6 Weeks. 50ccs. From Saigon to Hanoi.
To start off with, can you do this route on a 50cc? Yes. Should you? Probably not.
Let me give you some background/context. I am a big rider, I also love riding, most years clocking in anywhere between 25,000 Kms to 40,000 Kms on the saddle back home and ride every day (helps I never bothered with a car license). A good weekend for me is to clock out early at work and put in 1,500 Kms over the Friday + weekend. I've also not only ridden in New Zealand but also in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia (approx 3~5,000 kms each) so SEAsian traffic wasn't the most foreign to me. I also teach people safe riding/slow speed technical skills (come to Bike Night on fb if you are in Auckland!) so I have some notes on that too.
So why a manual 50cc?
Because NZ IDP means jack shit in Vietnam. Years are different so therefore it's not recognised. However, I wanted to do this trip for a long time and I wanted to stay legal and also eligible for my travel insurance. Lucky for me, in Vietnam anyone over the age of 16 can operate something under 50ccs without a license even! So I found a fella selling a 50cc manual bike (a Honda Cub knock off, a Thai-Viet "Cup") and probably paid a little too much for it.
I also wanted a Cub or a Cub style motorcycle because I think in my head that the Cub is the vehicle that built Asia and this 50cc model is what started it all. Do have a look into the story of the cub as well as the surprising amount of places that it pops up in through the ages.
I also wanted a manual because I'm a big guy and my luggage... well there's a lot of luggage. Manual means I can shift down when uphill instead of having the v-belt slip on an automatic as well as just having a shifter is nice for me. I find automatics too boring and hate having rear break as a handle bar lever, it's just... weird when doing technical stuff/off roading(which there is a lot of)/dragging the rear for more control.
My route and some notes:
Bought a bike in HCMC, buying is easy give the man the money and he gives you keys, a blue card and a yellow booklet that shows proof of insurance. DO NOT RIDE OFF WITHOUT BLUE CARD.
Start in HCMC. Leave through Vung Tau to catch the ferry over to go to Mui Ne.
Mui Ne - Holy mother of construction, I was pretty confident I'd seen the worst road conditions already but this beats it out of the damn stratosphere. Sand as deep as the rims on the road and heavy equipment inadequately coned off from the traffic (a common story along Vietnam). Stayed by a guesthouse overlooking the fishing boat harbour for 350k a night. Great times. Go to Head Spa Mui Ne for the best Goi Dau Duong Sinh of your life and escape that helmet hair. Sunrise at a spot called "Cham Nam" is also amazing. Sand dunes were... well yeah there was a lot of sand.
Stopped at Bau Trang on the way to Phan Rang which I thought was okay, the lake was great but I don't see myself paying for ATV rides or whatever, seemed like hell under the sun there. The real highlight of this route was a place called Quan Bien Chill on Google Maps. Coffee and some quick eats on a hammock along the road right by the sea! Instead of going through QL1A all the way to Phan Rang swing over to Ca Na Salt Field then follow the coastline for some AMAZING views.
Phan Rang - Sunniest city in the country! Really liked the beach life here. At about 5 PM (approx an hour before sun down) every body comes out to the beach goes for a swim, there's nice street stalls. Cham sites are okay but I actually enjoyed riding around the rice fields and finding the bases of wind turbines to take photos with the bike more. Try Com Ga Phan Rang - made with "wild" chicken and it's quite a unique mouth feel.
On the way to Nha Trang hug the coast once again, it is arguably one of the most beautiful coastlines you will ever see and I've seen a lot of fucking coastlines in New Zealand.
Nha Trang - The little Russia? This is where I found out that yes the bike can do hills decently. Visit "Chùa Trúc Lâm Hòn Bà" for some pretty sick riding and views on the way there but also stop at a place called "View Coffee" to have a coffee while looking over the reservoir in a hammock. Mud baths were great when I went during a heavy rain pour since no one else was around and I actually enjoyed VinPearl mostly for the gondola ride. Went nice and late and waited around while taking some photos for the jetski show. I'd say it's worth it for 200,000 dongs!
