Phew, that video took ages to put together, my single core netbook is really feeling the strain now 🙁 all it can do is cut and paste video together but it should do the trick. I’ve been trying to upload it for 4 days now and without much luck. I did have clips of BBC Top Gear in there to show I rode the same route but Youtube wasn’t allowing it and muted the audio 🙁 If you are reading this….it’s the fifth day and if finally worked.

Update: I’ve hosted the video with a different provider now and put an outro on the end. I’ll be going back to Youtube after this update

Anyway…..the last update was in Cambodia and after that the plan was to ride to the south of Vietnam, ride to the north, visit Ha Long Bay, and then ride into Laos and back to Bangkok to complete the loop ready to fly me and the bike over Burma to Nepal.

As you saw in the video the Vietnam government won’t let foreign bikes in without arranging the paperwork first so once I came round to the idea of another bike it was time to head across the border.

I bought this C90 for 6.2 million Dong (£190)

There’s something I really like about these two hills but I just can’t think what it is 😉

Vietnam was amazing to ride through, the mountain roads in the south and middle were breathtaking with endless hairpins and towering waterfalls.

Once I crossed the mountains I dropped down to the Coastal road.

Every ride in Vietnam looks this beautiful

 

During the rebuild of the 90 (see video) I met some more awesomely friendly people, got given free beer and crisps while I was rebuilding her and even got invited round for food afterwards.

 

In the south it was 32oC and the in the north it was about 10oC with constant rain. It was starting to drain on my spirits a bit. I had 3 days of solid riding through the rain, none of the hotels have heating either so there was no way to dry your clothes once they were wet. I eventually got one hotel to give me a hairdrier and it took an hour to dry my jeans 🙁 to dry my gloves I had to leave the bike ticking over with them resting on the exhaust.

Eventually I got to Ha Long Bay though and as you saw in the video, it wasn’t exactly visible but was still spectacular and in a way the mist added an air of mystery.

There were some spectacular caves though with ridiculous stalactites

 

And from there I got the train for me and the bike back down to Saigon. My ticket was about £40 and the bike’s was £17 for the 1000 mile journey. For that price I got an air conditioned soft sleeper bed. The journey took 31 hours I believe, but I spent most of the journey talking to the locals, showing them pictures and sharing their food 🙂

Once back in Saigon I collected the bike, loaded her up and headed off to the border with no real idea of what I’d do when I got there. When I got there I just sat on the bike an waved the registraton card around. It took about 5 minutes before I had a large crowd gathered. The offers started at 300,000 Dong (£10) and after 30 minutes I had secured a price of 2,700,000 Dong (£80) and the deal was done. Although I only got half what I paid for her it did mean that I got the ride the entire length of Vietnam without worrying about scratching a hire bike for £110. That’s cheap motoring.

From there I reassembled my 90 and was so happy to be reunited and heading off into the sunset

Spot the mistake in this picture

 

I think my C90 has a drink problem 😉 (this is how you buy your petrol in rural Cambodia by the way

 

These are the Angkor Wat Temples near Siem Reap in Cambodia. These are the temples where they filmed Tomb Raider.

All the holes in this room are where precious jewels were originally but have all been taken during Cambodias difficult past.

 

 

 

And from there I headed off towards Thailand again but I took a quick ride on this railway (see video) no my lens isn’t faulty….the tracks are that straight.

 

And so that concludes another update, thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope you’ve enjoyed them 🙂

I would like to thank the North Devon Journal for running an article on my journey which has helped get at least one more donation on my Devon Air Ambulance fund raising page www.justgiving.com/c90adventures I even made a news board (it’s not a moped and it’s 35,000km not miles but it’s the thought that counts 🙂

 

Thanks again

Ed and 90