Private group motorcycle trip across North & South Vietnam

From home, we fly to Vietnam

On the way to the hotel, you will get your first impressions of this busy, typically Asian city. Hanoi was the capital of French Indochina during the colonial period. The French past is still clearly visible, with wide boulevards and old villas. Depending on the time of arrival, we may take a small city tour on motorcycles. Or you have the option to visit some sights. In the evening, we can enjoy eastern Vietnamese cuisine during a welcome dinner.

The journey to the west begins with the hustle and bustle of the morning rush hour, and the many overloaded mopeds weave through the city. We are a small part of this. From Xuan Mai, we follow a part of the Ho Chi Minh route until lunch. This beautiful route was once just a path through the jungle, used by the North Vietnamese as a supply route during the war for the South. Then we ride along narrow, quiet country roads through the Pu Luong National Park to Mai Chau. Here we will spend the night in the home of a Thai lady. It will not be luxurious, but a special experience. Of course, we will drink rice wine served by the village elders in the evening.

We ride southeast along the Pu Luong NP over quiet country roads and then back onto the Ho Chi Minh route. After that, we take a route along Cuc Phuong and/or Ben Em National Park. We wind through rice and corn fields and along various lakes and will cover part of the route off-road until we reach a small town for our accommodation for the night.

We continue south along the Ho Chi Minh route. The road is now a bit narrower, and the area is less populated. There are hardly any tourists here, so we get a picture of life in the countryside. We ride through small villages, past rubber plantations, tea and corn fields, and past oxen grazing and plowing in the rice fields. We will spend the night in a trading town where there are more churches than temples.

An early start, almost deserted roads again through spectacular limestone mountains. We pass by Vu Quang National Park, a remote and dense area at the border with Laos. A few years ago, the Vu Quang cow was first seen here. It is one of the rarest animals in the world. People from the Muong Minority live in and around the park. To conclude this beautiful day, we visit the Phong Nha caves. These were formed about 250 million years ago and are the largest and most beautiful caves in the country. These caves are certainly 8 km deep with a network of underground rivers. We will spend the night in a small village at the foot of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

Today, an adventurous route awaits us. We ride on our motorcycles through the Ke Bang National Park, which consists of 90% primary forest: forest where human influence is zero and high biodiversity exists. Here is also the most hidden part of the original Ho Chi Minh route. The part that ended in the 'Demilitarized Zone.' This was a neutral zone between the North and South during the Vietnam War. Here, the then US Secretary of Defense established a defense line named after him, the McNamara Line. It connected a line of American outposts across the entire width of the country. Vietnam is at its narrowest point here, with 90 km between Laos and the coast. This region is mainly inhabited by the Bru van Kieu tribe. You can recognize the members by their teeth, which are stained black from betel nut. In the afternoon, we head to the coast to Vinh Moc.

Today is a short travel day. We visit the Vinh Moc tunnel complex. While the Chu Chi Tunnels in the south - near Ho Chi Minh City - mainly served as war passageways, the Vinh Moc tunnels were refuges for villagers to escape the intense US bombings. About 60 families lived here at the time, and 17 children were born there. After the tour, we get back on the motorcycles and ride along the coast to Hue, which used to be the imperial capital of the country. We try to arrive in the early afternoon so we have time to visit the old citadel, the forbidden city.

If we did not visit the old citadel yesterday, it is also possible to do so today. Today we ride to Hoi An, a well-preserved historic trading port that is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We leave Hue via National Route No. 1 and take a short detour through Bach Ma National Park over the Hai Van Pass. It is a beautiful stretch, and we avoid the busy highway. Along the way, we can stop at the ruins of Hai Van Quan Gate, built in 1826 by King Minh Manh, for a snack and/or refreshing drink. From Danang, we continue along the coastal road south and pass the Marble Mountains. During the war, American ships were fired upon from caves in this mountain. Today, it is a marble extraction area with many marble processing artists. From here, it is not far to Hoi An.

Hoi An is a small town with traditional houses and is considered one of the most attractive and exciting places in Vietnam by many travelers. We must get used to the crowd of tourists, as it is worth spending a whole day in the village. Along the river, there is a colorful market and traditional streets full of historical Chinese-painted buildings and small Chinese temples. You can take a boat ride on the river and go to the nearby beach. There are many eastern restaurants and cozy cafés in Hoi An.

My Son is 30 km from Hoi An and was the political and religious center of the Cham people, who ruled in Central Vietnam from the 4th to the 13th century. Although the war has left its mark here, it is still an interesting and atmospheric place. We leave the other tourists far behind us as we ride through the unknown mountainous regions of the central highlands. Over a narrow road, we reach Route 14, which leads us to the Ho Chi Minh Road. We ride to Dak Glei, a quiet town far from other places in the central highlands. The hotel and restaurants are simple.

We continue south along the Ho Chi Minh Road. The road here is somewhat worse and there are hardly any other road users. After the beautiful Lo Xo Pass, we enter the area of the Rong, a minority whose villages are immediately recognizable by the particularly tall roofs of their communal buildings. This architectural style is also found on some Indonesian islands. It is a fantastic mountain landscape along villages of various minorities and a good road that continuously follows the Dak Po River. We continue to Plei Kan to take a challenging gravel road to Kontum, where we will have lunch. We continue through the center of the central highlands. This area has changed rapidly in recent years due to the intensive production of tea and coffee. We spend the night in the trading town of Plei Ku.

A long but beautiful and particularly exciting travel day on the motorcycle awaits us. This part of the Ho Chi Minh route has been a heavily trafficked connecting route between the major cities in the central highlands for years, so watch out for the many trucks and buses that we encounter on the road. In the morning, we will cover many kilometers to bypass a heavily trafficked road over an unpaved road. At least if the water level allows it! On this section of the route, our support vehicle will not be able to follow us and will join us later. We ride past Ea Sup and Yok Don National Park to Dak Mill, a small village by a lake. Watch out for the elephants crossing the road!

Today will be exciting again as we ride along the Cambodian border on our motorcycle. Westerners are not actually permitted to be here, so it makes today even more interesting. We will try to go through Bu Gia Map Park, an important battlefield during the Vietnam War. If the passage is blocked, we will go via Dak Lac to Thac Mo. In Dak Lac province, there are no less than 44 ethnic groups living. The largest groups are the Ede, the M'ng, and the Thai. The Ede is distinguished, among other things, by its matriarchal system; the woman is the head of the family, the children take her name, and only daughters have inheritance rights. Thac Mo is located by the dam of the same name.

The last day of riding is a travel day to the large and bustling city of Ho Chi Minh. It was formerly called Saigon City, named after the Sai Gon River. We ride into the city, past the central cathedral and the Palace of Reunification (Independence). This palace was the workplace of the former president of South Vietnam and is unforgettable because a North Vietnamese tank drove through its gate. There is much to see in Ho Chi Minh. For example, a visit to the American War Crime Museum is a must. Benh Tanh Market is a suitable place for all kinds of shopping. Above all, it is fun to walk or ride around this gigantic city. Although Hanoi is the political capital, Ho Chi Minh is the largest city in the country. It is the industrial and commercial heart of the country.

Today our journey ends. You will be taken back to the airport and fly back home.