Biking through Vietnam - info & Review/Report

Graham_B18C

As the title suggests, I intend on buying a motorbike in Hanoi and heading south to Ho Chi Minh on a bike.

My main concern is that there's two of us and my girlfriend won't ride a bike. Is there anyone that can give me some tips on the best way to get two people and two bags on a bike (2 x75L bags)? I can't seem to find any info on this. I can see plenty of people recommending Minscs and Honda GL160s. I have a bag of cable ties so I'm happy enough to tie the bags to the side.

I'm only looking for tips and advice on what bike to get and how to get the two bags on board, please don't reply to tell me this trip can't be done due to legal reasons, I'll sort all that out when I arrive

Oranage2

seen many people do it on a Honda win, get the back rack modified so its longer and it'll carry 2 bags, tie them on with cable ties, looks at Craigslist Vietnam for bikes. Get good helmets too.

edit- bungy cords, not cable ties.

Tipperary animal lover

You know you won't be covered with insurance because you won't/can't get a licence for vietnam. But have seen many people driving around vietnam so just be careful.

solerina

Good luck...because really the concept of rules of the road dont exist....they drive like maniacs over there....but Id imagine you will have a great time !!

Theresalwaysone

Can put you in touch with sweet trustworthy people in Hanoi to help sort you out with a bike if you need.

Minsk would be the ideal bike for this , big, strong and powerful with two on board. Honda Wins are a load of balls but if anything happens getting them fixed is easy given their abundance.

Graham_B18C

It's still up in the air tbh, I'll have to see how herself feels about it when we arrive! Thanks for the tips everyone!

Tipperary animal lover

If ye do decide to bike vietnam, stick to the minor roads stay away from the highways, the highways full of trucks buses and the like, there's a lot of accidents, drivers falling asleep at the wheel, so just be careful. We've used bikes everytime we go but not in long journeys. Enjoy it's a brilliant country.

Oranage2

Graham_B18C wrote: »

It's still up in the air tbh, I'll have to see how herself feels about it when we arrive! Thanks for the tips everyone!

How long are you planning to go?

Graham_B18C

Oranage2 wrote: »

How long are you planning to go?

We land in Hanoi on June 16th, have until then until July 23rd to be in Koh Phangnan. We want to spend about 2 weeks in Cambodia so roughly have 3 weeks in Vietnam

Oranage2

Graham_B18C wrote: »

We land in Hanoi on June 16th, have until then until July 23rd to be in Koh Phangnan. We want to spend about 2 weeks in Cambodia so roughly have 3 weeks in Vietnam

youll be rushing it a little in 3 weeks but it'll be amazing to do anyway, if you're only planning to go to siam reep and phnom penh then you could easily do That in a week, and the 3 days before full moon party are more fun I definitely wouldn't miss that.

Graham_B18C

Oranage2 wrote: »

youll be rushing it a little in 3 weeks but it'll be amazing to do anyway, if you're only planning to go to siam reep and phnom penh then you could easily do That in a week, and the 3 days before full moon party are more fun I definitely wouldn't miss that.

I've spoken to lots of people that got through Vietnam in less than 3 weeks, some took up to 4 or 5 but they seemed to be taking it very slow. If we ain't biking then we plan on doing Halong Bay and maybe Sapa from Hanoi then heading to Hue, HCM and Mekong Delta, I reckon we'll be ok! We may be able to take a few days from Cambodia if we wanna slow down.

I wanna go to sihanoukville while in Cambodia also, maybe 3 or 4 days, then just a day or two in Phnom Penn, another day in Siem Reap and Angor Watt. So yeah...we have almost 4 weeks in Vietnam

Third_Echelon

Graham_B18C wrote: »

I've spoken to lots of people that got through Vietnam in less than 3 weeks, some took up to 4 or 5 but they seemed to be taking it very slow. If we ain't biking then we plan on doing Halong Bay and maybe Sapa from Hanoi then heading to Hue, HCM and Mekong Delta, I reckon we'll be ok! We may be able to take a few days from Cambodia if we wanna slow down.

I wanna go to sihanoukville while in Cambodia also, maybe 3 or 4 days, then just a day or two in Phnom Penn, another day in Siem Reap and Angor Watt. So yeah...we have almost 4 weeks in Vietnam

Halong Bay and Sapa were two of my favourite places in the North.. Sapa was spectacular. Make sure you stop in Hoi An on the way down the coast for a day or two. One of the nicest places I've ever been!

Graham_B18C

Third_Echelon wrote: »

Halong Bay and Sapa were two of my favourite places in the North.. Sapa was spectacular. Make sure you stop in Hoi An on the way down the coast for a day or two. One of the nicest places I've ever been!

Yep, Hoi An is another place on the list. Really looking forward to Vietnam now! Few days left to enjoy in Thailand still!

