Friday 30 January 2015

21 days to go...!

Well it's getting close to the start of NB II. We're all quite excited at this stage, seriously looking forward to getting on the road and enjoying what this amazing country has to offer. 

Last minute checks and prep are underway. Visa's are sorted. Jabs are done (ouch!). Bike kit is pretty much there, and we're now approaching the point where there won't be time to order any cheap gear off ebay from China/Hong Kong anyway. Packing lists are mostly done too.

About a week before the trip I'll start doing the last minute stuff. Clearing off memory cards, charging everything up that I'm taking (camera, Nexus, USB charge stick), getting chargers and spares together, and documents and photocopies that I will need such as driving licence, travel insurance and airport & hotel bookings. Also putting to one side clothes that I'll be taking so they aren't in the wash, and let's not forget ordering some currency since that can take a week to arrive.  Since it's going to be Tet (Vietnamese New Year) when we arrive, and much of the country shuts down somewhat, it's possible that ATM's will have run out of currency so we decided it's best to take some.

One other thing we did last year as a precaution was to each email each ther our emergency contact info, copies of our travel insurance, passports, and details of any medical conditions we may have.

One recent acquisition that I'm testing out prior to the trip is this compact action camera.  I call it my NoPro.  It's only a budget model but is supposed to be waterproof, and 720p. I'm thinking I'll either mount it to the handlebars then I can set it recording if we're on a decent road or scenic area, or I can bodge it to the back of my bike facing backwards to capture whoever's riding behind me at the time.

 


Friday 23 January 2015

NamBusters 1 Photos (part 1)


G'day all.  Thought I would upload a few random snaps from the first trip to give you an idea of what it's like riding in Vietnam. I've skipped past the Hanoi traffic chaos and gone straight out into the sticks.

Many of my photos were taking this way, with my left hand while riding.  That probably explains a lot!


L-R: Del, Pinky, Phil TK, Me

Obligatory helmet shot 

This is one of the Homestays, a bamboo stilt house

Inside a stilt house, we slept on the floor on a mat inside the mosquito nets

A local girl working the crops.  The Vietnamese are by and large very hard working people.

Having one of our regular breaks to stretch out and admire the scenery

Phil gains an extra 2mph on the Minsk by doing that.

Look closely, these people work all day up on the hillside.

A local had moved this nest out of the way so it wasn't damaged while they worked the hillside.

Those huts look a bit precarious balanced up there don't they?

Same huts from the roadside.

Paddy fields.  The whole country is full of them, the effort involved in manually levelling all that ground is hard to imagine. When you're atop a mountain much of the countryside and mountain slopes below you have been landscaped the same way.

Just a lovely typical rural Vietnam scene.

Coming from the UK, where Health and Safety mafia are prevalent, this makes a refreshing change.

More wonderful paddy fields

A memorial status en route to Dien Bien.

My Minsk, I decided to hang back a bit from the group towards the end of this day and just chug along taking photos whenever I felt like it.

Spot the grafters on the mountain slope.

A second later she smiled and waved, did I get a photo?  No.

A typical rural bridge, usually made just of rope and bamboo or whatever wood they can find.

With a view like that, it would be rude not to stop for a few minutes.

Everyone happy and friendly despite us looking a bit like aliens.



Monday 19 January 2015

...now where's that kitchen sink...?

I had a kit sort out the other day to get an idea of just how big a suitcase I'll be needing.  After sorting through all my bike kit and removing anything not used on the last trip, or deemed not necessary it looks something like this...




