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  1. #71 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
    Moto Scholar moilami's Avatar
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    Thanks of the report. And don't try come back to "real life" for it sucks! Rather stay on the road!
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  2. #72 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
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    Quote Originally Posted by moilami View Post
    Thanks of the report. And don't try come back to "real life" for it sucks! Rather stay on the road!
    Haha! Such great advice... I have actually been in Shanghai for a while now trying to sort through the multitude of Vietnam photos to post up the last 2-3 RRs...
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  3. #73 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GRF_Hans View Post
    Haha! Such great advice... I have actually been in Shanghai for a while now trying to sort through the multitude of Vietnam photos to post up the last 2-3 RRs...


    jkp
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    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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  4. #74 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
    Senior C-Moto Guru
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    Ni hao .. Hans, Pete: is it possible to get visa at the Lao border, or do you have to apply at some embassy in KM? I'm planning to ride up to the border for an exit stamp, and come back the same day.
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  5. #75 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
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    You can get it at the border. Just as long as you have all your documents to exit China with your bike (they gave me a little grief cuz I was driving without a license...but not much grief...). Didn't try coming back through it obviously. If you just need an exit stamp, might not take your bike across.
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  6. #76 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
    C-Moto Senior CantDecide's Avatar
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    I can't wait to see the Vietnam reports!
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    Biking Newbie | Boston: Ninja 250 | Beijing: Citify E-Scooter | No Chinese License. :(
    My Novice Experiences in China | My Photography
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  7. #77 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
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    Wow! It's been much too long since the last update...

    Ride Report: Into ‘Nam

    First up, I would like to apologize for the photos in the remaining Ride Reports. After our week off in Phnom Penh and a tearful goodbye, Pete departed for the airport on his way back to Los Angeles via Shanghai. After shipping all his gear back and unloading his bike, the realization dawned on me that I would now be very alone for the next month. How exciting!

    Through a Singaporean rider on the ADV Rider forums, I managed to get in touch with Anh Tuan, a fixer who arranged for my bike to get into Vietnam. As many of you may know, this is quite a feat, as Vietnam law expressly prohibits the import of foreign motorcycles across its borders. The entire process takes two weeks, he had told me before we entered Cambodia, so I had scanned and emailed all of my applicable documents from Siem Reap. The Vietnamese Traffic Bureau kept pushing back my application (if you could even call it that, maybe bribe is more fitting), so after Pete left, I ended up spending another two days sitting around until I was finally given a green light to go on March 28th.




    The ride from Phnom Penh to the Moc Bai border into Vietnam was quite leisurely. After escaping the hectic construction-caused traffic jams of the big city, the countryside was as beautiful as ever and the nice cool wind kept me from overheating. There were several bridges to cross on the way, and also a huge ferry.

    However, once I arrived at the border, matters complicated yet again. The Traffic Bureau had issued a permission slip allowing me to pass. For some odd reason they had printed April 1st as the date of entry, though, and the customs officials could not conceive to allow me in with my bike a minute earlier.

    My first thought was to turn around and ride the four hours back to Phnom Penh. Anh Tuan insisted there was another way though. Apparently since he brought so many motorcycle groups in through this border, his relationship with the Cambodian officials was pretty good. Oh and also he had served as a supply truck driver for the Vietnamese Army during their war with Cambodia and spoke pretty fluent Khmer. Guess that helped, too.

    Anyways, he introduced me to these fine chaps.




    Anh Tuan is the one in the yellow and to his right is the head of the border checkpoint. They arranged for me to leave my motorcycle in his house along with all my luggage. I would spend 3 days in Ho Chi Minh City, coming back on April 1st to enter with my bike.

    I cleared customs and hopped on the back of Anh Tuan's scooter. We rode about an hour straight into downtown Ho Chi Minh City. I had heard there were a lot of scooters in Vietnam before, and I foolishly thought that living in China would prepare me, but no. I was in shock. It was completely unbelievable how many scooters there are in this country. I cannot figure out how people can even cross the street!

    I stayed along Pham Ngu Lao, the backpackers' district, and spent the next few days touring. Luckily, my Vietnamese friend from Shanghai was in town and had some time to show me around.

    The Chinatown Market.



    After three days, the time had come for me to retrieve my bike from the border. On the way out, all I could think about was the guards taking turns joy-riding my baby, so you could imagine my relief when we arrived and everything was fine. After tea and cigarettes with some of the Vietnamese guards, they gave me the okay and hooked me up with some temporary plates!



