Currently in Laos, just finished a great 6 weeks riding around Vietnam. My advice is if you only have 1 month focus on Northern Vietnam, if you have longer the whole country was pretty awesome. Here is my report thus far, thanks for checking it out.

So it all started with a 2 year trip in my Chevy Astro Van south of the border. Then I did a 3 week fly n ride moto vacation in Thailand, and a 3 week fly n ride moto vacation in Ecuador. This time I was looking to take the van back down south, but half way through repairs I found out I had eczema which had my skin pretty much melting off my fingers due to all the chemicals. Due to this, I parked the van, and grabbed a flight to backpack S.E.Asia, but don't worry, my hands got better so on a whim I bought a motorcycle, this is an overland travel report. If you want to see the previous trips they can be found in the threads below, otherwise get ready for Vietnam, I have already paid a bribe, been left stranded with a crappy Chinese motorcycle twice, and still have at least 1 more week up near the Chinese border, and IF things go well I might even take the bike into Laos and Cambodia, but I make no promises.

2Guys1Truck: Astro Van through Central and South America March 2012
Honda CRF250: A Tale of Highs and Low(sides): 3 Week Moto Adventure Northern Thailand
And the Earth Shook: My 3 Week Motorcycle Adventure in Ecuador

I flew into Southern Vietnam, specifically Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, the city goes by both names depending on who you talk to. I had no real plans or itinerary, just figured I would get tips from other travelers as I worked my way North, the backpacker trail is well worn here. The city is full of people, noise, and great food, nothing boring about this place, in your face Singapore.






To get into Vietnam there are couple options regarding visas, and Americans MUST get a visa prior to just showing up, even if it is still a visa on arrival. Rules and regulations constantly change, and I am far from an expert, so do your homework. 1st, if you think you may pick up a motorcycle to take into Laos or Cambodia, DO NOT go with the "evisa" option. You can also get one ahead of time by stopping by an embassy, but I chose to go online and then pick it up on arrival. This only works if you are flying in, not at the land borders, for that you will need an embassy I believe. I myself used an online agent, of course I have since deleted the emails so do not know who I used or how much it was. The general process consisted of paying them to get me an approval letter, I chose a 3 month multi-entry visa in case I needed to leave and come back, but figured 1 month would not be enough. I don't recall how much the agency charged, but go with one that is reliable, as there used to be a problem with scams in the past...I will see if I can find it in a credit card statement. You have to pick your entry day, you cannot enter prior to this date, but can arrive any day after that date. In my case since I showed up 2 months after it, I only had 1 month remaining as the clock will start regardless to what day you show up. Once this letter was emailed to me, I had to bring this letter, along with the arrival form (Link provided) I previously filled out to save time, and 2 passport photos up to the counter, just follow everyone getting off the plane, this is prior to the customs or baggage pickup. I gave them my paperwork and sat and waited for 15-30 minutes. Then you will have to pay, so make sure you bring some US dollars with you, for a 30 day multi entry I had to pay 50 USD for the stamp, I think a 1 month is 25, but verify. After that you can clear customs just like any other airport.

Hotels and hostels are plentiful in the city, so I exited the airport and took the yellow bus (Bus 109) for a whopping 0.80 cents from the airport to the last stop which is a bus station located in district 1, where everyone stays. I grabbed a hostel in an alley off the main strip, which helps keep things a bit quieter than staying on the main streets of Bui Vien and Pham Ngo Lao. There are plenty of bars and restaurants located here, and things are in walking distance, though I am sure there would be better locations within the city if you want to get away from this type of crowd, it is definitely backpacker central here. Luckily there was a great group at the hostel I stayed at, probably true of most in the area. Every night about 10 of us from around the globe would go grab some dinner, and possibly too many drinks, so I stayed in the city for a day or so longer than planned. The problem with this group, was that there was a Canadian who had driven a motorbike down from Northern Vietnam, his buddy had ditched him temporarily for the Vietnamese chick he had picked up, so when he and I would hang out he was unknowingly rubbing the moto trip in my face.







