AllMoto's Motorcycle Investor mag

After an absence of several years, we're back on the road, heading into the fabulous countryside north of Ha Noi, Vietnam

Though we've tackled similar rides several times before, there is always that last-minute shot of adrenaline as you stroll over to the fleet of seven bikes, under the bridge on the tip of the old city, in Ha Noi.

We've kind of lost count, but it may be ride number five, all done with the good folk at Offroad Vietnam across a period stretching back for well over a decade. And while it's definitely feasible to do this off your own bat, with a hired bike, there is method in our madness with going the guided route.

Above is the broad direction we took. However the actual route involved a lot of village trails and backroads, which would have added to the mileage.
Google map link

Much depends on how easily un-nerved you are by chaotic traffic, but the simple act of getting out of Ha Noi unscathed is what tends to spook newcomers. However the thing to remember is people are patient and try really hard not to hurt each other, so it ends up being safer than it looks.

Once out of the city and heading north, we soon encounter these wonderful roads high up on levee banks. The traffic on the water is all industry – no luxury yachts, or not today.

Look across the road and you're met with a construction site, surrounded by privately-owned mansions.

Roadside stops for a brew can end up offering a whole lot more than you might expect.

...while we got to sample a local delicacy: fermented pork wrapped in an unidentified local leaf and dipped in chili sauce. Afternoon tea takes on a whole new meaning...

The assorted CRF Hondas (150, 250 and 300s) are working well – more on them at a later date.

Today we copped the lot: rice fields, mountains, riding in cloud – you name it. A spectacular day.

We mentioned the advantages of having a guide and today was a clear illustration. Instead of following the main road out of town, we wove our way through lots of little side streets and raised paths between rice paddies and for a while following the local river bed.

Our rather grand-looking hotel for last night – this evening we're in a home stay.

Our guide dashed off at a coffee stop today and returned looking very pleased with himself, holding a bag of fresh bamboo shoots. In case you were wondering, they're big – about the size of a domestic rolling pin. The cream-coloured dish above is the result – one bamboo shoot with garlic, spring onion and tomato – perfect.

Monuments to the Vietnamese victory over the French at Lung Lo Pass. It was a turning point in that conflict.

Deep-fried centipedes, village side-roads and waterwheels – today seemed to have it all. Oh and then we ended the day creeping along inside a cloud, feeling our way into mountainous Sa Pa.

In complete contrast to the first night, we ended up at a Suoi Kim home-stay hosted by a Thai ethnic group family. When we did our first bike trip here roughly 15 years ago, home stays were a known thing, but relatively thin on the ground. Now it's a mini industry.

You would usually eat and engage with the family. That's the matron of our host group at left, with Margaret – one of our riders. The hosts also took the opportunity to celebrate International Women's Day, which coincided with our visit.

The meals at home-stays are usually a highlight – plentiful and well-cooked, which it was in this case. Oh, and liberally accompanied with the local and rather deadly rice wine.

Our treat for the day was a dish we'd never come across before: deep-fried centipedes! Okay, it might need a new name and appearance, but it tasted pretty good. It's tempting to say it tasted like chicken, but we'd be lying. Most people were more comfortable with the excellent Ha Noi-style spring rolls in the next plate.

A highlight was the apparently endless village paths that run behind the main and secondary roads in this part of the country. We spent hours meandering along them, seeing parts of the district you could never normally hope to. It's slow-going, which is part of the attraction.

We're now convinced our guide Thon (pictured) makes this stuff up as he goes along. Here he is pointing to the next coffee stop.

Of course we made friends along the way – here is Spannerman blending in with the locals.

Some time in the afternoon we wandered past these waterwheels. They're an ancient and clever design variation that uses the power of the stream to lift water into the nearby paddy fields. This large installation has become something of an attraction for locals.

Sa Pa to Bac Ha: we climbed down out of the mountains, then all the way up another set...or that's what it felt like. Along the way we got to experience some great roads, spectacular country and much more. Join us for a quick sample of the day's riding.

This impressive-looking pile is the Cat Cat View hotel in Sa Pa – our digs for the night. On a clear day, you should be able to see across the mountain range, which is quite a sight. However it's more of a lottery outside peak summer and we scored the inside of a cloud.

The hotelier's patience was being tested by the construction work going on outside, to bury cabling, which turned what little was left of the street into a slick motocross track. As is typical of Vietnam, it wasn't enough to slow down the locals, even if they were on scooters with balding street tyres.

Once you got underneath the cloud, there was a view...or at least a hint of what we were missing.

Out of the mountains and in the valleys, we came across a series of hydro power stations. We liked this example for the massive decoration on the front of the building, honouring the water wheels of ancient design we encountered yesterday.

Something which intrigues us is that houses like these – which we've nominated as Vietnamese Gothic in style – pop up in the middle of nowhere. The architecture is distinctive and the result is often massive.

Trend for the day: we've noticed a string of bia (beer) signs showing generously-proportioned and very un-Vietnamese frauleins. Whatever gets the till ringing...

