Vietnam – Motorcycle tour: crossing Vietnam in a Honda Win – Episode 3: Ho Chi Minh … Honda Win!

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Motorcycle tour: crossing Vietnam in Honda Win

Vietnam - Motorcycle tour: crossing Vietnam in a Honda Win - Episode 3: Ho Chi Minh ... Honda Win!

Enora, biker and yoga teacher in Paris, wanted a break. Deciding to live her dreams rather than dream her life, she sells her apartment to embark on a “ limitless ” journey and tells us about her crossing of Vietnam on a Honda Win 110 cc.

Episode 3: Ho Chi Minh … Honda Win !

I decided to go to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), capital of Vietnam, to "easily" sell the motorcycle to another traveler. I like the idea of ​​traveling this country from north to south. And given its shape, it’s also the most obvious !

I have some vague ideas of what I want to see, like Halong Bay, Hoi an, and Hue (two lovely coastal towns). For the rest, I have no real idea … Except the desire to ride close to the sea, to discover little heavenly corners (sea, beach, sun, coconut trees …) because ‘I don’t need much to be happy !

On the first part, honestly, I installed myself as a follower. The boys managed the drop-off points, the road (guided by the Lonely Planet and Google Map) and we, the girls, were kindly guided, focused on the road, the traffic and giggling to be the new bikers of Vietnam. !

Scooter or Honda Win…

Regarding the choice of the motorcycle, let’s say that there are not 10,000! Honda Win scooter or motorcycle are the most used by young travelers. So already the scooter: not even in a dream! The purchase of a Honda Win represents an affordable budget (200 to 400 $ for the newer ones), it is powerful and resistant enough to make this long crossing, and easy to learn for beginners..

Some anecdotes have marked this adventure and it starts from day one !

The first destination is the island of Cat ba where a friend of the French couple is waiting for us. He prepared a cruise in Halong Bay on a small boat just for us, the guesthouse on arrival and … the seafood barbecue !

So we leave Hanoi early, with another traveler we met the day before and who was in the same night bus as us: direction Hai phong and its port.

The first sunburns, the first scares with the trucks and the impromptu crossings of bicycles and other scooters in the middle of the road as we drive like mad. I then learn that two-wheelers are preferentially placed on the emergency lane, on the far left, and that we have to overtake on the left: it’s safer !

At the junctions, we use the horns to stop those who wish to enter or cross from right and left. The horn is here preventive, safe, and acts as a flashing light … In short, multi-purpose !

And here we are at the famous port! We are Sunday and find out that the prices are therefore higher than expected (because it is the weekend) and that the boats do not take motorcycles! We manage to convince them to do it, wait almost two hours for the departure and finally get on the boat..

We sit down quietly, happy to have found the solution, when we see our motorcycles coming down from the boat one after the other even as the boat sets off !! We just have time to react, take our bags, jump onto the dock when the boat leaves. We will come to understand that the police arrived and finally decided to ban the boarding of motorcycles !

We will finally find THE solution: a port 20 km away, used by locals, less expensive, which accept motorcycles … On the road, again a great scare on the first unpaved section, full of holes and where I am on the verge of being crushed between two trucks trying to overtake! Then it’s a desert road in the middle of an industrial area, the opportunity to take a little speed and have fun…

And then, there will be the magnificent crossing of the island of Cat ba. Coastal road snakes under a setting sun. Very beautiful images to close this first trip … but unfortunately no supporting photos because I was too immersed in my visual pleasure, not the courage to take the device out !

Nevertheless, I decide to spice up this day (not yet rich enough in emotions!) … and break my face! Hair blowing in the wind (yes, we allowed ourselves a small gap by deciding to leave the helmets on the luggage!), I go down a pretty green hill and find myself face to face with a rising bus, in a tight bend, royally placed in the middle of the road…

First bowl…

I can’t find any other way out than to roll on the side, but I lose control of the bike and decide to get out of it before falling and it falls on me (it goes to the right, I m ‘eject to the left).

It will be a nice bowl that will earn me the elbows and part of the back grated … Motorcycle side, some scratches too: protection of the headlight and the front turn signal broken and the play between the brake pedal and the selector … Despite that , I get back in the saddle, the bike starts up again and we go to the city. So I say it: Honda Win are rather resistant !

At that time, I am also very happy to be well surrounded by my fellow travelers who helped me to get up and surrounded me to finish the road. In the end, more fear than harm! And finally, the seafood barbecue, good cold beers: the reward of this intense day is delicious. !

To be completely honest, at the end of this day I really wonder about the rest of this trip. From morning until evening I was totally immersed, submerged by this new environment. The handling of the motorcycle and the traffic first. Then the total incomprehension at the first port. Hours of waiting and nervousness, was it due to the difficulty of being understood? Or were they trying to bamboozle us to earn money? And finally, the bowl…

At the end of the day, I feel that I actually attacked my back well and it is not pretty to see according to the friends…

In short, I am lucky to be surrounded by good people, I have the luxury of being able to stop at any time, to change my plans, in fact, I remember that I am free! This day is a stage, I have "lessons" to learn from it and in particular to maintain confidence, to maintain my course calmly. The difficulties are part of the game and will help me face the rest, calmly, taking a step back from the situations.

ENORA

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