Da Lat and Saigon

It is a short ride from Nha Trang to Da Lat and a beautiful one. I spent a few hours driving through the mountains and had a welcome respite from the heat. Da Lat is a slowly crumbling French mountain town that just happens to be in Vietnam. I am told much of it resembles Paris. But since I have not been to Paris, I could not say. I stayed in Da Lat for two nights, which was pretty chill. I took a walk around the lake and went to the Flower Gardens. De Lat is famous for its flowers, which it exports worldwide. It has a climate similar to Napa, so they grow grapes and make wine. Sadly I did not try the wine.

After I got out of the mountains and was headed for Saigon, the towns started to meld together, and soon the road turned into one long town with no green space. I started early, as it was a long riding day, and arrived in Saigon at my hostel in the middle of the afternoon. Thanks to the help of my trusty GPS app, I did not get lost once! I’d been to Saigon for a few days in 2009, but I was a tourist and only saw a small part of the city.

On the drive-in, I started losing my cool with the other folks on the road. My “irritation with other drivers” meter was in the red! I had considered selling my bike in Saigon and taking the bus through Cambodia. Getting highly irritated was the like seeing a neon light saying, “sell!”  I can not drive safely once I start getting too irritated. I start taking chances, going too fast, and I become a road hazard, which is challenging in Vietnam.

The next day I wrote my for-sale ad and posted it on various online classified sites including Craigslist. And I waited. And waited some more. Five days later, the only responses I received were from people who could not read my clearly written ad and thought I was in Hanoi. I started getting nervous. Should I lower the price? Should I try to find a charity to give away my expensive toy to? Should I stop thinking about how much money I’ll lose if I don’t sell the bike and have ice cream? Yes! And what an ice cream it was. There’s a french ice cream shop in Saigon that turns ice cream into art.

On the 6th day, I got a bite, and another, and a third! An American Expat was going to come by after work, and then a French guy wanted to come by earlier. I let the American guy know he’d have to get here sooner if we wanted a shot. The American called first, after all. The French guy showed up, gave the bike a once over, took it for a ride, and said he wanted to buy it, but that he had to go get the money. I said yes. Then the American showed up with cash. I took his cash and called the French guy and gave him the bad news. Since I did not ride as long as I had planned, I ended up paying about what I would have for a rental after I took a loss selling the bike. Maybe I could have got more, but a week in Saigon was enough.

I did have some good times in Saigon. I made a Vietnamese friend in Hanoi, and she lives in Saigon. We spent a Saturday afternoon together, eating, riding around on her scooter, and had a nice walk. When we met, she was interviewing with the Italian embassy for a visa, which they granted her. After we hung out, she had to go out of town on business and then flew to Italy. Yen, I hope you had a great time in Italy, if you are still reading my blog, drop me an email, I only have your mobile number.

The night I sold my bike, I went out and celebrated. An Argentine steak house serves steak from Australia and the US. So I dropped about 1.5 million dong ($70) on dinner and drinks. I sat at the bar and hit it off with the bartenders. After I ordered my first drink, they started making me custom drinks, and after dinner, they poured me shots of homemade caramel vodka on the house. It was the first time I had steak in months. I decided to do one touristy thing, and on my last day, I went to the former US embassy. It was a neat building. It’s easy to forget that Vietnam is a communist country, then sometimes you remember. 

Seven weeks is the longest I’ve spent in one country outside the US, with the exception of Italy, when I was teaching and taking classes there in the late ’90s. It was great to see a country from top to bottom and go places most westerners will never see. I love traveling off the beaten trail, and on this trip, there were times when I was off the trail altogether. Vietnam, specifically Saigon, is a place I could live.

Hue And On To The Beaches

Hue is the most beautiful city I have seen in Vietnam, it was the old imperial capital, and it still shows. It’s also a place for artists, and education is highly valued here. As I head south, the food gets better. One can only eat so much noodle soup!

I had a great lunch with a couple of local specialties and a beer for under $3 bucks.

