Saigon to Mui Ne
Escaping Saigon proved easier than I expected. We set off at a ridiculous 4 am to avoid the traffic. After a nervous few moments when my bike wouldn’t start we hit the road!
Following advice from Vietnam Coracle, a super useful blog about motorbiking Vietnam, we headed to Cat Lai ferry. Arriving without incident. Woo. The ferry takes 10 minutes to cross a river. This back way out of HCMC means you can avoid the main highway. It’s definitely the way to leave Saigon, especially if you aren’t very experienced on a motorbike.
Continuing onwards our next checkpoint was Ba Ria, a sleepy town where we stopped for breakfast. The ride went smoothly and I was getting into the swing of things.
Up until right at the end…
I fell off my bike.
Fortunately, I was stopping anyway. I was fine, just a little shaken up and carrying a few grazes.
Top tip, avoid gravel, sand or any other shaky surface. Also always use the foot brake.
It probably did me good to get a little fall out of the way. Hopefully, that will be the only one of the trip.
On a day of first’s, we also experienced our first mechanical failure. The first of many. Doug’s bike had a problem with the chain that needed fixing. This led to the whole back wheel being removed and a couple of hours at the mechanics. The whole job only cost $4!
We were fortunate to meet a programming friend of mine who helped us translate and even brought us some food. A sort of gelatinous rice stodge with filling inside. I wasn’t a major fan. But still thanks, Lý Trường Ca.
After Ba Ria, we hit the coastal road. The real journey began. It is a pretty magical experience motorbiking an open road with ocean beside you. The views were stunning. It is just a shame the Vietnamese don’t bother to pick up their rubbish most of the time.
We didn’t make it to Mui Ne on the first day. At around half 4 we arrived at Coco Beachcamp, a mainly Vietnamese holiday camp. It was pretty sweet actually. With a pool, decent bar and even a DJ at nighttime.
It was great to see the Vietnamese enjoying themselves. It seems to be a much more common sight than in the other countries I have visited. As far as I can tell Vietnam and its people are prospering. It is certainly a country on the up.
The following day we set off at 3 pm. We had not yet learned a crucial rule. Motorbiking inevitably takes longer than google maps says. That’s without any issues. Which of course we had.
My bag rack needed re-welding because of this my rucksack has an unfortunate battle scar where the exhaust has burnt it. Sad times. Hopefully, I can get a tailor to patch it up. I also fixed up an indicator and removed some gravel from my headlight. Doug got his chain looked at again. Again this only set us back $4.
By the time we were on the road again it was almost dark. We had a horrible experience negotiating a road that was in serious disrepair. Potholes all over the place.
Note to self: set off early and avoid night driving like the plague.
We stopped in Phan Thiet, a proper Vietnamese fishing town, for some dinner before completing the last stretch to Mui Ne.
What a stretch it was.
A beautifully smooth 4 lane highway that went on for around 20km. We must of seen about 3 motorbikes during the whole stretch. It is the best road I have driven on so far, I wish I had stopped for a picture.
Mui Ne
We stayed at Long Son, probably the best hostel/backpacker accommodation I have stayed during my trip. It is located on a lovely stretch of beach around 15km outside of the main town. So perhaps a little far but it does provide everything you need. A 24-hour bar, nightly activities, tasty food, etc. A true backpackers hangout.
It is one of those places you end up staying longer than you planned. Very chill. We stayed 5 nights.
The pick of the nightly activities that we took part in was a drinking pool tournament. Me and Doug won. Bagging ourselves a fresh Long Son beater. My first ever! Clearly, our time on the pool tables is paying off. Other activities included a poker tournament, pub crawl and a movie night.
The main tourist attractions of Mui Ne are the red and white sand dunes. Mui Ne is one of the driest areas of Vietnam and these sand dunes certainly highlighted this. They were not something I was expecting to see in Vietnam.
You could rent quad bikes at the white sand dunes but the price was ridiculous and the staff rude so we gave it a miss. It would have been cool though.
We caught the sunset at the red dunes.
We bisited both dunes as part of a tour that also included seeing the fairy stream and a fishing village. It was not bad for a tour actually and pretty reasonably priced. The only problem was our jeep seemed to have been picked up from a scrap yard. It made a horrible noise and could barely make it past 30 mph.
The fairy stream was actually the highlight of the trip for me. It is barely a stream, to be honest, but it was lovely walking barefoot up it. Very refreshing. The rugged almost Mars-like landscape on either side made it an interesting walk.
The Police in Mui Ne
The only problem with Mui Ne is the police. They have decided to make a little money on the side. They set up roadblocks from 8 to 5.30 every day and any foreigner riding a bike will be stopped and forced to pay a fine. This is basically as much as they can get from you.
We dodged these dodgy bastards by arriving at Mui Ne in the evening and never biking during the day. Not worth the hassle. Apparently, Mui Ne is the worst place in Vietnam for this. So hopefully we can go our whole trip without any trouble from the police.
Next stop on our trip is Vinh Hy. A small fishing town recommended to us by a local we met at a bar in town. It’s located in Nui Chua national park and is supposed to have a sweet coastal road that was built for the army. We were all over it. Cheers Dong.
