Vietnam (Moto): Hello sir, what are you looking for?

[Wiley]

The riding continues to amaze me as I travel on wards. Today I am aiming for Dong Van as it is only 22 KM farther than Meo Vac, but up here everything takes longer so not sure how things will play out. I make good time to Meo Vac and arrive by noon, but just as I get there it starts to rain. I decide to grab a hostel since the ride between here and Dong Van is the legendary Ma Pi Leng Pass, rated as Vietnam's number 1 pass. I figure I will wait a day for better weather, as I am now ahead of schedule. There is some conflicting info online about the Ha Giang province permit and if it is needed, so I ask at the guesthouse and they say I do not need it. Since I have all afternoon I walk over to the police station and purchase it anyway, since it takes 5 minutes and is only 10USD. Worst case scenario I have a 10 dollar souvenir.

At police station, enter this room on left for Ha Giang Permit

The weather improves by next day, and the pass lives up to it's hype at almost 5,000 feet above sea level. As soon as you leave Meo Vac you start climbing the mountain, turn a few corners and are presented with the classic view with the river deep below. The road twists and turns along the mountain while passing through some more remote villages. I hit it on a Saturday so it feels very touristy as unlike my other rides, I am no longer the only one out stopping to take pictures. There are tons of bikers, word is out that this is the place to ride. I take lots of pics, the fact that we are all being tourists doesn't ruin the ride, but the pass is over quickly due to only being 22 KMs. Continuing on the ride is still amazing, and I spend the rest of the day twisting my way through mountains as I continue onto Ha Giang.

Everywhere in the North is pretty dead. The riding is fantastic, but there is not much going on, and very few foreigners this time of year. Ha Giang is a large town, but the hostel I am in is empty, I am literally the only 1 there. I don't mind though, the days ride here was amazing, and ended with another pass I didn't even know I was going to go through. This one was all downhill, without too many switchbacks, which meant I could keep the speed up. I stopped to take a pic of the road and saw two foreigners rip by, so followed them at a distance which let me gauge the speed I could make turns and rip down that mountain following them. That was a great ending to a fantastic day. Since I did not stay in any hotels between Meo Vac and here, I was never asked about the permit, but I think had I stayed in some of the smaller towns I would possibly have needed it, so it ends up being a 10 dollar souvenir.

 

[Wiley]

From Ha Giang it was onto Sapa, and everyone knows Sapa sucks. Well, everyone but Vietnam, they have ruined it. But before I could make it to Sapa, a few hours outside Ha Giang I got a flat and had to do yet another walk of shame. Luckily this one happened only about a 1/4 mile from a shop, so I got the new tube replaced in no time and continued onto Sapa. I have been constantly warned I should stay outside Sapa in the surrounding area. The entire town is under construction, once they realized that tourists liked the tranquil town, the went into expansion overdrive with hotels, restaurants, and bars. It's lit up like Vegas, full of tourists, and yet there is no party/social scene...at least this time of year. The reason people go here was the tranquility which is long gone, along with the walking tours led by the local Hmong women who lead you to their local village to give you a taste of their life. That is fine and dandy, but I have driven through enough remote villages at this point to where walking in the cold rain doesn't sound appealing, as Sapa is so high up in the mountains that it is usually foggy, cold, and wet. I am only here for the nearby riding and the western food, but due to the food decide to stay right in town despite the warnings. I had thought about the burgers I would be eating for days, man was I disappointing as even the food sucks here. What a let down, Sapa is a bust.

From Sapa I head South making my way back towards the limestone loop. I make a last minute change of course due to some tips by the San Fransisco couple at the Ban Gioc home stay, and cut in through Mu Cang Chai. This takes me on another fantastic road, and through a beautiful area full of rice terraces. Sadly, this is another area that is being ruined, and there is an enormous resort being built right on top of one of the most picturesque locations in this area, it is horrendous but I still enjoy the trip. I push onto Nghia Lo to make more ground, but this is a long day and probably could have stopped in Mu Cang Chai as there were some home stays in the area.