In Hue, I went on my first guided tour in Vietnam and got on my first bus in this country. Considering that I had a small hangover from two happy hours from the night before, it was an outstanding choice, we visited some of the emperors’ tombs, a pagoda, and the Citadel. Our tour guide was outstanding, and the tour included a buffet lunch and a boat ride. It was a great way to spend the day and interesting to see the country from a nonmotorcycle perspective.

Hoi An is just south of Da Nang, it’s a sleepy little beach town with great food and an unending supply of touts. I spent a day at the beach and got a bit of a burn, so no beach for me today. I’ve spent most of the day so far catching up with my writing dear readers. The hostel I stayed at here has a pool! The heat was almost unbearable on my ride down, especially with all the safety gear I wore. Thank science for evaporative cooling.

It’s 500 km from Hoi An to Nha Trang, so I stopped in a nontouristy place for the night, Quy Nhon, there’s a guest house in a village just outside of town that I really wanted to stay at but they were booked up for several weeks. I stayed at a hotel with a welcoming and friendly staff. It’s one of the few places I’ve been that have no touts and where no one tried to rip me off or quote a tourist price. I went 36 hours without having any hassles with the price of anything.

I took the road that the Top Gear folks raved about during their motorcycle ride in Vietnam. It’s a nice road, but the claim that it is one of the best coastal roads in the world is not true. Apparently, these guys have not ridden on the east or west coast in the US.

Then I arrived in Nha Trang, it is over touristed, the beach is not that great, and it is full of Russians. From what I understand, from here south, it is Russian Central. I took a day to chill and took a day to go to an amusement park. You must take the world’s longest tramway to the park. The park was a bit of a letdown. I went for the water park, but if you have been to a half-decent water park in the US, it just doesn’t compare. However, the tram ride was quite good. On the upside, I had and good cheeseburger and some excellent Indian food!

Holy Big Ass Cave!

I have been in a lot of caves. All the major ones in the US and a bunch of others around the world. Thien Duong Cave, better known as Paradise Cave, is 31 km long! Tourists can venture in for the first 1.5 km. This part of the cave has a considerable walkway, and great lighting, the designers of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park have done a phenomenal job. It’s the best national park infrastructure I’ve seen anyplace in Asia.

They let about ten people a day on a guided trek that goes 7 km into the cave. I was fortunate enough to get a slot. There were only 3 of us! We had an English-speaking guide and a porter. The cave complex is fantastic! There are places inside that feel like a stadium. There are also parts you have to swim through and some tight pass-throughs. And, of course, stalagmites and stalactites galore.

Before starting, they gave us camo uniforms and running shoes to change into. Of the three of us, I was the only one who could fit into the camo, and no one could fit into the shoes. They are not set up for western tourists. The cave was discovered by a local man in 2005. They have been doing tours of it for three years. My advice is to go now. It’s hard to say what it will be like in a decade. The only downside is that it’s costy. 2,600,000 dong ($130).

We started by going through a gate the tourists never get past and walked about 1/4 km. Then the guide had us turn out our lights, and we were in pitch darkness, and there were no sounds at all. It was very cool. If I had my way, I’d set up a rope that could be followed so you could do the whole trek in complete darkness. Though I’m not sure, there are enough weirdos like me to market it to.

We continued for about 3 km and stopped to take everything off but foot gear and swimwear. The wet parts were coming. There’s a strange cultural disconnect for me with the modesty involved. The guides used underwear for swimwear. I guess what happens in the cave stays in the cave.

It was me, an Aussie riding a bicycle through SEA, and a girl from Northern Europe, and when we got in the water, the Aussie was a bit shocked by the temp. I’ve swum in caves before, but not for this long. After walking past all sorts of fascinating formations and getting detailed explanations of how they form, we arrived at our stopping point for lunch. At the 7 km mark, the cave is open to the sky.

It was breathtaking to come around the corner and see daylight shining down on a little valley in the cave. We found a big rock to have lunch on. Lunch was crap, rice, a few pieces of nondescript meat, and an over-ripe banana. After lunch, we went exploring and swimming. There was a shaft of like shining down on a bolder, way up on a ledge. Of course, I had to climb up there and bask in the light.

The trip back was a rocket run. I kept stopping to take more pictures, and the guides tried to hurry us along, which inspired me to take even more pictures. I do not think the guide said two sentences on the way out. The cave is stunning, and it is a must-do if you are anywhere near the central\northern coast of Vietnam!