Tipperary animal lover

Your leaving out hoi-an danang nha trang dalat and Phu quoc island(much nicer than Sihanoukville which is a sihthole). Outside of Phnom Penh and Angkor watt Cambodia is bypassable.

Theresalwaysone

Vietnam is a whole different ball game. I would be very excited if I was you.

Enjoy it. Im very jealous.

DieselPowered

Graham_B18C wrote: »

As the title suggests, I intend on buying a motorbike in Hanoi and heading south to Ho Chi Minh on a bike.

I'm so glad I've come across this thread . Next year I would like to do the same, only from South to North, Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi, (Same as the Top Gear expedition) or also looking at Thailand - Bangkok to Phuket. Didn't really start working it out yet, but have a general plan in mind, it will be on a Honda Cub or equivalent, not much bigger. Plenty of them to be got over there.

Graham_B18C

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

Your leaving out hoi-an danang nha trang dalat and Phu quoc island(much nicer than Sihanoukville which is a sihthole). Outside of Phnom Penh and Angkor watt Cambodia is bypassable.

'twas a quick post earlier, most of the places you mentioned will be after Hue for us, a definite plan for Vietnam has yet to be made. It'll be made along the way.

You're the first person to say that about Sihanoukville too...and I've met a lot of people that have gone to Cambodia over the last week while in Thailand! Strokes for folks and all that, we're skipping Laos because it doesn't tick many boxes for us and others will call me mad for wanting to go to the full moon party rather than visit Laos

Graham_B18C

Oh and an update on the biking plan, walking through Chiang Mai tonight we walked past a couple limping along, the dude was ripped to pieces, bandages between all fingers on one hand and serious scars on his leg, the girl wasn't so bad but had a nasty cut down her face (bad scars that ain't gonna go away). Clearly came off a bike together. It's really made me reconsider the motorbike in Vietnam. If I was with another lad I'd do it but I ain't sure I wanna be responsible for herself on my bike.

If we can get a bike with a sidecar though...!

Graham_B18C

DieselPowered wrote: »

I'm so glad I've come across this thread . Next year I would like to do the same, only from South to North, Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi, (Same as the Top Gear expedition) or also looking at Thailand - Bangkok to Phuket. Didn't really start working it out yet, but have a general plan in mind, it will be on a Honda Cub or equivalent, not much bigger. Plenty of them to be got over there.

As I said in my previous post, if I was doing it with one of my mates I'd do it in a heartbeat on a bike each!

Tipperary animal lover

Agree with them about Laos a beautiful country and the fullmoon party is a load of **** (full of gap year students pisst and watch your belongings and drinks) you'll have a better beach party in nha trang in the sailing club if you hit it on the right night and way cheaper beer .... I'm very biased towards vietnam cos its fantastic its like what Thailand used to be 10/15 years ago... But look what ever ye do enjoy...

Oranage2

Graham_B18C wrote: »

Oh and an update on the biking plan, walking through Chiang Mai tonight we walked past a couple limping along, the dude was ripped to pieces, bandages between all fingers on one hand and serious scars on his leg, the girl wasn't so bad but had a nasty cut down her face (bad scars that ain't gonna go away). Clearly came off a bike together. It's really made me reconsider the motorbike in Vietnam. If I was with another lad I'd do it but I ain't sure I wanna be responsible for herself on my bike.

If we can get a bike with a sidecar though...!

Its not a major loss not biking it, it becomes a bit of a chore driving 4-8 hours to get to the next town, I doubt it would be that much fun for your girl friend either just sitting there.

I liked shounikiville, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go if I was on a tight schedule, nicer beaches in Thailand and Vietnam, I just liked the rawness of it.

everybody has a different opinion of what traveling is so just do what you think is best.

Graham_B18C

We'll be in Vietnam before Cambodia so if we feel we're getting our fill of lovely beaches then we may not bother. We're planning on going a Padi course in Koh Tao also so there'll be plenty of beaches to see there. Ah, we're going with the flow so we'll just see how it goes!

I've done a massive amount of motorbiking around VN and am actually in the middle of my fifth trip in the north. My advice to everyone now is forget about the Hn-Hcm journey and spend 10 days north and west of Hanoi. Then fly down to da nang.

The entire middle and south of the country are very tame and boring compared to the mountains up north. It's nice to say that you drove the country and I'm glad I did it but there's a very good reason that myself and every other expat don't go south of hanoi on our trips.

PM or post here if ya have any questions.

Graham_B18C

Deleted User wrote: »

I've done a massive amount of motorbiking around VN and am actually in the middle of my fifth trip in the north. My advice to everyone now is forget about the Hn-Hcm journey and spend 10 days north and west of Hanoi. Then fly down to da nang.

The entire middle and south of the country are very tame and boring compared to the mountains up north. It's nice to say that you drove the country and I'm glad I did it but there's a very good reason that myself and every other expat don't go south of hanoi on our trips.