The highlight of Nghia Lo is just some mystery meat pho, but it is delicious. A random dude joined my table so I showed him a map of my awesome adventure. He spoke a lot of Vietnamese hoping I may suddenly pick it up, and of course there was some awkward silence. But as I go to leave, he tells me he is buying my meal, suddenly Nghia Lo isn't so bad. I leave tentatively thinking I may have misunderstood, but the lady in charge indicates they have already discussed it. Sweet, this is my 3rd or 4th free meal, rock star!

 

[Wiley]

Nghia Lo to Mai Chau, and Mai Chau to the border of Na Meo are all kind of a blur. Mai Chau sets you up for the limestone loop, which I cut through a portion of. The town itself was nothing special, but for some reason, possibly its proximity to both Hanoi and the limestone loop, there is a larger tourist presence than I expected. Some signs are in English, and some of the hotels are stupid expensive compared to other areas of Vietnam. I found a guesthouse right on the strip for the normal rate of 10USD, but a majority were listed online at 50+, I have no idea why I feel like I must be missing something here, but it doesn't seem to special to me. The loop itself is great but doesn't compare to the last few days of riding. even had 2 spare days in case something went wrong which I could have used to ride more of the loop, but decide I have had enough and head for the border, where the ridding gets better.

I think I took the back way into Na Meo as the road was small, rough, and awesome. Villagers seemed surprised to see me back there, I kept telling myself there must be another way in as there is only scooter traffic, no 4 wheeled vehicles at all. The scenery was once again amazing, I keep thinking about how this is a great way to finish off Vietnam. Of course I get to the end of my route and pull up to a nice newly paved road just outside Na Meo, yup...I definitely took the back way in, I love unplanned adventures.

Na Meo is very small, but has both a hotel and a smaller guesthouse. The hotel is pretty crappy, but I stayed there anyway in order to cross the border into Laos early the next morning. There is also a gas station there now so you can fill up before crossing, which seems to be newish based on previous comments I have read about gas.

Adventure road on the left, new road on the right

Laos has never been all that high on my list of destinations, I know next to nothing about the country, or what I am in for...but they will let me take the crappy Chinese bike across the border, so I am in for yet another unplanned adventure.

 

[cesarcaligula]

Great journey, love Vietnam, awesome food

 

[mccustomize]

Eagerly awaiting for more! If you don't mind sharing I don't think I saw the cost of the motorcycle secondhand?

 

[Wiley]

Eagerly awaiting for more! If you don't mind sharing I don't think I saw the cost of the motorcycle secondhand?

Sure I have the purchase and final cost break down now as I sold the bike and jumped on a plane to Indonesia instead. I will write the last report regarding Laos when I can, and probably throw in an Indo blurb for good measure. I only ended up moto-ing around Laos for 2 weeks. I was running behind schedule with xmas coming up, I was not 100% on Cambodia, and if I didn't go there would most likely need tor return to Central Laos to sell in the capital Vientiane, and did not want to back track. While I enjoyed Laos it lacked a lot of what Vietnam had going on, so when I had the chance to sell it in Vientiane prior to heading South, I took it.

Not counting gas/oil changes, I put in an additional 125USD in parts, I will count all but 60USD of that was preventative as I thought I would have the moto longer (upgraded rear tire, sprocket, and front shocks, could have lived with what I had) so the cost could have been even lower, but these bikes are complete crap so you never know how it is going to go.

Purchase price: 200USD
Maintenance: 125USD
Selling Price: 210USD

Total Cost: 115USD or 2.50USD per day

 

[Wiley]

OK so Laos was a let down. Don't get me wrong, it's no Singapore...it had its moments, some beautiful scenery, and is a great country to relax in. Problem was, I wasn't looking to relax, but Laos would let me bring the bike in from Vietnam keeping the moto adventure alive, so I figured I should take a look.

