Motorbiking through North Eastern Vietnam
Hiring motorbikes in Vietnam is something that is on many travellers’ bucket lists. Back in 2008 I and my good friend Dan decided to rent a motorbike each and disappear for a week. Tourism to Vietnam had only opened up a few years prior, so there were still plenty of undiscovered gems in this beautiful country.
A week or so earlier a friend and I hired a scooter each and rode from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) down in the Mekong delta for a 3-day road trip. This was where the idea for our North Eastern Vietnam road trip came from.
We chose this part of the country as almost every tourist we’d met had headed northwest to Sapa. Even today the northeast of the country is still relatively unexplored in a backpacking sense. Back in 2008, we didn’t see another foreign tourist until we returned to Hanoi 1 week later.
When planning our trip we picked a circular route that started and ended in Hanoi. Our first destination would be the mountain town of Lang Son. Next, we would press on further north to Cao Bang, a small city situated 100 or so kilometres from the Chinese border (more on that later). Finally, we would then take a few mountain roads west and then head south and visit the Ba Be Lakes National Park.
We had a only Vietnamese road map to guide us. No smartphones, no google maps, just a regular road map written in Vietnamese, of course.
Where we rented our bikes
We stayed at Hanoi Backpackers and they were able to recommend a reliable company to rent two Honda 125s. Alas, they need collateral in the form of one of our passports. Fortunately, Dan was good enough to volunteer. Back in 2008, this was extremely common in Vietnam. Now in 2018, I would not recommend doing this since most bike rental agencies will take a copy of your passport and a deposit. Looking back on it, it’s probably something I wouldn’t have recommended back in 2008 either, but such is life. The fact that the bikes we hired back in 2008 were from a company recommended by our hostel made Dan feel more relaxed about handing over his passport. Fortunately, they were able to give us a photocopy before we left.
Is it safe?
Yes and no. I would never do this sort of trip alone. That being said we did have more than a few incidents that raised the old heart rates, not all of which was to do with the roads. Vietnamese roads require constant attention and occasional spider-man-like reflexes. The best advice I can give is to give as much space as you can to others and beep that horn on every blind corner. Indicators, road markings and the use of mirrors seem to be optional extras here, especially for trucks and buses. Other motorcyclists on the other hand are generally much better although you still need to be on your guard.
Had we ever ridden a motorbike?
I had ridden a scooter a couple of weeks earlier, down to the Mekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh City. Dan had also ridden a scooter in the past, but calling us “experienced” would have been insulting and very much incorrect. For this trip, we upgraded to the big-boy world of semi-automatics, which meant we now had to start changing gears (gulp). If you’ve never ridden these, find a quiet street to practice on before heading out into the big wide world as we did.
Day 1: Saigon to Lang Son
We headed northeast out of Hanoi towards the pretty little town of Lang Son. The journey up was easy once we got out of Hanoi. As we pulled away from Vietnam’s crowded capital the roads seemed to empty as the hills rolled past us. Finding a guesthouse in Lang Son was easy enough, although they were very surprised to see two pasty white guys climbing off of the motorbikes. With colourful houses and surrounding hills, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Central or South America. The town has a couple of great viewpoints over the surrounding scenery.
Day 2: Lang Son to Cao Bang
It was on this journey that the scenery jumped into the spectacular. With limestone karsts jutting up from the earth, rice paddies glistening in the sunshine and clear blue skies this was a wonderful ride, exactly as we imagined it should have been when we left Hanoi. By now the roads were quiet, especially on the dirt roads. In the towns and cities of Vietnam, it’s not uncommon to see whole families crammed onto scooters, however out here family members were replaced by a wide variety of barnyard creatures.
En route, we stopped and asked for directions at a local shop. A wedding was going on nearby and all of a sudden we turned into rather awkward guests of honour. Obviously not too many foreigners in these parts.
As we entered the town of Cao Bang, our base for the next couple of days we were greeted with a rather large “Welcome to Cao Bang” sign. Shocked that it was in English (as they definitely did not get a lot of tourists), we couldn’t miss the huge power plant belching all kinds of horrible gases into the atmosphere behind it. Definitely didn’t give the best first impression.
