Michael Peter Hartmann

Throughtout February I embarked on a motorycle roadtrip from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. I covered a distance of about 2000KM in 12 days, including two ‘zero days’ (no riding). The recommended time to do this trip is 14 to 21 days, and I certainly pushed the lower limit with my time. At an average speed of around 50KM/H the going was fairly slow and after 5 hours in the saddle you start to get a bit uncomfortable. This was my first multi-day motorcycle trip and definitely got me hooked on it. I was able to rent a bike in Hanoi and return it to their Ho Chi Minh City location. In total I had the bike for about 3 weeks and for one full month of rental it cost around $450 USD.

Day One (Thursday) - Hanoi to Ninh Binh

The first day was a relatively short ride from Hanoi to Ninh Binh. It took me about two hours in total and brought me down closer to the coast. The trip was mostly main roads through the outskirts of Hanoi but the last part was a scenic ride through rice paddies. I dropped off my bags at the hostel dorm bed before going to find some dinner. My hostel was in the middle of farm land so I ventured about twenty minutes away to where Google said a bunch of restaurants were. I was surprised by amazing rock formations that rose out of the rice paddies. The road weaved through them offering unforgettable views.

The flat, water filled rice paddies combined with the rocky monoliths were the highlight of that night. Once I got back to the hostel I took a dip in the ice cold pool, had a cold beer and signed out of work for the next week. The next morning I got up early to tour the Bai Dinh temple, home to one of the largest Pagodas in Vietnam.

Day Two (Friday) - Ninh Binh to Thanh Chuong Tea Islands

On the second day I rode from Ninh Binh to the Tea Islands. This would take me about five hours through gentle mountain roads and small villages. This whole trip is taking place during the tourism low season and at the tail end of Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) so towns were quite quiet. I arrived at my accomodation which was a stilted cabin on the hillsid overlooking a lake surrounded by tea fields.

There I met a Dutch guy who was going in the same direction. We had dinner at th lodg along with a Vietnamese family who was enthusiasic about us joining in on their celebrations. We joined them for some rice wine and tried a drink that was based on rice wine but had many other spices in it. Oddly it tasted kind of chocolatey and we were not sure exactly why or what we were having. It was drank out of a large earthen pot with long bamboo straws.

Day Three (Saturday) - Tea Islands to Phong Na Ke Bang

The third day my new Dutch firend and I rode about four hours from the Tea Islands to Phong Na Ke Bang National Park. This was the first day of riding where I saw some real twisty roads. My friend was on a semi-automatic and had not ridden much so I blasted my way through the flowing turns and slowed down on the straights so he could catch up. My bike was a Honda CB150 that I strapped my duffle bag and backpack to. It topped out at about 100 KM/H although the cruising speed was about 70 KM/H. I think on average I moved about 50 KM/H for most of the trip with stops and slow traffic through towns.

Phong Na is a little town situated in a deep valley along a large river. It’s famous for it’s caves which I did not get to see due to time and an incredibly high cost for the tour. I randomly ran into the Dutch friend while out for dinner. I tried to call it an early night because I knew the next day was going to be long, but the Vietnamese love for Karoake interfered a bit with that.

Day Four (Sunday) - Phong Na Ke Bang to Khe San

This day took my from Phong Na to Khe San along the Ho Chi Minh trail. This is one of the most scenic and isolated roads in Vietnam as it winds through mountains along the Laotian border. It helps that part way through the road is washed out and the trail is only wide enough the accomodate a bike or scooter. I went as long as forty five minutes between seing anyone else on the road. In total it was alittle over five and a half hours.

I made two stops, one at a river to splash some cold water on my face and apply sunscreen (it was about 35C) and one for lunch where I met a group of travellers from Canada, England, and the US. I’ve realised that the best way to find lunch is to look for the tell tale scooters and bikes with backpacks strapped to the back. Th views on this day were unreal and the road was perfect, I would have happily ridden it a couple more times. I ended the day at a little hotel that did not have hot water.

Day Five (Monday) - Khe San to Hue

This day I started by getting an oil change in Khe San. The rental company requires oil changes every thousand kilometers which I thought was low until I realized these bikes have no oil filter so the oil must be changed more often. In all it took abou 10 minutes and cost about $5 CAD. This was a pretty short day at only around 3 hours. I came down from he mountains and back towards the coast.

The ride was unremarkable except for a car hitting a cow pie and covering me head to toe in crap. My body prevented my luggage from getting hit but my pants, shirt, and bike were all covered. I pulled over at the first hose I saw and it happened to be a high pressure washer used for the department of highways. I changed shirts and blasted my arms and legs before getting my bike mostly clean again. My pants dried quite quickly but the shirt was a write off. I threw it out before continuing on my way.

Day Six (Tuesday) - Hue to Hoi An

Another shorter day at around two and a half hours was spent mostly on busy main roads except for the forty five minutes it took to go over the famous and scenic Hai Van Pass. Unfortunately due to being close to major cities there were lots of bikes, cars, and tour busses. I did venture off the main road to explore a bit but just found a dead end.