Sometimes in Australia I have trouble keeping up with Guy when we ride. I’ve arrived first a few times but usually because I’m on a better bike. Some years ago, in Vietnam, we found ourselves on identical bikes riding down from Sa Pa to Lao Cai. Yes, they were 125cc Honda trail bikes but that’s not the point. Same bikes, same tyres and only one of us was going to get to the bottom of the hill first.

The red mist descended and I passed him so easily that it was almost as if he was doing something else. He clung on, though, and I saw his front wheel a couple of times going into tight corners and his shadow was on the wall of the cuttings we rode through just behind mine.

The victory was short-lived. It turns out he was holding a digital camera in one hand to record the scenery and steering with the other hand. He wasn’t even aware we were racing.

Here we are again, in 2024, back in Vietnam on identical bikes – this time the slightly faster Honda CRF300s. It’s likely we’ll find ourselves in due course on a twisty section of mountain road on the Chinese border and perhaps we’ll settle this once and for all. Watch this space…

Last night's home stay was with a Thay ethnic group, whose ability to make plum-infused rocket-fuel is to be admired. It certainly helped to get us off to sleep.

Most home stays seem to make their own liquor – most often it's rice wine and the strength can vary from attitude-changing to life-changing.

We wandered into the Bac Ha market, which is said to be one of the bigger ones in the country.

It has pretty much anything your little heart desires, from rotary hoes, to handbags to live water buffalo.

The nature of the country around here means you seem to spend a lot of time running up and down mountainsides, with the accompanying tight and twisty 'snake ways' that are in abundance.

One of the risks of taking backroads is that every now and then you hit a dud, like the 30-40km section of roadwork we encountered today, with surfaces varying from okay through to ankle-deep mud. It will be sensational when it's finished!

That was a bit of a trial, but these things happen. As a result, we've all got a story to tell.

And if ever you need it, there is the constant reminder of how whole families manage on their scooter.

Mountain road overload – or that's what it seemed like when the sun came out and we spent most of the day playing in the hills.

Before we get too far into that, last night's home stay – aka Mr Cay's just outside Ha Giang – was a bit special.

As we mentioned recently, the whole home stay gig has become an industry in recent years, but don't let that put you off as it makes a nice contrast and alternative to a typical country hotel.

Meanwhile we spent much of the day climbing through mountain ranges that are as spectacular as any you will find elsewhere in the world.

You need a little patience to get to them, as the roads and traffic mean you're doing okay if you can average 40-50km/h for any length of time, but it's worth the effort.

The ride is punctuated with all sorts of interesting sights, such as the Hmong ethnic groups (there are several distinct types) going about their business, or simply the towns and how they tick.

Something to be aware of was the local traffic police were out in force in this province, checking foreigners for international licences and often emptying their wallets in the process. Plus, Vietnam introduced zero alcohol for road users about two years ago, so you can forego the lunchtime beer.

And then you'll get an enforced break while the local roadworks sort themselves out. Above is the front part of the queue at one, which acted pretty much like a weird all-in le Mans start when the barrier holding them back (a bit of green string held by a worried-looking teenager) was dropped.

As we're nearing the end of the ride (a day-and-a-bit to go) we're already discussing how we might reformat the next trip so we get more time to stop and soak in the scenery.

Tomorrow is a comparatively long day at 220km, ending at Ba Be Lake. Wish us luck...

If there was a theme for this section it was back roads and amphibious motorcycles.

What a wild old day – epic mountain views, scooting through cinnamon plantations on village byroads and then we launch an amphibious attack on an unsuspecting home stay from Ba Be Lake.

The town has grown since we last saw it a few years ago and the nightlife is clearly booming. The hotpot restaurant we visited was packed on a Monday night and proceedings were well-lubricated with rice wine.

With dinner done and a force 11 front of karaoke about to wash over the place, we took our leave.

Nearby Meo Vac township clearly has huge ambitions when it comes to developing its tourism industry, as witnessed by this new entertainment palace on the outskirts.

Houses on the main street are being prettied up with rock walls and decorative timber gates.

Tourist activity in the area is building up with pillion rides through the mountains on scooters piloted by locals proving to be very popular.

At some stage, Thon our guide darted down some unmarked little village track that took us to all sorts of weird and wonderful places, like the cinnamon plantation above...

None of that quite got our attention as effectively as the proposed boat trip, with bikes.

Then we had the weird experience of being overtaken by our own motorcycles, on water.

Our find for the day was this – a telescoping ladder that fits on the back of a scooter.

Tomorrow is our last day on the road, some 230km back to Ha Noi. Watch this space...

It's been eight big days, finished off with a gallop through the hills, then tackling the fun and games that is Ha Noi traffic. Join us for a taste of the action, and a few thoughts on our Honda CRF150/250/300 mounts.

After our little water-borne excursion yesterday, waking up to this view rounded out a spectacular 24 hours.