I skipped most of the tourist stuff, heard mixed reviews of the Mekong Delta tour, as well as the Cu Chi tunnels, so said no thanks. I did go to the war museum, and ht up the local market where someone taught the locals a few key phrases. Every stall sold the same crap, and they all said the same thing, "Hello sir, would you like to buy a shirt". "Hello sir, what are you looking for", it was like walking through a pet shop full of parrots. Somehow a lunch turned into a Heineken tour, even though I don't like Heineken, but it included an observation deck to view the city, and a few free s so I followed along. The tour was strange, they had a virtual reality presentation thing that was completely unnecessary, Foosball, pictures with virtual backgrounds, and a DJ table which I did jump on to get the party started...basically the corporate aholes sat down and said how can we drag this out for an hour before giving them . They did give a personalized bottle of , and while I thought I was being clever when I wrote my name as "Wiley Washere", they must have seen this trick before as they even added the space for me. We finally got to drink and relax in the bar, and then after that we left and ended up at a couple more bars. Eventually we even ended up at some club the Vietnamese girl the Canadian was with dragged us to, but for some reason they didn't let me get on the tables and spin the wax. Otherwise I just explored the city, and ate lots of cheap food, which I prefer to the tourist stuff anyway.







The stories of biking across Vietnam were haunting me, so on one of the days I swung by a shop to check out options, but in the end didn't buy/rent anything. I later mentioned this to the Canadian and he said his friend probably hadn't even tried to sell his yet since he had been distracted with his Vietnamese girl, so a few texts were sent and 20 minutes later I now owned bike number 3.



Now most motorcyclists fill their garage with motorcycles, but not me, I buy and strategically place them around the world. I have my main one in Socal to enjoy Cali and Mexico, another stored in Colombia for the rare trip back to S. America, and now a bike in Vietnam. Why Vietnam, well buying a bike in Vietnam is easy as there are constantly travelers going back and forth between HCMC and Hanoi, selling crappy Chinese knock-offs that have probably exchanged owners at least 1000 times each, and sure to break down. All you need to do is hand them cash in exchange for the "blue card" you do not need to register or associate the bike to your name in any way, which is why I can just give it away if things go bad. The added benefit of owning a Vietnamese plated bike is that it is easier to get them out of the country, in case I decide to push on into Laos and Cambodia. Thailand used to also be easy to get into though that has changed, but I have been there done that, so hoping to just get Laos and Cambodia if anything. Now it was time to figure out how to get myself and this Chinese crap bike out of this city, traffic is a nightmare, and since I didn't bring my GPS, I had to use my phone, which meant driving a few minutes, pulling over to see I had missed a turn, and repeating. Finally...the adventure I had been looking for.

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2 years driving through Mexico, Central America, and Colombia and I paid 0 bribes, 1 Hour driving in Vietnam and I am already losing the battle. Oh well, 20 bucks let me keep my bike, I think it was worth it.



Now, I am not claiming to be a master at avoiding bribes, but they certainly tried to get my money when I was south of the border. Even when 2 Colombian cops stopped me and tried to sweat me out for 30 or so minutes, 1 of them making a slicing motion across his throat while telling me "I was in big trouble", I never wavered.....but this time was different, this time I was unprepared.









As I had purchased the bike on a whim I had done no research on Moto travel within Vietnam for this trip, though it has been on my list of potential adventures so had previously looked into some of the aspects of it, but after buying the actual bike, I had no idea how to proceed, or much of what lay ahead for me. Since traffic is on a another level in Saigon, I did some quick googling looking for the best way out of the city and read by heading north, rather than east, I could avoid some of the heavy traffic, as well as the corrupt cops that lie in between Saigon and Mui Ne. This would give me about 2 hours of heavy traffic as opposed to 4, and since I had no plans to go to Mui Ne would minimize any cop related issues. I did bring an international drivers license just in case I rented a bike in any of these countries, but I do not believe Vietnam recognizes these, there is a lot of confusion about it online, they seem to simply look the other way when it comes to foreigners on to wheels.





