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For details of the places I visited in Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, with GPS Coordinates, see my book Vietnam Caves.

For details on motorbiking in Vietnam and Cambodia, from buying and selling a motorbike, to border crossing, see my book Motorbiking Cambodia & Vietnam.

Selecting a motorcycle was interesting. Every backpacker I met tried to flog me a fake Honda Win, and the things were so popular you basically tripped over them as you walk along the road.

Fake Honda Wins ready to go exploring Vietnam. Also note the incorrect way in strapping down a bag.

Having already had the pleasure of owning two fake Honda bikes, and doing long distance rides on them, i passed. What i selected was a genuine Yamaha Nouvo 2, single cylinder air cooled 115cc automatic.

My new ride being serviced by Saigon Minks
While they worked on the bike, i heard a chicken crow in their shop. The owner calmly stood up and took the chicken across the road where there are some dirt.

Saigon Minks’s mascot allowed to feed in the street

After having my New ride serviced by Simon from Saigon Minks, I fill the gas tank, pack my bags, and head over to John. John runs a motorbike company from his apartment, selling and buying motorcycles to and from backpackers. Jon gives me a load of advice, and a road map with routes and distances to take. The route is basically what he did with his parents, and is closely on the same roads I have found on the internet, with a few variations here and there. His schedule, however, calls for 9 hour rides a day on some days. This may be fine if you just want to ride, however, I have already from experience in doing such rides, learned you see almost nothing. Thus, I have decided to break my travel into shorter section, and basically just stop where I want to.

Thus, I point my Yamaha Nouvo in the general direction of Hanoi, with the intention of keeping off the main highway as far as possible, and leave Saigon. Simon wrote down the Vietnamese word for hotel on the maps he gave me, so that I can find lodging when I get to a town.

As I wave goodbye to Saigon, I look to the looming clouds that already start to build up.

Jon gave me direction on how to get out of Saigon the quickest, as I elected to bypass the ferry. However, due to roadworks I was redirected, and got lost. Thus, I turned to my trusty GPS application, and have it calculate a route for me. The app selected the ferry, and in the end, I was glad it did because it was a cool experience. I did not actually know it selected the ferry route. In fact, I did not even know it was a ferry until I drove up onto it. All I knew was, I was in front of a gate, and all the bikes passed me, gave money to some dude sitting on a chair at the end of the passage, and then drove on, and my GPS said I must follow them. From where I was, I could not see the ferry.

I tried to see how much I needed by checking what others took out, but they were too fast and everyone took out different amounts. So I pushed my bike back when there was a gap, and pondered my options. Well, since there was a small stand selling drinks, and I was thirsty, I got an idea. Having been in many situations that I needed help without being able to speak the language, I just made like normal, trust people and act like you know what’s going on. So I picked up a iced tea drink, and gave the lady about double that I know it goes for. As she got my change, I pointed to the gate and then pointed to the money. She immediately understood, and split my change into two groups. One group she held up, then pointed to the gate, that is how much it costs, thank you.

Guy had two spare tires just in case he had a flat.

After the ferry, I got about 10 min further, when it started raining and I had to get my rain suit out. The bike has storage space under the seat, so I decided to put my iPad and other stuff in there even though I had rain covers. It did, however, mean I have to take the large backpack off to open the seat, but I got a nice system and it takes me under two minutes to take the bag off, or put it on again. (As the gas filler cap is under the seat, duh Yamaha what were you thinking?)

The rain lasted about 20 min, then it cleared up. Most of the road at this point was either industrial or houses, however, some places had some nice views as I passed.

As soon as it cleared up, I packed my rain jacket away, then enjoyed the road. They however had these funny signs, I just could not understand them.

I mean, none of the pictures showed a guy with a backpack, so I elected to ride the same speed as the cars. I was not 5 min down the road, when a traffic cop jumped out and tried to flag me down for speeding.

Two things happened at the same time. The cop suddenly realized I was a backpacker without a Vietnamese girlfriend (huge problems if you have one on the back), so I am not worth stopping. The second thing that happened is that my old days of riding 200 mile/hour bikes kicked in, and I gunned the bike. Honestly, I did not mean to, it was a reflex. I was only over-speeding by 10km/h, and in those cases, if it is a lone backpacker, they normally let you go, you are just too much hassle. Down the road I saw the police truck where they load motorbikes on for those speeding (this is most likely where your bike will end up if you have a Vietnamese girl on the back, unless you pay up).

In my defense, how do they expect me to drive 40 or 50km/h here?

There are a lot of toll gates on the road, yet bikes to not pay, unlike South Africa, where bikes pay the full price of cars. Did you hear that South Africa, bikes does not pay toll fees.

About 69 km on the way, you get roadside stalls selling dumplings.

I had already decided I was going to break my trip into gas tank range section. Every time I fill up, I would decide if I was going to spend the night there or press on. For my first stop, I selected a fishing town, There was not much going on there, so I pressed on. As the light started to fade, and the clouds build up again, I looked for the nearest town, selecting one near the coast. The paper with the Vietnamese word for hotel was now safely dry, and under the seat ha ha ha. So I just winged it. Drove into town, and started looking around. After about 10 minutes, I spot a hotel, that looked like a hotel from the road, and said hotel. It was however a very nice hotel, and expensive. They told me they only had a VIP room for 360K, about US$17. More than what I wanted to spend, but I was tired. So accepted. Man, it was one of the best rest I had in a long time, that was now after the long warm bath I had.

The room even had a balcony.

After checking in, I hop across the road for some food. I barely sit down, when it starts raining. Just made it.

The next morning, all clear skies, for the most part.

View of boats in the harbor. This picture is actually from the next town as it is a better picture, but it all looks the same.

Stay tuned for day two.