Vietnam for 4 weeks December 2025

[TLSgazza]

Heading to Heathrow in a little while for my flights to Vietnam for the rest of the year. Returning on January the 3rd.
I am taking 2 friends this year, one for the whole trip. One for the first 2 weeks or as he needs to be in Ho Chi Minh a week before us as he's then off to Cambodia for a few more weeks.
I will attempt to do a daily write up again if I get the time.
Some of the same places covered last year but a lot more new ones later on as we will be finishing in Ho Chi Minh city this year for the return flight.
I am so looking forward to some warmer weather.
I may be a little bit excited.

 

[grantmac]

Enjoy. Will be back in January. 3rd trip in 7 months. Love HCM City. Ben Thanh Market, Saigon Centre for a ''special'' bargian. Hanging out in ''District 1'', great massages (without happy ending), cheap as chips, food is great, alcohol even cheaper....Next trip up the coast to Da Nang to relax on a beach for a few days.

 

[TLSgazza]

Sorry about the lack of updates. Flying and other stuff held me up.
Anyway.......
We got to Heathrow and went to check in. All good except for my mate Chris.
He has an Irish passport. This means he needs to apply for a visa in advance. He didn't think to check in advance and I assumed he had a UK passport.
It was a 3-5 day turnaround so after much googling. Applications submitted and paid for by me.
We found that it couldn't be approved in time for his flights. He had to cancel his outgoing flights and subsequently they cancelled his return too. He lost the lot. £1,300.00 down the drain.
His wife picked him up again and Richard and I carried on with our flights.
Upon arrival at Hanoi we waited by the carousel for my case. After everyone had gone I went to inquire at the help desk.
I was told it wasn't put on the flight as it was too large.
Filled out all the forms etc. got an email a few hours later saying it was on its way and would brought to my hotel around midnight tonight.
Fhew.... As my helmet and all my other gear and clothes etc are in it. fingers crossed now.
I've not slept since I woke up at 06.00 on Friday morning. So tired but I need to be around for it's arrival.
Meanwhile Chris did a fast track visa application at a cost of £345.00
All approved and he has booked new flights arriving here on Tuesday afternoon. another £1,300.00 or so. Leaving a day earlier than I am. So now he's getting picked on return on his own and I have to sort another means for me.
My car is at his house too.

It can only get better.
Bikes for the 2 of us will be ready in the morning. So we should be able to get travelling at last.
I don't plan to be a long way from Hanoi for the first 4-5 days, by heading south east then towards the north from there to start, so hopefully numpty Chris will catch up by weds or Thursday and join us for the trip.
This is why I like to travel on my own

More to come.
Btw, I also had to download a VPN so I could access this site. It wouldn't let me have any access at all on my Vietnamese SIM card. Very strange though on the hotel WiFi with the VPN I can post.
So in future if I can't post with my data I may only be able to post with WiFi. I shall discover this in the next few days.

 

[TLSgazza]

My suitcase has arrived. Need some sleep now. Heres hoping

 

[TLSgazza]

Without the VPN turned on I get this message. Oh well let's see how I get on.

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

Lot of spam comes from SE Asia . Had the same last time I was there . A vpn will sort it . Have fun

 

[Thejoybringer]

Hope you managed to get your head down, like you say…things can only get better. Ride safely

 

[Hann]

He had to cancel his outgoing flights and subsequently they cancelled his return too. He lost the lot. £1,300.00

Is that a typical cost for return flights these days?
I was researching into a bike trip to Vietnam (admittedly 2 or 3 years ago now) and saw prices of about half that.

 

[TLSgazza]

Is that a typical cost for return flights these days?
I was researching into a bike trip to Vietnam (admittedly 2 or 3 years ago now) and saw prices of about half that.

It was about 500.00quid for the outward flights early December.
About £800.00 or so to return just after new year.
I used Qatar airways as they are good and reliable rather than trying to save a few quid and having stupid flight schedules.
Spoke to a bloke and his missus last night who saved about £300.00 compared with us but they had to fly to Shanghai first then had a long wait for the connecting flight.
So all in four long flights for £300.00 each isn't too bad.

 

[TLSgazza]

We Got the bikes this morning. Finally sorted and packed up. Headed off to brave the traffic to get out of Hanoi. It actually wasn't too bad maybe because it's Sunday. Main ISH roads for a while then I took us cross country over a couple of mountain passes on narrow concrete roads. There were some very muddy parts with no road left after some landslides which were kind of being repaired.
Absolutely stunning views as well once into the mountains. We didn't take many photos. But I'll post a couple. Staying at a nice homestay that I stayed at last year.
2 nights here so we can do some local touristy stuff tomorrowwe only covered a little over 100 miles. But it took about 6 hours with stops.
Trying to stay within a couple of hundred Kms of Hanoi so hopefully Chris will catch up on weds or Thursday.

