Northern Vietnam—

Having arrived back in Hanoi, I say my farewell to Northern Vietnam tour gang and part ways. The current plan is to stay a few days in Hanoi to explore some more and prepare for the long journey down to the South. I have just over 3 weeks left on my visa, which according to guide online, this should be sufficient. I had prebooked one more evening at the hotel I last stayed when I was here. This was because I had left my excessive amount of luggage there. My chores for the next day was to: pick up my motorcycle and drop off my excess luggage that wouldn’t fit on the motorcycle at the rental place, do some washing.

I took a Grab taxi to the Tigit rental showroom in Hanoi, which was only 15 minutes away. After checking over the bike, marking my luggage to be sent to Saigon, signing papers and paying for the rental, I was off. I was excited to get back on the motorcycle, even though it had only been less than 24 hours since I was last on one. There is a much greater sense of freedom compared to getting around on Grab and on foot.

My next accommodation was the Cocoon Inn in the Hanoi Old Quarter. I picked a hostel as I was getting quite lonely from not hanging out with people my own age, but I picked this particular hostel because it wasn’t a party hostel. The great thing about most the western-catered hostels in Hanoi is that they all have a happy hour where you get free (but awful) beer.

During the Northern Vietnam tour, while we were parked on the side of the road, I had placed my helmet onto my wing mirror. Another tour member’s bike tipped from its stand, falling and causing a chain reaction with my bike. My helmet slammed into the asphalt, with the full weight of the two bikes behind it. Unfortunately, not only was it badly scratched, but there was some significant structural damage on this inside. This was painful as the helmet was new, and decent quality helmet are difficult to find. Luckily, there is a store called Joker’s Helmets, which offered imported helmets. I had previously gone there prior to the tour to buy protective gear. This time around, I bought a new helmet, albeit an off-road oriented one, as it could easily mount my GoPro onto it, and it was on special.

Before I left Hanoi, I was convinced by the hostel staff as well as fellow backpackers to join a luxurious social cruise in Ha Long Bay. At the advice of others before me, I opted in for the 2 day, 1 night option. The package consisted of: a bus ride from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay with the other cruiser goers. It was a relatively quiet bus ride as most of us had been out the previous night enjoying what Hanoi’s nightlife could offer. A quick stop at an arts workshop, where many of the craftspeople had a disability of some sort, in an attempt to entice us to purchase the arts, before heading off to the port.

The cruise ship that we would be on for most the time looked pretty average on the outside. But the inside was exactly like the pictures - luxurious clean rooms, at least 5 jacuzzis, and a proper dance floor with lights and all. The catch with this cruise was that we weren’t allowed to bring on alcohol, so we had to purchase it from the cruise ship bar. The prices weren’t extortionate but were more expensive that mainland prices.

During the 1st day, the majority of us went out on kayaks and paddled around the coasts of the islands, through a cave and into a quiet cove. By the late afternoon, we were back on the cruise ship, with the brave ones of us taking turns jumping off from near the top of the ship into ocean, which would have been around 12m high. There was a floating trampoline being towed behind on the ship, which was an incredibly fun but tiring affair to keep standing on while people were jumping on it.

The tour guides for this cruise were great and had a full itinerary for us, that also included night activities. Once the sun had set, I took a quick nap but I woke up feeling a little bit sick. I had dinner and participated in one of the party games they had organised, but by the end of that, I was in full sweats with a fever. While everyone were just getting started, with the organised party games over and the drinks flowing, I was now in bed, shivering and in pain. I self-diagnosed myself with gastroenteritis. I think it was from one of those donuts that the local lady street sellers pawn of in Hanoi - I ate one the night before and it was really stale. While I was going in and out of sleep and also in and out of the toilet (very happy my room I shared with 2 other guys had its own toilet), everyone partied on and stayed up to the early hours of the morning. I felt better by the morning, but I just wanted to get out of there as I was disappointed that I had spent all that money on the cruise, to simply lie in bed for most of it.

