Kiwi Rider
Venture Into Vietnam
by Chris Stephens
Venture into Vietnam
Vietnam. You only have to say the word and a movie reel of images starts playing in your mind. But the Vietnam of today is very different to the war-ravaged one of 30 years ago. As KIWI on-call motorcycle adventurer Chris Stephens found out when he joined Mike Britton and Angela Bruce on this year’s ‘Venture Into Vietnam.’
IT’S 40 degrees. the sun is shining and we have just crossed the bridge that marks the old demilitarized zone DMZ between old North and South Vietnam.
We stop for lunch with the jungle oozing an almost deafening chorus of insects and prepare a spot to rest. The grass is moving and closer scrutiny reveals a floor of leaches looking for sustenance! A bite pain reveals a leach gorging on Sam ‘s ankle. It’s quickly dowsed in salt and carefully removed by jungle knife. This is Sambo’s first blood! Forget the movie. this is the real thing!
Vietnam is truly one Of the last tourist frontiers. It’s possible to have a real adventure here made all the more so by motorcycle. It’s hard to imagine covering the ground and achieving the access on anything but a motorcycle. In fact, most of Vietnam is on motorcycle there being about 14 million so forget the bus tours and the air-conditioning, the real experience is on two wheels!
RUSSIAN AROUND
The Russian Minsk 125cc trail bikes??? What we rode seemed a far cry from my KTM450EXC! However in a country where 175cc is the maximum cc limit and roads are generally designed for such modest engineering I fear I would have got into a lot more trouble on the ex.
The Minsk is a truly robust workhorse. its torquey but under stressed engines promising and delivering longevity. The styling is definitely retro but by Vietnam standards they are quite powerful since Honda 90 scooters seem to be most common transport.
And the rules of the road?
Don’t anyone tell you size doesn’t count! Vietnam
road rules are simple and as far as I can tell number two. Firstly give way to anything bigger than you simply because otherwise it’s going to really. really hurt!
For example. There will be a bus overtaking a truck which is overtaking a scooter which is overtaking a bicycle and they are all headed your way, so you do give way OK? — even if that means the ditch!
Secondly it’s all about merging and timing your crossing of another vehicle’s path whichever direction they may come. If someone looks like they will cross in front of you then you throttle Off gently to pass just behind them. You don’t look behind you Or to the side. you concentrate only on what is in front with the expectation the others will do the same. Now at a five-road intersection with 100s of scooters, and trucks all converging and all applying the same technique it is truly amazing to watch and be part of this great ‘blender.
Whatever riding experience you have had on New Zealand roads will prepare you naught for this style Of riding. You will DEFINITELY be out of your comfort zone! But if my experience of it is anything to go by you will love it!
A GENTLE INTRODUCTION
OK. I guess that’s the gist of it. A hairy ride through Vietnam on veteran Russian trail bikes! Thankfully Mike and Angela don’t just chuck us in at the deep end. The first two days of our tour are more touristy. There’s a trip out into Halong Bay (north of Hanoi) on our own private luxury junk and anchored overnight it is a chance to recover from jetlag. detox from the office, reflect on the driving conditions viewed from the bus and get to know your ride buddies. More on them later! Halong Bay has stunning scenery. Karst limestone mountains, eroded by the sea, create hundreds of islands and limestone caves. It’s a great unwind in a picturesque back drop.
Back in Hanoi and now eager to ride we are taken to the outskirts of the city and paired with our Russian beast of burden for the tour. It’s a gentle introduction to the riding conditions too but still it’s a pretty cautious start by all. We are riding on the Wrong side of the road for a start and the bustle along the way does take some getting used to.
I knew there was a third rule! Sound your horn! Sound your horn as you approach anything and everyone you are overtaking (as a warning) and at driveways where someone will appear suddenly.
Thankfully we are quickly into the countryside and already amongst rice paddy fields and heading north into the hills of Mai Chau via some mountain passes with stunning climbs. As we get higher we come across the Muong people selling cooked sweet corn at the saddle. We stop and as throughout the tour are surrounded by children. We have brought small gifts to give out along the way and their faces light up as we hand them out.
DISTINCT ETHNIC GROUPS
Vietnam is not just one race of people. There are many minority pockets throughout the country and on these first days in the north we are guests of the White Thai in Mai Chau. Accommodated in a traditional stilt house we are treated to wonderful food and traditional entertainment. During the day we venture almost off road along the disused ‘Old French Road’ used by the French in their colonisation of Northern Vietnam. Now overgrown and reduced to a track in places this is real back of beyond but. of such importance in early times was the road that it showed accurately on our GPS toy! Seems that KR magazine has found it’s way to another biking nation.
As we climbed higher on this road we check out what’s on offer in the outside world. Pete, think of it! 14 Million Motorcyclists…. 5% encountered another tribe (the H’mong market share here and you could retire!
THE HO CHI MIN TRAIL
In the following days we gradually head south picking up what is considered the beginning of the Ho Chi Min trail (major supply line for the North Vietnamese Army during the war). This journey takes us through some places we knew only from the 6 0’clock news from a war now many years ago. The jungle has reclaimed much except around the old DMZ where Agent Orange was used extensively, during the war. This area is still less vegetated but the soil is poor and plant growth struggles without a forest canopy and mulch floor. We cross through the DMZ via a bridge over the Ben Hai River (the former demarcation line between North and South) and on past the Rockpile (former marine base), and then infamous Khe San.
A FASCINATING JOURNEY
Our tour is a fascinating journey through everyday Vietnamese front and back gardens. We travel down valleys with rice paddies throughout bordered by jungle covered hills and much of it karst limestone mountain landscape. The workers in the fields wave out and watch us all go by. Children run out and wave and flash beaming smiles. Goats and dogs snooze in the middle of the road while you evade. Water Buffalo meander along knowing full well that their size counts. It’s incredible just how much road sense all this wildlife has. The roads vary from ancient narrow tracks to brand new highways cut through mountains and jungle to Open up the hinterlands to development.
The road is also a work place. For many it is their front yard. Rice husk is drying on the roadside often reducing the usable road surface to single lane at best. In other areas there are great mats of peanuts laying on the road to dry. destined for your coffee table one day. As we travelled into new regions there were also different peoples.
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