Na Meo to Xam Neua: 87Km
Xam Neua to Muang Hiam: 152 Km
Muang Hiam to Nong Kiaw: 167Km
Nong Kiaw to Luang Prabang: 141Km
Luang Prabang to Kasi: 272Km
Kasi to Vang Vieng: 56Km
Vang Vieng to Vientiene: 157Km

Total Laos Travel: 1,032Km (641 Miles)

With no plan I woke up and grab 1 last bowl of mystery meat pho in Vietnam and an oil change, and then drive the .001 miles to the border. There was nothing nice about the hotel I stayed in, but it is at the border, making an early crossing ideal. I parked the bike at the gate/stop sign, but of course the booth is empty. I decide I better leave the bike there and walk across the large lot to the immigration building, where I take care of my exit stamp. The guy stamps my passport and shows me 50,000 dong (2.15 USD), indicating I need to pay for the stamp. Now I have read other crossings are not charging this, so this is probably a complete scam, but also read that this was the norm at this crossing so it was no surprise. I had already decided I do not want my passport to mysteriously disappear and hand him the 50K, hey I want another crack at the corrupt cop in Saigon, but a corrupt border official, yeah I will do what he says. He slips the cash into the drawer quickly enough to confirm my suspicions that this is in fact probably a scam and that he didn't want his buddies to see, which is odd cause they all do it here. I then get pointed into another room to take care of the bike. Here I fill out some paper work, and pay 8.60 USD (200,000 dong) for the immigration form, possibly another scam as other borders don't have this fee/form either, but I did need the form in Laos so maybe they are all in on it. They tell me I can now go get the bike but take my passport to hold, as if I am going to run into Vietnam all rogue or something, hey at least least they are letting me take the bike out of Vietnam.

I get the bike and drive over to Laos customs building, parking in front of the office. Here there is more paperwork, I have to pay 41USD in USD cash. 40 is for the Visa on Arrival, even though it is supposed to be 35 for 1 month, again I read bout this inflated price and was prepared. 1 dollar is for a tourist fee, which seems new, but they gave me a coupon so I guess Laos is going to step up it's tourist infrastructure, something which really lacks here so I am happy to pay the small fee. With my Laos Visa stamp I am told to walk to the next window where I show the bike importation form I got in Vietnam, pay 3USD for a stamp, and am told I can now go wild in Laos. For some reason they tell me I need to walk my bike from the parking spot past the building....I have no idea what that is about but do so as I have read this before. Once I feel I am far enough past he building I get on, start the bike, and ride into yet another new country.

This border has become popular with motorcyclists coming from Vietnam, but is not necessarily a heavily used crossing. Immediately as soon as I am in Laos the road condition deteriorates. It is bumpy, rough, and basically a dirt mess. There are landslides everywhere, and some construction, but since rain season is now over the road is dry and easy enough to take on. It takes me 3 hours to get to Xam Neua, but with rain it could easily have taken me all day, so plan on the worst just in case as the road really is in bad shape. Everything feels and looks like Northern Vietnam aside from the squiggly writing style they use with the Laos alphabet. Yeah, at least in Vietnam I could learn words for rice, soup, meat etc, but now I am flying blind...I am definitely going to be eating dog. It feels very rural here and they appear to rely more on the old school farming methods from back in the day. I go through small village after small village and the kids are still fantastic, enthusiastically yelling hello, only now the girls seem to be on the same level as the boys initiating the hellos, where in Vietnam the girls were more reserved, often waiting for a wave from me before smiling and returning one.

