About Explore Indochina

Independent Motorcycle Expeditions Across Asia

Route-led journeys built through decades of field research, exploration and on-the-ground documentation.

Motorcycle Expeditions Since 1999

Laos. Vietnam. Mongolia. The Himalayas.

Explore Indochina runs guided motorcycle expeditions across Laos, Vietnam, Mongolia and the Himalayas, and was founded in 1999 as an offshoot of Vietnam’s Minsk Motorcycle Club.

Routes are developed through field exploration and ongoing scouting, and have supported major international television productions including the Top Gear Vietnam Special, Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape, and multiple BBC documentaries, alongside extensive international press coverage.

The company is led by Digby Greenhalgh, a published authority on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the first to map it specifically for motorcycle travel. Over decades of riding, research and on-the-ground documentation, he transformed a fragmented wartime network into a coherent, rideable route.

His work has been featured in international television and print media.

Select Milestones

The History of Explore Indochina

1993 | The Adventure Begins

Digby Greenhalgh and Markus Medeja set out on one of the very first 125cc Minsk motorcycle adventures in north Vietnam. They had no idea what they were doing and spent most of the time getting lost and trying to work out how to stop their Minsks from breaking apart.

1998 | Minsk Club Founded

El President Digby founded the Minsk Club, dedicated to riders of smoke belching two-stroke 125cc Belarussian motorcycles, which were the only bikes at that time that could tackle Vietnam’s badly maintained road network. The Club would prove pivotal at highlighting the motorcycling potential of north Vietnam to the world.

1999 | Digby Publishes Minsk Madness and the Minsk Repair Manual

Two classic photo-copied booklets that told you where to go and how to fix your Minsk with just a rock, a stick and what you could find on the road.

1999 | Motorbiking Vietnam Starts

Digby teamed up with a fellow hairy-chested Minsk Club member to create the second-ever motorcycle tour company in Vietnam. Credit goes to Fredo Binh for being the first.

2002 | Explore Indochina Is Born

On the advice from a customer who was the vice president of the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency, Motorbiking Vietnam rebranded itself as Explore Indochina.

2003 | First Expedition down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam

The 315km stretch of sublime winding road from Khe Ve to Khe Sanh is considered the absolute best riding road in central Vietnam, but it took us three attempts to breach it, because the conditions were so appalling. On the last try, we finally staggered into Khe Sanh at 3.30am with just a whiff of gas left in our petrol tanks.

2004 | The Long Expeditions Begin

A large group of Kiwis completed our first complete north to south run of Vietnam while a group of Brits made our first cross-border ride into Laos and back.

2005 | The Lonely Planet Guidebook Takes Notice

The antics of the Minsk Club, which by now were organising monthly rides, rampaging rock concerts, mad capped ‘Olympics’, and charity events, were given the honour of a highlighted text box in the legendary guidebook. Bikers from around the world took note that Vietnam was a choice destination for hitting the road.

2006 | Fleet Expansion

It was love at first sight, so when local government authorities started selling off vintage 650cc Ural motorcycles, we just had to have them. We ended up with 25 of the beauties!

2007 | First Ho Chi Minh Trail Expedition in Laos

After years of exploration and research, we braved bombs and appalling trails on our first hard-core dirt-bike adventure down the original Ho Chi Minh Trail.

2008 | Charley Boorman Hits Town

Charley Boorman chose to ride one of our Minsk motorcycles on his show By Any Means. Working with him was an absolute pleasure—fantastic guy.

2008 | Top Gear Vietnam Special

We were chosen by Top Gear to provide all motorcycle support for their world-famous Top Gear Vietnam Special. Aside from carrying the cameramen on the back of our Ural motorcycles, we also designed and built the amphibious motorcycles which carried the three presenters out into Ha Long Bay!

2009 | First Ural Sidecar Tour Through Laos

This cross-border ride went beautifully–the border guards couldn’t believe their eyes, and luckily had no problem with the defused bomb strapped to the back of one sidecar!

2010 | Gordon’s Great Escape

Gordon Ramsay chose to ride one of our 650cc Ural motorcycles for his TV show called Gordon’s Great Escape. His first words when he saw the Ural were “Wow. I want it. How much?”

2011 | First Rally Indochina Charity Rally

A total of 17 wonderful people joined our first charity ride from Hanoi to Hoi An that raised some US$40K for the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. We’re still working with Blue Dragon and a further nine rallies have collectively raised a total of around US$320K for them.

2012 | We Began Buying Up and Restoring Old US Army Jeeps

We started buying up and restoring old US army jeeps left over from the war. This was a real test of our mechanics' skills, and they made for great support vehicles for our motorcycle tours.

2012 | First Reconnaissance Ride into the Himalayans

We made our first foray into the some of the highest and most spectacular roads in the world and began tweaking a fantastic and special route that has since evolved into our Himalayan High motorcycle adventure.

2013 | First US Army Jeep Run Down the Original Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos

A retired USAF fighter pilot and intelligence officer from the legendary Misty Fast FAC Squadron joined us for an epic self-drive adventure down the entire length of the original HCM Trail.

2013 | Charley Boorman’s Freedom Riders Asia

As always, it was great to hang out with Charley, both in front, and off the camera. He also joined the first day of our annual Rally Indochina charity rally.

2015 | First Official Tour Conquers the Himalayas

A great group of guys from around the world joined us for the first of many epic adventures up and over some of the highest and most remarkable roads in the world.

2017 | BBC’s Without Limits

We modified three motorcycle and one jeep so that a group of six people with different physical disabilities could embark on an ambitious and emotional adventure from Hanoi to Hoi An.