I headed North towards Cat Tien, leaving Saigon around 10am, as I had read traffic would not be bad since rush hour was coming to an end. 1 of many problems with the bike is that there is no speedomoter, so I cannot really say that I wasn't speeding, but it was obvious why I was pulled over from the start. I had started to pull over to the side of the road as I saw what I thought were food vendors setup down the road, and wanted to check my GPS since I am using my phone, and need to take it out of my pocket and check it every few minutes in the city traffic. This obviously resulted in me SLOWING DOWN, but I then see it is a police check point, so I quickly put my blinker on and return to the main flow of traffic hoping to blend in, which clearly did not work.





I saw a cop get excited and wave his baton around indicating for me to pull over, oh shit. He tells me I was speeding and I instantly argue, dammit I shouldn't have spoke English now he knows we can communicate, I am clearly out of practice for this. Again I was slowing down, so I was a bit pissed that this cop was clearly going to bribe me. He tell me "Vietnamese license", something I obviously do not have, but I grab my international license telling him it's "international". He doesn't object as he looks it over, but I didn't get the impression he cared since he kept telling me it was 55kph. I agree telling him yes, 45 pointing to my bike since they don't use radar guns, but again he doesn't care. In less than two minutes he makes it clear why he pulled me over...."monies, you go".

Again I don't know if this license had any weight, or what a Vietnamese jail is like, so I keep asking myself why I am arguing with him, but I cannot stop. To keep this easy we will just go with USD, he tells me he wants 128USD. I immediately laugh, state a firm no, and low ball him and counter with 4.30USD, I didn't necessarily mean to go that low but when I threw out the amount in Dong, it took me a second to calculate what it was equivalent to but then stuck to my guns. "NO, 128USD" he demanded. "No, 4.30USD", I am being pretty blatant with my No's. Sometimes I counter with "I am not paying", and eventually he threatens to keep my license. I should have acted like I was upset by this, but he could tell I didn't care. He lowers to 85USD, so I play the game and bump my offer up to 6.45 haha. He gets mad, counters, and I drop it back down to 4.30. That really pissed him off, so he threatens to take my bike. This is all going on while we stand next to a flat bed truck, so I am asking myself if this is a bluff, or if my bike will end up in the back only 1 hour after its maiden voyage. Meanwhile there are about 10 other cops pulling over locals left and right, they come and go quickly, it is quite the spectacle, but I am too preoccupied to see who is actually paying money, but it looks like everyone is getting shaken down.





I eventually tell him no and sit on my bike indicating I am done playing his game, this really pisses him off. I think I could have used these tactics to my advantage as they do not want people seeing what they are up to, but really I have no idea how far I can push him, so listen to him when he tells me to get off the bike and come back over to him. At this time, a cop pulls over someone else, and in true stereotypical fashion, a scooter driven by an Asian comes barreling in, almost colliding with 2 other cops. 1 of the cops gets pissed, and swings his baton at the guy. I can't tell if he was trying to hit him or just scare him, but decide maybe I should pay the bribe and get the F out of here, as he looked pretty serious. I work my way to 20USD, which is probably still to high, and ignore his gesture to be nonchalant, pulling the bill from my wallet, holding it up for all to see verifying the amount as if I do not know what 500,000 dong is equivalent to, "500 yes??". Again, he gets pissed, but gets my money and tells me "you go now, you go". I slowly pack my bag up, taking my sweet as time, and pull out revving that little bike as much as it would go, looking down at my shifter acting like it was stuck as I pull away. In hindsight I am actually surprised I didn't find out what that baton felt like.

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I get to Cat Tien in the afternoon, and word must have spread about the shakedown, as soon as I check in the woman running the hotel I stayed at gave me some cake! Ok, so it might have been her birthday, but the cake was delicious aside from the candle chunk I found inside. There was an Aussie guy with a German girl, so we took off for some dinner. These two picked up bikes having little to no experience between the 2 of them. Now I wont harp on it after this, but I have met way too many people doing this. Vietnam is heavily populated, things are hectic, they do not drive well, constantly pull out in front of you, and the buses and trucks do not care about the motorcyclists. Luckily everyone drives very slowly, but Vietnam really is not a place to be learning how to ride, I strongly suggest you rent a bike at home so you can focus on the bike and driving, without all the added challenges.



