Explore Central Vietnam

Approx. 280km

We’ll start by heading down the coast past the Marble Mountains and along the beaches of Hoi An.

Leaving the coast, we can see the mountains ahead as we slowly climb through small villages and rice farming areas. The rice farming turns to acacia tree plantations and later to jungle as we head further up the hills.

In the dense jungle, we’ll find waterfalls before stopping for a local lunch in a remote hill tribe town.

The road from here is only a few years old and we often have it all to ourselves as we climb up to about 1800 meters.

From here there are amazing views of untouched jungle as we ride through small ethnic minority hill tribe villages.

We’ll come to Dak To with time to pose for a photo on the army tanks in the town square and finish the day with a ride along the runway at the old US airbase

A cold beer awaits us at the hotel!

Approx. 240km

We’ll head out through the small hill tribe villages taking the small roads and see the most rural areas.

Today’s ride is through one of central Vietnam’s most beautiful valleys. Few people know about this route as its been open to foreigners for just a few years.

With dense jungle, hill tribe villages and stepped rice paddy terraces, this area is like a small version of Sapa.

We’ll stop for lunch in the middle of the valley with some local tribespeople. Here we can see the rare types of ginseng being collected, dried and sent off to the richer Vietnamese areas.

Coming out of the valley, the road links up with the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Next, we’ll pass the impressive Ba Hoang waterfall, where the Cham Princess is said to have escaped the Vietnamese into Laos.

A short ride into the sleepy town of Thanh My brings us to our hotel, where we can get a cold beer.

Approx. 280km

We’ll ride north on the historic Ho Chi Minh Trail with sweeping bends through jungle-covered valleys and high mountains.

Next, we’ll have a local style lunch in the A Shau Valley near the notorious Hamburger Hill, and then follow the curves and mountain passes down towards the coast.

Still following the Ho Chi Minh Trail, we’ll pass by reservoirs and rivers and small stilt house villages of the local tribespeople. As we enter the former DMZ area we can follow the historic Route 9 further up the mountains and towards the Laos border gate where you can stop for a photo on an abandoned tank and then continue to Lao Bao.

You can visit the local market in Lao Baowhere all sorts of ‘questionable’ items are to be found making their way across the border.

A cold beer awaits us at the hotel!

Approx. 250km

We’ll start the day with a visit to the Khe Sanh combat base. The longest battle of all the wars in Vietnam took place here and we can see tanks, helicopters, and planes still sitting on the runway as well as a small museum. Next, the road joins the Ho Chi Minh Trail West. One of the best roads in Asia for bikers, this road should be on everyone’s bucket list.

We’ll ride through the coffee plantations and climb an 1100 meter mountain pass in untouched jungle. In the seemingly endless mountains and jungle, you can find small wooden stilt house villages where the tribes live a peaceful traditional style.

As we come to the start of the giant limestone Karst formation mountains we can stop for lunch in a small hill tribe town before more mountains, more views, and more amazing riding are to come.

Finally, we’ll enter Phong Nha National park, a UNESCO Heritage area of natural beauty, where the historic Victory Road leads us down to the river to finish at the hotel.

Approx. 200km

Heading down to the coastal city of Dong Hoi, we’ll pass the remains of the bombed out church.

From there, the coast road will lead us right along the beach crossing small streams and fishing villages Cutting through fields of black pepper and rows of rubber trees, we’ll make our way to Vinh Moc where we can see the incredible underground tunnel network at Vinh Moc village. The entire village lived underground for 8 years to escape the American bombing! A truly amazing place.

Lunch will be local style at Vinh Moc before we continue down the coast through small fishing villages and aqua-farming ponds.

After crossing the beautiful Tam Giang lagoon we’ll take the small back roads into Hue city where a cold beer awaits us at the hotel.

approx. 120km

We’ll start the day with a visit to the imperial citadel of Hue, a UNESCO world heritage site and home to the last emperors of Vietnam.

Heading out of the city, you’ll quickly find yourself back in endless rice paddies riding small roads through the countryside where we can see the massive square fishing nets spread across the giant Tam Giang lagoon system.

Then we’ll visit the City of Ghosts, Vietnam’s most luxurious cemetery before having lunch on the beach. Next is a real treat: a short ride down the beautiful Lang Co bay that brings us to the incredible Hai Van Pass where 21 km of sweeping bends over 500m of jungle-covered mountain gives us the most amazing coastal views in central Vietnam.

Finally, it’s back to base for a cold beer!