Xam Neua is a small city with a number of guesthouses. It gets it's share of tourists but is definitely off the tourist trail, actually known on tourists blogs for being off the trail if that makes any sense. Actually the ride in from Vietnam was off the trail, this place has a number of guesthouses, and at least 5-10 ATMs, this is not off the trail, but whatever. Luckily there are also 5+ moto shops, as I woke up the next morning to a flat, looks like that rough road took a toll on the bike. Now I will have to spend another night here, but the guesthouses which are basically hotels are slightly cheaper than Vietnam at 8 dollars a night, though food is slightly more expensive so it evens out, but it is all still Asia cheap so who's counting?

I get the tire fixed and hangout at the guesthouse for most of the afternoon. Eventually bored with sitting around I drive up to the local wat in the evening for a view of the town. The wat is nice enough, and a couple guys talk to me and ask for their fan pictures, something I have grown accustomed to. They take off and a little later a group from Vietnam show up and we have to do the same thing, sometimes the rock star life is hard. I eventually slip away back to the guesthouse for an early night, as the next day would be a long drive to Nong Khiaw.

Yeah right, that's what I think. I get downstairs at 6:30 to load the bike and no one is there to check me out. This doesn't matter though, as I see my rear tire is flat again, son of a **********. This tells me that the problem is a spoke puncturing the tube, which also tells me I am not getting that early start I was hoping for. After a great breakfast of Pho I return to the shop to have them fix the problem. Back when the rear tire locked up in Vietnam and I had the hub replaced they had to put on new spokes etc. Well, they didn't do a good job with the tape inside the rim and this is why I am getting flats, bastards...if you want something done right do it yourself. The guys at the shop try selling me new rims for absolutely no reason, I finally convince them I just want tape and we eventually get things sorted out.

 

[Wiley]

I considered staying another day in Xam Nuea due to the late start despite having had enough of this place, but prior to heading to the shop I google stopping points between my destinations and discover Muang Hiam is a 4-5 hour drive which is perfect so I decided to check out of the hotel. From the shop I take off and drive through scenery that is reminiscent of Vietnam, mountains, villages, and twisties. The weather is great but the going is slow due to the road conditions. A cop pulls me over most likely for speeding, but as soon as I jump off the bike and flip the lid up he waves me on...looks like foreigners get special treatment here as well. Later on I randomly stopped off a the Saleuy Waterfall since I could see it from the road, rain season has just ended but the water flow was good and only cost a buck so I figured it was worth the stop. I also climbed up the top and then grabbed lunch so was there about an hour lost there, but a nice break in the day. Later on I see two foreigners on the side of the road so I stop to chat, as I haven't seen any other foreigners in over a week. They are a couple of french guys headed in the opposite direction to Vietnam, so we have a quick conversation for 5-10 minutes about what we are both in for.

I eventually arrive in Muang Hiam just a bit before nightfall, I don't know what time I left the shop, and since Laos is just as beautiful as Vietnam I stopped a lot for pics, but I was kind of cutting it close with light. With a reasonable departure this place makes a good stopping point as there are not too many options out here and this town has several cheap guesthouses, the drive straight to Nong Khiaw would have been too much for me I think. I suspect the French guys were headed to Xam Neua, if so they didn't have a chance of making it before nightfall so hopefully they had other plans.

Nong Khiaw is when Laos really starts to feel touristy, there are English menus at the restaurants, and a number of guest houses available. It sits on a river, and is surrounded by limestone mountains, but the town itself is nothing special. I probably would not have enjoyed it if it were not for the lookout. As I sat eating lunch by the river I looked up to the top of a mountain and saw a shack, which appeared to be a lookout point. I google it and sure enough it is only an hour or so hike. I recommend you do this if in town, it was not a difficult hike, though not easy either. Even though I saw some tourists walking around town I was naive enough to think I would have the sunset to myself after not seeing any foreigners for almost 2 weeks prior to this, but it was myself and 20 or so other people at the top. That probably worked out better as it was more fun to hangout up there as we all waited for the sunset, which did not disappoint.