What was interesting is that tourists hired locals on motorbikes to drive them up, or rented motorcycles at the the base of the mountain. On the way down I ran into a group of locals and we ripped the turns together. In Hoi An I stopped at a cafe to find a hotel. After getting checked in I toured the town for dinner and then went out again to find some cold beer and live music.

Day Seven (Wednesday) - Rest Day in Hoi An

I spent the day enjoying the sights in Hoi An. In the morning I found a cafe to sit down at and write the first half of this travel log. In the afternoon I spent some time at the hotel pool and then ventured out to visit markets and find dinner.

I ended up buying a small knock-off Patagnonia shoulder bag which was very useful as a motorcycle tank bag. I could keep my camera, sunglasses, power bank and cablee and money in there for quick access. Hoi An is centered around the ‘Ancient Town’ which is an Unesco World Heritage Site. The buildings are low and colourful and the whole area has a great feel, probably aided by the fact that scooters and cars were restricted.

Day Eight (Thursday) - Hoi An to Kon Tum

After my rest day I was eager to hit the road again. This day I spent about five hours on the bike. I had two choices for routes this day; the first mostly highway but much quicker and the second which looked more scenic and from the map looked like it had many twists and turns. Persig readers and motorcycle riders know the more squiggly the line, the better the road. The views were incredible along mountains passes, rivers, and lakes.

Unfortunately it was also an area with active mining, forestry, and to cap it all off they were building a new highway through there as well. The road switched from pavement to gravel to sand around seemingly very corner. The large trucks (who really like to overtake on blind corners) made for some interesting riding to say the least. In Koh Tum I stayed at a Homesay with some other guys from Italy, France, Denmark, and China. The guy from China was a chain-smoking doctor on a mult-year trip. Many stories were shared over banana wine from the local village, the noise of the road dissipated by the palms above.

Day Nine (Friday) - Kon Tum to Buon Ma Thout

On this four and a half hour day the change from the North to the South became much more obvious. The thick vegetation slowly became forest and agriculture and coffee trees started popping up on the side of the road. The day went by quickly and I stayed that night in a very nice homestay in a private room. The cool shower was perfect after a couple days riding in the southern heat and humidity.

Day Ten (Saturday) - Buon Ma Thout to Da Lat

This was one of my most anticipated days of the trip. I got up early to ride about four hours from Buon Ma Thout to Da Lat, the coffee center of Vietnam. I stayed at a coffee farm about 20 minutes south of the city where they grow Robusta and Arabica. This is quite unusual due to the altitude requirements of the different beans, but this farm just happened to be right in the middle. Riding into the gentle valleys covered in the waxy leafed coffee plants was incredible, made even more spectacular by the smell of the blooming Arabica. It smelled kind of like sweet jasmine.

After arriving early at the farm I settled into my third reading of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence. I enjoyed the views and quiet atmosphere until dinner where I met an Italian guy who was in Vietnam for his Robusta Q-Grading certification. We chatted about coffee over a great meal from the farm and I spent the rest of the night reading. I had only planned on spending the night there but after hearing about Da Lat I decided to extend another night.

Day Eleven (Sunday) - Rest Day in Da Lat

After breakfast at the farm I rode into Da Lat, stopping first at Le J coffee. I was surprised by the size of the city and how vibrant it was. The city sits at about 1200MASL which apparently catches some travellers off guard.

The first coffee was so good I followed it up with a visit to La Viet Coffee. After getting my fill of caffeine for the morning I visited the Crazy House, a hotel turned tourist destination due to the odd and whimsical design. It was very neat to explore all the nooks and crannies as paths criss crossed all aroud the grounds from the rooftop to the garden. It was like a cross between Antonio Gaudi and Giggle Ridge, and apparently you can still stay there as a guest, you just need to be okay with people walking by your room all day.

I spent the afternoon riding around the scenic pine forests and even got in a little bit of off roading. That night I stopped by a diner close to the farm for a milkshake. After realizing the owner was from Vancouver we chatted for the next few hours.

Day Twelve (Monday) - Da Lat to Ho Chi Minh City

This was the longest and hottest riding day of the trip. Leaving the coffee farm at about seven AM I got into Saigon around four PM. I wore long sleeves and covered everything else in sunscreen to combat the sun and 38 degree heat. It had been recommended to take the route along the ocean for some nice views but I must have missed them because the apart from the first couple hours it was highway riding with tour busses and trucks.

I took more breaks than usual and got to HCMC exhausted and sore. Luckily the A/C was already on in my AirBnB. The first two hours were spectacular to be fair. Switchbacks and turns led up and over a mountain pass. As soon as you cross to the south side you noice the coffee is gone and everything is a few degrees hotter. The north side of the mountain would be my last time seeing coffee trees in Vietnam.