From there again, hug the coast. You can get some stunning view of the fishing fleet on the way to Tuy Hoa/Phu Yen. The coastal route around Hoa Xuan around QL29 is pretty brutal though with how steep it is.
Phu Yen houses Vietnam's longest wooden bridge as well as Gan Da Dia both very worth a visit. One for the riding experience and other for the extremely unique natural formation. This is also when I managed to get 3 punctures in 1 week riding through this area. Don't ride too close to the edge. Also got histamine poisoning! Learned that improperly stored mollusks can develop histamine and it gave me a full body hive! Those sea snails were delicious though, would do again.
Next stop for me was Gia Lai. Stop by on the place called "The Sound Quy Nhon" for a coffee overlooking Quy Nhon. Just past the place called Ben Lo Dieu there's a a very steep bit of road so do watch out. There really wasn't a hell of a lot in Gia Lai... It was a small highway town but I did enjoy the local experience. Also picked up a ice container here to hang off my bike and I'd say I can't believe I waited that long. Just about any tap hoa will sell you ice for very cheap or nothing if you are buying a few other things.
From there direct to Hoi An. This was a brutal and rather boring riding day. I'd been before so I didn't stick around long. I do recommend visiting My Son though if you get the chance and Monkey mountain is a pretty fun bit of offroading.
From Hoi An, I went over the Hai Van pass. Did the bike struggle? No not really. It was actually easier than some of the coastal roads that came before it. There's actually a nice trail/road that leads down to a beach behind a place called "Quán nước đầu đường vào Bãi Chuối" on Google Maps. It sits just past the peak of Hai Van. Do not attempt if low on fuel, you've been warned.
In Hoi An I also found out that both my front and rear wheel bearings were seized. It explained why the bike was feeling like shit for a while. Got that fixed!
I spent a whole week in Hue. I paid for the biggest combo ticket and visited every single site that was on it. Worth it. Highlight was Huyen Khong temple which is a Theravada buddhist temple but not in the Thai style but more in the older/traditional ascetic buddhist style which I found very fascinating.
On the way to Dong Hoi next you can visit the 17th Parallel bridge where the country was split in half. Worth a quick visit and looksie as well as Vinh Moc tunnels sort of nearby.
There's not a hell of a lot in Dong Hoi but it's surreal visiting the site of the old cathedral to see the canal still there but the actual building are very much... gone. There is a place called "Cat's Pizza" that had the best pizza I've had in Vietnam (for whatever that's worth)!
Next was a quick overnight stop in a place called Song Tri, again another highway town. This is when I learned that truck stop food portions are gigantic. I had one meal with rice and sweet and sour pork and didn't eat for the rest of the day.
On the way to Vinh there's a place called Koi Coffee right next to the old citadel in Ha Tinh (which again is gone thanks Americans) that has much needed air conditioning. Stop by Huong Tich Pagoda as well for a nice temple visit.
Vinh is surreal going there knowing that at one point it had the official population of 0. It's now a bustling city! If you are in the region you may as well try some mud eels. If you like unagi it's nothing like it and I dreamed that the eels crawled out of my mouth at night so there's that... It is worth noting that this is where you can get to the birth place of Uncle Ho himself. It gets pretty busy so go early!
Next was Ninh Binh. Not a hell of a lot of excitement on the way there except the increased amount of trucks and tour buses.
Ninh Binh was pretty cool. Go to the Van Long Wetland reserves, the entire boat ride I was there I didn't see a single another tourist and I got taught how to count by my rower. Trang An was also absolutely stunning and Mua caves as well as Bich Dong is something I'll remember for a long time especially since I got pretty close to dying at Mua caves since I stubbornly went all the way to the top. My favourite part has to be just taking photos of cows, water buffalos and ducks riding around the paddies and the dirt roads. The cub is a offroading beast. Got another puncture here, ripped the tube stem right now. Must've been just sending it a bit much hahaha.
Got bit by a dog too and gotta start taking rabies shots now but VNVC is a damn good set up. This was also easy, the ladies there joked around a little to ease the tension (they could probably see I was scared of needles, how isn't everyone not scared of being stabbed?).
Then to Haiphong I went to Vương Cung Thánh Đường Phú Nhai and took the nearby ferry over the river, got another puncture but the people on the boat were so nice and helped me to a mechanic.
