Nha Trang one-week tour

On the day before the tour starts, we'll help guests check in and get comfortable at the Sanouva Hotel in District 1. Once they've had a chance to unwind and relax, guests will meet the tour leaders and crew for drinks and a bite at our home base, Café Zoom, a few blocks away in Pham Ngu Lao ward.

The next day, we'll meet for an early breakfast at the cafe, followed by a half-day tour of Saigon, with guests riding pillion behind our drivers. Highlights include the People's Committee Building, Reunification Palace, Binh Thanh Market, the famous Dong Khoi art and shopping promenade, and the historic Central Post Office and Notre Dame Church in Le Duan park, both designed by Gustav Eiffel.

Saigon, like the river it straddles, never stops moving. In this throbbing heart of Vietnam, over nine million people spend their days working and playing. Old buildings from the past comfortably rub shoulders with new shiny towers on every block as the famously mad traffic zooms by on the streets below.

Afterward, we'll lunch together at Cafe Zoom. The afternoon is free for guests to further explore historic Saigon on their own before meeting back with the group for dinner at the reknowned Quan An Ngon (it means 'delicious') on Pasteur Street.

After breakfast, the group will board a ferry headed to Vung Tau, an hour south of Saigon on the dramatic coast of the Gulf of Thailand. This mountainous peninsula is a favorite among locals as a quick escape from the noise and rush of the city. With its warm blend of the old and the new, Vung Tau is a feast for the eyes.

Here, guests will have a thorough orientation on the Vespas. Once everyone's mastered their vehicle (it doesn't take long), we begin our first ride - up the tropical coastal highway through the small villages of Ho Coc, Long Hai and Binh Chau to Mui Ke Ga (160 km). Come evening, we'll decamp to Mom Da Chim Resort in Mui Ke Ga for dinner and a well-earned night of four-star slumber to the sound of crashing waves.

Less than two hours up the coast from Mom Da Chim, the quaint sister towns of Phan Thiet and Mui Ne are largely unknown secrets outside of Vietnam. Well off the main tourist pathways, Mui Ne boasts kilometers of open beaches, a slew of local fresh seafood restaurants, and little else. We'll arrive and check into our beachside hotel, Bao Quyn Bungalow Resort, by midmorning, and guests are free to spend the rest of the day with their toes in the sand, or perhaps learning to kiteboard or paraglide at one of the many instruction sites along the beach.

Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are widely known for their production of Nuoc Mam, the fish sauce served at every Vietnamese meal. In the shopping markets dragon fruit is plentiful and popular, as you'll see from the numerous dragon fruit orchards that border the road. Also in this area, one can visit the ruins of Cham towers, the last reminders of the former Champa Empire.

After breakfast, we'll start our ride into Vietnam's mountainous interior with a stop at Mui Ne's extraordinary red sand dunes, afire with a quiet awakening of color at the start of the day. Further along the road, the region's white sand dunes are often compared to those of the Sahara.

The remainder of the day will have us aiming for the sky - a 170-km ride northeast into Vietnam's Central Highlands, up to the old French hill-town of Dalat. After checking in to the Ngoc Lan Hotel Dalat, guests will have the afternoon and evening to spend as they wish exploring the town and its famous lakeside markets.

At an altitude 1,500 meters, Dalat is a city of abundant lakes, waterfalls, dramatic mountain views, open-air markets, and locally grown wildflowers. As the chief coffee, tea and wine producer of Vietnam, the city is quickly earning an international reputation for providing a wealth of delicacies. Regional specialties found in Dalat markets include strawberry preserves, coffee and green teas, local wine, avocados, and other fresh produce like the colorful dragon fruit. Most visitors here leave with a heavier load than they arrived with.

Dalat prides itself on the preservation of its unique architecture, much of which dates from the French colonial era. The many pagodas, churches and villas all add to the considerable charms of this beautiful city. A bevvy of local outfitters also offer adventurous guests the chance to take to the mountains and forests with hiking treks, rock climbing and biking trips, kayaking and canyoning, even ropes courses.

One of the special highlights of our tour is the opportunity to visit and interact with people from the hill tribe villages. The group will visit a ethnic minority village near Dalat and return later in the evening to participate in one of their ritual ceremonies.

Circling back down from the Central Highlands to the coast 150km distant, we'll come once again to the coast: the charming seaside splendor of Nha Trang, Vietnam's most famous oceanfront town.

Our midday arrival will allow guests to get situated in their hotel and relax on the nearby beach if they like, with plenty of time for sampling the steady supply of steamed crab, lobster, and fresh fruit from passing vendors. We'll meet up again for dinner and our last night together in the evening.

We'll rise early on day seven of the tour for a final morning of exploring Nha Trang on the scooters. With its beautiful beaches, crystal blue waters, and lush sub-tropical forest, the natural beauty of Nha Trang is captivating - and the nightlife strives to match.

The plethora of watersports available includes snorkling and diving, boat cruises to outlying islands, sailing and river kayaking. For the landlubbers, the local Cham tower complex at Po Nagar or the Oceanographic Institute at Cau Da may beckon - or perhaps it's Vietamese cooking classes or a real mud bath in nearby Thap Ba.

We'll bid farewell at 3pm, with the tour leaders and crew returning to Saigon by train. Guests are welcome to join us on the return trip for no additional charge, or, if they wish, to continue exploring the fascinating country of Vietnam on their own.

Approximate number of miles riding each day: 150 km per day.

Fee includes all hotel accommodation for 7 nights, 3 meals a day, Vespa rental, petrol, support van, tour guide and crew, and all the spontaneous adventure you can handle. (Airfare to Saigon and alcohol are not included.)