Vietnam 1st of May??

[ecan]

I'm going to be in Nam in a few weeks and am pricing out some off-road trips out of Hanoi.

Planning on leaving Hanoi on May 1st - riding off the beaten path as much as possible to Sapa - and taking the overnight train back to Hanoi on the morning of May 6th.

Has anyone here done this before? Any locals looking to guide me? Going through a guide is a little pricey but i'm assuming most of the off-road sections are not mapped out and a guide would be nice to have since I would be riding solo.

Right now Flamingo Travel is quoting me at $705 for the trip on a minsk? What do you guys think? I'm leaning towards upgrading to the XR 250.

[LastWalkman]

Hi,

You need help for your off-road trip in Vietnam? pls contact me for free.
I'm manager of Vietnam Dirtbike Travel which is professional in organize offroad tours with dirt bike. However, I work for my riding passion so if you want to travel by yourself I will help to build the best itinerary with awesome roads in North Vietnam. Need tips? Always available for riders
Remmember that it's free. You just invite me a glass of beer after finishing the trip

[ecan]

Originally Posted by LastWalkman

Hi,

You need help for your off-road trip in Vietnam? pls contact me for free.
I'm manager of Vietnam Dirtbike Travel which is professional in organize offroad tours with dirt bike. However, I work for my riding passion so if you want to travel by yourself I will help to build the best itinerary with awesome roads in North Vietnam. Need tips? Always available for riders
Remmember that it's free. You just invite me a glass of beer after finishing the trip

I will absolutely buy you some beers if you can help me out! Do you think I should even consider doing this solo? I'm just a little concerned about getting lost, bike problems, hotels, travel permits into certain areas, not knowing how to speak Vietnamese at all.
I'm leaning towards hiring a guide since I really want to do as much off road riding as possible and I am assuming that most of the trails are not on maps.
Let me know what you think - my little sister is living in Hanoi as an expat - so I have a place to stay in the city. I would like to head out on May 1st - ride to Sapa and be back in Hanoi on May 6th.
I've been emailing around to various travel guides trying to figure out how to do this and not completely break the bank.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[LastWalkman]

Originally Posted by ecan

I will absolutely buy you some beers if you can help me out! Do you think I should even consider doing this solo? I'm just a little concerned about getting lost, bike problems, hotels, travel permits into certain areas, not knowing how to speak Vietnamese at all.
I'm leaning towards hiring a guide since I really want to do as much off road riding as possible and I am assuming that most of the trails are not on maps.
Let me know what you think - my little sister is living in Hanoi as an expat - so I have a place to stay in the city. I would like to head out on May 1st - ride to Sapa and be back in Hanoi on May 6th.
I've been emailing around to various travel guides trying to figure out how to do this and not completely break the bank.
Any advice would be appreciated.

1.Doing solo: Yes, you can do with a very good bike.
2.Getting lost: No, if you follow some steps as below:
- Buy a Vietnam map in Hanoi, it cost about 10-12US$.
- Build a fixed itinerary (I can help you). Remember some key places on trip, it will be useful for asking locals
3. Bike problem:
- Rent a good bike
- Ask owner for spare part and tool (tube; tire; brake: cable, block, lever; clutch: cable, lever)

[LastWalkman]

The cursory of 6 days for North center:
Day 1: Hanoi - Moc chau plateau: light offroad in Old national road number 6 (40km)
Day 2: Moc chau - Ta so - Yen Chau - Son La (50km dirt road or 80km - depends your time) - Bac Yen
Day 3: Bac Yen - Tram Tau - Nghia Lo - Tu Le - Mu Cang Chai (20km dirt road)
Day 4: Mu Cang Chai - Muong La (100km dirt road - cross jungle, river, rock, mud...)
Day 5: Muong La - Sapa
Day 6: Sapa - catch overnight train to Hanoi.

It's one of extreme hard trips for you. I provide this for riding experts who come with high require of dirt road.

[ecan]

Originally Posted by LastWalkman

The cursory of 6 days for North center:
Day 1: Hanoi - Moc chau plateau: light offroad in Old national road number 6 (40km)
Day 2: Moc chau - Ta so - Yen Chau - Son La (50km dirt road or 80km - depends your time) - Bac Yen
Day 3: Bac Yen - Tram Tau - Nghia Lo - Tu Le - Mu Cang Chai (20km dirt road)
Day 4: Mu Cang Chai - Muong La (100km dirt road - cross jungle, river, rock, mud...)
Day 5: Muong La - Sapa
Day 6: Sapa - catch overnight train to Hanoi.

It's one of extreme hard trips for you. I provide this for riding experts who come with high require of dirt road.

That sounds awesome!
Right now I have a quote of $800 for a fully guided trip from Hanoi to Sapa with the train ride home - includes hotels, meals, train ticket, bike and gas. Do you think I should go for this or I am better off on my own?

[LastWalkman]

Originally Posted by ecan

That sounds awesome!
Right now I have a quote of $800 for a fully guided trip from Hanoi to Sapa with the train ride home - includes hotels, meals, train ticket, bike and gas. Do you think I should go for this or I am better off on my own?

If it's private tour with guide ( group of 1 pax), you have to pay at least 1 200$ for tour company, includes guide, meals, train ( sleep bed in cabin of 4 people), dirt bike 250cc and gas.
If you use semi- auto motorcycle, it's cheaper
However, the 800$ is good deal for you.

[The Motorcycle Thing]

I can't advise you on the route, but after doing a trip from Hanoi to Saigon on a Minsk, what I would advise is that you upgrade to a 250cc.

I did the trip with three other lads, and on all but a handful of days, one of the bikes broke down.

Plus, they have little power and wouldn't be much fun off-road.

Cheers,

Joel

[ecan]

Well, I survived!

I know it isn't much compared to many of the rides posted on here. But, here is a link to some footage I put together from my ride through Nam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJXsVx_djjs