Road riding Vietnam? I pictured rutted dirt roads with the occasional patchy bit of paved road
but this place is a road riding mecca, with stunning ocean views along the coast highway, and
endless corners as you wind through the highlands for days on end with Vietnam Motorbike Tours.
And it is a good morning... a great night's sleep in a very comfortable hotel on the coast
in Nha Trang. One thing that kept amazing us was the quality of the hotels in each town
and how cheap they were. Your dollar definitely goes a long way with Vietnam Motorbike Tours.
Our motley crew saddles up and we head inland. Today's destination? Dalat. A beautiful Vietnam
town that is the gateway to the central highlands. The plan is to get us off the beaten track as much
as possible, and it happens pretty quickly with the narrowest bridge I have ever ridden across.
The adventure with Vietnam Motorbike Tours could start quickly today. Our guide says
there was a major landslide in the mountains overnight and traffic is banked up for miles.
But apparently roads get fixed very quickly here
and overnight they have already cleared the road and traffic is flowing again.
All the photos and films about Vietnam led me to believe the whole country was flat as
a pancake and covered in rice paddies. That tends to be the case along the coastline,
but once you head inland the country is dominated by mountain ranges.
Along with the change in terrain comes a change in climate too
and hot humid conditions of the coast disappear as we climb into the foothills and enjoy cool
air along with the views. I'm impressed but the guides say I ain't seen nothing yet.
Everyone loved our Vietnam Motorbike Tours guides. Cheeky, fun, informative. And good cooks too.
If there wasn't a decent restaurant stop for lunch we would pull up somewhere in a
scenic shady spot and they would cook up a storm. Nice one guys!
Everyone loved the Vietnam Motorbike Tours bikes too. There are tough size restrictions in Vietnam
but we all agreed you would probably get into trouble fast with too much power on these roads.
Vietnam has come a long way since being ravaged by the Vietnam War... or the American was as it's
known here. As we get further into the mountains the roads are still paved and in great condition.
And even when we get into remote areas later on the roads are still fine. I asked the tour
guys if they had thought about getting adventure bikes but it seems the government has done such
a good job of paving all the roads that there's no point. I asked about Vietnam dirt riding and
they said there is a bit of dirt riding in the far north but most of it is either illegal or
riding in questionable areas so they have stuck with the road riding. And I can see
why with Vietnam Motorbike Tours. Even though I'm a dirt rider at heart this is a rider's paradise.
Dalat, gateway to the Vietnam highlands. Beautiful temples, crisp mountain air,
and a curious blend of Vietnamese culture and its French colonial past. The French colonialists made
this their retreat from the hot coastal areas, the Americans did the same thing during the war.
The Vietnam temples are inspiring, but before we get too spiritual we remember
there's a pile of cold beer waiting for us at the hotel so it's helmets on a final time.
Tonight we get a real slice of French colonial history... one
of the old style hotels and its old world charm. Now where's that beer?
Upper crust adventure at its best, Vietnam Motorbike Tours.