VIETLONG TURN IT ON

WE ASKED Mr Dong (aka Mr Money Bags) to take our readers to places the other tours don’t reach. From what you’ll read over the next two issues, our Vietnam reader’s tour certainly met that requirement. Stuart unfortunately couldn’t make the tour which was a bit of a shame, but the guys had an awesome time with Mr Dong and his crew from Vietlong Travel. Anthony Morrison has kindly written his thoughts from the tour which we’ve had to cut quite a bit as he would have near filled the entire magazine! Thank you, mate. SW

VIETNAM HAS ALWAYS interested me and I have wanted to visit places I have seen on the news during the Vietnam War. Da Nang, Saigon… mind you, we will not be going to these places. And who can forget the Top Gear special when the boys rode from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Hanoi! I also had a subscription to Australian MOTORCYCLIST magazine and they mentioned that the next magazine tour would be Vietnam. After finding all the places on Google Earth I decided I would like to go, and it was relatively cheap.

I bought airline tickets from Thai Airways and they were well priced, so all I needed was to obtain some US dollars, pack and go.

SATURDAY - MELBOURNE TO HANOI

After a smooth flight I looked for my driver (arranged by Vietlong) and we headed into Hanoi, a 45 minute drive. We pushed and shoved and tooted our way to the Silk Queen Hotel in the old section of Hanoi.

After settling in and having a shower I met Cliff who is from Carnarvon and works in the mines at Paraburdoo. He is a big fellow who normally rides a Harley Fat Bob but also has a Kawasaki KLR650 for fun, and when