Cat Tien is a national park, but I had no plans on checking it out, so the next day I take off headed to De Lat, all I know about that place is it is located in the mountains, and is known for it's nice cool climate, YES! Vietnam has been hot, so I could use the change. I didn't leave super early, so with lunch, and stopping for photos I get in around 4pm. Traffic was crazy in the city, turned out all the students were off so everyone had headed to town for some partying. I do not know how it is normally, but it was crazy the day I got in. To add to the chaos, there are lots of roundabouts, and I do not have a clue where I should be going. I grab a hostel and am not impressed with De Lat at all, but the hostel was good, and I signed up for the "family dinner". They cooked those of us who signed up a nice meal, and we all got to know each other. Everyone is going to go out for drinks, quite excited for it, but I am a bit tired so decline, asking myself why these people are so gung ho to go out on a Sunday. I was still hungry after the meal so went walking for food, when I found a large area where they had closed off the streets, full of people, vendors, and food. I am looking at a pizza treat of some sort I have not seen previously debating if I should try it, when some guys from Saigon who can speak a bit of English tell me it's good, and to try it out. They tell me the price so now that I know I am not going to get ripped off I sit down and enjoy the tasty treat. They give me the low down on some things about Vietnam, and I eventually leave them to go find desert. I walk around a bit s De Lat starts to grow on me. I go back to the hostel ready for bed and find it empty aside from the person at reception, literally everyone has gone out, savages. Well of course as has happened all to often in my previous travels I was off on my days, as it was Saturday night, which is why everyone wanted to go out so I missed out, oh well.











From De Lat I head to Nha Trang..."Russians". Well, that is the 1st word I hear anytime anyone mentions Nha Trang, which is a popular destination for Russian and Chinese tourists. Everything I read says to skip it, I even got a tip or two on where I could go instead from people at the De Lat family dinner, but I wanted to check it out. Plus the drive there took me over a pass where I got my 1st real taste of Vietnam's spectacular scenery. The previous days were fine, but nothing special, the pass, while brief, was great, and offered many photo opportunities, especially for newly weds apparently. After some nice mountain roads I arrived in Nha Trang a bit early, so it wasn't a terrible long day. I grabbed a hostel, and naturally went out for food. I grabbed myself a delicious burger, and I do not regret it! Vietnamese food is fantastic, but sometimes, you need some comfort food, and anytime I finish a ride here in Vietnam I find myself craving burgers, and a good one is hard to find here. I searched for a burger place since it is a large city, and when I saw so many positive google reviews I knew where I was headed. I then walked the boardwalk, and just kind of wandered around. I didn't mind Nha Trang, and there are some beautiful Russian women which is a nice plus. It also looked like it would have a decent night life, but I didn't check it out, so just used it as a stopping place, something I do for most of Vietnam as that visa clock is always ticking.

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The next day was a long drive, as I wanted to drive the ninh van bay peninsula to check out the recommendation from the family dinner group before continuing up the coast. I had read it was great back in the day as well, but now it kind of sucks. The drive out was a waste of my time, I only recommend it if you do not want to go to Nha Trang, and stay the night at the end of the peninsula....but to drive there and back round trip was a complete waste, and the area itself is filling up with resorts and condos, so has lots of construction going on...sadly I have missed the window on this place, which seems true for most of coastal Vietnam. Everywhere that was worth checking out at some point is now being over run with construction and tourists. Of course I live at the beach, so it is tough for me to get excited about them, maybe you will love them, but I wasn't feeling it, but still had another day or two of the coastal route I planned to follow. I then continued North which took me through some nice looking areas with fishing villages, passed blue ocean waters, and a good portion of boring old flat highway, until finally arriving in Qui Nhon late in the evening.











