BBC Top Gear Style: 8 Days Hard-core Motorbike
from Ho Chi Minh City to Halong Bay

Day 1: Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - Dalat (Lang Bian Plateau)

7.30 AM – After light breakfast in your hotel in Saigon, you will have a nice meet-up with our tour guide and your favorite motorbike which can be Vintage Vespa or Honda Cub 81 or 125cc Belarusian Minsks as three presenters of BBC Top Gear.

For safety as you ride a motorbike at a first time in South East Asia, our support vehicle will take you out of urban crazy traffic. At the outskirt area, our guide will help you get used to riding your motorbike in 20 minutes while our mechanics are at the ready in a support van carrying the luggage.

Around 8:30, it’s time for us to start our rock ‘n roll by jumping on the two-wheel vehicle and hit National Highway 1, passing a lot of factories, a lot of industry, and a lot of noisy traffic. After one hour, we reach Dau Giay T-junction and turn left to Highway 20 to Dalat Hightland City.

Now we climb upon rolling hills to the first plateau named Di Linh and the surrounding changes to mountainous & jungle scenery. The road become steeper and covered with dense vegetation. Once on Di Linh Plateau, we stop at Dambri Falls located in Bao Loc town for lunch and short break.

Afternoon, leave Bao Loc for Dalat located in Lang Bian Plateu, we pass many green tea farms, mushroom farms, silkworm villages, coffee plantation. We arrive at Dalat around 4.00pm and do a sight-seeing trip around this nice city for a whole view by visit central market, XQ embroidery shop, old train station and do a round of Ho Xuan Huong Lake. Then we continue heading northward 15km out of the city center to Langbian Mountain. Views are outstanding throughout with beautiful pine forested hills and picturesque small farms dotting the valleys you ride through.

Reach the Lat Minority Village we can enjoy a home-stay night in the beautiful huts nestled up against the base of the mountain in a very secluded valley. Here you can also choose to spend overnight in tents (optional) with camp fire and traditional music performed by hill tribe people. This evening, we will have a special dinner as local cuisine BBC presenters had experienced: dishes made from snake meat and strong drinks made of vodka mixed with snake's blood and bile. Overnight in Lat Village.

Note: The dinner can be cooked as you request in case you do not like to try dishes of snake meat.

Activities:

• 362 km motors riding (8.5 hours) at average speed (30km – 60km/hr)
• Culture Exchange at homestay

Day 2: Dalat – Nha Trang

Morning, 9:00 AM after simple breakfast at the hut and we say goodbye to the friendly minority hosts and star our day by a warm-up ride in  a  pine tree forest with breathtaking views of the  natural  landscape  and  deep jungle  forest  on  both  sides  of  the road. The fantastic ride runs along the border of Bi Dup Nui Ba National Park with beautiful views of farms, countryside and Nui Ba Mountain (2287 meters high).

Then we climb to the summit of the pass for a fly down the mountain on wheels with 28 km non-stopped down-hill section to reach the end of the pass. Finish this challenge by a picnic lunch here at a river side.

After lunch, we continue riding through small villages and farms with a stop to visit an ancient Cham Tower then arrive at Nha Trang around 2.30 PM.  Check in & relax at beautiful beach of Nha Trang. This evening, our tour guide will take you around the city and walk in a Night Market with another try of local dishes: grilled baby squids & Nha Trang fish cake noodle (Bún Ch? Cá Nha Trang). Overnight in Nha Trang.

Activities:

• 160 km motors riding (5.5 hours) at average speed (30km – 60km/hr)
• Free swimming at Nha Trang Beach.

Day 3: Nha Trang – Qui Nhon

After breakfast at the hotel, check out then we ride to Dai Lanh via Co Ma Town for beach breaks & photo capture. Then ride up to Ca pass then to Tuy Hoa for lunch. There are many good stops on the pass for you to view the landscapes and take pictures. On your right is the blue ocean, while imposing mountains are on your left. Then crossing Song Cau and heading to Qui Nhon city for overnight.

Activity: 250 km motors riding (6.5 hours) at average speed (30km – 60km/hr) 

Day 4: Qui Nhon - Quang Ngai - Hoi An

At 7:30am, breakfast at hotel, we leave Qui Nhon by a ride to to Chanh Giao, belongs to Binh Dinh Town. Here we take the rural & coastal road from Quy Nhon to Quang Ngai via Sa Huynh Beach which is also the centre of the Sa Huynh civilization dating from the first century AD. We will bike through hilly terrains, passing Sa Huynh Beach and reach My Lai massacre, 14 km far from Quang Ngai. Here we will stop and take a short guided tour of the site and museum before lunch. Then back on motorbike and take a countryside road to My Khe Beach. Continue along the coastline to Chau O. Here take the highway A1 to The Tam Ky Baby Orphanage and we have a brief pause here.