We were bused back to Hanoi after the cruise. This was to be my last evening in Hanoi. I spent most of it actually coming up with some sort of definitive itinerary, as well as double checking my gear. The next morning, I took my bike from the local parking area (you’re not allowed to park bikes on the street overnight in Hanoi Old Quarter) to my hostel, precariously strapped my stacked luggage onto the back of my bike, and set off.

The current plan was 19 days to get from Hanoi to Saigon - 9 days of riding and 10 days rest. This would ensure that I had enough buffer in case I went over time. Google Maps wasn’t great for planning such a long journey, as it routes are customisable once many stops are put in place. Despite what the map was showing, it would be longer as I would be aiming to venture along the incredible and isolated Western Ho Chi Minh trail, which adds a bit of kms and required time to the journey.

I left around 10:30am so managed to avoid the rush hour. The more difficult bit was getting out of Hanoi itself. But once out, it was mainly just highways towards my first destination, Nimh Binh. The speed limit for motorcycles is 40km/h in towns and 60km/h on the open road. To be honest, I may or may not have pushed beyond this. Just to let you know, the big trucks that take the same roads, were doing an average of 90 to 100 km/h… Anyway, 200km and 3 hours later, I arrived at my destination.

It was a fresh change to be in Nimh Binh after both Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. The place I was staying was quite isolated, but it was also popular, with most the beds booked out. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad while I was there, with solid rain during times of the day, which meant I spent most my time just sitting at the hostel, occassionally chatting to other people there. Besides cruising the country streets, the only memorable tourist attraction I went on was the boat ride on the Van Long nature reserve. In terms of people met, the most interesting person I had met at the hostel was a PhD student from Germany, doing her thesis in neuroscience. We ended up having a deep conversation about spirituality and science, as she was a born again Christian that had previously been part of what I would call a strong fundamentalist church before leaving it when she left home to go study.

I only had 2 nights in Nimh Binh, but felt like I had to move on to stay on the tight schedule. My next motorcycling leg was from Nimh Binh to Vinh. Well that was the intention. I left around 10am, and Google Maps told me it would take just under 6 hours to take the inland scenic route. But I made good time and reached the turn to Vinh in less than 5 hours. I made the quick decision to push on to Phong Nha, as I didn’t make any prior booking for Vinh and it is designated as only a stop-over town in Western motorcycling guides. This would add another 3 hours according to Google, but if I rode quickly enough, I should avoid be able to avoid nightfall…

The ride on the Western Ho Chi Minh trail from the turn off to Vinh, to my final destination, ended up being the most fun riding of the North-South journey so far. Mostly undamaged paved roads, winding its way through initially forests. The forests then open up and we are in a national park, with vast green lands, with high rocks, very much like you see in Ha Long Bay. I also saw very few vehicles on the road, save the occassional truck I would overtake. Every half an hour or so, I’d hit a village, where there would be some sort of domesticated animal roaming the road.

Unfortunately, it got dark while I was still riding. I remember thinking, if my bike broke down, I’d be really screwed, as I didn’t have the skill to fix it, nor there were any mechanics for miles. I’d have to try hitch hike with my luggage, which wasn’t designed to be carried as a pillion passenger on a scooter, the most likely vehicle to pass me. Though I could be waiting hours for a scooter to pass too. My bike headlight was pathetic, and I had to keep my helmet visor shut, as there were swarms of some insect (I still haven’t identified it yet!) that eventually coated my visor. On top of that, it started to shower in the last few kms of my leg.

Finally, I arrive in Phong Nha just after 6pm. I scope the only main road, doing laps and looking at the activity in the hostels. I then decide to stay in the one that looked like I’d have the most fun, called the Easy Tiger. This is a designated party hostel, and it made sure to live up to that status. The night was kicked off with a group forming to play Picolo, for which I had the paid version, purchased while I was in Gili Air, Indonesia during my stop over on my way to Europe for the first time. That led to boat races, and hitting up the only night club in this small town.

The next day, I slept in and got up after midday. I had at least one tourist attraction on my agenda. This was my only free day here according to me schedule. Phong Nha is known for its massive caves, some that take days to see and properly experience. There is a variety of activities to do in these caves, like playing in the mud baths or camping overnight inside. Given my lack of time, I picked to go see the Paradise Caves, which would only take just over half the day, return trip.

