World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Vietnam
34° | sunny | km 274
Unexpected easy entry!
on 2016-10-30 in Vietnam
We had read and heard countless stories that it is impossible to enter Vietnam on big foreign bikes. There is supposed to be an official legal way but it was way to expensive for us. We decided to ask around in the Vietnamese embassy in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. We wanted to know what was needed to enter Vietnam with our motorcycles. As it turned out the official told us that we could simple cross the border and we would not have any problems with our bikes.
When we arrived at the border it was soon clear that we had managed to go to a border just for locals and not an international one. The one we had to take was quite a bit further south.
130 km later we arrived at the right spot. On the Cambodian side we had to make sure that they would properly stamp out our Carnet de Passage. The officials apparently had never seen one before and so we took the liberty of filling everything out and making sure that they put their stamp and the signature on the right spot. This was our first hurdle, now we prepared for Vietnam. The Cambodian official told us we should ask on the Vietnamese border if it would be possible for us to enter and if so we should come back and pick up our passports from him. We had difficulties communicating with the Vietnamese officials but in no time the Cambodian guy jumped on his little scooter and helped us ask the Vietnamese. All we got from them that they did not really care and if we wanted we should just pass. They quickly stamped our passports and since there was no customs officer to be found at the time we were allowed to cross into Vietnam with no questions asked. After a couple of kilometers we started believing it ourselves!
Fabi had gotten a stomach infection a couple of days before and he had not fully recovered yet. So we decided to stop just 25 kilometers later in a little town called Chau Doc. We were soon faced with two new problems that would make riding more difficult. First after almost 13000 kilometers of riding with a leaking suspension, Fabis BMW now had turned into a rocking horse and he had to be careful to avoid big potholes. The second issue was that the traffic had changed, a lot! There were scooters shooting around everywhere. With just a couple of cars and trucks in between it was impossible to relax while riding.
The next day we decided to ride to Can Tho, where Fabis fever got so bad that we had to stay there for a couple of days.
When we arrived at the border it was soon clear that we had managed to go to a border just for locals and not an international one. The one we had to take was quite a bit further south.
130 km later we arrived at the right spot. On the Cambodian side we had to make sure that they would properly stamp out our Carnet de Passage. The officials apparently had never seen one before and so we took the liberty of filling everything out and making sure that they put their stamp and the signature on the right spot. This was our first hurdle, now we prepared for Vietnam. The Cambodian official told us we should ask on the Vietnamese border if it would be possible for us to enter and if so we should come back and pick up our passports from him. We had difficulties communicating with the Vietnamese officials but in no time the Cambodian guy jumped on his little scooter and helped us ask the Vietnamese. All we got from them that they did not really care and if we wanted we should just pass. They quickly stamped our passports and since there was no customs officer to be found at the time we were allowed to cross into Vietnam with no questions asked. After a couple of kilometers we started believing it ourselves!
Fabi had gotten a stomach infection a couple of days before and he had not fully recovered yet. So we decided to stop just 25 kilometers later in a little town called Chau Doc. We were soon faced with two new problems that would make riding more difficult. First after almost 13000 kilometers of riding with a leaking suspension, Fabis BMW now had turned into a rocking horse and he had to be careful to avoid big potholes. The second issue was that the traffic had changed, a lot! There were scooters shooting around everywhere. With just a couple of cars and trucks in between it was impossible to relax while riding.
The next day we decided to ride to Can Tho, where Fabis fever got so bad that we had to stay there for a couple of days.
33° | sunny | km 283
Endless tunnels, everywhere!
on 2016-11-01 in Vietnam
While Fabi was battling his infection and the fever that came with it, Basti and Denis decided to check out the local floating market of Cai Rang. It was incredible to see boats loaded to the brim with pineapples, melons or other kinds of fruits and groceries. In between were smaller customers darting around in little boats trying to pick up everything they needed. Often you could see long bamboo sticks with goods strapped to them pointing in the sky. The boats were powered by old car engines mounted to a drive shaft connected to a ship's screw.
We also visited a small factory where they produced rice noodles. We were very lucky because it was just Basti and Denis on the boat and therefore they had the funny guide all to themselves. He explained a lot about the market, factory and which fruit is good and which one is better left alone.
After going to a hospital and getting the right medicine Fabi was soon back on his feet. Our next destination was Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). As expected the traffic was chaotic even though they had a designated motorcycle lane and everything. In the center everyone was on his own. If we would have waited for an opening when turning on an intersection, we would still be waiting to this day. The only thing you can do is to go with the flow. Even if you have scooters coming your direction you have to keep going and hold your grounds. They will stop or go around you, usually. :)
We only spent one night in the city. The next day we rode north towards the famous Cu Chi tunnels. Before we did that we decided to get to know a little bit more about the background story of the Vietnam war and therefore we went to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh. It is truly worth a visit.
