Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - South to North Vietnam (Feb to April 2025)

Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/)

- Ride Tales (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/)

- - South to North Vietnam (Feb to April 2025) (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/south-north-vietnam-feb-april-105941)

28/2/2025
Saigon to Ba Ria, Vung Tau

ATD 1040 hrs.
ATA 1540 hrs
Total time 5 hours including the ferries.
Chose to depart around 10ish from Saigon to avoid the mad & chaotic traffic.

Took another route for Ba Ria as it was recommended by my mate who lives in SGN and also the bike rental owner. It has less traffic and much more enjoyable to ride.
So the route took us south of Saigon instead of east.

There were 2 ferries to take. The Binh Khanh ferry was a small one whereas the Ben Pha Can Gio/Vung Tau operates every hour. When we arrived the Ben Pha ferry we had to wait for an hour as the ferry had just left. The ferry takes about 10 minutes for the small ferry and 40 minutes for the larger.

The route was scenic with 3 lane highways but it is not classified as a CT (bikes are not allowed on CT highways and there are tolls).

The young German guy tagged along with me for today's ride.

I like to take it easy for the first few days of the tour to ease myself for a long tour.

1/3/2025

Ba Ria, Vung Tau to Binh Chau

https://images2.imgbox.com/26/bb/GugkLn2g_o.png

ATD 0840
ATA 1200

Ride time 3.5 hours

Coastal roads and lots of expensive high end resorts besides the sea front.

Scenic but quite boring road. Nothing much in this town except for the Minera hot springs/mud bath.

A unique experience in a classy resort.

https://images2.imgbox.com/f8/45/LwPp8E1i_o.jpg

https://images2.imgbox.com/f0/ff/wtmIjn0m_o.jpg

https://images2.imgbox.com/bd/7f/IyytO83D_o.jpg

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https://images2.imgbox.com/a4/f3/KFftl8Ca_o.jpg

2/3/2025

Binh Chau to Bao Loc

ATD 0930
ATA 1430
Ride time 5 hours

Mixture of quiet roads fringed by jungle on both sides of the mountainous road twisties.
Weather was good if not a little hot.

Noticed that the front tyre was installed incorrectly. The rotation was wrong and I was wary when taking corners. Would get it fixed later.
In the evening the XR would not start for about 5 minutes. Played with the choke and it finally started.

https://images2.imgbox.com/ef/56/mjLaF2Mi_o.png

3/3/2025

Bao Loc to Phan Thiet

ATD 0940
ATA 1200
Ride time 2.5 hours

XR would not start again in the morning. After playing with the choke for about 10 minutes it finally started.
Drove to the Honda HEAD which was just down the street from the hotel.
HEAD is Honda Vietnam's shop for bikes and they all over the country.

The mechanic had a look at it and discovered that a hose at the carburetor had come loose. He then removed the spark plug and checked if it was good.
They did not want any money for the troubleshooting.

They also had a riding trainer which looked like fun to play with and I got free coffee too.

Also my young German friend would go on his own route to Hanoi. He is headed to Da Lat while I am headed to Phan Thiet.

The road was boring as there wasn't much scenery except for the section at Ham Thuan Lake which was nice. I didn't stop to take pictures though. Duh......:oops2:

https://images2.imgbox.com/20/f8/3BGkzyPe_o.png

Looking good after the mud bath:eek3::rofl::rofl:

Wayne