Qui Nhon was nice enough, a good sized small city, which people use as a base to check out beaches around the area. I only spent the night, and pushed on towards Kon Tum, as it was time to leave the coast and start ridding in the mountains, where I constantly read the real fun begins. This is where I will pick up the legendary Ho Chi Minh Highway, a system of roads which connect the Southern city of Saigon with the Northern city of Hanoi, and possibly goes all the way to China present day. This road runs through the mountains which border Cambodia/Laos, and played a crucial role in the "America/Vietnam War", but more importantly, had some great twisties and scenery for motorcycle riders. I could have picked it up sooner, but wanted to see what the beach scene was all about. I enjoyed the places I hit up, but would probably forgo them next time, but they were not bad in any way. I also plan on heading back to hit the popular locations such as Hoi An, or De Nang, before fully committing to the mountains.













All photos provided in this post are prior to the trip to Kon Tum, so as you can see there is still some very scenic mountain riding where I went, and the beaches have their moments, but I found things generally got better the farther north I went. Depending on how much time you have, I either recommend you start in Hanoi and focus only on the North, or start in Saigon like I did and head north. Many people go North to South, and comment that while it is nice, they cant help be feel slightly disappointed after starting in such an amazing area of the North and working their way South.

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Free tea and bananas were great at 1st, a few chain tightenings or general maintenance type things done to the bike on the house....but then it was free s and rice wine, and eventually free diners. The kids light up with excitement when they see me coming, running to the street and yelling "hellllllo" followed by a friendly wave. I have even had fans in the street stopping me for photos on a few occasions, clearly die hard followers of 2Guys1Truck. Finally living the life I deserve, these people get me.



Yes it is the Rockstar life in Vietnam, my fame has now gone worldwide. People were friendly in the South, still friendly in the North but much more reserved, but Central Vietnam might just have the most friendly people on this planet. It is probably what I enjoy most about this country, yes the food is great, and the motorcycle riding is phenomenal, but seeing the joy I bring to these kids really makes this place special. My ego will miss this place.


Qui Nhon to Kon Tum: 190KM

Kon Tum to Hoi An: 298KM

Hoi An to De Nang: 30KM

De Nang to Hue: 102KM

Hue to Khe Sanh: 133KM

Khe Sanh to Phong Nha: 222KM

Phong Nha to Huong Khe: 136KM

Huong Khe to Cam Thuy: 300KM

Total for Vietnam: 2078KM (1291 Miles)

So I left Qui Nhon and headed inland, knowing it would be a brief detour through the mountains before heading back to the coast. This was not the most efficient way for me to get to the popular cities of Hoi An or De Nang, but I had read good things about the drive through Kon Tum via the Ho Chi Minh Road, and those of you who have followed this blog over the years know I do not know the meaning of efficient.







The Ho Chi Minh Road roughly coincides with the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail that played a key role during the American/Vietnam war, which was a network of roads running through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It will someday run the entire length of Vietnam all the way to China, and once completed will eventually be around 2,000 miles long. Why do I care, because it contains some of the best scenery on the planet, combining some of my favorites: mountains, rivers, twisties, and switchbacks. I am now leaving Southern Vietnam and entering Central Vietnam, where the riding gets much better.





The 1st few hours inland were pleasant, I had blue skies and good roads with gentle curves taking me through the countryside and through random villages. It was a nice change after the coastal highway full of idiots driving scooters and trucks, which was also flat and straight....boring. The scenery was nice but nothing spectacular, I struggle to recall the drive prior to hitting the mountains, as it has been several weeks since I have been in Southern Vietnam at this point. That said, I can remember the exact moment when I hit the mountains, and started the climb. It was a steep ascent, and the twisties started almost immediately. The view of the valley I was leaving behind was fantastic, I can vividly picture it in my mind, which is good since I took ZERO pictures.





Yes, unfortunately, it was a long day of driving, or maybe I stopped too often for pics prior to hitting the mountains, but at some point I noticed I had 130 kms and not much time left before the sun was setting. Now 130 kms is only 80 miles, but any number of kms in Vietnam can take much longer than expected due to the road condition, the constant ascending and descending of mountains, weather, and many other reasons, so I knew I had to book it if I was going to make it to Kon Tum before nightfall. I honestly did not think I would make it, and was a bit nervous to where I would be staying as this route gets you out into the middle of nowhere. The plus here, I made that bike move like it was designed to. Generally I prefer to not push it, back home I drive fairly relaxed and keep things in check, but I did not want to be driving at night, so by being forced to push it a bit I was able to enjoy a great road on a crappy Chinese bike. The problem with this is there are animals all over the place, plus village people walking around, potholes, landslides, you know the drill. As I cruised up a particular section of mountain with my motor humming, a group of guys were chilling on the side and heard me coming, and as I flew past they raised their hands in the air with approval. Out here I started to get a few hellos, waves, and smiles...the people of Vietnam can be very friendly. If I don't get a hello they at least stare as drive by, or especially when I walk around the small towns. It does take some getting used to, but sometimes my ego loves the attention. All eyes will be on you no matter what, if you are trying to get away, relax, or happen to have social anxiety, Vietnam is not the place for you!

