You have a choice of two great routes, either a NW loop taking in Dien Bien Phu and Sa Pa or a NE loop taking in Lang Son and Cao Bang, or you can just do your own thing! Minsks are as simple a machine as you can get and help for the mechanically-challenged is never far away in this very populous and friendly country. When you turn up on a 'local' bike caked in dust you get a great welcome.

Starting point is still the Minsk Club in Ha Noi - www.minskclubvietnam.com/index.htm.

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Myself and two friends, all graduates taking a year out, arrived in Hanoi craving an adventure to rival anything we had ever done. After enlisting the help of a friendly Vietnamese shop owner in the Old Quarter of Hanoi we went to the Motorbike market to purchase three Honda Neo-Future bikes which were to be our trusty steeds for the journey to Ho Chi Minh City.

After much haggling and handshaking we left the market and drove them back through the Hanoi rush hour. We made the journey South along the coastal road through every major town and some much less major towns which seem to have been completely skipped by the backpacker route.

After 3-4 weeks we made the final leg inland through the Dalat mountains and were on the home straight towards the finish line. We completed the 1600km journey to Ho Chi Minh City after more highs and lows than anything we had ever done. After holding a mini-auction on the streets of Saigon with some local bike dealers we kissed goodbye to the Hogs knowing we would never be able to forget them. Not least because the number plates are now tattoed on our ankles!

Hanoi Bike Market

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