  • Takai open face helmet
  • Pro-grip MX goggles
  • ESS V12 goggles (changeable lenses, used by the military and paintballers for eye protection)
  • A couple of neck tubes to keep the dust at bay
  • Scott Freeride enduro trousers
  • Forcefield Limb Tubes knee armour (wear under enduro trousers)
  • Armoured shorts (wear under enduro trousers)
  • RST Ventilator II Jacket - armoured, has mesh panels and removable thermal and waterproof linings
  • Alpinestars Supermoto gloves
  • Aldi boots
  • Waterproof goretex gloves
  • Two-piece waterproof jacket and trousers
  • Nexus 7 android tablet with USB/OTG adapter and SD card reader - this allows me to upload photos from my camera via the Nexus
  • Samsung Galaxy mini - simple smartphone with easy accessible normal sized SIM, to accept local SIM cards rather than run up roaming charges
  • Olympus TG820 tough/waterproof camera & SD cards
  • 6000mah USB charge battery
  • Overboard 20 litre waterproof rucksack
  •  2 x 40 litre dry bags (these will be used in the panniers that the bikes include)
  • Kriega Pocket Kube (goes on handlebars with my camera in it, or on rucksack)
  • Kriega Stash - like a huge wallet with lots of compartments, great for keeping cards, currencies and keys in
  • Polo waist pack - I realised a rucksack will stop half the mesh vents working on my jacket if it's hot, so this sits on your waist and at a  minimum will have my wallet and passport so they're always with me. Can also take a drinks bottle.
  • Bungee cords
  • Medical stuff - insect repellent, bite spray, ibuprofen etc
  • Power adapters
  • And lastly my trusty brimmed adventure hat!

In addition to this lot I'll also need general clothing and toiletries for 12 days.  Should all just about go in a normal sized suitcase since I always carry my helmet on the plane with me, as with the rucksack.

Thursday 15 January 2015

Vietnam Tourist Visas could soon be a thing of the past

For some time now, there has been a tourist visa waiver in place for certain countries.  The program meant that no tourist visa would be required for single-entry visits of up to 15 days, for Danish, Finnish, Japanese, Norwegian, Russian, South Korean, and Swedish nationals.

There has recently been a proposal to extend that waiver to France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, India and Canada in order to further promote tourism.  This is certainly good news and will make trip planning that little bit simpler, not to mention cheaper. 

Thursday 8 January 2015

Ouch!

Well, continuing my tradition of great timing, I've somehow managed to crack two ribs on the upper left side while playing with my kids in the park at the weekend.  I've broken most of the ribs on my right side at various times in the past, so obviously my body decided to start work on the left.

I'm not even sure how I did it, I was chasing them around, fell actually on my right side but with momentum from running at the time I somehow managed to twist and take the impact on my left.  Either way, a few days in they are now hurting with a vengeance.  Sleep is hard to come by, I'm dosing up on painkillers and my ribs just seize up whenever I sit still or get to sleep.  To make matters worse, I'm full of a cold and every time I sneeze or cough my ribs hurt good and proper. Please don't email me any funny jokes.

The double-whammy is it will get in the way of me doing much cycling, which I tend to do as good prep for long days in the saddle when we're in Nam.  Being on a motorbike can still be physically draining, and when you combine that with the humidity and temperatures typical of Vietnam it does take it out of you. Making sure you're in shape before doing a trip like this is always a good idea.  The good news is that with 6 weeks to go I should be fine with plenty of time to spare before the trip.

Wednesday 7 January 2015

The countdown begins!

First let me welcome you to this little blog, and thank you for taking the time to check it out.  I'll endeavour to post a few updates beforehand, but mainly during the trip itself.


Background...

In a nutshell, this blog is all about the second motorcycle trip/adventure/expedition to Vietnam undertaken by my mates and I.  That trip was known for various reasons as NamBusters.  Why "NamBusters"?  Not saying.  But this one is obviously Nambusters II.


