I set off from Cumbria at midday, catching a train to Manchester Airport and arriving just after 2pm. The first leg was a quick hop to Amsterdam with easyJet – only an hour and a half.
After a short layover, I boarded the long-haul flight to Xiamen in eastern China with Xiamen Airlines (I hadn’t heard of them until this trip either!). The flight was completely full, but the crew were friendly, the food surprisingly decent, and I even managed a couple of hours of sleep. It was slightly unsettling watching the seat-back flight map and realising we were flying directly over Russia for much of the journey – not something a UK airline could do given the current situation – but for a Chinese carrier, clearly business as usual.
After a four-hour wait in Xiamen, I boarded the final flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
I booked this route because it was cheap, but honestly, it’s been an effortless journey so far. I’d happily do it again.
I landed in Ho Chi Minh City at 10pm local time. The moment the aircraft door opened, that wall of warm, humid air hit – along with a familiar scent: slightly musty, a hint of fumes and something else that’s hard to name – but instantly and unmistakably Vietnamese! It triggered a flood of memories and a sudden awareness that I am now a very long way from Cumbria.
Vietnam is a country I know well. Back in 2001, fresh out of university, I landed a job with a big engineering construction firm building power stations. Not long into the role, they asked if I’d travel to Vietnam to help commission a new coal-fired plant in a small village called Pha Lại, around 60km north of Hanoi. I said yes without hesitation – and that experience, and this country, changed my life forever.
Twenty-five years later, almost everything in my life has changed – and Vietnam certainly has too – but that first waft of humid air felt reassuringly the same.
With no checked luggage (just a backpack with three T-shirts, one pair of shorts and some underwear – anything else I’ll buy here), I sailed through passport control. A taxi into the city cost $20 for a 40-minute ride. I almost definitely overpaid by just going with the first driver who grabbed me at arrivals – but I was shattered and just wanted to get to the hotel quickly. I enjoyed the chat with the taxi driver – who was surprised and very happy when I spoke some basic Vietnamese with him.
My hotel is about a mile from Tigit Motorcycles, where tomorrow I’ll collect my transport for the next two and a half weeks: a 110cc Honda – semi-automatic motorbike. That little machine will (hopefully!) carry me and my backpack all the way to Hanoi, around 2,000km north.
You might think that’s a long way for such a small bike, but I’m informed it’s perfect for the job – ultra-reliable, sips fuel, and goes just fast enough to stay safe.
I haven’t plotted the full route to Hanoi yet, just a loose plan with some key stops:
Cat Tien → Dak Lak → Phan Rang → Nha Trang → Quy Nhon → Ly Son → Da Nang → Hue → Phong Nha → Khe Sanh → Mai Chau → Hanoi
Google Maps will be doing most of the navigating and I might change the plan a little as I go.
I’ll leave Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow and need to return the bike in Hanoi on 2nd November. That gives me 16 days to cover around 2,000km – an average of about 125km per day.
The only thing I’m slightly nervous about is the weather. I asked ChatGPT for a forecast summary, and this was the reply:
“Your northbound motorbike journey along Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Road will span diverse climates: hot and humid in the south (ending rainy season), heavy rain and typhoon risks in the centre (peak wet season), and cooler, drier conditions in the north (start of dry autumn). This period isn’t ideal for motorbiking – October’s end brings southern showers that can flood roads, while November’s central deluges (up to 400 mm rain in Hue/Da Nang) often cause landslides, poor visibility and delays.”
So that’s reassuring!
I’d have liked more time in Ho Chi Minh City, but with the schedule tight, the plan tomorrow is to explore a little in the morning, collect the bike around midday, and then set off on the first leg to Cat Tien – around 180km, which should take 4–5 hours.
If you’ve read this – thanks for taking an interest – I’ll try to do a little summary at the end of each day.
#RememberingJoshua
End of Day 1.
Solo Ride - Vietnam 