chrissables

Day 75. 19. Nov. Hoi An Prison Loop. 190 km. 6 hrs 15m

From Hoi An west on DT608 and QL14B towards Dai Hung and then a left on an unnamed road that cut west until joining QL14 and looping back to Hoi An.

I made up the loop from looking at a map and then took a wrong turn my mistake.

I ended up riding through rubber tree plantations with restricted sign everywhere before coming across prisoners dressed in iconic prison stripped uniforms escorted by armed guards!

There was no issue and I carried on my way.

Day 73. 17 Nov

A relaxing day around Hue.

Day 74. 18 Nov. Hue to Hoi An. 286 km. 7 hrs 20.

I took a long route up to the HCM Road, south and back down to Hoi An with a little off road diversion on the way.

Great weather and riding conditions.

The mountains in the first two photos are the Vietnam / Laos border.

The way up Hamburger Hill

Day 72. 16 Nov. Hue to the mountains around Luoi, Hamburger Hill. 206 km. 10 hrs 15min.

I changed my route when I arrived at the HCM Road, originally I was going to ride south from the junction of QL49 with the HCM Road. For some reason I went north with the idea of seeing Suoi A Lin rapids near A Luoi.

The rapids were nothing special, but from a broken bridge nearby I could see a road winding up into the mountains heading north east, so I went exploring.

The road/track I found was very steep and rough in places, but good fun to ride. After riding down the other side of the mountain for a while I came back and decided to try and find Hamburger Hill.

Hamburger Hill, is renowned from the Vietnam War, near the Laos border and as far as I know it requires a permit and a guide to go there.

Google maps gave me the run around for a long time sending me down anything but good roads. Eventually though I found the road there.

When I arrived at the base of the hill there was nobody there, so i decided grab my tank bag to wander up. I don’t recommend this in motorbike boots, clothing and a heavy tank bag.

I eventually made it to the top after climbing up, through and over some fallen trees about 45 minutes later. It was a very hot and sweaty walk!

It took just as long to get down, which left me with a few hours of riding in the dark back to Hue.

Photos, the start of the day and looking for Hamburger Hill!

Day 71. 15 Nov. Hue coast run. 119 km. 4 hrs.

I found Loc Binh Beach off the beaten track with lots of potential at the end of QL49B

Day 68. 12 Nov. Phong Nha to Hue. 306 km. 8 hrs

Rain from the start and very slow going along the HCM Road. Eventually I decided to ride out of the mountains onto quicker roads and less rain. I was soaked through by the time I arrived in Hue.

Day 69. Service the bike and relaxing

Day 70. 14 Nov. Hue to Laos border and back. 236 km. 8 hrs

Nice weather and riding today.

There was major construction work at the Laos border. Obviously looking at expanding trade.

Day 67. 11 Nov. Phong Nha HCM road loop. 146 km. 4 hrs 20

A great ride south along the HCM road, my first time riding this part going south!

Day 65. 09 Nov. Tam Coc to Phong Nha. 527 km. 12 hrs.

Rain was forecast but I was lucky and missed it. I took a long way there diverting up onto the HCM Road. Once on the HCM Road it was great riding and beautiful views.

Day 66. 10 Nov. Phong Nha – Laos Border ride 90km 4 ½ hrs

Another great ride today, south west through dense jungle on roads DT20 and DT562 towards the Laos Border.

I was stopped by the police 30 km before border and not allowed to continue, which was a shame.

I did try to find some side roads to bypass the police, but…….

Day 63. 07. Nov

Pissing down in the morning, cancelled my planned ride.

Day 64. 08 Nov. Son La to Tam Coc. 329 km. 7 hrs

A very cold start in the mountains and the first 200 km, after that a pleasant day.

Day 62. 06 Nov. Son La to Laos border. 204 km 6 hrs 15.

Road QL4G south from Son La and then various small roads west around the Ma River

It was a good ride south and some very nice back roads alongside the river.

Day 57. 01 Nov. Cao Bang to Hanoi. 279 km. 8  hrs 15.

Rain all the way!

In the first 50 km I saw 3 bad accidents, 2 trucks over turned and another vehicle that disappeared through a crash barrier. Traffic was stopped and I rode past, no idea what happened.

I was totally soaked through by the time I arrived.

Day 58, 59, 60, Ha Noi, relaxing!

Wonderful weather, wonderful relaxing!

Day 61. 05 Nov. Ha Noi to Sonla. 291 km. 8 ½ hrs.

For some reason I decided to ride back to Son La for more exploring. Leaving Ha Noi I was stuck in slow moving traffic dues to a late start.

My route had many junctions and i wish I had a Bluetooth speaker to help.

Day 56. 31 Oct. Cao Bang – Bao Lac – China Border Crawl. 260 km. 9 ½ hrs.

From Cao Bang, north on DT208 to the border crossing, then back tracking to the small road heading west to Nong Van Ngoan and riding down the switch backs there and on to Cao Bac, south on QL34 and onto Cao Bang, riding in the dark, not fun at all.

