Driving a Motorbike Across Vietnam.

Honestly, driving is one of my worst fears. And part of the reason for that fear that I'm terrible at it.. kinda like SpongeBob.  back home I often made the mistake of driving on the wrong side of a one-way road.. or not noticing curbs and driving over them.. the cars that I owned would fall apart, um, literally. I'd get honked at and/or yelled at almost every time I drove to the beach. and then there was that one time I crashed into a tree after attempting to turn too swiftly, or that time I tried to park and grinded against the car in the parking space next to it.. or that time I hit a fence.. or when I went on a road trip but my car didn't come back with me (for a reason I'd rather not say) -__-  ,etc. The point is; I fucking hate driving. 

So, I surprised even myself when I went to Vietnam and bought a motorbike while having zero prior motorcycle driving experience at all and then driving it across the country from the north to the south. 

Peer pressure is honestly what led me to consider it. A friend of mine who I had first met in Fiji then several months later met up with again in Shanghai. Between that time he had went on a  motorbike adventure from Hanoi to Ho Chi Mihn and had an amazing time. He strongly recommended proclaimed I needed to do the same. At first I immediately thought no way.. I could never. but the idea simmered in the back of my head for the next several months.. I traveled from China to South Korea to Japan to back to China again then crossed the border by train into Vietnam still uncertain.. 

To add on to my fear, I had not driven anything for a long time because I had been travelling for over 1 year so whatever little skill I had surely must be even worse. 
Finally, I justified my decision because come to think of it I had never truly regretted facing a fear.. And also because all of my negative experiences with driving were from cars, trucks, and vans.. I have to try everything at least once so what better place to experience riding a motorbike than in Vietnam, a country which is loaded with them.  

Seriously, there were more motorbikes than any other type of vehicle. Which made me feel better about it. because part of the reasons motorcycles are more dangerous in general is because cars are much bigger therefore, more risky to share road-space with..  but in Vietnam I was mostly surrounded by other motorbikes on the road.   

The first few days I spent in Hanoi as a pedestrian. Crossing the street in Hanoi was seriously like playing playing a game of frogger. If you stand there waiting for a gap in the traffic it will never come. Eventually, from observing the locals its easy to figure out that you are supposed to just walk into the traffic and they will maneuver around you. but don't ever stop, just walk straight.

    

Hanoi was lively and there were many coffee shops. And people were very friendly and helped me when I was in trouble. Nobody tried to scam me. 

What is really really nice about less developed countries is that there's less legal bullshit!!! I did not need to have any type of license nor any experience to purchase a motorbike and get handed the legal deed. One may argue that legal bullshit is for safety, but now let me explain why it's not necessary. 

I went to Mihn's motorbike shop which I was recommended a couple times. 

Mihn was super helpful.. At the shop, I was given tea and bananas :p :) and because I had a total lack of experience (which he seemed a bit concerned about), I was given a few training sessions. That was before I paid any money or even committed to buy the bike! First I was taken to an alley which was less chaotic than most streets and practiced driving up and down several times. The next day, after briefly alley practice again, I moved on to the next step, Mihn had me follow his wife on a motorbike into the busy streets. After driving around in the city for a while, we came back  and I bought the bike I had been practicing with for the equivalent of $230 US dollars.  

I was given the legal deed to the bike, which I was told was very important. Before leaving, Mihn handed me a sheet with helpful sentences translated in Vietnamese. It had stuff like "Which road goes to Saigon?" and "please change oil" and "please make price cheaper". I was also given a map of Vietnam, and he drew horizontal lines on the map that marked when I should change the oil.    

Finally, I drove away from the shop alone, and hit the highway. 

I stopped to pee

The Driving Experience 

The roads near Hanoi were nice, but as I moved away from the capitol, the highway became more local and rough. Much of the time, half of the road was under construction. Sometimes the road-space was tight, which made trucks quite scary when they are part of the traffic travelling in the opposite direction on the road. Truck drivers were very skilled at speeding past closely while somehow not hitting bikes! I could see that Vietnam was a developing country. Some of the towns looked like a like a scene out of an old Western except with motorbikes instead of horses and Asians instead cowboys. In many places when waiting In front of the traffic lights while red, it becomes so congested that its not unusual to bump knees with the person next to you.