Lake Ba Be, Hanoi and Headed South

My last stop before Hanoi was Ba Be lake, a national park with three interconnected lakes. I did a homestay in a village on the lake and stayed for two nights at a place called Duy Tho. It was beautiful and affordable. I rented a boat for a day, which was expensive and loud, but I got to see the lake. It is well worth stopping by the lake for the homestay, but I would skip the boat trip unless you are with a group and have not spent much time on the water. I would have been happy with spending an hour in a small part of the lake in a dugout canoe.

Ba Be is quite beautiful. It was stunning on the water in the early morning. There are all sorts of exciting animals living around the lake, but they’re shy. The boat ride includes a stop by a small waterfall that feeds a hydroelectric plant and a short trek through a big cave. We stopped for lunch near the waterfall.

My host helped me find a faster and less trafficked road to get back to Hanoi, saving countless encounters with trucks and buses and saving me a couple of hours of driving. I was back in Hanoi in the early afternoon. Then it was time to get my bike serviced. It had some issues with shifting in 1st, 2nd and neutral

One of the great things about Hanoi is Bia Hoi. It’s a freshly brewed keg beer with a shelf life of a day. In the Old Quarter, you can pick up a glass for 5000 Dong (25 cents). It’s tasty, cold, and refreshing. On my last night in Hanoi, I went for Indian food at Tamarind. It was pricey but perfect. I was pleasantly surprised. I found a great place for a massage about 5km from the Old Quarter and walked over. For 450,000 dong ($22.50), I got a 90-minute massage preceded by a soak in a barrel, a soak in a jacuzzi, and a steam. Pure bliss.

I ended up in this tiny nowhere town my first night heading south, as my scheduled stop did not feel very friendly. The place I ened up in was very friendly!

I checked in to the only place to stay in town, which had two rooms. the next morning I went for a walk. As I passed by an elementary school, a couple of kids said, “Hello!” and I responded. Within 2 minutes, the entire school emptied out, and I was mobbed by kids saying hello, asking me my name, how old I was, where I was from, and on and on. They wanted to shake hands and were fascinated by my tattoos. I tried to get them out of the road and used taking a picture as a motivator. As you can see from the picture, they never really stopped vibrating.

I walked them all back to the school, some of the teachers were giving me the stink eye, and some were caught up in the kid’s excitement. When we returned to the school grounds, some of the kids were dragged off by teachers, but about 20 of them decided they would show me around town. We went to an outdoor market and the local hospital. I think they were introducing me to their parents, but who knows? One little girl gave me a flower, and that started a trend. After an hour or so of being dragged hither and yon, I escaped.

When I returned to the guest house, the second room had been rented to 4 engineers, and they invited me to eat dinner with them. Of course, out came the local hooch and a bunch of food I did not recognize, but they schooled me and approved of my use of chopsticks. When the bill came, they would not take my money. Of course, the woman who owned the restaurant tried to get me to pay for the whole bill. Unfortunately, if you are a westerner traveling here, you are a dollar sign to some people in SEA. Luckily that unpleasantness is offset by people like the four lovely gentlemen that bought me dinner.

The Final Frontier

I just spent four days riding through the Ha Giong area. It’s what the guidebooks call Vietnam’s final frontier. It has a lot of historical value as Ho Chi Minh spent a bunch of time there; it was a safe haven, and it’s on the border with China. You have to buy a permit to enter the area.

Between my off-road adventure the other day all through the mountains in the frontier area, the views were stunning. The limestone mountains and the roads rising and descending through them made for the best views on this trip.

I met a Canadian, Justin, traveling by motorbike through the north. He had a six-day rental, and we decided to travel together for a few days. Justin was the first westerner I met traveling by motorcycle in Vietnam. While I’ve found many people writing about riding in Vietnam, I’ve only come across a handful of people, and I’ve yet to meet anyone outside of Hanoi who is doing what I’m doing, who bought a bike to see the whole country on.

We stayed two nights in Dong Van, the northernmost city, and trekked for a day. It was nice to get off the bike for a day. The trekking was great. We found an old French fort overlooking Dong Van and then hiked up into the mountains on a random 10k hike. We met some nice guys who invited us in for tea.

