What I have been up to recently

[Graham]

Riding form Ha Noi in the north of Vietnam, down to Saigon in the south.
Including Halong Bay.
Ha Noi is one crazy place to ride motorbike.
It really isn't for the faint hearted, just wall to wall motorbikes.
The Honda 100cc is ample for the 2200km trip.

Here I ride down the jetty onto the the ferry to Cat Ba Island.
From Cat Ba island, you get to Halong Bay.

.
Halong Bay

.
The floating bars

.
Cave exploring by Kayak

.
Views from one of the many islands.

.

.

.
Good morning Vietnam

.
Rest and Relax

.
No road trip would be complete without Hai Van Pass.

.

.
The Hai Van Pass, is very beautiful, with stunning views which ever way you look.
The road is in moderate condition, and there are many, many hairpin bends, both going up, and comming down.
Not all the hairpin bends are in tarmac condition.
Some of the hairpin bends, and quite ofton the strait parts, have all the tarmack broken, which makes riding quite a challenge.

Gra.

 

[Lars Bo Kjeldstrom]

Looks really nice and relaxing .....

maybe a bit more safe clothing if you going 2200 km ? ......looking forward to see more pictures

Lars

 

[Graham]

Hi lars,

You should try the Ha Noi traffic some time.
If you can get better than 20km/h then your doing well.

We have made good progress today, we dids a whole 150km.

Gra.

 

[ignat]

Now that looks like fun!!!!

Awesome pics!

Want to return to DRC and explore on a 100cc step-through like that.

 

[adrianr]

Looks like a fun trip. Stay well.

 

[Ben]

great pics.

 

[wobbly]

Funny, I thought you were chinese?

2200km on a 100cc moped, thats a memorable trip, looks really good.

Often wondered where those Islands were, seen them on many films.

Cheers

Pete

 

[Graham]

Hi Kevin,

I must say, these 100cc Honda "step thru" are tough things.
You wouldn't believe the condition of some of the roads, and this front wheel has hit some terrible holes.
My heart jumps into my mouth, and I swear, and pray, the wheel just doesn't fold.
Also, I can't believe just how many bridges we have crossed.
In all honesty, I guess we have crossed 1000 or more.
The thing is, the road has dropped, at the start and the end of the bridge, giving a height difference of maybe 4 inches.
I some times think the front wheel is just going to come adrift from the forks, or the forks will part company from the headstock.
This is really taking some punishment, but it keeps on going.
Strong little buggers they are.
Some places, there just isn't any roads.

.

.

Gra.

 

[Chris Coombs]

How come the Chinese are building so many roads in Africa etc - perhaps they should concentrate on the Motherland!

 

[Graham]

How come the Chinese are building so many roads in Africa etc - perhaps they should concentrate on the Motherland!

.
Hi Chris,

My reply is a little off topic,,,,,,

Not sure I follow you "motherland" stuff.
Although Vietnam did belong to China some years ago.

Vietnam has almost nothing to offer the Chinese.
The Chinese are not a charity.

The reason Chinese are building roads in Africa is very simple actually.
The African countries, may be poor in cash terms, but thats not what the Chinese want, they have more than enough cash for their needs.
What Africa does have is minerals.

Minerals are the cheapest building block of many final products.
You can't buy any thing cheaper in in purpose than the basic mineral.
Then teh Chinese simply add vvalue to it with their work force of 1,35 billion

Onto Saigon in the next day or two.
Gra.