The Guardian U.K. drops a lovely read today about the adventurous scooter riding to be had along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We couldn’t agree more! Our own route through Southern Vietnam is rather more comfy than the one the author of this article took, but the adventure and the scenery are of a piece.
The mountain paths of the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail offer visitors to Vietnam an adventurous alternative to the well-worn coastal route – especially if you travel on the back of a motorbike.”
Jul 23
It was a little testy at first – two Kiwis and two Aussies on the night tour, each cracking jokes about the other’s motherland. But very quickly the spirit of the evening (and, well, the spirits) overcame the niggling little differences of nationality and questions over what one may or may not do with sheep and everyone united in their love of Banh mi.
Last night was a doozie for us – three groups on our Saigon After Dark tour. One of them was this group of 10 Aussies who’d ridden Down from Hanoi. That’s a lotta Bia Hoi!
Jul 19
Two weeks ago a longtime friend celebrated his departure from Saigon & return to London with one of our Saigon After Dark tours. Nhu Vo, one of our Vietnamese friends who was along to say farewell, posted a blog about the experience on Facebook. A lovely meditation on being a Vietnamese watching visitors experience the unseen Saigon (and learning a few fun things about her city along the way).
Saigon does not offer the natural beauty or flocks of birds except for the flow of bikes, ever-growing high-rise, French-colonial buildings, war-memory spots and one of the famous cuisines in the region. However if you look closer, put on your sense of adventure and patience, you will be in for a surprising treat of the rawness, authenticity, and the localness of a place long known for its thick pages of history. Discover another side of Saigon, discover the secrets.”
Jul 16
Tour manager Josh Baker runs through orientation with the members of our July 17 tour after an intro to the Vespas at Steve’s house. “Watch out for cows, chickens and water buffaloes ”
Last week we received an email from Aussie Robert Harper, who joined our Saigon After Dark tour on July 1 with his 12-year-old son:
Thursday night tucked up in front of fire watching telly in Melbourne, 4 degrees outside. The next night we are Zooming around Siagon on Vespas with some great people — what a buzz!”
Several members of the Vespa Club of the Philippines will be joining us in November for a one-week Nha Trang Coastal & Highland Adventure, which should be a blast; we love having Vespa enthusiasts on our tours, and Steve can talk for days (and days and days) about the old Vespas. Today we saw a Tweet pointing to a new image club members had created to convey their excitement over the coming trip. If these folks aren’t enthusiasts, nobody is.
My group of 4 friends (all early 20s) spent 4 days & 3 nights in the city. While we visited the usual attractions like Cu Chi Tunnels and the War Museum. This Vespa Tour was the highlight of the trip, for all of us!
My experience first started about a month before the trip, when i emailed Vespa Adventures to ask about the availability of their night tour. Steve was especially helpful and patient as i clarified all the nitty gritty details about the tour. He even agreed to send Vespas to pick us up from our hotel (which they took a while to find!) We finally arrived at Cafe Zoom for welcome drinks and payment (US$59/pp) before setting out on our journey to the local eating places. Traffic in Vietnam is crazy to say the least but all the members of my party felt like we were in safe hands. Safety is a priority for them so if you’re worried about getting hit, don’t.
The food was awesome. I shall not reveal exactly what we ate and where so as not to spoil the tour surprise for you, but let’s just say it was real Vietnamese food. The prices for the tour are all inclusive, so food and drinks at all the places become FOC. All the other people in our tour group spoke english (Australian, American mainly) so starting a conversation wasn’t a problem at all.
The best thing about this tour is not only the food but also the interactions with the other members of the group. This tour is a MUST DO for any trip to HCM (i hope they expand to Hanoi some day). Whether you’re young or old (the youngest in our group was just 15?!), this is for you.
Thanks so much to the Vietnam Vespa Adventures team for your hospitality, time and service.
–Abraham (7th July) via TripAdvisor