The next day, I took the scenic route through the rest of the province and Justin made a B-line for Ba Be Lake. I ended up being off road again for much of the day. Justin got lost and didn’t make it to Ba Be until the following day.

I went to the local Yamaha shop to buy motor oil, and the owner kept giving me tea and shots of rice whiskey. I think I had shots with half the town. I could barely walk.

Today I Was a Motorcycle God!

Today it took me 7 hours to travel 125 kilometers. Most of that time was spent going 50 kilometers on a single-track road, ok, trail, through the backcountry. It was the most challenging day I have ever had on a motorcycle in 15 years of riding, and I’ve ridden cross country in the US twice and been as far as the end of the Pan Am in Panama.

Today’s ride had the best scenery I’ve seen on the trip. I was riding ridgelines, doing hill climbs, and did more river crossings than you could shake a stick at. At one point, about 30 K in, I came to a river crossing that started with 30 meters of boulders doing downhill. It was very intimidating. I did not get any points for style, but I made it through!

If fact I was up to every challenge the route threw at me. If I had known how difficult that route would be, I would not have taken it. It was not any shorter and it did not save me any time, it just seemed more exciting and I’m so glad I did it!

I have a confession to make, I have very little experience riding off-road, and all of the off-road riding I’ve done was on a BMW K1100RS, a 120HP superbike designed for sport/touring. In 1995 I went on the BMW Paris, Paris to Panama endurance rally. There were 120 riders, and we had a fleet of Land Cruisers supporting us. Our route was scouted and mapped, our meals and accommodations were all arranged, and the off-road riding we did was not that challenging.

There is a huge differece between riding a 120 HP motorcycle that weighs 300 kilos and a little 10 HP bike that weighs 120 kilos. You really do not want to stall on a hill climb on a slippery slope with that little bike. It just doesn’t have the torque to recover, especially while sliding downhill, backwards. But recover I did!

I highly recommend taking the scenic route from Vihn Quang to Ha Giang, but have a modicum of self-preservation and do not do it alone! If you want the details of the route, leave me a comment or send me an email, and I’ll get them to you.

It is hard to describe the feeling of accomplishment I reaped for today’s adventure! It has been quite some time since I have pushed my limits as far as I have today, and it was a huge confidence builder. The great thing about an accomplishment like this is that it increases overall confidence and builds self-respect. I’m tired, sore, and exhausted. “Today, I was a motorcycle god!”

More Adventures on Two Wheels in Northwestern Vietnam

The second day on my new bike brought me to Than Uyen. It’s a good thing I ended up going back to Hanoi. If I’d continued from Son La directly to Than Uyen, as I had planned, I would have ended up at a road that stops at a river and no bridge! I might have been able to hire someone with a boat to transport me, but luckily I did not have to deal with that.

Not much to say about Than Uyen, it’s a town on the way to someplace else. My next stop was Sapa. Holy overtouristed batman! This is the number one tourist destination in the north. I stayed there for a night and got out of there. There is an “ethnic” village just outside of town, which should be avoided. Sapa should be avoided as well unless you need a “people speak English” fix.

That leads us to a destination I was excited about, Can Cau. It’s an ethnic village that is hard to get to and has a market on Saturday. The drive from Sapa was not good, the road was soaked, and it was treacherous riding. At one point, I had a corner slideout, and the bike and I went down. There were no injuries to either of us, but my ankle was sore. I was delayed by the weather and did not arrive until 11 am. The place was filled with tourists and minibusses, which is hard to believe considering how bad the road was. It was a letdown, but that’s the way of things sometimes. I returned to Bac Hac and got a room for the night.

Bac Ha is called “little Sapa” because they are trying to build up their tourist industry there. What I found there were helpful locals outside of the tourist area and predatory tourist bilkers in the tourist area. Not my favorite town. There is a Sunday market in Bac Ha, but it is known to be over touristed, so I just got out of there in the morning.

