Recommended Vietnam tour company ?
 

Sick of dreaming, time to do something ! !
(Is it really nearly 5 years since my india trip !!!!!!! )
Would like to 'dip my toe' in some motorbike touring and was thinking of Vietnam towards the end of the year. Either by doing an organised tour (preferred) or by hiring a bike and 'doing my own thing'.

Can anyone recommend a trustworthy tour company or alternatively a motorbike hire business.

Thanks in advance

If you are flying into Hanoi there are sometimes bikes for sale, the occasional Minsk if that is what you fancy, in Hanoi backpackers. My suggestion would be if you have limited time, two weeks or so, take an organised tour, if longer buy a bike and do your own.
If you have longer do go into Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam is a very busy place the others have more space and off the beaten tracks places. A Vietnamese registered bike can go to the others but not vise-versa.

I strongly recommend www.exploreindochina.com

Son and I did a tour with them 2 years ago. They were excellent.

Thanks to both for the replies.
The tours do look intersting but I am a bit nervous about dealing with comapnies absed in Vietnam and not covered in the event things go wrong.

Try Offroad Vietnam in Hanoi. Five of us had a magic tour with them in 2009 on Honda XL125's.

Thanks Kenny,
There seems to be a few companies where people have had good experiences, that is encouraging to hear. Not sure about off road though, had very little experiemce in that area (unless the main roads of india count !).
Currently looking cost of flights - Ouch ! ! ! :confused1:

Terry

Hi
A few years ago I met up with Hung Nguyen who runs Flamingo Travel, mainly Minsk bikes but some Jap bikes up to 250 cc ...I had a Baja, and we went around northern Vietnam and into Laos, even put our bikes on a canoe on a river winding through postcard mountains...it was fabulous, came back into Vietnam on a long dirt road and saw no other vehicles all the way to Dien Bien Phu. Hung is a great guy and very accommodating and fun-loving.

He is at info@flamingotravel.vn

Cheers,

Larry

Rentabike
 

You could try rentabike hanoi. They have good ratings and rent bikes. They may be able to advise you.

Once again, thanks for responses.

Go for Vietnam Motorbike Rentals, Motorbike Tours Vietnam, Off Road Motorbike Tour, Motorbike Rent Hanoi

Hung was very nice and speaks very god English. We rented a bike from him from Hanoi to Ho Chi Min. He was helpful.

Vietnam Rental
 

Thanks for the tip!
Just sent them an e-mail for a 2 weeks North/South - rental in March-April.
If it works out, I'll tell u about it :cool4:

I definitely recommend Flamingo to hire bikes. (you can see pictures and report on my website below - page our Trips/vietnam)

We hired a couple of YBR125 few years ago and explored the northern mountains for 2 or 3 weeks.
They have various bike choices and I think they also organise tours.. but you can go on your own. A small bike is enough as with the traffic and "hazards" on the road, you will struggle to push over 30mph most of the time!

One thing I would recommend is to hire a "guide" to get you out of town and onto the road you want to ride (north south whatever) as the 1st time you ride in Hanoi, it is a nightmare and even more if you do not know where you are going. Flamingo provided this for 10USD, hardly worth thinking about it!

As for riding in Hanoi: go the flow and you'll be fine. It's like a dance....

Vietnam is wonderful, you will have a great time!

Forgot to add: you can get a detailed roadmap book in Hanoi in the book shops, very useful.

Bike rental Vietnam
 

Thanks Maria!

Got a prompt reply from Flamingo.


In order to your request, we would like to recommend you take 03 Yamaha YBR 125 cc or 03 Honda XR 150 cc for your group, pick up in Hanoi on 22nd March and return in HCMC on 5th April 2014 ( 15 days). These bikes are comfortable, reliable and suitable for your request.

I would rather go for the XR150. Anybody interested in renting the bikes South-North back to Hanoi in order to avoid the transfer Charges ? :welcome:

I would recommend these guys immensely! they were very professional and were always available for help. We hired two xt125's yes underpowered but still a lot of fun and very easy to handle and fix. We choose to ride on our own and rocked up at there business with a map and spent the next few hours mapping out a 3 week route around the north, very very very good trip:)