Day 9 - The final destination, Nha Trang.

I leave Quy Nhon with a certain sense of pride knowing that our little excursion, while it seemed kind of mild in retrospect, was a great lesson and mini achievement. In a way I see it now as a little bit of an initiation for future travels. Im in no way a true Adventure rider like some that cross continents, but I feel I have the beginning requirements to do a crazy solo adventure later in the future.

At about noon time we hit some really nice curvy canyon roads again, reminiscent of Hai Van Pass. Once we hit a descent, I see a town off in the distance with many fishing boats anchored in the water, what an awesome picture! As always I straggle behind on my 125 and by the time we hit the little town which I believe is called Ninh Ma, I dont see the guys in front of me anymore.. WTF? Again?! Nope wait. There's Quynh waiting for me up ahead. He told me to turn around, and so I followed him into a parking lot. We stopped at a restaurant on a white sand beach and had local seafood. Very nice.





By this point in the trip, I was tired and was glad the end was near, but at the same time I was having so much fun I didn't want it to end. I was already thinking that I had to come back again maybe on my own, who knows. We see signs to Nha Trang, getting closer. Once we were roughly 15km out, Guy's bike goes out again. Man oh man. I know Anh is not having a good time with this. All of us at this point were kind of giddy. We didn't care what happened, just having fun and taking it as it came along. Again, Guy gets on Quynh's bike, and Quynh wraps the rope around the handlebar and rides the towed bike.

Once we get in, Nha Trang is like any old modern beach town. Much like Quy Nhon, but just more happening. Just more of everything. Sheratons, bars on the beach, etc. But we head straight for the train station, where we need to load the bikes for their journey back to Hanoi. After the train station we all get into a taxi.. Our bums at this point appreciated a nice soft chair vs a buzzy and bumpy saddle. It takes us back to our hotel, where we get a nice 6th floor overlook of the beach.



Later that evening we all have our final dinner together and afterwards go walk the city. Again, Al and I go walk up and down the strip, while the others go split up and do their own things. We head over to this beach bar/restaurant called "The Sailing Club". The entire place is filled with westerners and I end up sitting at the bar with Al and end up talking to an Aussie, an American veteran, and 2 Aussie girls. I try this local cocktail, and after that, about all I remember was the 2 girls taking off with the old veteran, Al got pinched in the tit by the Aussie dude and I went to the room and crashed hard.

Day 10 and on

We all grab breakfast on our own dime this time and I order my usual Baguette, egg, pate, ham, and Vietnamese coffee. I think it'll be like this from now on. This morning ritual is now ingrained into me and I think it results in a guaranteed good day.

Guy, Claude, Martin, Real, Quynh and I all get a taxi to the airport where all of us except for Quynh hop on a flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Quynh flies home to Hanoi.

Al hops on the train to Hue, to meet a friend of his who flew in from the UK.


For me, I was only half way through my trip. The rest was going to be on foot in Ho Chi Minh City for a few days, then Bangkok Thailand for a few more, than an easy few days back in Hanoi where I go explore Tet decoration around Hoan Kiem and visit Ha Long Bay.

This 9 day trek was a life changer for me, and definitely whets my appetite to do more exploring. In the future I can see North Vietnam, China, India, South America, Japan, and perhaps a few places in Europe. Maybe some of them will just be a bike rental where I go solo, maybe some guided. But for sure its gotta be on 2 wheels.