{"id":56494,"date":"2020-11-17T11:42:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T16:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?p=56494"},"modified":"2020-11-17T11:42:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T16:42:56","slug":"vietnam-on-the-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam on the Side"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Unable to ride a motorcycle, the author thought that the next best way to see the country was by sidecar. She wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Almost every traveller to Vietnam knows that the country\u2019s magnificent landscapes \u2013 from the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the Hai Van Pass to the Ha Giang loop, and everywhere in between \u2013 is best accessed by motorcycle. Check your insurance coverage, download your Google map, rent a motorcycle \u2013 or drive your own \u2013 and off you go. Freedom and fun, guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p>Unless, of course, you don\u2019t drive a motorcycle \u2013 and I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Some people are born to drive motorcycles in Vietnam \u2013 or anywhere in Asia, for that matter. I admit that I am not one of those people. While I\u2019m good at sitting on the back of a motorcycle \u2013 I take motorcycle taxis often and also ride with friends \u2013 I decided early on that the challenges of driving in the chaos of Hanoi\u2019s traffic was not a skill I needed to develop. It\u2019s a skill that is necessary, however, to see the best of Vietnam\u2019s mountain region in the north of the country.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Finding a Ride<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-56512\" src=\"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/MG_2586-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\">After living in Hanoi for more than three years, I was embarrassed to admit I had yet to visit Mai Chau and Pu Luong, both in Hoa Binh province some 200 km southwest of the city and close to the Laos border. I had heard much about this mountainous area, particularly how \u201cuntouristy\u201d it was and how an authentic travel experience was still possible for a jaded Hanoian resident like myself. The sticking point? I don\u2019t drive a motorcycle. And I didn\u2019t have a partner who could take me either.<\/p>\n<p>Keen to escape the Christmastime cold and needing a break from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, I found a motorcycle tour company that permitted me to ride on the back of the lead driver\u2019s motorbike. Cuong, the company\u2019s owner and a mechanic by trade, has been in business for years. I found out later he has ferried the likes of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt around Hanoi on the back of motorbikes.<\/p>\n<p>Cuong\u2019s black T-shirt, emblazoned with Cuong\u2019s Motorbike Adventure, is also famous, as it made a cameo appearance during an episode of the Archer TV series. I knew none of this. I just wanted to take a motorcycle trip on which the fact that I didn\u2019t drive didn\u2019t matter. Cuong\u2019s tour, recommended to me by a friend in Hanoi, fitted the bill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo problem,\u201d Cuong assured me. \u201cYou can ride on the back with the lead driver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So I geared up with a heavy-duty helmet and drybag on the day before we left on our journey, skipping the leathers because I was told there was no need \u2013 after all, I wasn\u2019t driving. And this is Vietnam.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best View in the House<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-56514\" src=\"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/MG_2623-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\">At the early-morning meeting point just outside Hanoi\u2019s Old Quarter, I met my touring companions \u2013 an American couple and a solo Italian who were supplied with Honda CRF250s and who were first-time visitors to Vietnam. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I was not riding on the back of a motorcycle; rather, a Russian Ural M67\u2019s sidecar, loaded with bags and supplies, was my chariot. I climbed in, strapped on my helmet and stretched out my legs in bliss, glad for this travel enhancement.<\/p>\n<p>Early morning was drizzly and misty grey as we rode along the main highway to our first stop, a roadside caf\u00e9. I took the opportunity to learn&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unable to ride a motorcycle, the author thought that the next best way to see the country was by sidecar. She wasn\u2019t disappointed. Almost every traveller to Vietnam knows that the country\u2019s magnificent landscapes \u2013 from the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the Hai Van Pass to the Ha Giang loop, and everywhere in between [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1957,228],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Motorcycle Travel Log Through Vietnam | Motorcycle Mojo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the December 2020 issue of Motorcycle Mojo, we have a motorcycle travel log of our voyage through Vietnam. Click here to read our travel log today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Motorcycle Travel Log Through Vietnam | Motorcycle Mojo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the December 2020 issue of Motorcycle Mojo, we have a motorcycle travel log of our voyage through Vietnam. Click here to read our travel log today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Motorcycle Mojo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MOTORCYCLE-MOJO-MAGAZINE-161377162001\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-17T16:42:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/vietnamfeatured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"930\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"448\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@motorcyclemojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@motorcyclemojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mojo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/\",\"name\":\"Motorcycle Travel Log Through Vietnam | Motorcycle Mojo\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-17T16:42:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-17T16:42:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd\"},\"description\":\"In the December 2020 issue of Motorcycle Mojo, we have a motorcycle travel log of our voyage through Vietnam. Click here to read our travel log today.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vietnam on the Side\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/\",\"name\":\"Motorcycle Mojo\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd\",\"name\":\"Mojo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Mojo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Motorcycle Travel Log Through Vietnam | Motorcycle Mojo","description":"In the December 2020 issue of Motorcycle Mojo, we have a motorcycle travel log of our voyage through Vietnam. Click here to read our travel log today.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Motorcycle Travel Log Through Vietnam | Motorcycle Mojo","og_description":"In the December 2020 issue of Motorcycle Mojo, we have a motorcycle travel log of our voyage through Vietnam. Click here to read our travel log today.","og_url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/","og_site_name":"Motorcycle Mojo","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MOTORCYCLE-MOJO-MAGAZINE-161377162001\/","article_published_time":"2020-11-17T16:42:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":930,"height":448,"url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/vietnamfeatured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mojo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@motorcyclemojo","twitter_site":"@motorcyclemojo","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mojo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/","url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/","name":"Motorcycle Travel Log Through Vietnam | Motorcycle Mojo","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-11-17T16:42:56+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-17T16:42:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd"},"description":"In the December 2020 issue of Motorcycle Mojo, we have a motorcycle travel log of our voyage through Vietnam. Click here to read our travel log today.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2020\/11\/vietnam-on-the-side\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vietnam on the Side"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/","name":"Motorcycle Mojo","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd","name":"Mojo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Mojo"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com"],"url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}