padier
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riding nw vietnam Hi Folks have been away for about 3+ weeks did a ride of about 1500kms through north vietnam we started in Hanoi and worked our way up to the chinese border near Lao Cai then we went to Sapa in the mountains and slowly rode back to Hanoi it took 10 days to do and had a mixture of home stays and hotels overall the food was excellent the beer cold and a bia hoi or draught from the keg in most places cost the equivilant of about 30 cents it was very necessary to indulge in order to support the local community [really true] and be a good visitor we were on honda chook chasers 125&250 as the govt has a size restriction on capacity also the roads are some times marginal but others are pretty good i have attached a pic of some of the roads we rode and on others there were landslides and we had to wait until they were cleared and on one ocassion it made us several hours late to our over night stop in Son La only to be greeted by the staff, we were covered in dust etc but made welcome and sat down to have an ice cold beer placed in our hand it was after about 12 hours in the heat dust etc to say the least a welcome gesture appreciated by all overall it was an excellent experience and one I would recommend Cheers Pat
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Murdoch
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Sounds really good Padier................
Do you have any more info &/or pics 
I`m sure you have a few ppl intrigued Including me
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padier
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| Murdoch wrote: | Sounds really good Padier................
Do you have any more info &/or pics
I`m sure you have a few ppl intrigued Including me |
Hi Murdoch yep I took a lot of pics of the country and some of the mountains I put that one in to show some of the mountains that one was from about halfway riding up from sapa in the mountains at about 1500 metres up to the pass at about 2680metres then we dropped down over about 40-50km through excellent winding roads and at the fastest doing 70-80kph but as you are on an 125 xl honda with a 4-5 inch front brake on trials universal type tyres it was all within the realms of enjoyability in the extreme it all seemed to fit well within that which we were comfortable doing while having a great time, in essence you just fell down the range just stuffing it in to the corners for about 20k not trying to outdo one another just a group of guys from different countries ie aust,scotland,switerzland, netherlands we clicked and it was excelllent to simply share the joy of riding irregardless of what you are on which when it comes down to it I reckon that is what it is all about. Pat PS I will post a few more pics in another post Cheers Pat
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Meteor
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I bet you had some close calls there too - chickens, dogs, cows on the road?
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padier
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| Meteor wrote: | | I bet you had some close calls there too - chickens, dogs, cows on the road? |
 There was all of that but while the traffic was frenetic there was an ordered chaos about it,on the last day we had to ride through the peak hour traffic into Hanoi 30km which was an experience but whilst everyone beeps the horn madly no one gets angry it just seems to get there and after a week or so it seemed normal Cheers
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Meteor
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Yeah, whenever I've driven over there I always think how we could learn a big lesson from them - the almost complete absence of road rage. It's incredible.
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padier
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| Meteor wrote: | | Yeah, whenever I've driven over there I always think how we could learn a big lesson from them - the almost complete absence of road rage. It's incredible. |
When were you over there? and what were you driving ?
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Meteor
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Sorry, when I say 'over there', I mean SE Asia - Langkawi, Bali, Koh Samui, Borneo etc. - I've not been to Vietnam yet. I've only ridden the usual selection of hire bikes - 250 cruisers etc, nothing off-road as such.
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Captain
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Hi Padier, that sounds like a truly worthwhile (things you need to do before you die) experience. 
Can you tell us more about the logistics part of making this happen?
Was it an organised tour?
Did you have to arrange anything, or was this done for you?
What company did you go with, and did you arrange everything from home before you left?
This sounds like a great 'adventure' holiday where you actually get to enjoy the experience. 
Oh yes . . . any more pictures of your ride are appreciated.
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padier
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| Captain wrote: | Hi Padier, that sounds like a truly worthwhile (things you need to do before you die) experience.
Can you tell us more about the logistics part of making this happen?
Was it an organised tour?
Did you have to arrange anything, or was this done for you?
What company did you go with, and did you arrange everything from home before you left?
This sounds like a great 'adventure' holiday where you actually get to enjoy the experience.
Oh yes . . . any more pictures of your ride are appreciated. |
Hi the ride company can be found on the net at offroadvietnam.com the contact there is Mr Ahn Vu the trips have an english speaking guide who accompanies you and attends to you needs the tour that I did was nwest vietnam but there are quite a few that they do so if interested you could choose whichever one you felt like doing and this company uses honda 125&250 the tour was a set layout consisting of home stays sleeping in the long houses and hotels about 2.5 star but par for the course the food is included we ate the local food and did not have a problem at all but we did not drink the water only bottled water but the beer was pretty good and cheap as far as the overall trip I enjoyed it immensely as the North Vietnamese are a bit more conservative yet very hospitable Hanoi is pretty hetic but enjoyable I stayed at the camilla hotel in the old french quarter but there are backpackers hotel etc as well the ride in and out of Hanoi is a trip on it's own as I was reliably informed that there are about 22 million scooters in vietnam and I could well believe it also if you go when you arrive at the airport watch out for guys who say they are there to pick you up and take you to your hotel as a lot of them will take you to a different one that pays them for it just a tip but overall excellent Cheers Pat
Click to see full size image
Crossing the Red River by ferry.
Click to see full size image
Going to Coc ly markets some locals.
Click to see full size image
Cold beer after a very long day
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