The Golden Triangle Rider

[Ben]

Phil and I have been touring central Vietnam - Vinh - Danang. Visited Hoi An today. Excellent weather, scenery, coffee and food. Riding requires 110% concentration every second on the road. It is not unusual for a motorbike coming towards us to be overtaken by a bus which is 1/3 in our lane, who is also being overtaken by a second bus... which leaves us about one meter of road to sneak through...very, very scary.

[Ben]

We're continuing along Highway 1 and on the eve of TET (chinese new year)...lion dancing...red packets...lot's of plants and lollies being bought...people have been painting their houses, washing their bikes and getting haircuts...karaoke is in full swing.

Phil and I caught Danang diorrhea and so we're taking it easy over the next couple of days.

Not surprisingly the traffic was quiet from Danang to Hue today. Fantastic views of the beaches over the 3 mountain passes.

Tomorrow we take back roads to Lao Bao crossing to view historical sites.

[Davidfl]

Ben
Good news your touring Vietnam.
But what bikes are you on & from where?
Did you get into Vietnam on Lao bikes, or are you riding Minsk bikes from Vietnam?

Davidfl
Keep the power on

[Ben]

I was on my Honda XR 250 and Phil was on a rental PVO Baja 250. PVO took us to Asia Rentals (AR hire out four-wheeled vehicles) a few shops away from their restaurant and a friendly guy by the name of Voricham organized 'special' books from his connection. These books are basically the same as for Laos registered four-wheeled vehicles but of course cannot be obtained at central level.

Conditions: you must/ can only enter and exit at Lak Xao/ Cau Treo border.

Cost: $30 and a 2-3 day wait. You also need to provide photo copies of bike registration papers, passport, Vietnam visa and motorbike license. Note that Vietnam visa arranged in Vientiane will take minimum 3 days.

But even more surprising was that we saw 7 French riders (most of whom worked in Saigon) riding 400cc Honda XRs and Bajas...