Vietnam | Apr - May 2024 |
Sharing details on my solo moto adventure from Hanoi to the far north, then south to Da Nang, on a rental Honda XR 150.
Duration & Distances
30 days / 17 stops / 77.5 hrs riding / 2600 km
Details of rides and stops are at the bottom of the page in the Maps and Trip Reports sections
Why Vietnam?
Simply, Vietnam offers some of the best riding in SE Asia (I know) and the world (I guess). Spectacular scenery, great roads, low costs, exciting culture, delicious food - and the list goes on. Any serious international adventure rider should have Vietnam in their plans.
Planning & Route
Getting started: My main sources of info were the legendary Vietnam Coracle and Google. Prior to arriving, my key prerogative was familiarising myself with route options out of Hanoi. I'd been to Vietnam many times, mostly HCMC, so I was comfortable with how things work in the country. I booked a one-way flight from Bangkok and a bus ticket from HCMC to Phnom Penh to show I had an onward ticket (they never asked to see one at immigration). The Vietnam visa can be tricky - it's called a visa on arrival, but you need to apply before you travel; I had an issue with this once before when flying from Singapore, when asked at the airline counter for my visa I thought was granted on arrival at the airport in Vietnam - I was turned away and could not fly.
Solo or tour? I like to travel in a fairly unorganized, independent manner, so there was no question for me - solo. But that said, many/most adv riders seem to ride Vietnam as part of organized tours. And many more ride as pillion riders driven in group tours in places like the Ha Giang Loop. I met both solo and group riders along the way - whatever works best for you.
Rental: I was surprised just how mature the rental market is in Vietnam. Numerous companies offer top-quality websites, great communication and excellent reviews. I went with Rent-a-Bike and it worked out well, I highly recommended them. I also communicated with other rental companies and they were equally professional and I would consider using them in future. Rent-a-Bike offers one-way options with drop-off in a different location. For $75 I dropped my bike in Da Nang rather than back in Hanoi where I started.
License: I carried just the usual: passport, motorcycle DL & IDP (both Singapore), bike registration. I had one interaction with the police, where they asked me to take a breath test for alcohol - but didn't ask for ID.
Route: When I started in Hanoi, I wasn't sure if I would stay only in the north and finish back there, or if I would ride south to Da Nang. Rent-A-Bike has a guided 12-day route in the north, and that looked great, so I followed it, with some minor adjustments made along the way. Once I reached Mai Chua and made the decision to keep riding south, the 12-day map was no longer applicable, so I deep-dived into Vietnam Coracle for routes and highlights. See bottom of page for detailed maps of my route.
Bike & Gear
Bike: Rental bikes in Vietnam mainly fall into two categories: scooter-style and dirt-bike. In general, in SE Asia, the Yamaha Nmax 155 scooter is my machine of choice (I also did 13,000 km on my own BMW 310gs). But for northern Vietnam, where I was facing some unknowns, I fell into the mindset that perhaps a dirt bike was a better and different choice - so I took a Honda XR 150 (and yes I was also aware that no locals ride such bikes, they all ride the scooter-style bikes, and that you look like a complete "gringo" riding a dirt bike in Vietnam). Anyways, the Honda XR 150 is a great choice, very comfortable and surprisingly powerful. I did ride on some raunchy roads, as well as "paths". But, the reality is, I could easily have saved a couple of hundred bucks and rode a scooter, and would do so next time.
Riding gear: I carried my Dianese Air Frame mesh jacket and Astone helmet I bought in Taiwan. Another essential item was a Deus 70s-style mesh jersey, great for keeping the sun off, with air flowing. I wore jeans and Salomon trail runners I bought in Sapa. A real stunner I discovered in Thailand before coming to Vietnam was that the Klim Dakkar gloves I carried from Canada were both left hands (yee-haw).
