Planning to do a little day trip tour thing with a company out in Vietnam... Planning to do hue to hoi Ann with these guys. Hue Riders - Home Gonna be me and the girl on a Honda 125 as part of a group and they sort out the luggage on the backs of their bikes/ ours. As someone who never goes out in anything less than a armoured leather jackets, reinforced jeans, boots and gloves, and a good helmet, it does make me wonder if it's a risk worth taking. It's not for ages (going out in June). Any thoughts?
I went to Hoi Ann a couple of years , lovely place and I`m sure you`ll enjoy it. The traffic there and all over the country was very different from here but everyone seemed incredibly cautious and courteous. Loads and loads of bikes too, they outnumber the cars by far. I always wear armoured leathers or textiles here but Vietnam is one place I`d be quite comfortable not to.
I've done this ride with a private guide and spent 3 days on a similar machine with the Mrs on the back. They take your luggage on the back of a separate bike and ride it straight to your over night destination whilst you do all the sight seeing. We met this particular bike guide at Nina's Cafe, who was recommended by the owner of the restaurant, (also check out their Trip Advisor reviews) Vietnamese Restaurant Cafe Hue Vietnam It may have been a family hustle, but I got sold to, and in the end he was a very knowledgeable, and actually, was one of our more memorable/enjoyable parts of Vietnam. We did just over one month in Vietnam covering East to West in the North, then the whole of the East coast by overnight train or motorcycle, then briefly exploring the South. All the roads we went on were in actually all in very good condition. We did go a little "off road" to see some rice fields/small towns/temples but nothing that I would call precarious. The bikes are slow, the brakes are shit and fade but you generally stay to the side of the road whilst trucks barrel past you. The only time we thought our lives were going to come close to an end is when we were doing a mountain pass and we got caught in torrential rain with no where to pull over... Protection? I don't think it was anything more than a builder's hard hat equivalent we wore... We did as much as we could by wearing jeans and long sleeve tops but all the bikes travel at the same speed (not that fast). We did see a local guy come off, but at the low average speeds you travel he just rolled a little, got up, dusted off and walked away with a few scratches. Basically common sense... don't be a twat and hoon about, keep your eyes peeled and just go with the traffic. One thing is when people cross the road they continue to walk at a constant pace no matter what the traffic, the bikes will go around pedestrians...not so much the cars though. If you're crossing the road DO NOT STOP walking. Unnerving at first but you'll see what I mean when you get there! Sorry for the long post... Hopefully there's something useful in there.
How did your trip go ? I live in Da Nang. Did u enjoy the Hai Van pass ? It's getting a wee bit busy now ,but if you hit it early morning , just at sunrise it's a great run. Especially on the Da Nang side of mountain with new road surface
Oops sorry missed that bit You will love it , but it will be very very hot. Last year at that time was 39 degrees and humidity very high. Cracking area though
