Motorcycle Odyssey: A Backpacker's Guide to Riding the Length of Vietnam

By Nicholas Brookland

TRAVEL LIKE A PRO IN A COUNTRY WHERE BRIBING COPS IS NORMAL!

 

Everyone knows someone who's ridden the length of Vietnam. What if you could do the same?

For us Kiwis and Australians, it's difficult finding decent material about motorcycling in Vietnam. With so much conflicting information online and uncertainty around costs, it's no wonder people keep putting off this 1600 km road trip.

 

Nicholas Brookland has been there and done it. In the flesh. And whether your goal is riding from Saigon to Hanoi or between beach towns, this guide is your bulletproof vest.

 

This step-by-step guide reveals:

How to plan your own motorcycle odyssey before leaving home.

Where and how to buy / rent a bike.

What types of licences and insurance you'll need.

How to finish your trip alive without being run over by a pig truck.

How to avoid getting shaken down by dodgy cops.

Itemized expense reports, showing this journey is possible for as little as NZ$90 per day and even as low as $50.

A day-by-day riding itinerary.

 

Let's face it. None of us are getting any younger. Your own Vietnam motorcycle odyssey awaits. And with all the information you need in one lightweight book, what's stopping you?

• Language: English
• Publisher: www.vietnamroadtrip.com
• Release date: Feb 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9780473564148

Book preview

Advance Praise For

MOTORCYCLE ODYSSEY

A Backpacker’s Guide to Riding the Length of Vietnam

A really informative book that stirs up the thirst for travelling! It made me realise what I have been missing for the past couple of years! It brought back memories of my previous travels and made me realise how much I love doing the style of travel Nicholas has shared – free to experience the real life of a country without being bogged down by tourist traps and itinerary.

- Kel M., Travel Photographer

At its most basic level, it made me feel like donning the backpack once again and going exploring! It re-ignites that sense of adventure, of discovery and curiosity.

- Sunil J., World Weary Traveller

A superbly well-rounded book that balances the need for stories and information well. Motorcycle Odyssey left me entertained and informed, which is always a winner. I'm itching to get on the road again after reading!

- Shiki C., Fellow Biker

It made me miss the camaraderie of travelling with a buddy – other than my wife.

- Sean F., Foreign Diplomat

By Nicholas Brookland

Motorcycle Odyssey:

A Backpacker’s Guide to Riding The Length of Vietnam

By Nicholas Brookland

vietnamroadtrip.com

To purchase copies please email: [e-mail]

Copyright © 2021 Nicholas Brookland

All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the author's express written permission, except for the use of brief quotations in book reviews or journals.

First Edition 2021.

ISBN: 978-0-473-56413-1

ISBN: 978-0-473-56414-8 E-Book

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand.

Disclaimer:

This book is not intended to be a source of legal, medical, or immigration advice.

The author has made every effort to supply accurate and thorough information in the creation of this book. The author accepts no responsibility for loss or damages of any kind incurred by the reader due to actions arising from the use of information in this book. The reader assumes all responsibility for the use of the information in this book.

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper motorcycle training. Like any sport involving speed, equipment, balance and environmental factors, riding a motorcycle poses some inherent risk. The author advises readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before riding anywhere, be sure that your equipment is well maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and comfort level.

CONTENTS

Advance Praise

Title Page

Glossary

So, You Want To Ride In Vietnam?

Chapter 1: Preparation

Chapter 2: Travel Buddies

Chapter 3: Gear

Chapter 4: Finding Your Trusty Steed

Chapter 5: Licences And Insurance

Chapter 6: Which Route To Take?

Chapter 7: Road Dangers

Chapter 8: Our Journey

Chapter 9: Expenses

Chapter 10: Don’t Just Take My Word For It...

Motorcycle Odyssey

20 Tips, Tricks and Etiquette for Vietnam

Vietnam Beer Review List

Acknowledgements

Author Info

GLOSSARY

Ho Chi Minh City – Is Vietnam’s largest city, located in the South. Before 1976, it was called Saigon. Most visitors, and even locals, still frequently call it Saigon. Throughout this book, we will refer to the city as Saigon, except when talking about flights and other specific instances.