Didn't take many pics today as it was a little cloudy and air quality wasn't great. But it was a nice day.

 

[TLSgazza]

A few photos and today's route

 

[TLSgazza]

I'm still feeling a bit crap today. Which was partly why we booked 2 nights here at the "happy home" homestay. Plus we are holding back for Chris to catch up when he gets here in a couple of days. Lovely people and a great place to stay with great rooms. A little expensive for Vietnam at about £20.00 a night. but a great view. Much cooler up here in the hills at night too .
We rode out and visited the bamboo water wheels and rode over a couple of dodgy looking bridges . Then visited a waterfall. We were heading up to a large cave and I started feeling a bit queasy again. Stopped at the side of the road as I didn't want to throw up in my helmet.
I laid there for a bit and then I did finally throw up my breakfast.
Hopefully I'll feel better very soon.
We did the usual, avoiding livestock in the roads from cows and buffalo to chickens,roosters and ducks and dogs.
Not too mention the crazy truck drivers.
After this we returned to the homestay. I thought if best if I took it easy for a bit.
The power was out here this morning and when we got back it was still out. A common occurrence here in the sticks. They appear to be used to it.

 

[TLSgazza]

 

[Thejoybringer]

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Good pics and report, looks like it’s turning out to be a fantastic adventure.

 

[TLSgazza]

We had a pretty good ride today
Didn't go too far as we are hoping Chris will catch up tomorrow . but it was mostly on very twisty and rough back roads to avoid Asia highway 13. Too many trucks and busses along that route.
Stopped at a lovely waterfall for a break. We had a few more brief stops on route. Barely averaged about 35kph.
Stunning views as we headed up into the mountains.
As we got further along there were more and more tea plantations. amongst all the other crops being grown.
There are still many of the landslides from last year that are not completely sorted yet. They've done enough to keep the roads open but if you were to ride along there you'd never moan about a few UK pot holes ever again.
Did the usual dodging the wildlife. Buffalo, cows and calves, chickens dogs. Why the latter have to sit in the road is beyond me.
Found a nice motel in moc chau.
Around 10 quid each for a room.
We had a wander around and walked through a market and some local shops. The markets are quite amazing. I think they must eat just about anything over here just so long as it doesn't poison you.
There were even whole cooked dogs for sale on a few stalls .
Heard from Chris and he will be on his bike in the morning.so we have another short day tomorrow to meet up will him all being well and I am planning to get us up to the dinosaurs spine tomorrow. Let's hope the weather stays good for it.

 

[TLSgazza]

 

[TLSgazza]

 

[TLSgazza]

After feeling pretty rough yesterday and a pretty rough night sleep I am a fair bit better today which is nice. I actually feel I might have some appetite back as well.
Will wander out again later to get a bit of food. There appears to be a reasonable choice of places within a short walk.

 

[Guru Gora]

Good stuff.

Glad you’re feeling better . Onwards….

 

[TLSgazza]

Beautiful sunshine today with a few fluffy clouds. Great start to the day.
We didn't need to leave very early as Chris was picking his bike up today and had to ride from Hanoi to meet us. So at 10am we left the motel and headed off. Traffic wasn't too bad as we made our way through town which was nice. Then a left turn and into the countryside. The very twisty road made its way through the valley getting lower as we headed for the ferry crossing across the Da river.
Stunning scenery.
Some rough roads in places and repairs are still being done around some of the landslides from a year ago. Some stretches of gravel where they are repairing some stretches and many, many potholes.
We arrived at the ferry and didn't wait too long to board. At least we were on the big boat and not one of the small ones. We paid the 34p fare and off we went,
Off the other side and carried on to the meeting point with Chris to get lunch.
We had lunch and Chris arrived at about 2.30.
Finally we were 3.
38 Kms to go and an arrival time on Google maps 1 hour 48 minutes later. This Led us to believe this will be interesting.
The first slog up hill was rough and steep with few overtaking spaces. A few lorries to make it interesting.
We stopped at the top to look at the valley. A magnificent view of many terraced rice fields and settlements in the distance. It really is outstanding. I pointed across the valley where I was heading for and we thought we could make out where the dinosaurs backbone was.
Hmmmm
35 minutes to cover 10 Kms.
Off we set.
Rough is an understatement. Broken concrete and potholes all along. It was indeed over half an hour. We arrived at the homestay I'd picked and secured all 3 rooms on the top floor for 2 nights. Very rustic .
Wooden buildings and a rock hard bed with a shared shower . Proper Vietnamese.
Stunning views here as the sun went down. Really dark now too with some settlements lit up in the massive valley.
It'll be chilly up here tonight and no heating.
Dinner is being served so I'll post some pics in a while.
A great days riding and I'm recovering from my illness well.