Franco Mancini

This was much more than a holiday; it was a genuine, unique experience, an adventure in one of the most beautiful countries we have ever visited. This is as close as a tourist can get to “real” Vietnam. We have learned more about the Vietnamese life in those five days on the road with our guide than in the following ten days sightseeing around the north and centre of the country. It is still very alive in our minds the smiling faces of the kids, the disbelief on our guide’s face on our fourth puncture in 12 hours, and the genuine hospitality of the people we met. We loved the sense of freedom and adventure that motorbiking through those mountains gave us. Freedom because the holiday was just tailor made to our wishes as we drove along the amazing rice terraced hills, adventure because spending one and half hour in the jungle at night when its pitch black, your bike has a flat tire again, and you start hearing animals around you can be quite scary, and also crossing the river on a bunch of bamboo sticks (motorbike included) can be quite a “humid” experience. A big thank you goes to our guide for being perfect: an inexhaustible translator, always ensuring we were part of the conversation with the locals. He also made us try any sort of food and rice liquors we could possibly imagine (the bear bile was certainly beyond our imagination) and experience the thouc lao ritual ! He always found a perfect spot to enjoy a deserved glass (or two) of beer while contemplating a breathtaking view of the mountains. It’s magic, it’s a must for whoever wants to have more than a holiday!