Many years ago we enjoyed watching the Top Gear Vietnam special. It made riding a motorcycle through Vietnam incredibly appealing and we wanted to have a similar experience.
Unlike the Top Gear team though we wanted to do it a bit different. Non of this putting your bike on an overnight train to cover some ground and we certainly weren't going to have a production and support team helping us. We thought more Long Way Round style for our trip.
Long Way Round has been a great source of inspiration to us over the years. Ewan and Charlie's adventures always get our travel juices flowing and make us want to get out there and have our own big adventures. This trip is one such occasion when that programme has motivated us to do something.
In 2014 we took a 24 hour bus from Phonsavan in Laos to Hanoi in the North of Vietnam with just one thing in mind. Find a cheap motorbike, ditch our big bags and ride all the way down to Ho Chi Minh in the South.
Just $300 (£235) got us the bike and owners document, 2 helmets, a basic luggage rack welded on the back with some bungee ropes, 2 cheap ponchos and a road map of Vietnam. For an extra $25 our big bags were shipped down to Ho Chi Minh on the train to collect when we arrived and we strapped our small day packs onto the luggage rack With everything sorted we set off on an unforgettable adventure through the rural countryside and bustling cities of beautiful Vietnam.
This is our journal of that trip.....