Saigon = Older, more commonly used, name.

Ho Chi Minh City = New name circa. 1976

All prices are in New Zealand Dollars – unless stated otherwise.

All associated costs mentioned in this book are current as of late 2019. Expenses were converted to New Zealand dollars using the exchange rates as they happened in 2019. Please note some costs may have changed since publication.

The official currency of Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong. However, USD is also widely accepted. A holdover from the Vietnam War, where U.S. troops would frequently barter with U.S. currency, Vietnam more or less uses both currencies interchangeably – as does Cambodia. Some stores, guesthouses and restaurants may display their prices in U.S. Dollars – but you are welcome to pay in USD or VND. On our latest trip, we withdrew VND from ATMs and used it exclusively for our travels. On previous visits to Vietnam, I have taken a wad of USD bills in $1, $5 and $10 denominations. $1 USD roughly equals $23,000 VND at time of writing.

To the people of Vietnam, thanks for sharing your country with us.

SO, YOU WANT TO RIDE IN VIETNAM?

‘The most breathtaking and inspiring natural beauty coupled with the genuine threat of crashing and dying at the side of the road.’

– Carlos, Colombian backpacker

That’s how Carlos described motorcycling through Vietnam – and he was right. We were sitting in a rundown bar overlooking the Saigon River, sipping beer and watching the cyclo drivers argue on the corner. Carlos had just finished the 1,600-kilometre journey down from Hanoi with two friends.

‘The odds of dying are high if you crash your bike,’ he said.

‘Okay,’ I replied, laughing nervously. ‘But you made it back safe and sound. How can we do the same?’

‘Don’t crash.’

Carlos looked me in the eye. ‘Don’t crash, don’t die.’

He repeated it several times and explained that you lose control of what happens to you once you are injured. If you’re well enough, you may be able to climb up the bank, jump back on your bike and seek proper medical care in the next city – but that’s a big ‘if’. It’s simply better to control your riding and avoid crashing altogether. There are many dangers on Vietnam’s roads, and the best way to mitigate them is by driving defensively and wearing proper gear.

Carlos described how the mountainous regions along the Ho Chi Minh Highway had spotty phone reception – which proved to be true when I travelled there in 2019. So, even if you do miraculously survive a bike crash, you make a call for help, and an ambulance arrives before you die, you’re still not through the worst of it.

A few locals passing by on their way home might scramble down the bank to assist you, and with no knowledge of first aid or spinal care, there’s every possibility they may aggravate your injuries while dragging your sorry ass back up to the roadside. But let’s say an ambulance arrives – and they extract your mangled body from the jungle without causing further damage – once medical staff have hold of you, there’s still no guarantee they’ll treat you correctly. You could find yourself on the operating table where staff suddenly have ‘no option’ but to amputate.

Carlos scared me with his treacherous, albeit slightly exaggerated, scenarios. But there was still undeniable proof sitting before me: a trip could be made across Nam without being fatal.

‘But you didn’t die,’ I said. ‘You didn’t even get injured.’

‘No, I didn’t,’ replied Carlos. ‘And it was hands down the best experience of my life.’

I leaned back and listened to him recount the beauty of rural Vietnam – the undiscovered waterfalls he and his friends swam in, the girls they fell in love with on the beaches of Nha Trang, and the sumptuous feasts cooked fresh on the sand. He recounted whack experiences with locals where both parties worked hard to understand each other, often ending up in fits of laughter. Pythons, tarantulas and cheeky monkeys also featured in Carlos’ stories. What interested me the most were the bomb craters and battle sites from the war that one could visit on a whim and the endless street markets where everyone fights for a deal.

‘Put that away and enjoy the moment,’ I said as Carlos pulled out his phone to show me some pictures.

‘Why? Don’t you want to see everything we did?’

‘There’s no need.’ I was already sold.