I made a run through the Bac Ha to Xin Man route, a rocky trail through the mountains that saved about 300 kilometers of travel time. I’d heard bad things about this road, but it wasn’t so bad. Sure there were some intimidating hill climbs, and the whole road was “paved” with rocks stuck out of the ground a few inches. I took a wrong turn in the morning and went 20 K on the wrong road. I knew I was going the wrong way, but it was so beautiful I just kept going. I stopped short of the Chinese border and turned around, then took a shortcut to where I was supposed to be.

I spent that night in Xin Man, and today I drove to the Pan Hau Ecolodge, a resort that’s very pricy for a budget traveler, but I needed some rest, so I took a splurge day. It’s a very relaxing atmosphere. I arrived too late for lunch, so I took a ride a couple of K’s back to find some food, all I could find was ramen, so I brought it back, and the cooks prepared it for me and through in some veggies!

Wandering Through Northwest Vietnam

It took me five days to decide on a motorcycle. I ended up with a 2009 Yamaha YBR 125G. It cost me a bit more than twice what I thought I would spend. My research was based on what I could find on the web: advice from folks on a very low budget. I’m also on a low budget, but I don’t care how much a bike costs, I care how much I can sell it for, how reliable it is and how comfortable it is.

I arrived at Pom Coong Village in Mai Chau on my first day. It took me a few hours longer than I thought, but my trusty GPS app got me out of Hanoi without any issues. I did a homestay there, and it was great. It included diner and breakfast; it was the best and biggest dinner I’ve had in Vietnam.

On my second day, I drove to Son La, it was a nice drive through the mountains, and in the first hour, the fog was as thick as pea soup. My bike is losing power under load at high revs, so I will get a new air filter and check the gas filter. I’ll probably drain the float bowl to ensure no water is in it. Son La does not have much to offer. It’s just a place to stop for the night. I could have easily continued to my next stop today, but I have some time to kill as I’m planning on getting to the Sapa area on Friday night so I can check out the untouristed weekend markets on Saturday and Sunday. These markets are off the beaten track and should be an excellent opportunity to see and interact with some Vietnamese Ethnic folks.

On day three, I figured out that my bike was burning a half liter of oil every 100km, and I was only getting 25 KPL (Kilometers Per Liter). I called the folks I bought the bike from, and they agreed to get another one ready for me. On the way back, the electrical system died, and one of the instrument pods fell off.

I’m back on the road again today after a night in Hanoi. My new (to me) bike seems much better. I’m happy I was dealing with someone who stood behind what they sold. Or I would have been out quite a bit of cash.

This evening I’m in Nghia La, I had a great day riding, and there were some fantastic views. Every day I see more and more ethnic folks and fewer tourists. I did not see one westerner once I got out of Hanoi this morning. I like riding in Vietnam. Riding in Central America in 1995 ruined riding in the US for me. I stopped riding for about 11 years. You can set your level of risk here and choose which rules to follow. Just the way I like it. Since none of the people I know now ever knew me riding a bike, you don’t need to fear for my safety. As I’ve said before, I’m much safer on a bike than in a car. That still holds.

Vietnam Makes Me Smile

I am so happy to be in Vietnam! Hanoi is a great city for tourists, the food is great, there is no shortage of things to do, and the scenery is fantastic. After the bland food in the Philippines, I was ready for Vietnamese food!

Being in the Philippines is like living in a black-and-white world, and Vietnam is in full color. Other than almost everyone speaking English in the Philippines, Vietnam is better in every way.

I was in Hanoi in 2009, traveling with my girlfriend. We loved Vietnam, and I am happy to be back. Last time I was here for less than ten days, and this time I will be in Vietnam for a month minimum. I was still sick when I arrived and took it easy for the first few days, and then I finally went to see a doctor. He said my ear was still infected and gave me some antibiotics.

A cousin of a friend, of a friend, of a friend, took me around to look at motorbikes, but since I didn’t know what I wanted, I have no Vietnamese, and he had no English, not much was accomplished. I was invited back to meet the family and was surprised with lunch. I a couple of his sisters spoke English and we had a great afternoon. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had while traveling. The food was unfamiliar and intimidating, but it was all tasty. They even broke out the dried squid, which I understand is quite expensive. I’ve always been afraid to try it because of the strong fishy smell. It was tasty as hell.