Next stop was the tunnels and as we walked through the thick tropical forest it was hard to imagine fighting a war under these conditions. The heat and moisture was already in our t-shirts and shorts, without the fear of death, hard to withstand. When our tour guide showed us the first entry to one of the tunnels of the Vietcong Bastis first thought was: "I wouldn't even be able to get in there!" The guide had a quick look at him and responded without so much as a grin: "You're going in first..." So we all squeezed us one after another into the little hole and started inspecting the tunnels. They were about 80 cm high and 60 cm wide. Back then they used long bamboo sticks to get air into the tunnels. Today they used big drain pipes connected to a ventilation system to make it more tolerable for tourists to walk through. Over all we walked about 50 meters in one stretch and after that we were already soaked from sweat and our legs were hurting from walking like a duck. We do not need to talk about our fitness at this point but it is incredible to imagine that the Vietnamese were able to built these tunnels with their hands for over 250 kilometers. And further to live in them and survive the ordeal of fighting a war against a more powerful enemy over so many years.
Overwhelmed by all the new insights into the Vietnamese war we rode back to our hotel. We decided to pack everything up already because we were excited about our next destination. The beach!
We also visited a small factory where they produced rice noodles. We were very lucky because it was just Basti and Denis on the boat and therefore they had the funny guide all to themselves. He explained a lot about the market, factory and which fruit is good and which one is better left alone.
After going to a hospital and getting the right medicine Fabi was soon back on his feet. Our next destination was Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). As expected the traffic was chaotic even though they had a designated motorcycle lane and everything. In the center everyone was on his own. If we would have waited for an opening when turning on an intersection, we would still be waiting to this day. The only thing you can do is to go with the flow. Even if you have scooters coming your direction you have to keep going and hold your grounds. They will stop or go around you, usually. :)
We only spent one night in the city. The next day we rode north towards the famous Cu Chi tunnels. Before we did that we decided to get to know a little bit more about the background story of the Vietnam war and therefore we went to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh. It is truly worth a visit.
Next stop was the tunnels and as we walked through the thick tropical forest it was hard to imagine fighting a war under these conditions. The heat and moisture was already in our t-shirts and shorts, without the fear of death, hard to withstand. When our tour guide showed us the first entry to one of the tunnels of the Vietcong Bastis first thought was: "I wouldn't even be able to get in there!" The guide had a quick look at him and responded without so much as a grin: "You're going in first..." So we all squeezed us one after another into the little hole and started inspecting the tunnels. They were about 80 cm high and 60 cm wide. Back then they used long bamboo sticks to get air into the tunnels. Today they used big drain pipes connected to a ventilation system to make it more tolerable for tourists to walk through. Over all we walked about 50 meters in one stretch and after that we were already soaked from sweat and our legs were hurting from walking like a duck. We do not need to talk about our fitness at this point but it is incredible to imagine that the Vietnamese were able to built these tunnels with their hands for over 250 kilometers. And further to live in them and survive the ordeal of fighting a war against a more powerful enemy over so many years.
Overwhelmed by all the new insights into the Vietnamese war we rode back to our hotel. We decided to pack everything up already because we were excited about our next destination. The beach!
35° | sunny | km 843
Dunes, Kites & R nineT's
on 2016-11-07 in Vietnam
Our trip to the ocean was only 250 kilometers and therefore was done rather quickly. It still was quite exhausting and unnerving since we were not allowed to take our eyes off the road even once. You always had to stay alert in order to evade some scooter or brake for something or someone. It was like riding in a slalom. Once we arrived in Phan Thiet we took a scenic road along the coast until we finally took a turn into a small town at the beach.
Sadly the hotels had been built so close to the ocean that there was not much of the beach left. When there was high tide the waves reached the terraces of the hotels leaving no sand at all! And we got our first glance at how much garbage is floating around in the ocean. Once you walked into the water you passed all sorts of plastic garbage. Luckily this was only at one specific day, probably because of heavy rain before we arrived. We stayed for a couple of days and tried our best at relaxing. Once we went to the nearby red sand dunes. After we had inspected the dunes a little and tested how loose the sand was, Denis quickly decided to let air out of his tires and try his luck again. Since riding in the sand had not worked in the Gobi in Mongolia it was now his time to shine! It was only a small field of dunes but the fun was tremendous none the less. After filming Denis with the drone for a bit Fabi quickly decided to give it a try as well. For him it was the first time on dunes and since he had to change his rear tire, he was now on street tires. But after a bit with enough speed and impertinence he managed to ride for a little while as well, just when the sun was setting. Overjoyed we went on low air pressures back home in the dark.
A day later we decided to walk to a Kite surfing place, because Basti was eager to show us the joy of Kite boarding. Sadly there was not enough wind and after sitting in the water waiting for it to pick up Basti had to accept that it was not going to happen this day. The small breeze was enough for Fabi and Denis to give flying a small kite a first try. It was a weird and unknown feeling for them to be pulled by such a "little" kite. We will surely give it another try some other day...
