:: Vietnam by Motorcycle - or by the Bikers

About 7 days riding.

Not too long but 7 days are great for your to explore North Western of Vietnam.
March will be end of Spring there, chilli and wet. Make sure you are well prepared for that.

@aki: Below is the tracklog from a buddy - BrianBKK, living in Thailand but traveled Northwestern of Vietnam for 5 days, around 1,000km, from Hanoi.

Without getting all whiny over life,if my relationship takes a turn for the worse,I am considering spending a year in Thailand and exploring the area on 2 wheels.If I like it enough,I may expat.

Howdy, and sorry for my late response.
Pls see my comments in Orange

Hope that helps.

GOOD NEWS for all big bike riders in Vietnam:

Effective from 01March2014, Circular 38/2013/TT-BGTVT allows very much more flexibility to all A2 license applicants.
According to mentioned Circular, requirement of the A2 will be pretty the same as requirement of the A1, and presume anyone (Vietnamese or resident Foreigners) can apply for the A2 without any concerns.

• A1 is license for bikes <= 175cc.
• A2 is license for bikes >175cc.

Below is something about the previous requirements, now no more.

Firstly thanks for you response.

Regarding the questions I asked, as reading back on them I was not very clear.

1) I was asking about what to watch out when buying a bike. As in, what are the typical flaws that arise in a badly looked after Honda Win. When I am buying a bike over there for my trip (I know this is illegal), I want to make sure that I get good bike. What should I check for in particular with Vietnamese Honda Wins? Or what parts should I check before purchasing the bike?

3) I was wondering could you recommend a good reliable mechanic who can carry out this work before I get on my way in HCMC who will not rip me off? If I go into any mechanic I know they will me as a walking $$$ :)

5) I know it will be easy to find the book over there. I cannot however, find a place to but the book online? Could you give me a link to a website. I have tried googling the name etc with no luck.

6) I want to use gmaps when I am over there, how much does data cost on vietnamese 3G though? Wil it be practical for me to purchase a vietnamese sim card and buy data?

7) I will only be using my Iphone (gmaps) and the street map. Any tips on how to best navigate my way using these?

again thanks for your help

Wow ... lots of info nice job ! I'm just back from Vietnam , was there a month . North to South with a huge mix of different travel . But by far a 5 day north west loop with a guy named Cuong was the best !! been travelling for 10 yrs and if that wasn't the best tour it was really close !
http://cuongs-motorbike-adventure.com/

Check him out Viethorse he is a Solid guy ! ( also for the guy asking about minsk bikes Cuong has about 90 and its his passion )

I want to put in a good word for going to Vietnam. I recently travelled through North West Vietnam in a van with my family for 2 weeks and I was jones-ing for a bike to ride the entire time! (Well maybe not in Ha Noi itself as the traffice is kind of crazy!). The scenery, people and roads were fantastic (well the road conditions were not always great, but they are great biking roads!)! I did rent a scooter for a day and rode up a trail into the mountains to visit a tea plantation and a Hmong village which was great. In the very rural areas people are shy but friendly, it is very safe (no crime), the food is great, prices (by US standards) are very low. You do need to have some basic language skills to communicate with "locals"; hotel staff all had some English. Friends here asked me about encountering "anti-American sentiment": my experience was there was NONE; quite the opposite, everyone greeted us warmly and seemed excited we were Americans. We did a home-stay with a family who had a son killed in the "American war", and we were treated incredibly kindly! My family has travelled extensively and we all loved every minute of our time there. Both of my young adult daughters said they would like to go live in North Vietnam someday! I am planning to return on a bike as soon as my time and finances allow!!

Bay gio toi Narita Airport,,,toi se di Ton San Nhut Diem nay....va di Quy Nhon 4 February.
Hope to touch base with you this time...
Your phone # and address /e-mail would be appreciated....
Xin tra loi


Onh Manh :>)

PMed you my cell # and email address already.
Will be back in HCMC by 4th Feb. Hope we can meet.

"5) Any links to a place to buy paperback maps (I know of the garmin link)
VH: Simple paper maps (good enough) are easy to find at any book stores. At HCMC or HN, and if you plan to ride along Vietnam, I recommend to buy the Vietnam traffic map book. It's the whole Vietnam traffic map which is really useful and should be in your backpack before traveling to Vietnam.
List price: VN&#272;315,000.00 (~ US$15.00)"

VH,

Know of a place to buy this mapbook online and have it shipped to the US?

Thanks,

Tom

Hi Tom,

I don't know any link where you can buy it online. And I don't think it is available.
If you really need it, I can check the rate of shipping with the Post Office then go to the bookstore and buy then send to you.

VH,

Thanks for your more than generous offer to do that, but I think I'll just wait til I'm certain I'm going. Another question, is there any opportunity to ride way south into the Mekong Delta? Places like Can Tho, Vung Tau, Moc Hoa and Chau Doc. Everyone seems to stop at HCMC, or maybe a little farther. All the way to the southern tip interests me.

Thank you and ride safe,

Tom

Shoot me a PM anytime for that if you firm on your trip.
I am not really clear about your question.
However, if your first landing place is HCMC then you can easily ride to Mekong delta area.
Or if you land at Hanoi first, then ride southward, you should pass HCMC anyway. It's sort of a refresh rest stop for you to top-up cash from ATM , get proper wash, get your bike properly serviced or see the motorcycle crowd which is not easy to see around the world.
I have some reports to the southern area, which you may find from previous page.

Don't know why I can't EDIT or QUOTE my PREVIOUS post HERE.
So that why I have to copy and make NEW post as below to add more link:

---------------


Now, below is all of MY property on ADV:

III.1. VFR800 Interceptor with a short ride in a day: LINK

III.2. Vietnam - ACE MTSG group - 200miles for a day to the seaside for biker meet: LINK

III.3. Vietnam: Viethorse's return in a beautiful Sunday :): LINK

III.4. Viethorse & TonyBKK ride Bangkok-Khao Yai National Park-Wang Nam Kiao loop: LINK

III.5. VFR800 Interceptor in Vietnam - Day trip for explore new roads: LINK

III.6. Viethorse experienced riding Texas and Smoky Mountai: LINK

III.7. VFR800 Interceptor and ACE MTSG with weekend Dalat tour: LINK

III.8. Wekend HORSEs ride: LINK

III.9. PROJECT : Honda CX650 Café Racer in Vietnam: LINK

III.10. Vietnam Adventure - not quite, but it's somehow a new beginning: LINK

III.11. Vietnam Adventure - Chasing up the rain: LINK

III. 12. 4 Nation ride - Vietnam - Cambodia - Laos - Thailand: LINK.

III. 13. Vietnam - A taste of everything: LINK

III. 14. TBA...

Hi Viethorse, Looking at a small group trip from HCMC to Hanoi on 200cc bikes. I saw your post earlier about the licences.
Can you get a licence without being there 3 months as they don't appear to recognise International ones?
Concern I have is getting travel insurance from my end ( New Zealand).
Cheers John

Hi John,
For the A1 license (<175cc) - "may be" they can do (kinda backdoor work).
For the A2 license (175cc and above) - not for now. I 've just checked with an officer who currently working in a Driving training Agent, he said that there must be 03 months as the law.
For the Car license - you just walk-in and apply for a conversion to an equivalent Vietnam Driver license.

Small ADV world.
Too much information, Woody.
Till the next time we meet.

Thanks for taking the time to meet n chat,,,,looking forward to meeting again either here or on your turf....

Ong Manh/ Woody