My motorcycle ride from the hostel to Paradise Caves was the most fun I had so far on this North to South Vietnam journey. I took a turn into dirt, pot hole riddled back roads, filled with puddles from the rain that morning. Got to cross what looked like a footbridge on my bike too which was fun. There were some children watching me in the distance, who appeared to be at school. I tried to show off with a tight turn, but was going way to slow, and low sided the bike. Thankfully, I was wearing my gloves and boots, so I just damaged those.

For my next motorcycling leg, this was going to a fun and exciting ride as this was proper country riding, along the Western Ho Chi Minh trail which has since been superseded by highways and other roading more eastwards. But this was now of the normal tourist route, as the towns along the way here are not really tourist towns, with some having little to no presence on popular booking sites like booking.com. Today, I had planned about 7 hours on the motorcycle, but was fine given the windiness of the road ahead (thinking more about the fun factor vs getting tired).

It was a tranquil yet engaging ride for most part. Windy, single lane roads, up and down the hill faces. And no small villages along the way, no houses, no civilisation, just bush and the occasional stream that would run down the cliff face and under the road. And not a single soul for large bouts of time. If there was, it was a lone local on a scooter or another keen tourist on a motorcycle, which you could tell by the level of protection they wore, or the large travel luggage on the back. It got quite foggy at one point and had to slow down. I worried at this point if I broke down, I’d be pretty much screwed as I’d never changed a motorcycle tire, let alone, had the tools to do so (I only had spare tubes).

I rode for about 3 and a half hours. Earlier, I had a group of motorcycles overtake me as I tried to take some selfies with a tripod and my running legs to get the perfect pose. I saw them at a large T junction, at a grass patch beside it. I pulled in to take my first proper rest and have my lunch, which just consisted of a packet of crisps. The group were actually a bunch of older (I’d say 55+) Kiwi motorcyclists with their local tour guides. It was nice to hear a familiar accent and talk about homely things, which, quite relevant on that day, was the rugby. It was Rugby World Cup and New Zealand were in the quarter finals that day, playing against Ireland. We discussed about where to watch it, and the town along the Ho Chi Minh trail where’d I’d have to stop, was extremely unlikely to have it played anywhere.

I contemplated for a few minutes and made the decision to change route and head to Hué, another popular tourist destination which had one hostel advertising that they’d be playing the rugby. Before I took off, the local tour guides offered me some of their fresh lunch, of sandwiches, which I gladly accepted given my own pathetic lunch. I said my farewell and instead of crossing the big bridge at the junction, took the road that would take me eastwards.

Not long after, it started to shower. And that shower turned to drops. And those drops turned to a downfall. I can’t remember why I didn’t do it, but

I pulled into my hostel, which someone in the previous town I stayed at had recommended. It was a quaint homestay, incredibly busy, with every bed having been filled. Dirt cheap as well, I think I was paying $6 USD a night there. I lugged up all my gear, up to the 3rd floor, dropped it, quickly got changed into something a little fresher and head to the VBH hostel which was playing the rugby.

The game itself wasn’t that enjoyable, as Ireland hadn’t played so well, but that meant the All Blacks got into the semi-finals which was a relief. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with the folk there, playing drinking games like Beer Pong but also tried the game of Corn Hole for the first time, so interesting to discover something new. I met some backpackers who signed up for the Hué day tour with VBH. The day tour involved riding around town, exploring various landmarks amongst normal tour things. Importantly, they would visit the abandoned water park, which was of interest to me. It would also be a little cheaper for me as I could use my motorcycle.

So the next morning, I went on the tour and took the following pictures.

The day went pretty smoothly from what I remember. No accidents on the scooters.

The rest of my time was more of the same. Daytimes were spent doing things like getting my haircut. I ended up going back to the waterpark a second time to get more photos. Evenings were spent drinking and partying at VBH.

So near 8 months since finishing this part of the journey, I finally finish the blog post. Sorry for the abrupt end, you’ll notice it in all my travel blog posts…

Coming up next will be the last part, from Hué all the way to Saigon and up to just before I leave for Cambodia.