Congratulations on taking the first step towards making your Vietnam motorcycle odyssey a reality. By picking up this book, you’re arming yourself with first-hand knowledge – knowledge that will help you decide whether this trip is for you. People say the pain of not doing something can be more devastating than the actual act itself. Staying at a job you hate could result in years of pain and dissatisfaction, whereas the act of quitting only takes a few minutes. After talking with Carlos back in 2015, motorbiking across Vietnam haunted me. If I had known everything I know now, I would have jumped on a bike straight away. Instead, it took me several years to get my head around the concept, save some money, and finally book a ticket to the land of the blue dragon.

Here’s what I’ve since learned:

You can ride all inclusively in Vietnam for NZ$90 per day. (Even as low as NZ$50 per day if you really try.)

You can comfortably ride the length of Vietnam in 2 weeks. This still leaves you with 50 weeks of the year to do other stuff.

Travel insurance is as important as the motorbike.

10 kg of essential belongings is all you need.

Most of you have undoubtedly spent hours trawling through websites, strangely formatted blogs, and low-res YouTube videos trying to get a sense of how best to approach a journey like this. There’s an overwhelming amount of information on riding in Vietnam; some of it is good, a lot is outdated, and big chunks are straight misleading. Most of it is written by foreigners you can’t relate to – or who can’t spell correctly – I even came across a moto video diary by a Japanese guy; it was well produced but was all in Japanese, and the guy hadn’t bothered to add subtitles.

All you want to know is where you can get a bike and what a trip like this will cost, yet every blog is in US dollars or British pounds, and it just adds to the confusion. This online roulette game is deflating – it’s a damn shame some people will never attempt their Vietnam motorcycle odyssey because of the upfront hassle in finding quality information.

But what if you had a comprehensive – all-in-one – guide covering in detail what to do? Would your trip still be sitting in the too hard basket? Heck! You could fly tonight, read this entire guide on the plane, and be ready to hit the ground running once you land.

Booking that initial plane ticket should be an exciting experience – your journey is happening. It’s locked in. No one can take it away from you now, and once you have an arrival date, everything else falls into place smoothly.

This guide advises on the type of helmet you should buy, right down to how much gear you should pack. It will remove the confusion surrounding which licences you need and also tell you how to get a local Vietnamese licence – which is necessary if you want to be covered by travel insurance. Most importantly, you’ll find out what a trip like this costs right down to the price of a banh mi on the street. I recorded every dollar I spent on my most recent Vietnam journey, purely for your analysis. Other writers leave out these crucial details when recounting their romantic motorcycle journeys. Still, details are what you need to make your trip a success – you need to know whether you can jump on that plane tonight or if you’ll need to sell a kidney first.

Only by travelling to Vietnam will you experience first-hand what things are like and how you will adapt to them. I highly recommend checking out the films, books and blogs mentioned in the very back pages. Doing so will give you a better-rounded picture of Vietnam and what to expect when you get there.

Motorcycling through Vietnam is like riding through history – the country still bears the scars and memories of the war from a time not so long ago. By travelling the length and breadth of the country, you’ll soak up Vietnam’s past while simultaneously experiencing its present. The biggest reward is the sense of accomplishment you get from achieving something few other tourists do. You’re not only conquering distance but also overcoming the fear many travellers have of moving outside boringly safe Westernized tourist holidays. Ultimately, you’re getting true freedom.

Chances are, since you’re reading this book, you and I aren’t that different. I was you at one point – I wanted the reins to my holiday. I didn’t want my daily activities to be dictated by a strict tour group itinerary with no room for spontaneity. I wanted to go off-grid, away from the tourist hordes, yet remain safe enough to share my travel stories with others – albeit better ones! I was desperate for information on Vietnam, anything that would make my trip abroad successful and not result in embarrassment, falling on my ass, or death. Because most blogs I read were written by foreigners, I felt I wasn’t getting the full picture. Down under, we have a reputation for being straight talkers. So, I wanted to hear from the Kiwis and Aussies who had ridden in Vietnam. I wanted to know what the roads were like, what to watch out for, and what you could get away with. But none of us had bothered to write anything substantial online, and the only way I would get answers was to get on a plane and find out for myself.