 Along the roads, there was usually a hole-in-the-wall type restaurant nearby and whenever I felt like eating I would stop at one of the random Phở-shops that speckled the dusty streets. In my experience, a $1 bowl of Phở from Vietnam tastes better than the $20 ones at Vietnamese restaurants in Western countries. It's really really good. I ate it all the time and it was everywhere. 

,and another thing, in case anyone is wondering.. Nobody gave a shit that I was American! :)  They said that's in the past. I was treated with curiosity by the locals.

The first few days biking I didn't camp until I got the hang of things. I would drive and then stop at a random town and find a hotel. My travel style was without planning or research, a style I had great pride in even though at times in the past it got me in trouble ^.^  During travel its interesting to visit places without a tourist attraction. In one city, after parking and checking into a hotel, I decided to walk around a bit and find something to eat. I didn't even make it down that one street because of all the attention I got from people shocked to see a foreigner. I ate at a nearby restaurant and the customers inside kept handing me shots and so I got drunk. but I was drunk for free which is the best type of drunk. Then somebody insisted me to go into his house because he wanted me to meet his family. I sat on the couch and was given tons of tea, and talked the best we could with the language barrier.. Finally, I stumbled back to my room at night drunkenly while still hadn't explored much of the city cause I couldn't make it past that one street. 

The first some-what touristy place I visited since I left Hanoi was Đồng Hới and it wasn't actually touristy, but it was finally a place that had a decent amount of foreigners and a hostel. While driving around I came across Buffalo Pub and Hostel. The place had a lively bar on the first floor while upstairs were the dorms. In Vietnam many hotels were like Western hostel prices, but the hostel was cheaper than the hotels I had been staying in. I checked in for a few days to relax a bit instead of driving someplace new everyday.

Nearby across the street was the old broken remains of a church. The memorial sign read that it was bombed by Americans.. 

I spent much of my time leisurely walking around and exploring. I remember going back one night and the owner who liked to drink with all the backpackers said "how come I never see you in my bar?" and he gave me a shot.  

A hat I found

On the day that I left, there was commotion downstairs. A girl had checked out and taken a bus to Huế but forgot her purse :/  Now everyone didn't know what to do. She was already in Hue without any money and no one else there was heading that direction on that day except the people who already left on the bus. I told the workers that I could drive the purse to her. I spoke to her on the phone and although she didn't know me at all she didn't have much choice but to trust me. I took the purse and got back on my bike.. 

Probably I would have stopped somewhere between dong hoi and hue otherwise for a night but It was important she gets her purse and has money.. It was evening when I arrived. The traffic in Hue became real congested and I had to find the correct area. a place to park and a place to stay.. Finally I gave her her purse back! 

To find a place to stay I walked down a street and decided to go into several places and ask the price then go with the cheapest. At the first hotel I asked,  the receptionist gave me a price and then insisted that I should stay for a week. I said it sounded good but I wanted to go around a bit and compare prices and then decide.  After I said that she lowered the price, which is nice but I really don't know the common rate of the area so I said I will still see my options first and then come back depending on how that hotel compared. The same thing happened again with the price lowering slightly. She really didn't want me to leave. But I insisted my original plan and she gave up then pointed and said "there's cheaper hotels that way" Its interesting but several times in Vietnam people would try to get the most money from me but then try to help me after they can't. It was truly a haggling nation. 

The common prices for rooms in Hue were actually cheaper because of all the tourism and competition. I walked further down and ended up getting a hotel room, yes my own private room, for $5 a night. It included WiFi, and I noticed that in Vietnam the internet was fast. Even in America where I have paid about $70-$100 for a room I still sometimes had slow internet trouble. So, I was fairly impressed cause that didn't ever happen to me in Vietnam. Unlike in some other parts of Southeast Asia, ie. in Laos and Myanmar.   

That night I met up with the woman I helped and a guy from her hostel and we grabbed some drinks. 

At the bars, the workers were very assertive and pushy for us to buy more and more drinks.  They wanted money bad. This was a foreshadowing... 

The next day I explored around:

The red bull was really good but unlike Western red bull it wasn't carbonated. 