It was here we realised that not all sign language is as universal as you may believe. As we moved our hands to our mouths, gesturing to eat. We were greeted by some extremely confused looks from the locals before finally stumbling across a canteen-like place that served some incredible Vietnamese food.
Day 3: Ban Gioc Waterfall
This was the goal of our trip. The stunning Ban Gioc waterfall straddles the Vietnamese – Chinese border. The ride here was simply exquisite. There is no other way to describe it. Still to this day one of the most awe-inspiring places I have ever been. The roads wrap their way around the limestone karsts with rice paddies filling the remaining space.
It was today that I had one of those heart-stopping incidents I touched on earlier. As I sped around a long left-hand bend the handlebars began violently shaking. Holding on for dear life and gently squeezing the brakes, the bike slowed from 60km/h to 20km/h before finally giving in and falling onto the concrete. Turned out I’d ridden over a nail that had shredded my inner tube.
At this point, we were 70km from the small town of Cao Bang, and around 300km from Hanoi, not the place you want to have a motorbike accident. Picking up my bike with nothing more than a sore ankle and a bruised ego my friend and I backtracked to the last village we passed where a kind gentleman fixed my puncture for 2000 VMD. Within half an hour we were back on our way.
We followed all of the signs to Ban Gioc, but we couldn’t see it anywhere. With each corner, we just assumed we were getting nearer and nearer. However, we were sorely mistaken. Turns out we had not only missed the waterfall we’d also crossed the Vietnamese border and driven 4 km into China by mistake. Cue a quick U-turn.
As we came up to the border guard post, which we had somehow missed, we were greeted with a stunning view of the Ban Gioc waterfall. The armed border guards had obviously been expecting us as they were waiting by the side of the road. We’d discussed the maximum amount of money we could use to bribe them (cash machines were non-existent outside of Hanoi), but fortunately laughed and realised we were two idiot tourists and wished us on our way.
Day 4: Pac Bo Cave
Off to one of Vietnam’s most important locations. It was in this cave that Ho Chi Minh hid to avoid Japanese forces when he returned to Vietnam in 1941. As with the previous day, it was a stunning drive. The roads wound around the limestone karts rising and falling over the terrain.
Coming down one of these hills I overtook a slow-moving bus on the opposite side of the road. I beeped repeatedly to let anyone around the upcoming corner know I was there. Hearing a beep back I’d slot in behind the bus, as was the done thing on the roads in Vietnam. After hearing nothing I carried on around the outside and to my shock, a huge lorry was driving straight towards me. I managed to get out of his way and skidded over on the side of the road, rather close to the edge of a drop of 500ft. Safe to say I didn’t take such risks again.
Day 5: Cao Bang to Ba Be
After 2 crashes in 2 days, it was. a more sedate ride across the stunning mountains to the Ba Be Lakes National Park. The roads quickly emptied as we road into the mountains, descending into one of North Vietnam’s largest national parks.
The roads were in good condition and the scenery was pretty damn beautiful.
We arrived as the only guests at the National Park’s main hotel.
Day 6: Hiking Around Ba Be
A day of no riding brought welcome relief to our backsides. Due to its difficult-to-access location, public transport was pretty much non-existent, back in 2008 at least, so as well as having the hotel all to ourselves we probably had most of the park all to ourselves as well.
We hiked through the forest down to the edge of the lake where we took a small boat to go and explore some of the caves. After a bit more hiking and a swim in the lake, we were treated to some stunning homecooked food in a homestay-come-family restaurant. Fantastic.
Day 7: Back to Hanoi
The journey back to Hanoi was a real jolt back to reality. Gone were the quiet mountain roads winding through limestone karsts. Instead, it was a mixture of flat highways and main roads. At times we were battling for space with buses laden with passengers and suitcases, which didn’t always stay fastened to the roof incidentally.
Somehow we made it back to the bike rental place in Hanoi and Dan was reunited with his passport. I’m sure this trip is much easier now, and maybe not even that off-the-beaten track anymore. However, back in 2008, we didn’t see a singly non-Vietnamese person and certainly didn’t hear any English for a week. A truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.