Luggage: I used a Karrimor 70L duffel from Sports Direct; it's ok, a good size for the trip, water-resistant, overall pretty poor quality. Pacsafe is a major part of my set-up, on this trip I carried: a Pacsafe Dry Lite 30L as a backpack while riding and to connect my GoPro 12 clip mount onto the right shoulder strap; a Pacsafe Anti-Theft Waterproof Safe was carried in my Karrimor bag and used as a portable safe in my room; and a Pacsafe Vibe 150 sling bag for daily use off the bike carrying my wallet, phone, glasses, charger, hat, documents. I used Apple Airtags in each bag, with another under the seat on the Honda. I also had an old Givi tankbag that was really useful for holding essentials when while riding (I scavenged it off an abandoned bike in no-mans-land at the Thailand-Cambodia border between Koh Chang and Koh Kong).
Straps: my trusty Rok straps secured my bags on the back of the bike. These things are great, a step up from bungy cords (and have an interesting origin story that relates to bungy cords - look it up).
Camera: I take a lot of photos, some video. My current rig is a GoPro 12 and iPhone 12 (iPhone 15 now :). As mentioned above, I use the Go Pro on a clip mount that I attach to my backpack shoulder strap. It's set to voice activation and I keep the beep sound turned on, that way I know the camera is taking a photo or video while I am riding. I use the iPhone for major photo opportunities that require a stop and keep it in my tank bag for easy access. This setup works well.
Cost
Vietnam offers incredible value. You can easily live a basic decent existence adv riding for $1000 month. The bike rental was my largest overhead, but alternately you could buy a bike and save - indeed I met one rider who bought one from well-known rental outfit who guaranteed to buy it back from him if he wanted to sell. Below are details on my monthly/daily costs. Note that I stayed mainly in hotels with AC (some homestays), ate (and drank) well, and spent about 7 days total in Hanoi / Da Nang / Hoi Anh combined, where you can easily spend a bit more per day if you feel so inspired.
Insurance
Motorcycle: I didn't take out any specific motorcycle insurance (can't remember why, but I am pretty sure it was because the bike had insurance, and/or is was not available to me for the rental(?).
Travel/Medical: I used World Nomads travel insurance which covers motorcycle riding and other action-oriented activities, US$675 for 6 months.
Roads & Driving
The roads are mostly excellent in Vietnam, with a few diversions of my own making. My route had little traffic.
Road quality ranged from (mostly) great to dirt to goat trail. I had one incident after a major storm where the road was blocked by debris in multiple places and I had to detour.
Drivers in Vietnam were very civilized, I didn't experience any type of incident that could be classified as ignorant or unsafe (vs, in say, Singapore...). In general, outside major cities, the pace on the roads is fairly relaxed. As Vietnam is a motorcycle-centric society, there is a "ying-and-yang" aspect on the roads, where everything ultimately melds together, though it can be interpreted as chaos. I didn't see (or experience) any major road accidents, though I did come across a young German rider who had gone off the road on a corner, "driving too fast, lost control" (actual quote from him) - he was rattled, but not seriously injured, luckily.
If you need a cab in larger towns, Grab, SE Asia's copycat of Uber, is available and offers great service for incredible prices.
Weather
This was a major research point in organizing this trip, I didn't want to get caught in the rainy season. Luckily, I experienced very little rain, only one time did I need to pull over for shelter.
People & Culture
In general, people are incredibly nice, warm, friendly and kind in Vietnam, they are genuinely interested in you as a foreigner, they aren't (yet) jaded by tourism,
The people are definitely not soft, you can see how Vietnam has won battles with the USA, France and China.
In the north and frontier areas, the predominant culture is hill tribe people, with their distinct attire and traditional ways.
Communication & Safety
English is not widely known in much of the path I followed. Indeed, I met many people who didn't understand "hello" (mind you, my Vietnamese was/is no better). Google Translate is widely used and helps solve communication issues.