Congested Traffic in Hue
Sorry for the blur but you get the point

Hue was the first truly touristy place I visited. I was surprised that US dollars were commonly used there, prices would be would be sometimes be listed in Vietnamese Dong and US Dollar. But in other parts of Vietnam, their own money was usually used. I would get talked to all the time on the street but it wasn't like the other town. This time everyone was trying to scam me or sell me drugs or prostitutes. Once I passed by a smiling red-eyed man who tried to sell me marijuana, after I refused he offered cocaine and meth then prostitutes. Then he said loudly, "what you want??!" in a confused frustrated voice as if its impossible to be outside without wanting something illegal.

 I honesty didn't like Hue. I remember before I went to Vietnam I had met several people who said that the people in Vietnam were not so friendly. Which is totally bullshit, cause up until then I had the opposite experience. After visiting Hue I thought back about them and it dawned on me. Most people were not Real travelers like me, they just go to where their guide book tells them. Going to the touristy spots where most people go gives a very contrasted experience of going off the beaten track. That's why I meet several people saying the same thing. It gives a negative and untrue image of a country.. My image of Vietnam in fact, is that compared to others it is an very friendly country in particular.
  

After a long day in Hue, I went back to my room frustrated. I started to get out my laptop and escape into Facebook. But then there was a knock on my door. It was the guy who worked at the hotel. What in the world could he want?? To my surprise he asked if I would like to come down and drink a beer with him. So I did. 

That's another thing I like about developing countries. Behavior is less impersonal. That would never happen at an American hotel.

I came to learn he had great talent! Here's a song that he played that night. I remember he told me it was a popular sad song in Vietnam and that it was about someone who killed himself:     

The next day, I woke up late then hit the road again.

The next touristy place I visited was Hội An but It was really different than Huế. A few people were after my money but not to the same crazy extant. Hoi An was a bit difficult for me to find. I drove wrong way for a bit and had to stop and ask people which way to go! I didn't have a phone or GPS at the time. Finally I found It, got there at night. I stayed a few days in Hội An. Which had interesting old architecture, buildings, waterways and a lovely atmosphere.  

But the best part was... They had stuff called "Fresh Beer" (unlabeled, probably home-made?) which was the equivalent to 15 cents per beer!!! :O It was the cheapest beer I had ever found in the world :P   That is some Fucktastic vagabondage!   

And it didn't taste bad at all. A bit different though. They also had other beers at the bars for about a dollar. 

I think Google Maps' description of Hoi An does an amazing job at describing the atmosphere. So hopefully they don't mind me quoting it: 

"Hội An is a city on Vietnam’s central coast known for its well-preserved Ancient Town, cut through with canals. The former port city’s melting-pot history is reflected in its architecture, a mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shophouses and temples to colorful French colonial buildings, ornate Vietnamese tube houses and the iconic Japanese Covered Bridge with its pagoda."


After a few days break from driving. I hit the road again. driving through Vietnamese cities I would often come across places like here: 

And whenever I did, I would usually pull over. 

I had learned that my trip so far had been taken on the current main highway rather than the notorious Ho Chi Mihn trail, which I heard was beautiful and had less trucks.. oops. So, I drove across Vietnam horizontally to get onto the right highway. Which had me pass through very rural communities. Every single time I drove through a village children would run to the street to wave at me!  

Camping

Ok, so now things get really interesting. There were several times in Vietnam that I camped out instead of staying in a room. I would try to do it whenever I could! When it was evening and I was driving I would scan my eyes looking for an ideal spot. Preferably safe and discreet. Sometimes it was easy. I would drive out of city limits and pull over into nature.   

And sometimes. It was harder.. There was one time, I found what looked like a nice spot, private, and easy to get out of sight.. It wasn't until I had my tent set up that I realized that i had leeches on me and the ground was covered in leeches!!  It was the first time I had encountered leeches in Vietnam, but I had been gradually going into jungle/rainforesty climate at the time.  

