Not being shy of taking motorcycle adventures in the past, I took it upon myself to take another, a few weeks ago here in Vietnam, where I have been living for the last three months. I’ve been living in Hoi An to be precise, and for those of you that aren’t already familiar with this charming little town, it’s in my opinion one of the worlds’ most beautiful places. It’s been such an honour to have spent such a lengthy period of time here and I’ll certainly miss it when I leave next week to take yet another pursuit on two-wheels.
My Dad and younger brother arrived in Vietnam around the start of April to join me for a week long trip from Hoi An, north. I say ‘north’, because at the time we had no set itinerary with regards to where we would end up, and simply upped and left one blisteringly hot Monday morning, bound for Hue, a large citadel town some five hours north of Da Nang. This meant encountering the Hai Van pass, a short but steep mountain road that traverses the coastline from Da Nang.
Vietnam has it all, from golden beaches to mountains, dense jungles and historic old cities, but it’s the cuisine which really makes it shine. Such it’s appeal to tourists is an easy one to fathom. The riding is unparalleled to anywhere that I have experienced before.
I have shared below some of my favourite shots of the journey we took from from Hoi An to Phong Nah, riding towards the Laos border before taking the western Ho Chi Minh highway further north, through the Phong Nah Ke Bang National Park. The road has been described before as a ghost road where ‘nobody goes’, but we found it utterly breathtaking. The 400km stretch of road winds up and down through mountainous jungles and picture perfect scenery that epitomises the heart of rural Vietnam. The road is smooth, and in places feels like a never-ending roller coaster. You encounter little in the way of traffic, and there isn’t a great deal along the route except a little guesthouse approximately half way in, which we stayed at for the night before continuing on the next day.
The photos run in order from Hoi An to Hue, before riding north west to Lao Bao where we first joined the Ho Chi Minh road, all the way to Phong Nah.
The selection of photos in which I have shared is tiny to what I captured throughout the entire trip. It was a tough job in itself to be able to ween them down to just a select few!
Next week I will begin my extended trip, travelling further north and on to Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long, Sapa and the northern mountainous region that borders China. You can read my thoughts on that here
Vietnam is such an amazing and incredible country. I have been so fortunate to have travelled to many places, but it's right there at the very top and I'm excited about spending the next month exploring it some more!
If anyone would like any advice about travelling through Vietnam, and other countries, then please simply get in touch and I will be happy to help you with some recommendations.
Thanks very much for following. Instagram