    Overall, it worked out okay. Despite having to do some serious improvisation (not to mention slip USD$600 worth of bribes), I had gotten into Vietnam safely and legally.

    My route through southern Vietnam would unfortunately be very rushed. Since the temporary import would only give me two weeks to get out of the country, I was looking at getting all the way up to Ha Long Bay in merely 5 days. This equates to between 450-500km per day, definitely not something to look forward to. The upside is that the majority of the ride would be within five kilometers of the ocean, and having watched the Top Gear episode where they rode up the very same roads, I knew there was much to look forward to.

    One day after getting my bike into Saigon, I set out for Nha Trang, one of the most built-up tourist beaches. Anh Tuan had given me the contact information of the head of the Nha Trang bike club so I was looking forward to meeting him. Also, I knew I would be catching my first glimpses of the South China Sea! Not even a policeman hitting me with his club as I 'sped' by could muffle my happiness.



    Anh Tuan had also told me about a scenic detour about 30km outside of Nha Trang. The path took me through an abandoned military base and then up through the mountains and along the coast before descending on the beach, all on newly paved twists. Since Pete's camera is no longer with me, I had to try and keep the art factor up. Unfortunately, it just doesn't look quite the same.



    Nha Trang is probably the big-bike capital of Vietnam. Geographically, the beach gives rise to rather large hills almost immediately inland, and due to the massive tourism income, the roads are all in amazing shape. As you can imagine, this draws plenty of the big-bike crowd, and Anh Tuan's friend did not disappoint.



    I felt bad he didn't have to shift out of 1st gear when we rode. The Shineray is many things, but fast is not one of them.

    It was a shame that I couldn't stay there longer, but time was short. My next stop, Danang, would be a full day's ride. One of the largest cities in Vietnam, it is packed with history modern and ancient. Danang is the site of the first American landings into Vietnam during the 70s, and before that it was a cultural center of the Cham civilization.

    Oh and I also forgot to mention: pho.



    Since I was by myself for the majority of the first week in Vietnam, I only knew how to order pho. The rice noodle soup was definitely delicious, but after eating it for 21 meals in a row, I was definitely a bit sick of it.




    I will definitely be posting up more photos of the rides from Vietnam later as well...I took quite a bit, but they're scattered all over my hard drive so it'll take a while to organize 'em. Unfortunately, they're all pretty low-quality, too. With Pete updating the site from the USA and me in Shanghai, I have to compress them quite a bit to send. Oh well.

    The next couple ride reports should be awesome though! The north part of Vietnam is undoubtedly the most beautiful place I have ever ridden/seen in my life! Stay tuned.
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  8. #78 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    No excuses, Hans! Just get on with it. Even low-res pix will be cherished in this forum...

    cheers
    jkp
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  9. #79 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
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    Quote Originally Posted by GRF_Hans View Post
    I had heard there were a lot of scooters in Vietnam before, and I foolishly thought that living in China would prepare me, but no. I was in shock. It was completely unbelievable how many scooters there are in this country. I cannot figure out how people can even cross the street!
    Hehe, I thought I was prepared because I grew up in Beirut, but really it's no match for Vietnam. I was there last April to renew my visa, and having also watched the Top Gear episode, I couldn't resist riding there. Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon... here's me after riding from 5.30pm(15 mins after I got my passport back from the consulate), through the night till 8 am next morning. Fueled by delicious sandwiches, beer, coffee, and cheered on by ladies selling something called boom boom

    Eh, now try to cross the street.


    One thing I noticed was the absence of any China vehicles! No cars, not motorcycles! Also much cleaner than China, even the toilets on the train were clean!

    Sorry about highjacking your thread, just my lame ass excuse to not writing up my own proper post.
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  10. #80 Re: Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia 
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    Hi, Just joined the forum and would appreciate advice on travelling thru' China.
    We are starting from Central Europe in May,2012 heading east to Mongolia, then south, but all my reading says China will be a no go on a NX650 Honda.
    We have explored freighting bikes from Mongolia to Laos and then we would train it thru' China and catch up with the bikes in Laos. The journey then continues down the islands to Oz.
    Anyone got any experience with traversing China as a foreigner by motorcycle??????
    There is so much bullshit out there I would really like to hear from someone that has done it.
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