Our home stay, at centre of pic, nestled in scenery that would rate as exceptional in any other part of the world. And yes we did get to try the house rice wine, which in this case claimed a herbal infusion. It could almost be good for you...or so it seemed after we'd shared toasts with the matron of the family, one or more male figures of importance, plus the generous young woman who seemed to actually run things.

Along the way we tripped over a tour group of Vietnamese riders, clearly well-funded and mounted on a fleet of late model Honda CB500X adventure tourers. They were headed into the mountain districts we had just departed.

Thanks to rain and fog, we didn't get a lot of camera time today, but it did provide a chance to ponder our fleet of bikes, which consisted of late-model Honda CRF150L, 250L and 300L.

Let's kick off by saying this is not a thorough evaluation, but some observations for this weird eight-day run, mostly on roads, but also on mild trails, at Vietnam pace, where 40-60km/h would be the norm.

All three are tilted at the dual-purpose market, so a mix of road and trail. The 150 runs an older-style SOHC two-valve air-cooled engine, fed by a carburetor.

It's not powerful, but has a fairly grunty mix of torque and gearing which means it is at no real disadvantage in this group. Quite the opposite. Long-term, it should be an easy thing to service and maintain at home.

More compact than its bigger 250-300 brethren, it's a lot easier to manage and in this environment is a great choice for someone who either wants to build their confidence a little or doesn't have the height/size to easily manage the 250/300 platform.

Move on to the 250/300 platform (above is a 250) and we're talking of a different package with the same intention.

Though still built in the 'universal trail bike' mould, it's taller than the 150, with a four-valve DOHC, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected engine. There is a substantial power difference between the 250 and 300 and the extra 50cc counts when you simply want to roll on the throttle from low-to-medium revs.

Performance through the midrange, with the ability to spin up willingly when called upon, is what the injected engines are all about.

They largely share running gear, while they can be distinguished by graphics and different headlights.

Both are running a six-speed transmission compared to the five-speed in the 150.

The upsides of the Hondas? Dead reliable according to Offroad Vietnam, which is why they buy them. All three models are simple and easy to handle with typical Honda user-friendly manners. You might develop a different attitude if you were riding them hard off road.

In our environment, the 300s were indicating 30km/lt average fuel consumption. That seemed about right.

Downsides? The main one is intended purpose. The thin and narrow seats meet the design brief as a trail bike, but are less happy as a platform for touring across 7-8 hours per day for over a week. The hot tip is to take an Airhawk or similar pad along for the ride.

As for the Ha Noi Run, we're still coming down from an exhausting and exhilarating eight days. And we're already discussing the next one. So that's a good sign, isn't it?

Walk down any street in Vietnam and you'll generally encounter a horde of scooters dominating the traffic. They work as personal transport, family transport, commercial vehicles and two-wheeled moving vans. So you can imagine why we choked on our morning Ha Noi coffee when we recently saw a couple of two-up current-model Honda GoldWings cruise by, escorting a bunch of expensive black cars.

It turns out the local traffic police scored a modest fleet last year, to use in escort duties for the ASEAN conference. A local news report refers to them as "super motorbikes" and you can see why.

In this environment it's like seeing a great white shark cruising around in your aquarium...

You must have a licence to ride a motorbike in Vietnam. However you can not obtain one with the typical 30-day tourist visa. You can get one only if you have a visa that allows a stay of longer than 30 days, which means a business, work or resident permit. Note there are two levels of licence: up to 175cc and above.

Vietnam accepts international licences, but not the one you might typically get in Australia from your local motoring authority – they conform to a 1949 convention. The solution appears to be one sourced via IDP online (https://www.e-ita.org/vietnam). They comform the 1968 Convention, which seems to be okay. Get the full package, including the plastic credit-card-style licence. The application is online (have a passport pic ready), takes a couple of weeks to be delivered and costs around US$130.

I’ve done several rides over there over the years and licensing hasn’t been an issue until the most recent trip. Ha Giang province is red hot on international licences at the moment, because there were a few recent tourist fatalities. I don’t see how they draw a line between the crashes and licensing, but they do.

The way the system works over there is the traffic police (beige uniforms) are paid poorly. They expect to collect traffic fines in cash, a percentage of which they keep.

We could have avoided Ha Giang province last trip, but decided not to as it has some of the most spectacular scenery. The police pulled us up a couple of times and eventually my partner and I, out of a group of six, got nailed for not having the right paperwork. My belief is they were going to get someone, and we were the easiest target. Our guide negotiated the fine, which was 500k Dong or Au$31 for the pair of us, and we kept going with no further issues. We did encounter other riders without guides, who were copping more like four times that each. In all cases they were allowed to keep going once the cash was coughed up.

The licence link above produces something that the cops seem to accept (some of our group had them), in part because the plastic card clearly indicates a Vietnamese flag. Your biggest asset will nevertheless be having a good guide on hand who can negotiate. Our bloke Thon, from Offroad Vietnam, proved to be excellent.

***

Produced by AllMoto abn 61 400 694 722
Privacy: we do not collect cookies or any other data.

Archives