After two sessions at the mechanic in Hue we’re finally off and running, pushing forward towards the Ho Chi Minh trail and onward to Phong Nha. The leg of riding through the Phong Nha national park is not only one of the longest days on this road trip its also meant to be one of […]
We’ve woken up not in the twilight zone, but the demilitarised zone. This is not a science fiction scenario or a drug induced psychosis, just the middle of Vietnam where at the Geneva conference of 1954 the post colonial division of north and south Vietnam was drawn. In fact the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) is a […]
The farewells have been made for Hoi An, this town of near immeasurable romance; for now it’s an early morning scamper from town like outlaws in an old western movie. A quick stop by the tailor for a final check up, five baguettes in the backpack and it’s out of town before the sheriff catches […]
The conversation is a common one, the one with other travellers that inevitably veers towards recent and impending travels. And so the story for us has contained the essential probings about Vietnam, food, sights, scams and places. On this questioning line of discovery there is one element that contains little inquisition, the question of another […]
A new dawn, a new day; unlike most dawns of untainted promise this day carries some of the frayed nerves from the past two days of toil and trouble. But the sun does rise, it is a new day and what’s more we’re in Hoi An, the town that many describe as the pinnacle of […]
It’s never a dull day on the road. So far on this road trip days have refused to sit quietly in the corner and go unremarked; be it getting lost, dazzling scenery, breakdowns, delicious food journeys, priceless cultural insights or Viet traffic, a day on the road never seems to pass without a noteworthy event. […]
180 says the scoreboard on the side of the road, the scoreboard that counts down rather than up, 180km until we reach Buon Ma Thuot and the coffee mecca of Vietnam. Greg is in fine fettle after his stern talking to just days ago and even the temperamental princess Rob is making good time to […]
So distant now is the punishing slog of our first leg on this road trip, getting lost, bad roads, baking sun and sore bums seem a more distant memory than just two days ago. A shimmering ocean flanks our right side in this adventure north, cows graze on a beach and sandy soil even more […]
There’s salt in the air again, we can smell it. The seaside town of Mui Ne is a mark on the map for many travellers for beach time, sunshine and flash bars; for us though the primary function of this seaside oasis has nothing to do with sun or sand and everything to do with […]
Wind whistles past us as our bikes splutter and misfire through the busy streets of Ho Chi Minh and onto the offramp and into the tunnel that will spit us out of this big friendly city. There’s a deluded optimism that fends off the unending list of reasons not to do this in favour of […]