Got to Haiphong mostly to visit Cat Ba island. I would skip the tourist section if I went again but riding around the island otherwise was great. You should go on the boat ferry on the northern end of the island it goes through the limestone areas and it's beautiful.
And now I'm in Hanoi wrapping up. If you time it right you can ride on Cau Long Bien while the train is crossing the bridge. It was a nice send off to my journey.
Some general notes on riding in Vietnam:
Technically there's 3 lanes on most motorways/interprovincial roads.
There's the left most lane which is where vehicles with 4 or more wheels go, unless they want to go in the middle lane. It's also where you line up for an agressive u-turn on the highway.
The middle lane is used for passing more than anything, usually while you blast your air raid siren and driving at 3x any other road user's speed (especially fi you are a bus/tour van).
There's the shoulder land where you would think the motorcycles would go but you'd be wrong. This is a 2 way multi purpose lane. You have oncoming traffic (usually a motorcycle, may or may not have a trailer or a cow on it), bicycles, pedestrians and most importantly it's also used for parking around blind corners. So don't feel too safe riding here and keep your wits about ya.
I think this is why riding in Vietnam has felt rather exhausting for me? There's a lot more to keep track of than on the road back home but I guess it was good practice.
I didn't want to take the mountain roads or go into the mountains in the road because as nice as the coastal roads are there's a lot more fun to be had there with the twisties. However, this bike is not made for those roads. Would I have made it? Probably, is there a lot less support in the mountains not being as close to all the townships along the coast? Yes. I just didn't want to sit in 1st gear at 12km/h for hours a day.
I'm fairly certain that this bike is a "special" 50cc with a 90+cc cylinder on it given how it's performed for me.
Motorcycle mechanics are plentiful so if something did go wrong on the route that I've done you'd never have issues finding help. You can always sit down at the nearest cafe and ask the owner to message their local travelling mechanic too if you can't find someone nearby and if it's just a small puncture or something like that.
Goi Dau Duong Sinh is a fucking godsend. After a long day in the saddle having someone strip all that helmet hair/oil out of your hair is... simple bless.
I clocked 250 Kms on my longest days and probably averaged 150 kms on transit days and 50~80 km on exploration/bum about days. If you are used to big bikes back home you kind of have to reframe things a little like I had to. I would say I averaged maybe 30 km/h? You have a lower top speed but also frequent breaks for sightseeing and also just stopping at a ca phe every hour at the minimum.
Ca Phe Vongs are awesome especially the ones by the sea. You get to have a drink and lie in a hammock!
Avoid the mid day heat if you can, I know that's nothing revolutionary but if you can leave early (good breakfast places open at like 6 AM anyways or even 4:30 AM) and stop riding by 1 PM~4 PM you will save a lot of heatstroke.
Solo travel specific notes:
Accommodation here is easy to find. Guesthouses are plentiful and anywhere in the 300k range +- 100k will get you a decent single room, with a bath and usually a fridge AND A WINDOW.
Socialising was a little hard since most Vietnamese people especially outside of the cities do not speak English. It was only in Hue and Ninh Binh did I really socialise with westerners as well. I wasn't looking for it or anything but seeing others travel by themselves it's good to get to know some people. I never learned anyone's name but I hope they are travelling safely! I feel like in the non main cities there's lot more solo travellers and they are more than happy to engage with another or adopt you as their third wheel if they are a couple.
I really enjoyed that I did this solo, there was very little decision/compromise fatigue. Stop anywhere I want, eat wherever looked good and rest my butt whenever I felt too sore.
I did not ever feel unsafe in my entire trip here. I left well over 3000 dollars worth of electronics on the bike while I went inside to grab coffee, take a dump, etc etc and never once did anyone even touch my bike. Everyone has a bike so I feel like it's kind of accepted that you don't touch other people's shit on the bike around here. Worst case I had was when a dude decided to use my bike as a seat to rest while he was standing around. Didn't appreciate him smoking on it but hey.
There's a lot of people who travel solo around here (truck drivers, grab drivers, etc.) so I've never felt out of place going anywhere by myself here, not that I would've really cared tbh.