From here South I am now following the tourist trail. Next I hit up Luang Prabang, which was a happening city by Laos standards. This was the place to be for tourists, though I am not sure why. Designated A UNESCO site in an effort to preserve the Lao traditions while integrating a European style of architecture, the city is ok but nothing special. It is full of touristy restaurants and a couple of ok bars, along with numerous Buddhist temples. A google search shows that the UNESCO designation has pretty much led to its downfall, causing a rapid change over the last few years. I didn't love it, and while I made some friends the two nights I was there I was eager to move on. Of course, honorable mention to the after hours party at the bowling alley/archery range, cause who doesn't like drunken archery. The bowling didn't start off so hot, 1 of the guys girlfriends was even talking ********** to me when she was beating me, not knowing that was just the fuel I needed to light the fire. Joke was on them as I came back to win it in the 10th frame. In your face...USA beats the brits again, I am surprised there wasn't a USA chant to be honest.

 

[Wiley]

I got a text from friends I made the 1st night recommending the local waterfall, Su Kiang as we had previously discussed if it would be worth it. I was pretty hungover due to the friends I had made the second night, but forced myself to go due to the text as they went the day before. For 2.50USD the falls are well worth it as there are numerous falls and cascades which are a beautiful blue color. Even though the falls were on the way I would have skipped them as I didn't feel all that great, but they were the perfect hangover cure.

When I say on the way, I should clarify I barely looked at the map, and it was not even close to on the way. Laos roads are not the best, but not as awful as I had heard they would be, some of this is dependent on time of year. Looking at google maps I saw a fairly major road going South from the falls, but I did not really look at how I would need to back track almost all the way back to Luang Probang before turning South again for Vang Vieng. Turns out this was not much of a road at all, and while I could have used a nice paved road for my condition that day, I always love an unplanned adventure!

I leave the falls and jump onto a wide, well graded dirt road, it is in excellent condition so I can cruise along at a quick pace. I know there is a road somewhat in the vicinity that currently has a travel advisory, which is odd as the US usually just says to avoid entire countries, but I don't know where it is so push on in ignorance. I am pretty sure it is not here but further east, but have no idea as I don't really care, but you might want to look into that. This is not the adventure part though, as I continue on the road condition continually goes downhill. I am driving through amazing areas, small towns, and barely even see scooter traffic, but it is too good to stop and check my map or do any planning, what am I a nerd? The road follows the Mekong river but I only have views of it at times due to the lush vegetation everywhere, and that I am busy picking my line trying to avoid rocks. The advisory sticks in the back of my head since I am out in who knows where, but loving this trip even though I have no idea what I will do when the bike brakes down since it has been so long, and I know its overdue.

Eventually the state of the road gets to the point where I am climbing over small boulders with this crappy Chinese bike, maybe I will need to rename it as it is handling the terrain beautifully. After several hours of this I finally make it out to the main road, and have come to the realization that I need to back track considerably, and will not be making it to my destination. Turns out I took highway 1 from Luang Prabang to Muang Nan, which is a yellow road on google maps. I now see there is a small connecting road to Kasi that appears to be paved but have no real idea, I wish I had seen that connector and tried it....but there were some good twisties taking the long way to Kasi that I would have missed so who knows what would have been the best route. I backtracked and drive for another couple hours on fun mountains that the bike struggles to get up finally arriving in Kasi, which was nothing to write home about.

 

[Wiley]

Well in hindsight, I should have just returned and stayed another day in Luang Prabang, or just repeatedly taken the adventure road going back and forth on it again and again, cause it was only downhill from here. Vang Vieng is famous for tubing on the river while bar hopping. I didn't particularly like the place, and I didn't go tubing on the river, though later was told it was a lot of fun. One girl even showed me a bruise on her leg the size of my head, ok I guess it isn't a lazy day floating downstream sipping beers that I pictured, maybe next time. I didn't really take any pictures here though.