I managed to find some side roads to explore which was great fun finding unexpected views.

Day 55. 30 Oct. Cao Bang, Hole Mountain area and the Chinese Border Crawl. 168 km. 9 hrs 15 min

I tried to find a different route to Hole Mountain, I failed but was rewarded with wonderful views.

I continued north and west on DT210 along the Border Crawl, I took wrong turn and ended up at an International Chinese border crossing Tra Linh Gate. Back tracking from there I rode to the “Great Wall of China 2” which I have ridden to before.

On the way I tried another detour which ended up off road until I turned back.

After my short visit to The Great Wall of China 2 I tried to follow the border to Pac Bo cave, but was turned back by locals indicating I was not allowed through.

Day 53. 28 Oct. Cao Bang to hole mountain. 62 km. 4 ½ hours.

From Cao Bang you head north east on the strangely named road KH-BG, then east on QL3 until you can cut north on DT205. After a while you will signs to Dong Ham Huong Cave to the left, you follow this to the end and find a small lake and cave nearby, not really worth visiting. But when returning you take a small left turn which goes for a few km where you can find the mountain with a hole in it!

A short ride first to the small lake and cave, then on to Hole Mountain.

The lake was nothing special, and the cave very small, but I was asked to join the locals for some gut rot for breakfast!

At Hole Mountain there was a steep ride down to the fields, I stopped half way after watching the locals unable to ride up without dismounting!

Day 52. 27 Oct. 120 km. Cao Bang to Pac Bo Cave and around.

I started the day riding to Pac Bo Cave, where Ho Chi Minh was living when he entered Vietnam from China. But now they are stopping traffic going through, you have to park and get a buggy to the area.

That wasn’t for me, so when riding back I was looking at side roads to explore, I found one that went up to the Chinese border area.

It was a nice road until the top where the last houses were, and then it turned to mud so I turned back. It looked like terrible place to live on a rainy day.

Day 51. 26 Oct. 220 km 10 ½ hrs Dong Van to Cao Bao, the Chinese border route!

From Dong Van south on QL4C to Meo Vac, from there east on DT217 through Bao Lac and staying on the DT217 until the DT204 and kept riding to Cao Bang.

There was rain and fog to start and I missed my turn. I nearly did not back track, but so glad I did. The ROAD, as marked on google maps turned into a clay track for about 1.5 km’s, then ended at a river where a bamboo ferry was needed to cross!

The track on the other side of the crossing was 5 + km of slippery rutted track, I was out of my comfort zone and had it been wet it would have been extremely difficult to ride out. After the 5 km, it was just a rough road and easy by comparison.

It was a long day riding and I treated myself to a nice hotel in Cao Bang

Day 50. 25 Oct. Dong Van – Meo Vac Chinese border – Dong Van. 74 km. 5 hrs

First thing in the morning it was slow going due to pea soup thick fog.

It cleared after crossing the Nho Que River and climbing the mountain towards the Chinese border, road 193A.

This year I was turned back by the police before the summit of the mountain. Last year I crossed into China.

Day 49. Dong Van – Chinese border – Lung Cu. (The North Pole) 108 km. 5 ½ hrs

A bit of a grey day with rain showers for my ride to the most northern point of Vietnam. Firstly I rode up to a different Chinese border crossing, Pho Bang. There a Chinese border guard was extremely unhappy and was pointing for me to park up, so I did a very quick U turn and back tracked to the North Pole.

Day 47. Ha Giang to the Chinese border at the end of QL2. About 100km

I rode about 20 km into the border side road DT179C when it turned to rocks. There was still 39 km to my goal, of which 15 km were ok, the track in between (24 km) unknown, and although I have asked on several forums I don’t know anyone who has ridden the complete track. I would try if not alone, but this was extremely remote, so I returned to Ha Giang.

Day 46. 21 Oct. 182 km. 8 hours

Ha Giang – Don Van Plateau – Ha Giang

Very bad roads at the start of the day heading up QL4C then east on QL34, turning north onto DT176 was the start of the rough road.

Great views again, mostly hidden by bad visibility.

Route to Ban Phung

https://www.google.co.th/maps/dir/Huyền+An+HOTEL/22.7463678,104.5943279/Trọng+Phú+Homestay/Huyền+An+HOTEL,+Cốc+Pài,+Xín+Mần,+Hà+Giang,+Vietnam/@22.7357382,104.4755841,12z/data=!4m21!4m20!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0x79863753484a85b5!2m2!1d104.4618232!2d22.6842664!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x36cc5ea3183fbcbb:0x60675c6cee2fd233!2m2!1d104.5852776!2d22.789387!1m5!1m1!1s0x36ccf825409dbe09:0x79863753484a85b5!2m2!1d104.4618232!2d22.6842664!3e0

Day 45. 20 Oct. 215 km. 8 ½ hrs

Xin Man to Ha Giang

On route decided to take a detour up into the mountains. It was slow going heading up the mountains to China.

The route on google was good, great until I came to a dead end!

The weather was good but visibility poor.