But now let me tell about the hardest time by far.. >.< Alright, this is a bit embarrassing. But I've already written about plenty of other embarrassing things on this blog, ie. like when I shat myself. So I guess I'll cover this one too. ^.^ 

The Night I Almost Died

One day, I wasn't able to find a good camping spot like usual. I drove through the evening. I would leave the city limits and there were still houses and a few outskirt buildings that were evenly distributed along my path.. Then I'd enter into another town, drive through it and the same thing would happen. There wasn't any hidden nature area.. I was determined to find a good spot and save money so I could extend my time travelling the Earth!!  but alas, the sun continued setting and it got dark.. Then I found somewhere that looked like nature full of shrubs and trees where I could safely camp, however a closer look revealed that It was someone's farm! Still, I had no hope of finding anywhere better so,...

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   Why not? It was already dark. I could pitch a tent and get up super early before the sun rises and leave. I can't imagine somebody going out and checking on their crops in the middle of the night.. I pulled my bike over onto the grassy side of the road and placed it under the greater darkness of the trees. I went over the fence onto someone's property, I didn't go deep in at all, maybe a few feet. just far enough to find a small flat piece of land which was out of sight and shrouded in darkness. 

Finally I rested.. 

A few hours later. I think maybe it was around midnight, I awoke to the sound of yelling and flashlights on my tent.. OH SHIT.  

I stepped outside and there were police. I couldn't believe I had been caught. I had a lot of experience camping in places I wasn't supposed to and hiding.. I was scared that I was deep shit now since I was in trouble with law enforcement as a foreigner. I did everything the police told me. The man who was yelling was probably the owner. In contrast to him, the police showed no anger. They asked to see my passport and I handed it. They asked me to pack up and I did. They handed me back my passport and actually said thank you!! Maybe because I was compliant. Then they pointed and said that there are many hotels in the cities..    

and so I simply got on my bike and drove away, surprisingly with no punishment except being told to leave. 

But my ordeal wasn't over yet. It wasn't over because I was too stubborn.. I tried so hard not to get a room and now it was the middle of the night and if I bought a room it would be less efficient because I would be paying the same amount as if I had checked in earlier. "I WILL NOT PAY FOR A FRACTION OF THE NIGHT", I thought to myself. So, I decided to do an all night drive! Then I could check into a hotel the next morning and get a solid day for my money's worth..  

At first It was nice, I passed through several towns/cities and the streets were totally empty. It felt serene, quiet and felt surreal.

 

It was interesting to experience the drive at night.. I was tired but still it was nice in a way.. Until, several hours into the night, I needed gas. I started scanning everywhere for a station but I didn't find one for a long time until my tank went down to damn near empty. That was when I finally found a gas station..  a gas station which was closed..   -__-  I could  keep driving and hope I find another one, which was a big risk since it already took that long to find one and I had no idea if another one was nearby.. So I decided to sit in front of that station until it opened, which would probably be when sun rose.. It was around 4 something A.M. 

While sitting there, some people pulled over and asked if I was O.K. It is so so good that they did. That gave me more hope in humanity. I pointed to my gas tank and communicated I needed gas.. They didn't speak much English but they pointed straight and said 1 kilo..  holy shit, there was gas station literally 1 kilo away!!  :D

It was open and everything, I pulled out of the gas station and got back on the dark road with a full tank..  

Many roads outside of decent sized cities were really really bumpy and full of potholes. I had to constantly scan the ground and avoid potholes or it fucks up the bike. and at night it was even harder and took me much longer to drive than usual. Shortly after the gas station, the road continued straight for awhile and then there was a sharp corner. There was zero other traffic at that part, but then suddenly a truck came speeding around the corner! I looked up from the potholes and jerked away at exactly the right time, the truck very narrowly missed me.Right  after ward the driver slammed on the brakes in surprised panic. I was alive and kept driving away. 

The Final Leg of the Trip

Fortunately, there was no more traffic after that until dawn. I tried to be careful and alert.  Dawn gradually broke the darkness and everything became safer. I tiredly entered a city. Went to a hotel, but they were full.. While I was leaving someone pointed out to me that one of my tires was flat.. Damn, I was shocked that I didn't even notice.. all the fucking potholes probably caught up.  I took it to a shop and had it repaired. There were shops all over the place in Vietnam.. 

