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Our Vietnam Motorcycle adventure.

Sue and organized a tour with five other bay area friends to motorcycle through North Vietnam. We searched through Blogs and found Off Road Vietnam tours to set us up with guides and equipment.

Day 1 - We travel from the San Francisco to Seoul Korea and connect to a flight to Hanoi. Twenty hours of travel. Mike, Dorothy, Sue and I are all on the same flight and we arrive late in the night to Hanoi. We were met at the airport by a car that took us directly to our hotel. To our surprise the hotel in Hanoi was excellent.

Day 2 - We have two days to explore Hanoi. Today we get just walk the city and see the sights. George, Steve and Amanda arrive later this afternoon. Mike finds he is the center of attention for the locals who are not timid about running up to him and checking out his size. We have a great time checking out the traffic, markets and people.

Day 3 - We again explore more of Hanoi. Sue had heard that the population turns out in the morning to exercise around the lake so we went early to see this. It was a sight to see the park around the lake in downtown Hanoi filled in the early morning with every sort of physical activity. People lugged bar bells and weight equipment. Large groups were stretching and exercising. Every group has their own boom box blaring music on a broken speaker. Seemed odd to watch Vietnamese women moving about to western music. Later, Mike wanted to find the Hanoi Hilton so across the city we hiked. Steve and Amanda get a quick lesson on the exchange rate when they attempt to purchase bananas from a street vendor. The Vietnamese currency is trading about 18,000 to one US dollar. We meet with Off Road Vietnam to pay fees and get an idea of what the bikes will be like.

Day 4 - We head over to the Off Road Vietnam office with all our gear to start the tour. We are quite a site with our helmets and riding gear. The normal riding gear here appears to be flip flops, shorts and the jockey helmet the government now requires riders to have. We manage to get everything tied on the bikes and get to experience our first traffic while departing Hanoi. It takes some time to understand how it flows and realizes that the rules of the road here are very different than at home. Cars and bikes come at you from all directions, it’s noisy and busy. I found that I soon began hitting my horn like one of the locals. Of the seven bikes we are using I am experiencing some problems with mine. Poor little bike seems to have some carb problems Quite a long drive but easy from Hanoi to Na Khan 180 km. The road is sealed all the way until Bac Kan and the last part from Bac Kan to Na Khan is wild and little bumpy. Na Khan is a Tay village, lost in the middle of the primitive forest. Mr. Lo, the chef of the village will welcome us in his house. We have fun doing a river crossing on a small boat and experience our first home stay. That evening we learn to enjoy the home made rice wine, over and over.

Day 5: Na Khan - Ba Be. ~50 km, ~2 h. From Na Khan to Ba Be on a bumpy road. Great ride today. Many sights to see and some rough road to ride. Everyone seems to be having a great time. George and Dorothy are starting to really enjoy the riding in the traffic. We ride all day and arrive after dark to second home stay.

Day 6: Ba Be - Quang Hoa. ~170 km, ~8 h. Cross Ba Be lake to come back to our captain's house. Beautiful ride up to Cao Bang province. Few passes from where you can dominate the area. The road is easy but many curves. We can stop a lot. All together, stop for drinks and food it should be an 8-hour journey. We started the day with a boat ride around Ba Be Lake. Very beautiful and relaxing. After the boat ride and a small hike, we hit the road again. Great small roads through the villages of Vietnam. Unfortunately my bike is running quite poor again so we stop and try to get it repaired. During the stop Sue falls very ill and requires a truck to transport her to the next stop. At least I get to ride her bike. I stayed behind with Sue until the truck can arrive. At least I get to ride Sue’s bike for the rest of the day. Luke rides with me as we try to catch back up to the other riders. We arrived a bit after dark to our hotel. We get Sue some medication and hope she will better in the morning. I get to hear from the rest of the group about how much fun it was to do a U-Turn in the middle of the traffic and ride over a pedestrian bridge. George and Dorothy want to go play in the traffic more. I turn out it's Thoi's (our guide) birthday. After dinner Luke and Thoi introduce us to Hanoi Vodka. Luke entertains us with his singing. Luke and Thoi have decided on an alternate plan for the morning so Sue can stay at the hotel and recover an extra day. We will ride to Quang Hoa water falls and loop back to stay here a second night.

Day 7: Quang Hoa ~100 km. Sue is doing much much better in the morning but decided to stay at the hotel and recover more while the rest of the group rides to Quang Hoa waterfall. Lucky for me because I then get to ride her bike. We take the time to make our guides members of our South bay riders group. Everyone is very happy that we get to ride back over the pedestrian bridge again. We ride over some higher passes toward the border with China. We arrive and have lunch at the waterfalls then loop back to our Hotel. George wants to go ride in the traffic some more. Sue has been resting and seems to be doing much better.

Day 8: Quang Hoa - Mau Son. ~160 km, ~7 h. Drive from Quang Hoa to Mau Son on the bumpy road with a stop for lunch in Lang Son. Mau Son is 30 km away from Lang Son, 1.541m above sea level. Night in the guesthouse of Mau Son Resort. Sue is up to riding again and we head out in the morning for another day of riding. Lots of narrow winding roads but you have to keep look out for the buses which are quite dangerous. We and entertain ourselves by going to the marketplace. The market places are filled with people, goods and interesting food. Unfortunately everyone here is a size one and nothing will fit this group.

Day 9: Mau Son - Bai Chay. ~180 km, ~7 h. We start today by trying some of the local breakfast Pho on the street. It takes a bit of courage to eat the local pho off little plastic stools on the sidewalk. After breakfast we make the local shoe shine guy very happy by having our boots done for 10,000 dong each ($0.65). Some good riding on secondary roads, then a straight piece that would pass for freeway here. We get to do a U-turn on an off ramp that is under construction, no problem were riding is a land of only one road rule, there are no road rules.


Day 10: Bai Chay - Halong Bay. Boating. Promenade along the coast in Halong City. Start boating at 10 am. Boating to Thien Cung cave, fishing village and then through myriads of limestone to Ba Trai Dao (Three Peach Fruit Islet). Swimming and sleep here.

Day 11: Halong Bay - Cat Ba - Hanoi. ~120 km, ~3 h. Cruise to Cat Ba. Cat Ba is the far end of Halong Bay. Cat Ba still live from the resource that the sea offers. The tourism is developed and of high quality. The Cat Ba Bay is a condensed of Halong Bay, its labyrinth of limestone so dense that it is difficult to imagine we are on the sea. We created this itinerary - the floating village Van Gia. They are our personal friends and the relation with them is intimate, even knowing that some companies now also pass through there. Last but not least, Monkey Island (Cat Dua Islet) was totally ignored by mass tourism when we propose to stop there. It has got nothing special beside the fact that there is nobody except monkeys and one family who takes care of their security. Arrive Cat Ba in time for the ferry at 1.30 pm to Hai Phong and drive back to Hanoi on Highway 5. Arrive in Hanoi around 6 pm.

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