Hi People, I'm presently in the coffee capital of Vietnam about 3-4 days ride from HCMC. I am travelling on a rental 125 Yamaha which in the 7 weeks so far I have ´done´northern Vietnam, north and central Lao, back into Vietnam and have almost completed the HCM highway, also known as Highway 14. In about 3 weeks I hope to fly from HCMC to KL and there obtain another tiddler and then head north sampling the s of Thailand, Cambodia and if possible Burma. The reason than the trip profile is that whilst it seems that you can take a Malysia registered to all the ASEAN? countries you cannot take it into Vietnam and may well have difficulties entering Lao. I asked as many questions as I could at the VN/Lao crossing when leaving VN and for both, 125cc max and no foreign bikes whatever size unless part of an organised tour group. On my return to VN via a new crossing, at Dernsavan and again the questions and the same answers but I must emphasize the friendliness and helpfulness of both customs, immigration and police from both countries. You cannot get a VN visa at the land borders but there is a VN consulate in Savannakhet which allegedly dispenses VN visas. To give you some idea of the 'Russian Roulette' of VN border crossings, I crossed int Lao at Na Meo with a young French couple who had bought a VN tiddler and were trying to get it to Bangkok via Cambodia to sell the moto. 3 days previous they had been turned back at the border post at Dien Bien Phu, this situation is not uncommon. A word of warning, VN and Lao are set up for people on little bikes, and it works, however, forget about the command position on the road and the correct way to position and ride corners, both will get you killed very quickly and as to route planning, 300k is a very long day, no, make that a very, very long day especially in the hills. But, the is very drinkable, the accommodation very cheap and the food very entertaining. I expect to be in KL in about 3 weeks as I said and expect to stay there for about 2 weeks so if anyone fancies cocktails in KL, I'm you man. Ride safe.

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Mike
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Mike is riding the twisty road in the sky