We had a long weekend to celebrate the fall of Saigon in 1975, 4 days in total so I decided to saddle up Oscar and head off into the sunset for Nha Trang or in Vietnamese terms dodge other motorbikes while trying to stay upright.

I headed off on Friday 29th April at about 4:30pm with my first destination Vung Tau all loaded up.

This involved a ferry ride at Cat Lai and then the open road.  Well I wouldn’t really say it was the open road.  It was windy and very busy and at one stage the traffic slowed right down to almost a stop and then it veered abruptly.  When I got to the same spot I saw what the disruption was, a man was on what looked like a large skate board, the size of a door and he was lying down pushing himself along and on the back was a small child.  This is on a road where the speed limit is 60km/hr and it was going on dusk!  I managed to make it safely to Vung Tau, however I have decided that road signs don’t seem to be part of the features of the road.  I used google maps and would stop in the middle of an intersection (surprising safe and common to do in Vietnam) and point my phone and see what direction was indicated on the map.

I slept in the next day and then headed off to my next destination, Phan Thiet.  This was a wonderful day on the road where I drove along side the beach, saw lots of fishing boats and dragon fruit growing on trees.

Now you know when you see a giant fruit you have to get a selfie with it.

I then stumbled upon a pagoda and I think I got my bike blessed.

It is hard to forget the affect that war has had on the country, China, French, America, so you are always seeing these types of things around, a bunker.

I made it to Mui Ne where I was staying and most of the night my power was out so it was hot and sticky.  It had a great beach near where I was staying and the popular thing for the Vietnamese to do is sit on the beach or near the beach on a piece of grass and eat.  Most Vietnamese do not know how to swim and so you see children in life jackets.

The next day, Sunday was a big day as I couldn’t find accommodation in Phan Rang Thap Cham so I may have to ride all the way through to Nha Trang.

This was different landscape to the day before.  There were sand dunes and red earth

And it was hot.  I would stop every 1-2 hours at the rest stops and get a drink.  You can even take a nap if you want to.  I didn’t, as I thought I would probably just stay there.

In one village I decided to have a look around and it was fascinating as I went to areas that no cars could fit and it got so narrow that only one motorbike at a time would fit.

However all was not going to end well.  I got to the end of one alley and it was a dead end however it was on an incline.  I applied my brakes however I kept sliding down the hill and I left a black rubber skid mark.  A guy then helped me turn my bike around. It was quite a frighting moment.  Anyway I managed to find my way out of the maze and headed for the open road.

Along the way I saw this and I pointed to my camera and he stopped for me so I could take his photo.  That was awesome.

I got to Phan Rang Thap Cham and tried about 4 Hotels and there was no vacancy and it was only 1:30pm so I decided to push on to Nha Trang.  From here to Nha Trang was my favourite bit of the whole trip in terms of scenery.

There were lots of young Vietnamese couples doing something similar to me (riding their motorbikes) so if I was unsure of what direction to go in I just followed them and it worked out well.

I made it to Nha Trang and found my accommodation.  I had decided to try something different and I chose a Pod

I loved it.  You had a locker beside your bed where you locked your gear and inside it had A/C, lights, mirror and a TV.  Because I got to Nha Trang a day earlier than planned I had a relaxing time walking around, readying on the beach, visiting pagodas and eating western food.  This was the first time that I had been called Russian. They are everywhere, how many Russians have strawberry blonde hair though, really!  At the pagoda they had a Vietnamese dance where the women danced with pots on their heads.

Overall I had a wonderful trip.

Statistics:

Traveled 572km in 3 days and spent 190,000 VND on petrol which is $11.60 AUD.  It costs about 40,000 VND ($2.40 AUD) to fill my tank.

103 km: Ho Chi Minh to Vung Tau – Day 1 – 3 hrs on the road

188 km: Vung Tau to Phan Thiet – Day 2 – 6hrs on the road

281 km: Phan Thiet to Nha Trang – Day 3 9hrs on the road

I witnessed two crashes, none series and no real injuries.  The first was the one pictured below with the 4wd cutting across in front of the bus.  The bus door wouldn’t open for a while.  The second one was in the middle of an intersection and the highlight for me was the fight that happened afterwards with the guys taking their helmets off and using them to hit other people.

The journey wasn’t over, I still had to make it back with my motorbike to Ho Chi Minh.  I took the train from Nha Trang back to Ho Chi Minh, however there is a bridge that is being fixed so the train stops in Bien Hoa which is about 30 km north of HCM.  My motorbike went on a different train to me and mine was a sleeper train.  It took 7 hrs to get back to HCM.  I stayed the night in Bien Hoa and collected my bike in the morning.

That was an experience in itself.  I arrived at the train station again and asked where do I pick up my motorbike.  I guy motioned for me to get onto his motorbike.  At home you would think twice about this, but here, this is normal.  I jumped on and we proceeded to drive through the station and over the train tracks and onto the other side of the track.  I found my bike, I re-attached the mirrors, filled my motorbike up with some very expensive petrol as it had to be drained to go on the train and headed for home.

I had a great time and didn’t feel unsafe at anytime.  There will be more road trips to come.