End of October was the wedding of Thai and Tram in Hanoi. Right thereafter a group wanted to do a tour of the Hà Giang loop. So I planned to go to Hanoi by bike and have my own motorbike available in the mountains. Events leading up to this journey made it all a little more time constrained.
09-25 Leave Vietnam for a Visa?
In early September it was finally decided that my course as “Culture of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Language” was accepted at the University of Education HCM. A welcoming ceremony was held on September 21st. In order to get my 1 year visa I have to leave Vietnam and receive it abroad. I would leave on September 25th, but the procedure needs 6 working days, and I would have to stay outside the country to wait for the invitation letter. Since a trip to Can Tho (Half marathon on September 14th) was planned for October 3rd to 6th, I postponed the trip to Cambodia.
10-07 Cambodia until October 20th
I left Vietnam as indicated on October 7th, but my application was only submitted on October 8th. While it was processed in Vietnam, I had to wait in Phnom Penh to finally get the invitation letter. On Thursday, October 16th it finally arrived. I went to the embassy, and it is only 145 USD if you wait 5 working days. Waiting 3 working days and you pay 160 USD. Or get it the same day for 205 USD. So I waited 3 working days (Thursday, Friday and Monday) to get the visa finally on Monday, October 20th. Time to return to Vietnam, start registration etc.
10-24 Saigon - Măng Đen 624.1 km
I started on this Friday early in the morning to avoid the rush hour in Ho Chi Minh City. Before lunch I was already in Gia Nghia, and shortly thereafter in Buon Ma Thuot. With sunshine I continued to Pleiku, Kon Tum and had the first raindrops after sunset closer to Mang Den.
10-25 Huế 420.2 km
It started raining in Măng Đen and only got more intense, the further north I drove. I had the mountain road in better memory. Yet the first 140 kilometers to Bắc Trà My (near Đập Thủy Điện Sông Tranh 2) were alternating between older concrete roads and asphalt roads with potholes. On two occasions the road was swept away with a landslide from the rainfalls of previous days. And since it kept raining the whole day, it included a mud river crossing the street, that had me loose my flipflops while trying to cross the street there.
The next 108 km from Bắc Trà My to tt. Thạnh Mỹ, crossing the Hiệp Hòa Tunnel, were slightly better. For brief moments, the rain stopped, and one could enjoy the mountain panorama and meandering streets. Arriving in Thạnh Mỹ, the rain had stopped and I was ready for lunch. For the next leg I chose the coastal road.
And getting closer to Danang it started raining again, and did not stop even until 150 milometers late until 5:30 PM in Huế. So I got a bed in a Nhà Nghỉ and prepared for the Saturday evening zoom meeting.
10-26 Hà Nội 650.4 km
It kept raining in the morning until around lunch time or 373 km later, when I arrived in Vinh. Then it stopped, and I could dry in the wind while finishing the 3-day trip to Hanoi.
Road trip Saigon - Hanoi II
This story of 15 days is split into 3 parts, here are the next 2: One week in Hanoi and Sapa 2025 and Ha Giang loop a second time in 2025.
References
- Motorbike in Vietnam
- Part I: 2025-10-24 to 10-27: Three day journey to Hanoi 2025, 1695 km
- Part II: 2025-10-28 to 11-01: One week in Hanoi and Sapa 2025, 1507 km
- Part III: 2025-11-02 to 11-07: Ha Giang loop a second time in 2025, 2073 km