Vietnam Xmas 2024
- Thread starter TLSgazza
- Start date
210 Kms today 6.5 hours riding.
It was a bit cloudy high up so I made the right decision not stopping up the mountain last night.
I chose a nice back roads route to where I am tonight.
The first 57 Kms were on a main road though and it was over a high pass. Mostly a good bit of very twisty road as per the norm.
Beautiful views of the valleys and also the river Da again. I turned off onto the little roads and the first part was very rough. Then it actually became a very good route. Superb scenery. Lovely mountains and valleys.
The sun was beginning to come out and it was a nice ride. Slow again as always. More fantastic rivers, dams and lakes. The views got better as the sun came out.
There were many landslides up this way again that they are still sorting out but mostly the roads have been clear. Some of the river valleys have evidence of massive amounts of water coming down them in the past. Some of the boulders are as big as cars. Quite incredible.
Any way after a long ride I found a nice homestay again on a mountain side in an area where there are no end of terraced rice fields. It's quite something to see.
A pretty good day's riding. And tomorrow I'll have a long day to get back to Hanoi to drop the bike off. I've left myself a little bit more than I intended but it should be ok if it stays dry.
It was a bit cloudy high up so I made the right decision not stopping up the mountain last night.
I chose a nice back roads route to where I am tonight.
The first 57 Kms were on a main road though and it was over a high pass. Mostly a good bit of very twisty road as per the norm.
Beautiful views of the valleys and also the river Da again. I turned off onto the little roads and the first part was very rough. Then it actually became a very good route. Superb scenery. Lovely mountains and valleys.
The sun was beginning to come out and it was a nice ride. Slow again as always. More fantastic rivers, dams and lakes. The views got better as the sun came out.
There were many landslides up this way again that they are still sorting out but mostly the roads have been clear. Some of the river valleys have evidence of massive amounts of water coming down them in the past. Some of the boulders are as big as cars. Quite incredible.
Any way after a long ride I found a nice homestay again on a mountain side in an area where there are no end of terraced rice fields. It's quite something to see.
A pretty good day's riding. And tomorrow I'll have a long day to get back to Hanoi to drop the bike off. I've left myself a little bit more than I intended but it should be ok if it stays dry.
What a great trip!
Vietnam has been on my list for a while and this inspires me to get on and do it.
Vietnam has been on my list for a while and this inspires me to get on and do it.
Great Stuff !
275kms today.
7 hours of riding.
It started off at 8 am looking cloudy but mostly ok.
I set off and about 10 Kms later I saw a few bikes coming the other way with rain covers on. Uh oh....
Anyway what I didn't realise was that immediately south of where I stayed last night there is a high mountain pass that I had to cross.
I stopped to put my waterproofs on as It was already a bit misty and I was heading into the clouds.
It was very twisty and just a few more Kms and the visibility was getting bad, I rode higher and higher into the clouds and the visibility ended up being about 3-4 metres. I couldn't see a thing.
My visor was covered inside and out. My glasses were getting covered in the moisture too. I was crawling along at about 20 kph, using the only thing I could see to guide me which was the edge of the road, at least I had the route on Google maps showing to give me a slight idea of which direction the road was heading.
It took an hour and a half to cover 50 Kms.
It was bitterly cold up there too.
Madness.
Eventually the road started to descend and I slowly came out of the clouds and could see more and more as I came back down the pass.
The roads stayed wet though for about the first 120kms.
Once on dry roads again I could press on a bit and actually enjoy the views again.
Many tea plantations all the way along the first part of the route. Along with the terraced rice fields again.
A few more landslides here and there adding a bit more mud to the bike.
It was filthy.
The roads flattened out a bit eventually and there were more villages, towns and farmland.
There were a lot of timber yards again with Kms of road lined with drying sheets of wood. It smelt lovely.
The last 75 or so Kms were on very busy roads and it was a bit manic. Though in hindsight they weren't too bad once I actually started to enter Hanoi. It was crazy. So much traffic.
It became a bit of a game in the end leaving them behind at traffic lights. But it was quite an ordeal.
I think the last 25 Kms took about 50 minutes.
Anyway I went straight to the hotel and dropped off all my luggage.
Took the bike back to the shop.
Got my passport back and said my thank yous. Picked up my big bag that I'd left there and walked back to the hotel and checked in.
4,570.8 Kms ridden in total.
What an adventure.
New year's eve in Hanoi tonight. Now that will also be mental, going by Ho Chi Minh last year.
7 hours of riding.
It started off at 8 am looking cloudy but mostly ok.
I set off and about 10 Kms later I saw a few bikes coming the other way with rain covers on. Uh oh....
Anyway what I didn't realise was that immediately south of where I stayed last night there is a high mountain pass that I had to cross.
I stopped to put my waterproofs on as It was already a bit misty and I was heading into the clouds.