Then afternoon we continue our trip with a non-stop ride to Hoi An, one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century. Hoi An has a distinctive Chinese atmosphere with low, tiled-roof houses and narrow streets; the original structure of some of these streets is still virtually intact. Many of the houses were constructed of rare timbers and decorated with lacquer panels engraved with Chinese characters and pillars carved with ornamental designs. Stroll in ancient town and enjoy special Hoi An street food: Mì Qu?ng (yellow rice noodle soup with pork and shrimp), White Rose cake…

Overnight in Hoi An.

Activity: 340 km motors riding (8.5 hours) at average speed (30km - 60km/hr)

Day 5: Morning visit My Son Heritage – Afternoon ride from Hoi An to Hue via great Hai Van Mountain Pass

Breakfast at your hotel in Hoi An then get out of this tiny town by the highway before taking country back road along the Song Tranh River to My Son, the ancient centre of Cham civilization. After morning visit at My Son Sanctuary, we ride back to Hoi An for lunch then take the coastline, passing pretty fishing villages, sand dunes and green casuarinas forests to visit Marble Carving village and China Beach.

Then we have most unforgettable ride up the fantastic Pass of Clouds (Haivan pass). At the top of the pass, stop for sightseeing. This is one of the rarest sites where you can see vestiges of the most significant contemporary eras of the Vietnamese history, vestiges of a fortification built by the Nguyen dynasty, military bunkers left from the war with the French and bunkers from the Vietnam War. From this height, enjoy thrilling views of the surrounding sea and mountains. Reach Lang Co for photo-hunt then continue winding to Phuoc Tuong Hill and off the main highway and take a coastal side to Cau Hai lagoon before heading to Hue Royal City for hotel check-in. Ride around the city to explore local night lives & enjoy special Hue street food: bloating fern-shaped cake (Bánh Bèo), rice dumpling cake (Bánh b?t l?c), mussel rice (C?m H?n), sour shrimp paste (M?m tôm)…

Overnight in Hue.

Activity: 280 km motors riding (6.0 hours) at average speed (30km – 60km/hr)

Day 6: Royal Hue Discovery – Night train from Hue to Hanoi (SE4)

Morning, we start riding from hotel to visit Imperial Citadel then take a road along Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the oldest ancient architectural structures for religious worship in Hue. Ride back along river to visit colorful Dong Ba Market and do short shopping by your own here before lunch in a local restaurant.

Afternoon, back on motorbike and ride to Tu Duc royal tomb of Tu Duc King via Nam Giao Esplanade (an open-air monument for God worship ceremonies). Then walk to visit a local incense making shop before a short stop and hike up to Vong Canh Hill for panorama of Hue city.

Continue heading on the beautiful road to Bronze Casting Village to learn how the artisans cast a bell, which used for worship in almost Vietnamese pagodas. After here, we keep riding to visit Former Tiger Fighting Site, which was the fighting place between animals, especially elephants and tigers, for the glee of the royalty as well as to assert the unbeatable strength of battle elephants.

Turn back to hotel for a refresh bath then check out. This day we take local night train SE4 which departs at 17:00pm from Hue to Hanoi. Dinner by your own. Overnight on train with soft sleepers in sharing 4-berth cabin.

Activity: 30 km motors riding + visiting sites (total 05 hours)

Day 7: Arrival Hanoi capital City – Afternoon ride from Hanoi to Ha Long

The train SE4 arrives to Hanoi at 5.00am – very early morning, so we will check in a mini-hotel for day-use and take a nap until 9:00am we have to check out for late breakfast with Hanoi specific dish of steamed pork rice rolls (Bánh Cu?n). Then we ride a round of Ho Guom Lake to observe the daily lives of Vietnam Northern locals – a symbol of Hanoi. Next is a pause to visit Ho Chi Minh President’s Mausoleum & his former residence (closed on Monday, Friday and the whole month of Oct & Nov).

At noon we escape from bustling Hanoi and ride 160km on busy-traffic road with a lunch stop. We arrive at Ha Long city at 4:30pm. Leave our motorbikes on land to disembark from Halong Tourist Wharf onto our private wooden boat. This late afternoon & evening is our time for BBQ & enjoying the greatest relax time on board after a long route while our boat is slowly cruising around the legendary Ha Long Bay. Experience an overnight on board in Ha Long Bay.

Activity:

• 180 km motors riding + visiting the site (total 6.0 hours)
• Halong Cruising & Overnight on board. 

Day 8: Final Challenge: Find a floating school in Ha Long Bay - End the trip in Ha Noi.

Different from the challenge for BBC presenters:  finding the floating bar. This morning you will be given a map of Ha Long Bay with some clues from our tour guide to finish our more special final challenge: Finding a floating school in a floating village by kayaking or cruising a small boat after navigating the maze of 1,969 limestone islets in Ha Long Bay with helps of our tour guide & boat escort. 

When you find this school, we together give these poor students some new notebooks and some milk cans. We make you an unforgettable meaningful day!

At noon, we have a simple lunch in this floating village then our small boat will take you to visit the most beautiful caves in the Bay. Late afternoon, our main boat will bring you back to Halong Wharf and disembark and our support vehicle will drive you back to Ha Noi.

End the trip at your own hotel in Ha Noi.

Activity:

• 3.5 hours of sea-kayaking
• Halong Cruising