PM or post here if ya have any questions.

Aye, as I've said we'll be getting a train (if the bikes don't work out) from Hanoi to Hue, which cuts out a huge amount of the country, simply because every town/city on the way doesn't seem worth stoping at giving our time!

Theresalwaysone

Post Ads by Google is spot on.

Hit up Mafia Country in Mai Chau, visit Dien Bien Phu. Real close to Hanoi is Ba Vi National park and the surrounding area is really cool. Nam Et and Cuoc Phuong National Park as well.

You can prob do all those with the exception of Dien Bien Phu and Nam et as a day trip from Hanoi as well.

Graham_B18C

Small update on this. Arrived in Vietnam this morning and had a wander around Hanoi. Love the place so far, the people seem very warm and friendly! The biking idea has been scrapped though. Have our overnight train booked for tomorrow evening to Sapa. Have a place booked for two nights (Casablanca Hotel) but may well extend our stay there for another night or two. Looking at the pics on the hotels site of the views from the rooms looks absolutely incredible, really can't wait to get there now! Going to check out the war museum and try do some sort of walking tour tomorrow afternoon before our train.

The plan after Sapa is to head back to Hanoi on an overnighter and get a bus and Ferry to Cat Ba. Going to do Halong Bay independently as the cruises seem expensive enough and we've heard a lot of them are practically booze cruises. We've enough places to be drinking on the trip so I wanna enjoy these places without a hangover! Also the idea of kiacking around the bay really appeals to me!

Depending on how much time we spend in Sapa and Halong will dictate where we go after. If we feel we've enough time then we will check out some of the National Parks mentioned in this thread but if not we're going to get a train all the way to Da Nang and start our adventure of the south from there!

Tipperary animal lover

Great to here it's going good so far keep us posted, it's one of my favourite places to travel in....

Graham_B18C

Graham_B18C wrote: »

Small update on this. Arrived in Vietnam this morning and had a wander around Hanoi. Love the place so far, the people seem very warm and friendly! The biking idea has been scrapped though. Have our overnight train booked for tomorrow evening to Sapa. Have a place booked for two nights (Casablanca Hotel) but may well extend our stay there for another night or two. Looking at the pics on the hotels site of the views from the rooms looks absolutely incredible, really can't wait to get there now! Going to check out the war museum and try do some sort of walking tour tomorrow afternoon before our train.

The plan after Sapa is to head back to Hanoi on an overnighter and get a bus and Ferry to Cat Ba. Going to do Halong Bay independently as the cruises seem expensive enough and we've heard a lot of them are practically booze cruises. We've enough places to be drinking on the trip so I wanna enjoy these places without a hangover! Also the idea of kiacking around the bay really appeals to me!

Depending on how much time we spend in Sapa and Halong will dictate where we go after. If we feel we've enough time then we will check out some of the National Parks mentioned in this thread but if not we're going to get a train all the way to Da Nang and start our adventure of the south from there!

Ya were hardly on the phone yesterday chattin to an Irish guy about motorbike trip advice? My mate works in the backpackers and wanted me to help an Irish guy who just got to hanoi.

Graham_B18C

Deleted User wrote: »

Ya were hardly on the phone yesterday chattin to an Irish guy about motorbike trip advice? My mate works in the backpackers and wanted me to help an Irish guy who just got to hanoi.

Nah wasn't me! Haven't seen one Irish person since we arrived in Hanoi funnily enough.

The bloody Army Museum is closed on Mondays and Fridays too :mad: so never got to see it. After Sapa we may stay here for another day and try get to see it

Graham_B18C

Quick update on the travels, visited Sapa for a few days from Hanoi then on to Cat Ba, was a bit of a disaster getting there though because a Typhoon was hitting the island the day we tried to go (last Sunday) ended up going back to Hanoi and got to the Army Museum this time and the water puppet show (Christ it was boring ) then we got to Cat Ba on Wednesday, only thing we really done there was a Halong Bay One day cruise then we headed on to Ninh Binh, rented out motorbikes and saw some very cool stuff there, took a boat down the Sao Che river in Trang An, visited Mua cave and a few Pagodas then got an overnight bus to Hue.

Rented another bike there and visited the beach and drove a loop around the Lagoon. Was just a one day stop there too before heading to Da Nang. Da Nang was probably my least favourite part of Vietnam so far, the weather didn't help but I just wasn't a fan. Just stayed there for a day also before arriving in Hoi An yesterday. I absolutely love this place! It's just gorgeous! And draught beer for 3000 dong, I'm in heaven!

But due to time restraints we're powering straight to HCMC on Friday night and staying there for two nights before hitting Cambodia! I've a thread in Travel reviews on the whole trip that I'll update with Vietnam in much more detail than this with pics and stuff in the next couple of days but I just thought I'd pop in here to let y'all know how it's going!