It was very twisty and just a few more Kms and the visibility was getting bad, I rode higher and higher into the clouds and the visibility ended up being about 3-4 metres. I couldn't see a thing.
My visor was covered inside and out. My glasses were getting covered in the moisture too. I was crawling along at about 20 kph, using the only thing I could see to guide me which was the edge of the road, at least I had the route on Google maps showing to give me a slight idea of which direction the road was heading.
It took an hour and a half to cover 50 Kms.
It was bitterly cold up there too.
Madness.
Eventually the road started to descend and I slowly came out of the clouds and could see more and more as I came back down the pass.
The roads stayed wet though for about the first 120kms.
Once on dry roads again I could press on a bit and actually enjoy the views again.
Many tea plantations all the way along the first part of the route. Along with the terraced rice fields again.
A few more landslides here and there adding a bit more mud to the bike.
It was filthy.
The roads flattened out a bit eventually and there were more villages, towns and farmland.
There were a lot of timber yards again with Kms of road lined with drying sheets of wood. It smelt lovely.
The last 75 or so Kms were on very busy roads and it was a bit manic. Though in hindsight they weren't too bad once I actually started to enter Hanoi. It was crazy. So much traffic.
It became a bit of a game in the end leaving them behind at traffic lights. But it was quite an ordeal.
I think the last 25 Kms took about 50 minutes.
Anyway I went straight to the hotel and dropped off all my luggage.
Took the bike back to the shop.
Got my passport back and said my thank yous. Picked up my big bag that I'd left there and walked back to the hotel and checked in.
4,570.8 Kms ridden in total.
What an adventure.
New year's eve in Hanoi tonight. Now that will also be mental, going by Ho Chi Minh last year.
Fantastic stuff thanks for posting
Final day. After a lay in this morning I went for a wander around to have a look at the local part of the city.
Had a look at some of the ancient buildings and learnt a little about when the French were here running things up until 1958-9 when they were ousted.
I found the part where a train track runs between cafes and shops, unfortunately no trains came along while I was there. I headed off to a massive lake in the city where there is an ancient pagoda. It was shut for the lunchtime period. Then I found the famous night market. Fascinating the amount of stuff for sale in this huge building on 3 floors. Along with all the stalls in the surrounding streets.
The colours and the smells were intoxicating.
Amazing.
The streets were manic with traffic again. I can see why the bikes left switchgear favoured the horn button over anything else. That's all you can hear.
Constant beeping from everyone as they all rush around, there's no order to it at all.
It's still a fascinating place. After I'd walked about 4 or 5 miles I headed back to the hotel for a bit to sort my stuff out for the early departure tomorrow. I'll go out tonight for some food and a look around again and then that's it.
I hope you all enjoyed sharing my adventure.
I counted out my money today.i started off with 30,000,000, I still have 6,000,000 left. I spent 5,000,000 on the cruise.nearly 2,000,000 on my hotel here in Hanoi .
So I actually spent less than 1,000,000 a day whilst travelling around. That's about £30.00 a day for accommodation, fuel, food and other expenses along the way. Crazy.
If you ever get a chance to come out this way, just do it.
You won't be sorry.
Over and out. Maybe!
To end In the words of a certain Mr Clarkson.
"YOU DONT KNOW MAN! YOU WERENT THERE!"
Had a look at some of the ancient buildings and learnt a little about when the French were here running things up until 1958-9 when they were ousted.
I found the part where a train track runs between cafes and shops, unfortunately no trains came along while I was there. I headed off to a massive lake in the city where there is an ancient pagoda. It was shut for the lunchtime period. Then I found the famous night market. Fascinating the amount of stuff for sale in this huge building on 3 floors. Along with all the stalls in the surrounding streets.
The colours and the smells were intoxicating.
Amazing.
The streets were manic with traffic again. I can see why the bikes left switchgear favoured the horn button over anything else. That's all you can hear.
Constant beeping from everyone as they all rush around, there's no order to it at all.
It's still a fascinating place. After I'd walked about 4 or 5 miles I headed back to the hotel for a bit to sort my stuff out for the early departure tomorrow. I'll go out tonight for some food and a look around again and then that's it.
I hope you all enjoyed sharing my adventure.
I counted out my money today.i started off with 30,000,000, I still have 6,000,000 left. I spent 5,000,000 on the cruise.nearly 2,000,000 on my hotel here in Hanoi .
So I actually spent less than 1,000,000 a day whilst travelling around. That's about £30.00 a day for accommodation, fuel, food and other expenses along the way. Crazy.
If you ever get a chance to come out this way, just do it.
You won't be sorry.
Over and out. Maybe!
To end In the words of a certain Mr Clarkson.
"YOU DONT KNOW MAN! YOU WERENT THERE!"
Great write up , looks like you had a great trip . Thanks for taking the time to post .