Vietnam is very safe, I have never experienced any issues in my travels there. While there seems to be a legacy notion that foreigners (especially Americans, French, Chinese) are not welcome due to past indiscretions, the people are very friendly and kind.
Health & Wellness
No major issues in 30 days, though I got a terrible cold and later a minor case of food poisoning at a remote location after which I didn't eat a full meal for 3 days. In both cases I didn't seek any medical assistance.
I went to the dentist in Da Nang and it was 5-stars, a super modern shop with excellent communication and service and a overseas-educated dentist; $20 to have my teeth cleaned, and other more serious work is available at a steep discount to what you would pay in a "developed" country.
If you are a massage enthusiast they are on offer across the country, in both spa and "salon" formats. I didn't partake in either (honestly), so can't share details on the merits compared to Thailand or other places.
Mobile & Wifi
Vietnam has excellent mobile service. I signed up for a 30-day pre-pay at the airport, $18. The service was excellent across the whole country, even in remote areas, I was able to stream the whole trip, and I never had to top-up.
Due to the excellent and cheap mobile data, I didn't bother with wi-fi.
Accommodation
A key highlight of travel in Vietnam is the excellent and cheap accom.
You can get a decent basic hotel room with AC and hot water for around $15, anywhere, including major centers like Hanoi, Sapa, Hue and Da Nang. For $18-20, I stayed in hotels in Da Nang and Ha Giang that were equal to what I have previously paid $250 in, say, Sydney.
You can also easily find homestays, which offer all the amenities, including a great cultural experience, for around $5.
F&B
Food is off the charts in Vietnam. As a dedicated Bun Cha and Banh Mi fanatic, it was pure heaven to sample all the distinct local styles on offer throughout the north.
Again, the value is just incredible: there is something special about eatting the best Banh Mi yet, and it cost 25 cents.
Western food is not so prevalent in Vietnam as it is in its SE Asia neighbors. And it's not very good either I found, pizza in particular.
Another amazing thing is that fast food chains are almost non-existent in Vietnam, where, coincidentally, the people have the lowest BMI amongst the world's top 50 economies.
Chain convenience stores are also non-existent outside major cities.
Alcohol is fully available. I just stuck to beer and some red wine, though I was invited to join a few rice wine-drinking sessions, mostly during breakfast (I declined).
I didn't come across any other types of non-alcoholic "passifiers" during my 30-day stay.
Sights
Straight up, the north half of Vietnam has some of the best scenery I have ever seen, and I am fairly well traveled: karst mountains to rice terraces to world-class beaches - it has it all.
War history is a major aspect of Vietnam travel, with extensive locations, equipment, and memorials throughout the country. Khe San, Hue, Da Nang, Hamburger Hill, and the DMZ were all part of my journey.
Wildlife: Sadly I saw almost none - not a single monkey, for example; there must be many reasons for this, but I won't speculate here as I am uninformed.
Activities
Amongst many things to do in Vietnam, here are some I did or considered:
Diving: I went diving at Cham Island out of Hoi An; it was not great, but it was a fun day.
Caves: Vietnam has some amazing caves, including the world's largest, I believe; I didn't partake, but this is a rising area of eco-tourism.
Hiking: there seemed to be many great walks, but I didn't do as I had a broken toe
Surfing: Da Nang has surfing, looks decent
War sites: perhaps a tad goulish, but something I am interested in; as one can imagine, Vietnam has some of the world's best tourism in this area.
Trip reports
Sharing detailed descriptions of my rides from/to and stays at the later (some posts are coming soon).
Mai Chua > Yen Khe
Yen Khe > Na Nhi Duc Hun
Na Nhi Duc Hun > Long Son
Long Son > Khe San
Khe San > Hue
Hue > Da Nang
Da Nang > Hoi An
Maps
The maps below provide a good view of the road routes I followed. Click on the "window" top left for ride-to-from details.
Questions?
Drop me a line at terraxplor1@gmail.com, happy to help.
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