I’ve travelled through Southeast Asia many times now and have ridden motorcycles in many places, including Vietnam. Having written books, magazine articles and countless online puff pieces, I can assure you this book has a simplicity that most blogs don’t. I have outlined our entire journey and what we did to make it a reality. The goal is to give you all the information you need and nothing else.

Just a short disclaimer before we go any further. This book isn’t going to answer all your questions – it won’t magically solve stupidity. It isn’t a Lonely Planet guide to Vietnam or a high school journal of every single little thing we did on our Saigon-Hanoi road trip. Weekend warriors who enjoy Sunday rides on $40,000 Harleys won’t be interested either. Riding through Vietnam is dirty, dangerous, rapid, and ultimately rewarding. Read between the lines of this guide and formulate your own opinions and plans of attack. You’ll encounter some grey areas and confusion, just as we did. This is where you’ll need to rely on old-fashioned brainpower.

You may not take on board all the advice this book offers, and that’s fine. I encourage you to find better, more effective ways of doing things. However, I would ask that you share your findings to make it easier for the next guy.

Without further ado, gear up, settle in and turn the key.

CHAPTER 1

Preparation

‘Time goes on. So, whatever you’re going to do, do it. Do it now. Don’t wait.’

– Robert De Niro

Tim had planned the trip of a lifetime. He would fly to Bali, pick up a cheap motorcycle, and tour around the mainland for a few weeks before catching a ferry over to Ketapang in East Java. From there he would journey to the Indonesian mecca of Jakarta. Tim was twenty-eight.

Tim drank his way through the Khao San party scene in Thailand a year earlier. He now yearned for experiences untainted by hundreds of others doing the same thing.

Tim’s six-week motorcycle road trip across Indonesia would put other Aussie travellers to shame. Unlike most nomads he’d encountered, the tattoo Tim planned on getting at the end of this trip would actually mean something. It would signify raw risk and freedom.

As it turned out, Tim’s biggest obstacles weren’t on the road at all.

It first took him a year to pass through the motorcycle grades and get his full licence. Boom. Then there was money. His trip wasn’t going to pay for itself. On the back of a Burger King napkin, Tim figured he could comfortably cover his bike trip with $3,000 – including return flights from Melbourne. It would take an extra four months to save the required cash – plus a little extra in case things went pear-shaped.

By now, Tim was twenty-nine. He’d saved most of the money he needed but was now contemplating sharing the journey with two friends from university – Jake and Sam.

It was well over a year since Tim’s romantic motorcycle idea had struck. But what were a few more months?

Over beers one night, the three amigos booked flights for March the following year, allowing them to enjoy the Aussie summer with family and friends. Over New Year’s, Jake called Tim to say he’d been offered a promotion at work and asked if Tim could wait a further six months. Tim talked to Sam, who was unsure if in six months things would work for him. His parents had planned a trip to New Zealand for five weeks, and he was intent on piggybacking their Middle Earth holiday.

‘Fuck it’, said Tim. At his thirtieth birthday in February, Tim finally realized he’d waited long enough. He would just have to take the trip with Sam and without Jake. After rebooking their itinerary once more, Tim and Sam were finally set to depart Melbourne on 27 April 2016, albeit on different flights. Sam agreed to meet up with Tim at the Bokula resort once he arrived. Tim wasn’t worried. It’d give him time to settle in with a beer and get a jump on where they might find some decent bikes for the road trip. Tim had even organized a five-star hotel in Jakarta with a mammoth infinity pool to celebrate the end of the ride. Unfortunately, Sam would never meet up with Tim. On the morning of 27 April, the Uber Tim had taken to the airport was T-boned by a furniture removal truck at an intersection just 4 kilometres from his house. Both drivers sustained injuries but eventually survived the crash. Tim wasn’t so lucky. He was dead.

The moral of Tim’s story, as tragic as it is, is don’t put off what you can do today. Don’t put obstacles