Looking at some maps and realizing I was falling behind on my loose schedule for Asia, I started to think about skipping Cambodia. Then if I was going to skip Cambodia, I didn't want to drive down into southern Laos as Vientiane is located about halfway between the North and South, so going further would require me to retrace my steps to return to Vientiane and try to sell the bike.

Honestly, since I have already seen Angkor Wat, I will admit my sole reason for wanting to go to Cambodia with the bike are the corrupt border officials. It is completely legal to take a Vietnamese plated bike from Vietnam into Cambodia, but as there is only 1 land border crossing from Laos to Cambodia, the corrupt officials will let people enter the free zone and then deny the bike, forcing them to sell it cheaply or just ditch it all together. Well F them, I wasn't going to play that game. Turns out you can illegally smuggle bikes into Cambodia, yes more adventure! But I didn't do that ...and I certainly don't recommend you do it as you will be entering a country illegally. For those wondering, all you need to do is get down South to Don Det island, ask around and you can find someone who will take you and the bike, ILLEGALLY, into Cambodia via boat. You leave the bike on a farm and he brings you back to Laos to then cross the border and get your passport exit and entry stamps, the bike is no longer part of the equation. Then you just hitchhike back to your bike in Cambodia. As there is no corresponding paperwork for it in Cambodia, not going to lie, I wish I had done it, my resume could use "Illegal Moto Smuggler" to catch HRs eye in my future job searches.

Being the capital I expected too much from this place even after reading that nothing goes on here. I figured it was worth trying to sell the bike in order to help my decision making even though my mind was pretty much made up to ditch the bike. If I pushed on I would have done the Thacket loop, which I believe is a famous moto loop for people on scooters.....fun but nothing crazy. There is also an impressive waterfall or two in Southern Laos, and some relaxing islands, but really I was over Laos. My hostel, like all here, was pretty dead so I put a sign on my bike to see what would happen and waited. Demand in Laos for a Vietnamese plated bike is reportedly pretty high. I probably should have tried to sell it in Luang Prabang, but in the end I was still successful. I decided to part ways with the crappy Chinese bike. I sold it the 1st day, but the couple who bought it was the only 1 to inquire about it so I don't know if I was lucky or not, it is definitely low season here so other times of year may be completely different. We had some good times, and it took me to some amazing places, but I was happy to be free of it and rather than continue on with Laos jumped on a plane to Indonesia, a place I figured would be more my style due to the surf, beaches, mountains, ect.

When I sold the bike we discovered that the muffler bracket didn't survive the adventure road, it had broken and the muffler was being held up by the brake, so even though I was sure they could find a welder for cheap, took off another 15$ from the selling price, so sold it for 210USD, 10 more bucks than I paid. in I believe the demand is high and I probably could have sold it for 250USD, but was happy to get rid of it and move onto my next destination, Indonesia. That wasn't a moto adventure so this will be the end of my ride report, don't worry, I am still unemployed so will be headed South of the border in 2-4 weeks, so at a minimum Mexico, if not all the way to Argentina is next.

Not counting gas and oil changes, I put in an additional 125USD in parts as the crappy bike repeatedly broke down. I will count the 125 but 60USD of that was preventative as I thought I would have the moto longer (upgraded rear tire, sprocket, and front shocks, could have lived with what I had) so the cost could have been even lower, but these bikes are complete crap so you never know how it is going to go. I sold the bike for 225USD, but again dropped it lower due to the broken bracket, selling it for 210USD. I had the bike for just over 6 weeks, making my final total:

Purchase price: 200USD
Maintenance: 125USD
Selling Price: 210USD

Total Cost: 115USD or 2.50USD per day, not a bad adventure.

The bike obviously changes the dynamic of the trip immensely, and I looking back I ended loving every minute of Vietnam/Laos, rain or shine, broken down, or eating foods I didn't necessarily enjoy at times, it was fantastic. This picture I found in the window of a shop in Laos sums it up perfectly I think.