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The road was a typical mountain road, narrow and a bit bumpy with occasional potholes, but generally pretty good. Luckily I made it to Kon Tum just as night fell. It was dark, and I realized that both my head light and tail light were not working. Luckily, half of the bikes in Vietnam are like this, so the only worry was someone hitting me. Kon Tum doesn't have much going on for it, but there was a good selection of street food and the people were friendly, saying hello and asking where I was from. The farther north I go the more friendly they seem to be. The only foreigners passing through are on motorcycles, so I am definitely not the first, but the numbers are low. I believe the only ones in this small city, were myself, 4 Aussies, and a French Canadian. It's actually a good sized city so I am sure there were others hiding somewhere.





Walking home from my street food adventure, I turned onto the road with my hotel. This street was not lit well, but straight, wide, and empty. I watch a scooter which is passing me in the same direction, as it crashes into the steep sidewalk which was about a foot off the road. Sparks fly as the scooter slides along the sidewalk/road like a bowling ball in the gutter, with the driver tumbling across the sidewalk. Oh shit, I freeze, feeling like I should go check on the driver but knowing it will be tough to help with the language barrier. There are 2 scooters a good distance behind who absolutely saw him go down, and drive right past without even looking over at the driver to check on him, something I have read is normal here. This also makes me hesitant to get involved being a foreigner, but I can't ignore him when he is right across the street. He stumbles to his feet and seems ok. Luckily I see a guy come running from the corner, ok good now I am off the hook.





I continue walking but keep taking a look back to see what transpires, as there was no reason for the guy to have crashed on such a wide open empty street. The helper picks up the bike, and then I see he is going to drive the original driver home, which I think is nice. As they go past me I see the guy who crashed hanging sideways of that back, slowly coming closer and closer to falling as the new driver is trying to hold him up with 1 hand while driving the scooter and trying to come to a stop. Turns out the crash was because the guy was shitfaced, to drunk to drive, and to drunk to be a passenger. I thought crossing the street in Saigon was dangerous due to the number of scooters, but now crossing the street really has me worried.







I continue north through the mountains often times coming very close to the Laos border. I eventually cut inland in order to hit up Hoi An, a popular tourist destination located on the coast and known for its picturesque lanterns hung all around town. Of course an hour or so outside town I missed my turn, but due to the rain that was just arriving I continued on and ended up in De Nang which is 45 minutes north of Hoi An, meaning I would need to backtrack slightly the next day.







De Nang is one of the larger cities in Vietnam, and slightly famous for its dragon bridge. I went out with some hostel people and had a great night, but I do not know that it had anything to with De Nang, and would have been fine skipping it, but it certainly wasn't a bad destination. It is a large city with stores and food, plus some bars....which is more than most of the destinations I will be hitting up in the next few weeks.





The next day I backtracked 45 minutes or so to Hoi An, which was a nice place to relax, but is a bit touristy. I enjoyed it but 1 day would be enough for me, though many people take 2-3 days here to bike around or just plain relax. I ended up staying 2 nights as I had a list of maintenance I wanted to get done with the bike, and was to hung over to get them done the 1st day due to the previous outing in De Nang. To give you an idea on Vietnam prices, I had the guy do the following which included parts and labor:







Replaced following for 50USD total: Stator (6USD), new front shocks which I could have ignored (30USD), Brakes, headlight/taillight bulbs, weld my rack that had broke, and a couple other misc things finishing off the remaining 15 USD.

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