A big thanks to the nice guys from Vietnam Kiteboarding School for the free intro lesson and the kite rental!
Since we only had a 15 days visa for Vietnam we soon found ourselves getting close to the end. To get back in time to the same border we had crossed into we decided to take the coastal road towards Ho Chi Minh City and from there take a shorter route to the border. We had planned to go around Ho Chi Minh as far south as possible. After riding just a small amount we ran into a group of nine R nineT's, one S1000RR and a R1200 GS. To the question if we wanted to join them for a while we gladly agreed. We all agreed, that this opportunity was not to be missed. We road along the breathtaking and little inhabited coastline and just when we left we stopped for a truly Vietnamese lunch. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we agreed to ride with them into Ho Chi Minh to join them for some beers and food later this night. Obviously we could not pass on their hospitality and we really did not want to. Therefore we found ourselves in the middle of the chaotic traffic of the city again.
It was more then worth it though, since we had an unforgettable night partying with them. It was an incredible experience for us and we feel like it was a good bye gift before we had to leave Vietnam.
Two days later we arrived at the border a little afraid of what could happen. We had heard even more stories about bikes being confiscated once they had not entered Vietnam correctly... Even though we did not feel at fault we still knew that we might have gotten quite lucky on our entry. We went to the immigration window and got our passports stamped out, after that we walked together to the bike determined to get on them and leave. Denis was already 10 meters out when suddenly someone behind us yelled: "Hey! Wait!" A little shocked we turned around. A guy from customs had shouted this, he then went to the immigration both and back into his office. After a quick conversation with his colleges he cam back and waved us off with a smile. It was a big relieve for us. We had crossed back out! Without troubles!
Sadly the hotels had been built so close to the ocean that there was not much of the beach left. When there was high tide the waves reached the terraces of the hotels leaving no sand at all! And we got our first glance at how much garbage is floating around in the ocean. Once you walked into the water you passed all sorts of plastic garbage. Luckily this was only at one specific day, probably because of heavy rain before we arrived. We stayed for a couple of days and tried our best at relaxing. Once we went to the nearby red sand dunes. After we had inspected the dunes a little and tested how loose the sand was, Denis quickly decided to let air out of his tires and try his luck again. Since riding in the sand had not worked in the Gobi in Mongolia it was now his time to shine! It was only a small field of dunes but the fun was tremendous none the less. After filming Denis with the drone for a bit Fabi quickly decided to give it a try as well. For him it was the first time on dunes and since he had to change his rear tire, he was now on street tires. But after a bit with enough speed and impertinence he managed to ride for a little while as well, just when the sun was setting. Overjoyed we went on low air pressures back home in the dark.
A day later we decided to walk to a Kite surfing place, because Basti was eager to show us the joy of Kite boarding. Sadly there was not enough wind and after sitting in the water waiting for it to pick up Basti had to accept that it was not going to happen this day. The small breeze was enough for Fabi and Denis to give flying a small kite a first try. It was a weird and unknown feeling for them to be pulled by such a "little" kite. We will surely give it another try some other day...
A big thanks to the nice guys from Vietnam Kiteboarding School for the free intro lesson and the kite rental!
Since we only had a 15 days visa for Vietnam we soon found ourselves getting close to the end. To get back in time to the same border we had crossed into we decided to take the coastal road towards Ho Chi Minh City and from there take a shorter route to the border. We had planned to go around Ho Chi Minh as far south as possible. After riding just a small amount we ran into a group of nine R nineT's, one S1000RR and a R1200 GS. To the question if we wanted to join them for a while we gladly agreed. We all agreed, that this opportunity was not to be missed. We road along the breathtaking and little inhabited coastline and just when we left we stopped for a truly Vietnamese lunch. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we agreed to ride with them into Ho Chi Minh to join them for some beers and food later this night. Obviously we could not pass on their hospitality and we really did not want to. Therefore we found ourselves in the middle of the chaotic traffic of the city again.
It was more then worth it though, since we had an unforgettable night partying with them. It was an incredible experience for us and we feel like it was a good bye gift before we had to leave Vietnam.
Two days later we arrived at the border a little afraid of what could happen. We had heard even more stories about bikes being confiscated once they had not entered Vietnam correctly... Even though we did not feel at fault we still knew that we might have gotten quite lucky on our entry. We went to the immigration window and got our passports stamped out, after that we walked together to the bike determined to get on them and leave. Denis was already 10 meters out when suddenly someone behind us yelled: "Hey! Wait!" A little shocked we turned around. A guy from customs had shouted this, he then went to the immigration both and back into his office. After a quick conversation with his colleges he cam back and waved us off with a smile. It was a big relieve for us. We had crossed back out! Without troubles!