- Joined
- Aug 15, 2012
- Bikes
- KTM 613 EXC, BMW R90S & Dakar, MZ250, Norton 16H, Honda - 500 Fs & Xs, DRZs, XLs XRs CRFs CT110s etc
I know I’ve got a couple of unfinished ride reports, eg , my favourite photos thread for the last 16 months on the road from Sydney to Chiang Mai (and my unfinished trip through Laos and Cambodia)… but I promised someone here I’d update my Vietnam road report. I published this originally as a Wordpress blog and slipped some bits into other forums, but with stacks of additional photos, I’ll bring it into this fine forum. I need a break from sorting through the 26,008 photos from my most recent ride. I'll make sure I add plenty of new stuff for folks who may have seen parts of it before.
Whilst I did this trip a couple of years ago, its still just as relevant now for anyone thinking of doing it by scooter. I spent part of June and all of July 2010 wandering around Vietnam on a 110cc Zinda that I bought in Ho Chi Minh City, took north as far as Nha Trang (via DaLat), trained it to Hanoi, then Lao Cai... then back on the bike to Sapa, around there, then up to the China border, down to the Laos border, then east to Cuc Phuong, Ninh Binh and back to Hanoi. Somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 kilometres on the bike (the odometer shit itself mid-trip, so I don’t really know).
The bike cost me US$400 in Saigon... and I was more than happy to give it away before flying out at the end of the month - to a guy who trains street kids to be mechanics. It’s since been used as an incentive for the best trainee of the year – he got to keep the Zinda.
It didn't all go smoothly.... here's a 2 million dong rebuild underway up near Sapa, after a crankshaft failure... that's $100...
… and my luggage system wasn’t exactly the best
I should point out that this was my return to biking, after decades of caging it.
I have to say, I'd have preferred a slightly larger bike... and that photo above shows one of the modifications I made... that cushion was a futile attempt to get my arse a bit higher so that the angle at my knees was a bit better. It hurt, riding so far with my knees up around my ears.
and the roads up near Muong Lay weren't that nice... but I have to say, they're heaps better than Laos in the wet season
... but it coped...
No hassles with the cops - the one who did point at me switched to the local I was overtaking when he saw I was a foreigner and pulled him over instead.
The bike, when I got it had a Vmax of about 80 kph with me (120kg... down to 110kg at the end of the trip) and 30kg split across two packs, including laptop and cameras - and after the rebuild, it gradually increased until I managed 115kmh at one stage - see photo below - which was scarier than any 235kmh+ run I've ever done on anything else.
All I can say is that the trip was an absolute hoot. I did the Saigon - Sapa bit in company with a friend who bought a similar bike for $350, which she ended up selling in Hanoi... although I'm not sure that she got a good price for it.
I had to rescue this young damsel in distress in the Cuc Phuong National Park. She and her friend had a flat tyre on their bike, so I gave her a lift about 15k to the park entrance to get help.
I made plenty of friends along the way
This included staying with some Red Dzao people who invited us to stay with them (I was travelling with a couple of Italians at the time)... and one of the absolute highlights of my trips to Asia - a ride down the Mekong from Chau Doc to Can Tho on a banana boat with a lovely Vietnamese family, who didn't speak a word of English - but more on that later.
Whilst I did this trip a couple of years ago, its still just as relevant now for anyone thinking of doing it by scooter. I spent part of June and all of July 2010 wandering around Vietnam on a 110cc Zinda that I bought in Ho Chi Minh City, took north as far as Nha Trang (via DaLat), trained it to Hanoi, then Lao Cai... then back on the bike to Sapa, around there, then up to the China border, down to the Laos border, then east to Cuc Phuong, Ninh Binh and back to Hanoi. Somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 kilometres on the bike (the odometer shit itself mid-trip, so I don’t really know).
The bike cost me US$400 in Saigon... and I was more than happy to give it away before flying out at the end of the month - to a guy who trains street kids to be mechanics. It’s since been used as an incentive for the best trainee of the year – he got to keep the Zinda.
It didn't all go smoothly.... here's a 2 million dong rebuild underway up near Sapa, after a crankshaft failure... that's $100...
… and my luggage system wasn’t exactly the best
I should point out that this was my return to biking, after decades of caging it.
I have to say, I'd have preferred a slightly larger bike... and that photo above shows one of the modifications I made... that cushion was a futile attempt to get my arse a bit higher so that the angle at my knees was a bit better. It hurt, riding so far with my knees up around my ears.
and the roads up near Muong Lay weren't that nice... but I have to say, they're heaps better than Laos in the wet season
... but it coped...
No hassles with the cops - the one who did point at me switched to the local I was overtaking when he saw I was a foreigner and pulled him over instead.
The bike, when I got it had a Vmax of about 80 kph with me (120kg... down to 110kg at the end of the trip) and 30kg split across two packs, including laptop and cameras - and after the rebuild, it gradually increased until I managed 115kmh at one stage - see photo below - which was scarier than any 235kmh+ run I've ever done on anything else.
All I can say is that the trip was an absolute hoot. I did the Saigon - Sapa bit in company with a friend who bought a similar bike for $350, which she ended up selling in Hanoi... although I'm not sure that she got a good price for it.
I had to rescue this young damsel in distress in the Cuc Phuong National Park. She and her friend had a flat tyre on their bike, so I gave her a lift about 15k to the park entrance to get help.
I made plenty of friends along the way
This included staying with some Red Dzao people who invited us to stay with them (I was travelling with a couple of Italians at the time)... and one of the absolute highlights of my trips to Asia - a ride down the Mekong from Chau Doc to Can Tho on a banana boat with a lovely Vietnamese family, who didn't speak a word of English - but more on that later.