Vietnam offroad adventure about to begin

[BigB]

Well arrived in Hanoi 2 days ago, what a mad place. We are staying in the old quarter which is nice enough but I have lost all sense of direction and the streets all start to look the same! Our hotel has provided us with a free guide, a trainee tourism student called Que she has been fantastic showing us around and taking to some really nice restaurants.

The traffic is mad with scooters everywhere, the record so far is 5 people mum, dad and 3 kids. The taxi rides are something else, with main rule being use you horn to let everyone know you are there. Last night we walked though the night markets, I have never seen so many people it was crazy (the one advantage I had at 6’2 was I could see over everyone).

Tomorrow we start the tour on XR250’s and I can safely say that not one of us is looking forward to riding out of Hanoi!! But for the next 10 days we are going to have a blast, we head out of town towards Sapa and then in a loop to the north close to the Chinese boarder and back down to Hanoi.

Will update some more when I can (and add some photos once I can resize them)

Cheers
Brian

[kevfromcoro]

Lucky you,, it will be a great trip.... I got to Cambodia. from Thailand side, didn't make viet nam.
Yeah we stand out a bit don't we, being white doesn't help.
Yr lucky to rent 250s, thought it was restricted to 175. must of changed.
Yer get a lot of dongs for a $..
Keep it in yr pocket,, before some numskull runs off with it
Have a great trip..

[tri boy]

............................
Enjoy

[Big Dog]

Look forward to hearing your tales of derring do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BigB]

Well it's the morning of the tour and it's raining cats & dogs!!! going to be a fun ride out of town!!

[shafty]

Good on ya Guys, lookin forward to hearing and seeing more.......

[unstuck]

You lucky bastard.
It has been on my list for a couple of years too, along with Burma. Hope you have an awesome trip.

[kevfromcoro]

Cant wait to see pics and report..
Burma...... went into there a few years ago
Cost $5 American to get across the border. then we had to be out before dark.
It was an erie place,, everyone was watching us.
Also there was a market for animal parts.
Tiger teeth, beers feet etc.
We didnt buy anything like that, just encourages the locals to kill more animals.
I think now Burma has opened up a lot more for tourism.
More money from the white man...
Hope we see some pics soon
Have a good one...

[BigB]

Hi All

Will made it to Sapa and what an adventure the roads have been amazing along with the views. Unfortately I can't seem to upload any photo's so not sure whats happening there. We went of road yesterday taking the senic route though the rice paddies! this was after heavy rain the night before, talk about mud everywhere managed to keep it upright but the same can't be said for half the boys!!! Later in the afternoon when when over the mountain pass to Sapa, it says it all about the truck drivers when some of the guys got overtaken by a 8 wheeler flying up the pass!! but got some great video, especially when we went into the clouds and guy in front of me in white disappeared. Anyway will try to post more soon as I'm currently in the reception desk as the internet computer isn't working.

Cheers

[IMG]C:\Users\Brian\Pictures\006.jpeg[/IMG]

[shafty]

Good stuff Mate

[Blackbird]

Have a ball Brian!

Three and a half weeks in Vietnam going from top to bottom is the best holiday we've ever had (alas, not on 2 wheels). Lovely people, wonderful food and pretty inexpensive.

[shah]

Ya, it'll be memorable, I'm sure.

I enjoyed riding 12 days Hanoi-HoChiMinhCity on a Honda Wave 100 last year even more than the Route66 trip from Chicago to LA the year before.

Ride safe.

[BigB]

Today we travelled to Hi Giang which was 200km we left at 9am and arrived a 5pm. After lunch it took us 2hrs to travel 40km all in 2nd or 3rd gear one corner blended into the next. Then it started to rain which made the road slippery and with no guard rails and a 100ft drop off, mad bus drivers on a single lane road it was real fun!!!! But we made it and the scenery is all worth it

[BigB]

and some more

[BigB]

This is the most amazing place you have to see it to believe it, where else in the world would your guides decide the a trail looks good so lets go find out how good it is