My bike had broken once before much earlier In the trip. I went to check out of a hotel and suddenly the motorbike didn't start at all. It didn't even try to. There was a shop across the street. I had no idea how expensive a repair would be and since I'm a foreigner I was worried if the mechanic might jack up the prices.. He got it started, and also I asked if I could get an oil change too since it was about time anyway and I was already at a shop. It was a pleasant surprise that the total charge for the repair and oil change was the equivalent of $10 USD. 

During the whole trip. I had to take the bike only twice to a shop for repair. After the flat tire was changed, I found a hotel and checked in. It was about 9 A.M. I was exhausted.     
  

I drank the beers from the fridge in my room

I showered, slept and chilled out for a whole day.. The next morning I got back on my bike, as I was leaving the driveway the hotel workers gave me 2 water bottles for free.   

As I continued driving South, the sun became more and more intense. During the heat of the day I would often pull over at a coffee shop to chill at for awhile. Vietnam had a ton of coffee shops, that's something I miss about it. The traffic is insane and the roads are messed up so having a convenient surplus of coffee shops helps to stay alert and recover. 

There were many times, that the rural roads became so rocky and bumpy that they forced everyone to drive slowly on them. There was a constant hard vibration while driving down those type of roads. One time, while driving alone another man on a bike drove up to me and waved me down. He was another foreigner and wanted to chat. I hadn't spoken to anyone in free flowing native English for a long time. I'm pretty sure he hadn't either and that' s why he had the attitude of "OMG, a white person way out here?!"  We drove slowly together on the messed up bumpy road. Finally It started to ease out and become like normal road again. He was going to a different place than me. Before he left he asked me to take a picture of him with his camera, so I did and I had him do the same for me and I took a pic of him too. 

Finally, I was getting closer to Saigon. Since it's a major city, the roads started to become fancier the closer I got. Same thing as how it was close to Hanoi. My days of fucked up roads were over..  and I was able to enjoy driving really fast.   

As, I moved into Saigon, the traffic gradually became more and more congested..

Finally I had done it! I successfully drove from Hanoi to Ho Chi Mihn (Saigon) without dying or even getting injured. Afterward, I actually met several people around South East Asia who did the trip but said they got injured at least once. 

Here's a brief visual summery to give you an idea of some of the driving experiences I've been describing. Of course there were many times I couldn't film to focus on driving, particularly on messed up roads. I had a GoPro but no fancy straps at the time so just held it in my hand.. But this shows a variety of rural driving, crowded places, and even what it looks like passing by trucks from the opposing side. Enjoy.    

            


I was back in the city. In Saigon, people didn't seem as friendly to me as in Hanoi. Still it was a lovely place and the Saigon beer was delicious. Every part of Vietnam had a regional beer. For example, Hue's beer was called Huda.   

Delicious Drip Coffee

I checked into a hostel. From the sun throughout my travels, there was quite a lot of contrast between the upper and lower arm.  I took this pic inside the shower haha. 

At the hostel I met another American named Jared. He had just started travelling and Vietnam was his first destination. He felt guilty for succumbing to buying a lonely planet book out of uneasiness before coming haha. I became Friends with Jared and met up with him again a couple more times in 2 other parts of the world months later. Now he is guide book free.  

Finally, I took the motorbike to a shop and sold it. Much less than what I paid for of course,  
but it was easier.. 

The trip was fun but also challenging.. It was a bit freeing to get rid of the responsibility but my motorbiking days were not over yet. I also rented one in Cambodia, Thailand, and Greece (well in Greece, actually someone else rented it for me cause I don't have a license then I drove it). 

If you've actually read this far, then I'd be quite surprised.This was a particularly long post ,however, I didn't write about literally everything, like when I was in mountains and almost ran out of gas, or several other interactions with the people, a few mistakes I made,  etc..This is a summary, It would be more like a novel if it wasn't, hmm maybe I should write a novel too? But don't worry I covered all of the main things and more. I tried to write about the overall experiences in Vietnam that flow together and hopefully this has been an interesting overview of my motorbiking journey.       

Thank you for reading. 

P.S. 

Oh, and yes they do eat dog apparently.  I don't remember the name of the town I was in but I passed by a restaurant which had a picture of a dog on the sign.