In late 2018 I started a crazy motorcycle adventure in Asia. This was the most ambitious thing I had ever done. It was somewhat inspired by the Top Gear episode where the hosts went to Vietnam to ride across the country on crappy motorcycles (they vastly overpaid for them).
I loved Vietnam so much during my first visit in 2017, I thought I should come back and do it on a motorcycle as one traveller I met was doing at the time but I never took the idea seriously. First of all he had a motorcycle license and an extensive experience riding one, second of all it wasn't in my nature to do anything crazy like this not to mention I was still a rookie traveler so this seemed way too ambitious for me and I kind of dropped it.
Returning to Vietnam
In late 2018 I returned to Vietnam after travelling for nearly 5 months at that point and I was looking to relax a little bit before starting my Southeast Asia adventure. I felt really tired and sort of burned out after having spent a long time in very overwhelming and hectic countries like India and Nepal so I was not looking to do anything too crazy in this next phase. Certainly not riding a motorcycle across Southeast Asia.
I was walking to my hostel and starting to feel really excited to be back here again. I really missed this environment and being Southeast Asia in general. It's just different than anywhere else despite being packed with travellers. I checked in this awesome new hostel in Saigon called Prei Nokor and joined an event they were organizing that evening.
After having a taste of the good old Saigon Beer in my mouth and talking to a traveller who had just finished riding from Hanoi on a scooter I was starting to feel an itch to do a motorcycle trip after all. At that very moment he was posting a sales ad for his scooter. It felt so convenient to just buy it from him, so I did.
Honda Win
I decided to take my time in Saigon since I really loved the city and I just wanted to hang around. During this time I had second thoughts about the scooter I had bought and I figured if I am going to this I have to go all in and get an actual motorcycle.
I sold it and got my hands on a Honda Win, a very popular motorcycle in Vietnam, especially in Northern countryside. This was a crappy little 110cc motorcycle built with cheap Chinese parts. Most developed countries wouldn't even allow it on streets. But I didn't care, it cost me only 250$ and if it would break every mechanic, non-mechanic, grandmother or a baby could fix it in this country for scraps.
Learning Curve
This whole thing was a crazy reckless idea, I didn't have a licence and I had never ridden an actual motorcycle. Also I was staying in the central district of Saigon which was packed with crazy traffic, roads were packed with people so there was no space to learn to ride one let alone become a confident good motorcycle driver.
Somehow, little by little, taking it out on the nearby street I learned to ride it. I was very far from confident or good though. The challenge for me was switching gears, I already had some experience riding scooters in Indonesia, India and Vietnam during my first visit so I felt somewhat comfortable with the crazy traffic which was a big plus.
Slow Start
During this time I also did some reading up on border crossings and routes. I felt like I have to take this even further and see if I can cross into Cambodia and Laos. I found a lot of good information about Vietnamese roads but border crossings seemed a bit sketchy and information was limited or outdated. But after talking to some people and reading border checkpoint reviews on Google Maps I had a rough plan in mind.
I was set to start the trip after spending 3 weeks in Saigon but I ended up postponing it every day for a week due to nervousness and fear, also I was so comfortable in Saigon, I had some friends there and I really loved my stay in another hostel booked called The Like Hostel & Cafe. But I eventually had to leave because I was on the last day of my visa.
So It Begins
The day that I literally had to leave the country was here. I woke up late due to some heavy drinking the night before and now, in a much shorter time and peak traffic, I had to drive 300km to Phnom Penh in Cambodia while figuring out how to get through border with a crappy Vietnamese bike and no licence. 300km is not large distance by any means but this is Asia, the traffic is mental, the average speed is basically 25km/h in condensed cities and max speed on this kind of motorcycle is 70km/h. So I was facing a real challenge.
I finally got moving. I felt really shaky, million thoughts were rushing through my mind while trying to be alert and aware of the surrounding traffic. My first mini challenge was to get out of Saigon in one piece. It was the most terrifying thing ever but somehow I made it out.
It took me 2 hours alone to get out of the central area and the border was still way ahead. Riding was really smooth outside of Saigon, the road was perfect and the traffic wasn't too bad. I was surrounded by beautiful green rice paddies and I started to feel comfortable on the motorcycle however very soon I faced my next mini challenge which was crossing the border.
I chose the main border crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia in the south. Crossing it was relatively smooth because a friendly local helped me out (later he asked for money though :D). I will have a separate post about my advice and tips on buying and riding a motorcycle in Asia so I won't go into too much detail about crossing borders or any other practical aspects of this trip.
The Other Side
Vietnamese side of the border was beautiful. It was clean, a lot of greenery and fresh air but as soon as I crossed the border it was complete opposite. The road was bad, in fact it was non-existent. Dust, dirt and chaos was everywhere. Soon I was driving through a very grim looking town that for some reason had a lot of casinos everywhere. It was not looking good. I had such a long way to go and it felt like I have been on the road forever.
Thankfully the ride quality improved. I reached a paved road and it was empty all the way to Phnom Penh. Now I was facing my last mini challenge of the day. It was getting dark and I was still far away, the headlight on my motorcycle wasn't too good, roads were starting to get congested and there were no street lights.
It turned pitch black and I was dodging potholes, trucks and people like a ninja. Soon after I reached the outskirts of the city and finally there were some street lights. Everything was going to be okay, however there were more cars in this city than in the whole Vietnam combined so it took me an extra hour to reach my hostel.
And what a relief it was. This was my first day of riding and it was packed with endless list of things that could have gone wrong. I couldn't believe I did it and it felt like a major milestone.
To be continued.