Saigon To Danang

[Louise Maplesden]

Hi, this is my first time riding a motorbike around SE Asia. Having a great time + wanted to share our route so far.

We started in Saigon. If you are worried about the traffic, plan to leave early. We set off just after 5am + were getting to the edge of the city by the time the rush hour traffic had set in. Definitely saved us some time + stress!
Our first stop was Cat Tien NP. We stayed at Green Bamboo Lodge, which I cannot recommend highly enough! Great shady pool to cool off after our long ride. Our deck looked over the river + we saw monkeys + lots of birds from our deck. Very good value.

Next we rode to Bao Loc, avoiding the Q rd, we took DT725. I loved this ride, so pretty, great views, hardly any traffic + good roads, with a couple of country dirt roads thrown in for some excitement(we detoured a bit near Bao Loc). We stayed 2 nights in Bao Loc as I was unwell. There isn't much to see there, but we got good accommodation + people were super friendly as I don't think many tourists go there.

Headed to Dalat, again via the DT725, bit slower than the Q roads, but again, stunning views!!
There are a lot of lorries + buses on the way in.
Didn't enjoy driving in Dalat much, there are way more cars there than anywhere else we'd been, which causes some congestion. Rode to elephant falls, which was nice.

From Dalat, went to Phan Rang. Great views heading out of Dalat, but dont really recommend Phan Rang. I liked their central square, but the beach was pretty disgusting. Also crazy hot!

Rode up the coast to Nha Trang, very pretty ride at the start, although Cam Ranh to Nha Trang is just traffic + construction.

Nha Trang, not really for us. We booked our bikes on the train here + went to Danang that way. Enjoyed the train, it was easy, comfortable + inexpensive to put our bikes on. A few staff at the train station spoke good English, which helped loads.

Still in Danang. Really like it here, it's very easy going. Have been to Ba Na Hills. Although this was very touristy, it totally exceeded my expectations. Loads of fun! The cable car ride is great + the theme park is fun. Great views.

Rode to Hoi An, it was ok, very touristy + feels a lot more fake than anywhere else we've been.

Can recommend a lovely home stay in Danang called Sweet Home. Very comfy room. Made to feel very welcome.

Next, we're heading in land again. Up HCM rd via Hamburger Hill + Khe Sanh, maybe up to Dong Hoi.

Sorry if none of this is new information.

Favourite rides so far definitely between Cat Tien + Dalat. Cant wait to see what the north has in store!

 

[hawaiianbrians]

Hello, Thanks the the report, I have a couple questions. Did you rent your motorcycles and if so where? Do you have a guide or how are you navigating? Thanks! Brian

 

[Louise Maplesden]

Hello, Thanks the the report, I have a couple questions. Did you rent your motorcycles and if so where? Do you have a guide or how are you navigating? Thanks! Brian

Hi Brian, hope the report helped you with planning a bit! We have rented our bikes, they are Honda Blade, 110cc semi-automatics. We hired them in Saigon from a company called Tigit. They have been good to deal with. Their main offices are in Saigon and Hanoi, but they have a smaller one also in Danang. We are travelling for a long time, so it would probably have been a bit more cost effective to buy bikes, then sell them at the end. But we are very inexperienced and weren't sure about whether we'd definitely want to do it on bikes, so we decided to hire. It's $250 (US) for the first month, then $100/month after that (plus deposit held against credit card). We have extended our rental which was really easy and we are also going to take the bikes to Laos and Cambodia, which is allowed with the rental (we still have to work out those details when we get to Hanoi, I'll keep posting!).

We do not have a guide. We bought a road map, which is not that detailed, but have mainly been using Google maps to plan our routes, with no problems. There seems to be pretty great internet everywhere we've been, even out in the country and it hasn't taken us wrong so far. We plan our routes to mainly avoid the Q roads as much as possible (you are allowed to drive on these, but in the south at least, they are not very nice, lots of trucks and buses and not much scenery, I think that changes as we go north apparently) and sticking to the DT roads. These have all been in really good condition and go through rice paddy's and villages, much less/slower traffic and much more scenic. The only thing I would say with Google maps is that the time it says for travel is not that accurate. Generally, we have planned for it to be roughly double what it says and that has been good for us. We are quite leisurely travellers though and stop for many a nuoc mia along the way!!

Hope this helps a bit. When are you planning to travel? We are very inexperience motorbikers, but I can't recommend it enough as a way to see Vietnam.

Happy travels!!

Louise

 

[hawaiianbrians]

Thanks Louise, Thanks again for the information. It is nearly impossible to bring a motorcycle from Thailand into Vietnam so I was just wondering how you were doing it. I checked out Tigit"s web site and they look like a professional company, I guess you just got a Vietnam SIM card with data and use google maps. Keep us posted on if you are able to get into Laos and Cambodia please. Have a great and safe trip! Trip pictures are always welcome too!