I came across this platform a year ago, my friend who comes to America introduced to me the program.
For all my entire life, I’ve always dreamed to do a solo trip across my country. As a local guide, I’ve made tons of restribution about my city, where to go and what to eat, and some other more. But I’ve never experienced it as a tourist. Going on a trip was the best decision that I’ve ever made. There is a group for local guides all over Vietnam, where we can share our experience in different cities. Before starting this trip, I’ve made some contact with people that I’ll be riding through, to get to know them and the trip will be much easier when you have a person living there to guide you for free and to build a new friendship. However, I only managed to get to know one of them.
50km away from my city
From Phan Thiết,it’s just over 750 km to reach Đà Nẵng. Another 100 km and you’ll reach Huế, where I’d planned to meet an old friend from Hanoi.
Nhat (or James) is the owner of James Hanoi Motorbikes. He and I were in business a few years ago. We developed a social media marketing strategy, created some new logos, and designed some tours in Hà Giang and posted our road trip on the map, we had our first customers by the platform.
Speaking of Hà Giang, it has some of the most dramatic mountain scenery I’ve ever come across. James and I travelled to Hà Giang a few times and opened up a new shop in Hoàn Kiếm where we’d rent motorbikes with another business partner.
He’s one of the reasons I decided to go on this trip. Another reason is that I wanted to pass through Đà Nẵng since it could be the next place I live. It’s very therapeutic to ride a motorbike. Great for clearing your mind as well as to see more of Vietnam.
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Many travelers come to Vietnam to ride from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and otherwise. At nearly 2,000 km, (roughly 1,250 miles), it’s no easy journey. But well-worth it according to loads of blog articles and YouTube videos. Several motorbike companies offer one-way rentals between the two cities.
It’s always something I’ve wanted to do, so this trip would give me the opportunity to see what it feels like.
And I’ll tell you this: It’s much easier and way more fun than I expected.
Now, I haven’t done all of it yet, but I’ve done 750 km in just a few days. Most people spend six weeks on the journey (I’m writing this in Đà Nẵng).
Another thing that attracted me to Đà Nẵng is the number of co-working spaces. Lately, I’ve been writing this blog and attempting to educate myself on the ins and outs of being a digital nomad (if you have any advice, please leave comments below).
Going back home.
As I was driving from Yes Hue Eco to Qui Nhơn (heading back to Phan Thiết), I came up with a great idea for this journey, to contact a random person on Google Local Guide group and ask them if they are able to show me around.
I’m writing this as I lay in bed in my hotel in Quy Nhon. And I’m telling you, it’s everything you would want in a hotel room.
The cost you ask? 187,544 VND (that’s $8.08).
That’s right. Less than $10 for a hotel within walking distance from the beach in a tropical country.
Well, another 450 km back to Phan Thiết tomorrow. Wish me luck!
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Due to the weather and poor planning, I only made it to Nha Trang. However, as being said I managed to meet another local guide, Mr Hung, in Nha Trang, who I’ve never met. He arrived and showed me the surrounding in Nha Trang because it was sunday. We also shared our stories about the programme, how did we find this site, how his photo gets over a billion views, his experience and mine for over 2 or 3 hours. Then the rain came, but it was around 7pm or something, so we said goodbye and I went back to my hostel. I gave him my contact in case he comes to my town so we could meet again.
Nha Trang, a very touristy city. Mr Hung showed me this spot. It was a perfect place to take photos
That’s less than 50% of the total drive I was supposed to do today. It rained. I wasn’t prepared for it (didn’t even have a raincoat). And my motorbike doesn’t like the rain either. But it was a good time with a stranger in another city.
I could have prevented this by doing two simple things:
1 – Bring a raincoat
2 – Take a better bike
Another reason I didn’t make it home today was because I took a lot of photos with the drone and showed my new friend how to use it. I passed some amazing scenery thanks to him, and couldn’t pass it up. Vietnam’s coastal highways never cease to amaze me.
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Home.
Back in Phan Thiết and it feels great.
I had a few struggles with flying the drone just north of Cam Ranh. There were some big resorts under construction you guys would have loved to see, but I checked on map and it said the place is No Fly Zone (NFZ). (In a NFL, the drone will not take off.)
After driving another 5 km to get out of the NFZ, I was still in the NFZ. It’s likely because of the Military Air Base located in Cam Ranh.
How do I feel about the trip?
It was one of the best solo trips I’ve done in my life only with google map. I made a new friendship with a stranger, he made my trip easier in that area as he knows almost everything, where to go next without wasting time riding around.
[trip summary]
DAY 1 – Phan Thiết to Phan Rang (149 km)
DAY 2 – Phan Rang to Qui Nhơn (342 km)
DAY 3 – Qui Nhơn to Đà Nẵng (342 km)
DAY 4 – Đà Nẵng to Huế (120 km)
DAY 5 – Huế to Qui Nhơn (424 km)
DAY 6 – Qui Nhơn to Nha Trang (223 km)
DAY 7 – Nha Trang to Phan Thiết (276 km)
Thanks for reading!