Devon TRF Group Forum

Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh  February 2013

Our youngest son Nick, having been travelling and working in Oz for the past year invited us to share part of his trip home to the UK. Vietnam was the meeting point, with Nick flying in from Auckland, (hed spent New Year visiting his brother who is living there) and Chris and I from the UK. We met in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) and flew up to Hanoi the next day, where we had arranged to hire a couple of bikes from Mr Phung. It was Chinese New Year so Mr Phung met us at his hole in the wall shop in the backpacker area of Hanoi in his Sunday best suit. The bikes were Honda future 125cc scooters, one set of panniers and two ill- fitting helmets. Nick had already decided that he would buy a bike as he wanted to continue riding towards the UK after we headed home. Mr Phung let him try a Taiwanese built Honda 110cc, but a three day trip East to Ha long bay to see the limestone karst islands proved it was clearly not man enough for the job, and it was exchanged for a genuine Honda 110cc Wave, 66000 kms on the clock when we went back into Hanoi. Our intention originally was to do a loop up to the Chinese border, but the weather was wet and cold, and after some discussion we decided to head south and find some warmth and quieter roads, away from the coast and along the border with Laos, where the infamous Ho Chi Minh trails were to be found.

Mr Phungs parting comment was if you can ride in Vietnam you can ride anywhere, and it certainly was a very different experience being amongst the Vietnamese traffic to trail riding in the UK. Mopeds rule the city streets, and as we were all travelling at the same speed, you sort of ebbed and flowed. Traffic lights have a countdown on them, which seemed very sensible, you could slow on approaching a ten seconds to go red light, and ease through without coming to a stop as it changed to green. There are literally thousands and thousands of people moving about on scooters, carrying all sorts of goods. We saw , but didnt photograph because it all happens pretty fast, people carrying sheets of glass, live pigs, 8x4 sheets of board, enormous suitcases , chickens in baskets, mum dad and two kids, a fridge freezer, just about anything and everything. Out of the Cities, the roads are ruled by the pink buses which tear up and down the country, and these are the ones to watch out for. We often came across a bus overtaking a lorry, which was overtaking a car, which was overtaking several scooters, all on a blind bend, and not surprisingly we also came across many crashed lorries and broken down buses. We decided that actually the safest way to pass four wheeled traffic was usually up the inside, then you could always run off into the field or whatever if need be, but getting squashed between two speeding lunatic bus drivers was just too scary. So the riding was challenging.   

 We still had about two weeks left of our holiday to get to Saigon, which was plenty of time, its 2000km, and you dont want to be rushing all the time. So we directed our wheels south and after a couple of days we were riding on a well  constructed concrete road, but with very little traffic, through hilly jungle landscapes. Food and drink was usually easy to find as there are many roadside stalls and small cafes around the towns and villages, also we had no trouble getting hold of petrol, either from petrol stations or side of the road guys selling fuel from a drum, or in bottles in the more rural areas.

After staying in a couple of medium sized towns our third night while on the road we ended up staying in Tang Ky, a small village, as the light was failing and it really wasnt safe to be riding after dark, with kids, cattle, dogs etc out wandering the roads, and of course the potholes. Chris and I slept on a wooden bed, no mattress,  in a small bar/guest house on one side of the road, and Nick at another one on the other side of the road. Dinner was a freshly killed chicken, rice and beer, and when Chris and I decided that we would head for bed Nick was swiftly involved in card games, dancing and vodka drinking and more, but well let him tell that adventure.

 Our next night was spent in the city of Hue, a city with a nice French colonial atmosphere, lots of temples and  loads of youngsters out in the cafes having fun . We found a nice breakfast of baguettes filled with fried eggs and cheese, optional chillies. The day before we had come across a couple of westerners heading north, but the Australian lad had just come off and mashed his knee up pretty well. We managed to patch him up before recommending the next town along for stitches and cleaning the gravel out of the wound properly I hope he did stop and have it tended to. Those guys were riding in shorts and T shirts, we were wearing jeans and jackets, and although we got hot we felt safer and didnt get raging sunburn.

A short day followed just 100km to Hoi An, a historic town full of western tourists and the accompanying tourist shops.  We had bought some basic tools and a spare tube in Hue, after I had a puncture leaving the hotel, and we suddenly realised that having a puncture out on the country roads was a big possibility, especially as Nick was practicing his wheelies at every opportunity. And of course the next day thats exactly what happened. Chris and Nick managed to get the wheel and tyre off and fix it but the tyre was very worn, so we stopped another 20km further down the road after spotting a small workshop.  A new tyre, tube, and lunch for three was about £10.

The next couple of days heading south we found relatively big towns to stay in, its easy to find hotels, mostly with good wifi and en suite bathrooms. Generally we were paying about £10 a night for a room for the three of us. The traffic got heavier and heavier the further south we went, and I did feel that I needed two brave pills on these days. We got closer to Ho Chi Minh City, and wanted to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, which took some finding, but we had a very interesting tour around them. We were able to go down into some of the tunnels, which were tiny, you had to walk along stooped over and with legs bent, the Vietcong were a lot smaller than us, and they did this deliberately to stop the Americans being able to follow them.  Some of the man traps were gruesome. The area was studded with bomb holes, as the Americans bombed the hell out of the area to stop the Vietcong attacks on the base they had built directly over the tunnels, the Vietcong were able to pop up out of the tunnels and do some damage and then disappear again.

Further north we had visited the longest cave system in  Vietnam , the Thien Duong cave , at times over 100m high, there were relatively few tourists visiting.

We then headed into Saigon, and managed to find our way to district 5 reasonably well, and then pinpointed a hotel after Nick latched onto some free wifi and found where we were on his iphone, photographed it and took us to the hotel he had first stayed in when he arrived. This was a useful technique, and helped us out of trouble a few times.  The next day we dropped our bikes off at Mr Danhs , who would be sending our bikes back up to Hanoi on the train. He was as good as gold, we got all of our deposit back, and arranged for Nicks Honda to have a new piston and clutch fitted at his tiny workshop. There was a handy bar across the street, and I think we probably spent more in there on beers and dinner than it was going to cost for the jobs being done on Nicks bike. It was a relief to have arrived safely, with no major breakdowns or worse, and I was happy to hand my bike back.   

We had a few more days holiday, and went down the Saigon river by hydrofoil to a beach resort. It was hot and windy, but interesting too. The local fishermen have mastered the art of rowing with their feet while dealing with their nets with their hands. Back in Saigon, for a trip up the Saigon Tower, which is amazing for helping you get your bearings around this huge city, also it was Nicks 21^st birthday.

The landscapes in Vietnam are wonderful, theres a lot of history, be it temples or more recent military history you are interested in, lovely people, good food, and once you are there its very cheap. We didnt suffer from any nasty tummy problems, and were ripped off only a couple of times in the main tourist areas, in the countryside we had no problems once we got the hang of the currency. We all had an amazing adventure, and as we still have a lot of Vietnam to see, it is definitely a place I want to go back to.