L-R: Me, Phil TK, Del-boy

L-R: Del-boy, Pinky, Phil TK, Me

I've been riding motorbikes for around 18 years, mainly sports bikes, supermoto and dirt bikes. I've had a few Honda VTR1000's (Firestorm / Superhawk), a Z750, a Buell X1, an XR650SM and a Husaberg 501SM amongst others. For about a decade now, me along with several of my friends have been doing an annual motorbike trip somewhere. We've been to the Isle of Man for the TT, we've been around Europe, to Holland, Belgium, and to Germany several times (mainly to the fantastic Harz area, guided by and staying with our good friends Greg and Jacqui Niven at the Pension Roseneck in Harz).  One of our number - Phil - is a qualified diving instructor and for several years has spent months at a time out in Thailand doing dive instruction.  He had recently ridden the Ho Chi Minh trail from Saigon/Ho Chi Minh city up to Hanoi, and on the last Germany trip he floated the idea of doing something similar.

Well in an unusual turn of events, and unlike so many pub-plans laid with the best of intentions, this one actually happened.  A few of the crew had to drop out for personal or work reasons, and at one point it was just me and Phil.  We managed to convince Del-boy to join us despite him having not rode a motorbike for around 6 years.  We decided to visit the more rural north of Vietnam, and hooked up with a tour company who provided us with motorbikes and a legend of a guide: Pinky. The company in question is Flamingo Travel who are based in Hanoi.

You can read all about our first trip, which took place between March-April 2014, in the trip report that was posted HERE

We did two parts to that trip. The first and larger part was a loop around the North West, touching on the border with China before looping back to Hanoi.  We then did a 3-day part two which was to the East and involved riding to Hai Phong, putting the bikes on a deathtrap rickety old floating plank ferry to Cat Ba island then going via another barely floating wreck of a fishing boat to Ha Long Bay to see what those lads on Top Gear were wittering on about.  Turns out they were right, it was incredible and if I could be back there right now I would do it in a heartbeat.

To add a bit of extra excitement to proceedings, we did the trip on 40 year old Minsks, an old Russian workhorse. They proved extremely reliable throughout the trip. Apart from Phil's which had to be bump started all week and then blew up on the last day. 


My trusty Minsk, which didn't blow up.


Nambusters 1 Route

We had such an amazing time we decided to go back, and after having seen the photos and trip report it was easier to convince a few others to join us.  So this time there will also be Jim, Bryan and Del-boy's son Joe-Joe.

Where do you start in planning something like this?  Well it's pretty easy.  The only things you really need to sort out are...
  1. Flights
  2. Passport
  3. Visa (Vietnam Embassy via post, takes a week or so)
  4. Jabs & Malaria tablets (see your doctor 2 months in advance)
  5. Travel Insurance (in the UK we found that the Post Office insurance was well suited for a motorbike trip like this)
  6. A bit of cash (you can draw cash at almost any hotel as you need it, and Vietnam is CHEAP)
  7. Oh, and a hotel.
Anything else is just a nice-to-have.

Unlike a lot of the western world where you often can't walk into a hotel and book a room (must be by phone or t'internet) in Vietnam you can.  On the first trip we booked the first couple of nights in a hotel and that was it.  We were going to be on tour, on the bikes and with accommodation sorted out for most of the rest of it but there was a couple of days that we would have been homeless.  We went up to a hotel at the end of the street and booked the remaining dates that we needed.

Obviously in our case we had the added complication of taking suitable motorbike gear.  Helmets, gloves, body armour, waterproofs, boots etc which is all a bit of a squeeze in the Samsonite but we managed it.  This year we have a much better idea of what we need and what we don't.


Nambusters II

What are our plans for this trip then...Well, again we will be starting in Hanoi but riding north east up to Ba Be National Park.  From there we continue to the North East to see this incredible waterfall at Ban Gioc which sits right on the border with China.




It will take until day 3 to get there.  Then we will double back on ourselves to Cao Bang, then head north to Dong Van.  From there, south-west to Ha Giang, on to Lao Cai then finally returning to Hanoi.




At this point most of the work is done, deposits paid, passport posted off for the visa, doctors appointment done and most of our kit is already sorted out. Now we get to enjoy the countdown and look forward to returning to Nam!