Vietnam Cycling Tours

Impression about Vietnam on a cycling tour.

admin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 05:04:07 +0000

On a cycling trip across north Vietnam, Kevin Rushby finds that….

By Kevin Rushby

We were on a cycling trip that would encompass homestays and national parks, taking us from the Mai Chau valley some 100 miles south-west of Hanoi and close to the Laotian border, south-east towards the coast and the city of Ninh Binh. If you imagine the shape of Vietnam as rather like a giant upright prawn, we were going to do a neat cross-section just at the base of the head. No day would involve much more than 20 miles – about the limit for our nine-year-old – and there was always a support vehicle to pick up stragglers. The route would, we hoped, give us a complete range of Vietnamese experiences, from tribal homestays and untouched jungle hills to fast-developing towns.

Mai Chau was definitely at the less developed end of the Vietnamese spectrum. All around us the rice fields were being harvested by ladies in conical straw hats. Others were wafting nets to catch crickets or filling baskets with bundles of water hyacinth. In places, songbirds in bamboo cages had been hung in the shade of trees to ward off wild, food-stealing birds. The valley floor was almost completely devoted to rice, and generations of careful landscaping have left it almost flat. At the sides, perhaps a kilometre apart, the tangled secondary forest rose sharply to serrated peaks. There, at the junction of the horizontal and vertical worlds, people had built their houses on stilts. Curls of smoke rose from among them, where rice husks were being burned.

Biking Mai Chau, Vietnam

We rattled across a rusty suspension bridge and through a village. Every house seemed to lie at the centre of a perfect storm of picturesque food production. There were fish ponds and ducks. There were neat vegetable gardens filled with beans and cabbages. There were orchards of longans, rambutans and persimmon. Even the scrubbier patches were stocked with areca palms, which provide betel nut as well as support for prickly dragonfruit stems. Under the houses were recently harvested crops – rice, peanuts, taro roots and bamboo – plus all the paraphernalia of further operations: fish traps, coops and cages. What was significantly absent was any plastic litter or mess.

A few miles on, we left the bicycles in a hut and walked uphill to a tiny hamlet of wooden houses on stilts. Climbing the steps to one of them, we entered a traditional house of the White Thai tribe, a people who had come from Thailand several centuries ago and whose way of life seems largely unchanged. The floor was bamboo slats, worn to a glossy smoothness by years of bare feet. There was little in the way of furniture, just a huge low bed, a couple of benches and an altar for the ancestors. On the ceiling was a hand-painted tribute to Ho Chi Minh and in every window hung a chirruping bird cage. We had stayed in a similar house the previous night – the whole valley has embraced the homestay idea, giving the farmers a valuable side income. Success, however, has made some homestays more like guesthouses.

Homestay Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam

This one was certainly authentic. Green tea was brought and served in small bowls, then a toast of rice wine.

Lunch came on a large tray: bowls of noodles cooked with carp from the pond, tofu, slivers of bamboo and other strange leaves and roots. It was a magnificent feast in a country whose cuisine is one of the high points of human culture.

On our third day, after some gorgeous mountain scenery, we had reached Vietnam’s largest and oldest nature reserve: Cuc Phuong national park, a 50,000-acre area of forest slung over a stunning landscape of jagged mountains. It is home to 97 species of mammal and more than 300 species of bird, but after a six-mile trek and a 20-mile bike ride, we had spotted precisely one stick insect and heard exactly one gun shot.

Cage after cage of small furry creatures represent the last few examples of species endemic to Vietnam, most of them langurs, a long-tailed leaf-eating monkey. This is a country where tigers and elephants have been more or less wiped out and superstitious crazes for rare animal meats have sent dozens of species spiralling towards extinction, including five of the 11 species of langur.

Cuc Phuong Jungle, Vietnam

Next day we rode into a landscape that is becoming more common in Asia: a strange melange of the traditional and natural with the newly industrialised, newly touristified. There would be achingly beautiful wetlands dotted with water buffalo and backed by jagged peaks, then a cement factory. There were sleepy, algae-encrusted Catholic churches and ancient temple gateways, then new concrete pagodas with huge coach parks. We passed fishermen in traditional hats setting bamboo fish traps and fishermen using truck batteries and electrodes. All around, limestone outcrops rose in jagged profusion, like pods of humpback whales.

The first boat in our group had entered the cave for the return trip when the woman paddling the second boat called out. There, on the top of the crags, silhouetted against the late sun, was a family group of langurs. More arrived, moving with total grace and vitality in their mountain fastness. There was, I estimated, around half the world’s remaining population on display. For several minutes we all watched them leaping around, and it felt good to be with local people who were as pleased as us. Our cross-section of modern Vietnam had, I felt, ended on a suitable high note.

Eventually we left the langurs and passed back through the cave, in time to see the magical sight of thousands of egrets flying over to their roost. We sat by our bikes and watched them settle as the light faded.

Way to go

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA can provide the trip for you which include bike, hike and kayak tour of northern Vietnam, which combines Hanoi, Mai Chau, Cuc Phuong national park, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay.

The highlight

- Awesome scenery

- Tam Coc – the “Halong Bay on the rice fields”

- Homestay in Thai village

- Jungle trails

Further information

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA offers a wide selection of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar adventure tours, including hiking and trekking, biking, motorcycling, overland touring and family travel ackages. The packages and tailor-made private itineraries will take you through exotic destinations to really experience the culture, history and nature of Asia.

Add: Floor 12th, Building 45 Nguyen Son St., Long Bien Dist.Hanoi, Vietnam

Hotline: +84 97 98 00 588

Tel: +84 4 3573 8569

Fax: +84 4 3573 8570

Email address: info@activetravel.asia

Top Biking Adventures in Vietnam

admin — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:07:42 +0000

As a country with every terrain imaginable, Vietnam offers a memorable bicycling adventure for any and all peddlers, regardless of experience or condition. The flat expanse of the Mekong Delta grows to rugged mountains in the central expanse and then blends into the widest variety of difficulty north near Hanoi.

Traffic and Bicycle Laws

Along with standard laws like not causing traffic problems by racing or zigzagging, Vietnam has few laws targeted specifically toward the bicyclist. It is important to remember not to carry cumbersome loads, carry children over age seven with you or ride more than two abreast. No sort of helmet or lighting is required, but bicyclists are not allowed to ride with open umbrellas. One can only guess what happened to make this law.

Common Trips

For those interested in adventure and active trips, there are some routes that will take you through and explore the backcountry while providing some modicum of modern amenities. ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA_one of the travel companies offering cycling tours in Indochina_ is received good reviews of adventure travelers.

Biking Mekong Delta

The easiest of these is around the Mekong Delta. With a terrain nearly devoid of any rise, these trips are easier, but by no means less scenic, than the others. Traveling through the expanse of rice paddies dotted with the occasional copse of trees, the rider will be joined by children cycling to or from school or women returning from the market. People in the villages will be pleasantly surprised to see a foreigner riding into town and a circuit from Ho Chi Minh to any of the surrounding villages is an easy ride. With the flat terrain and abundance of villages it is easy to take a trip of any length, whether only a day or two weeks, a rider can tour without backtracking.

Biking Mai chau, Hoa Binh province

The northern area allows for more wooded scenery while still allowing for easier trips. For the more adventurous, the northern area provides a greater degree of difficulty through the hills surrounding Hanoi. This trip offers a great opportunity to see the two area of outstanding nature beauty; the North West highlands of Mai Chau and the limestone mountains of Ninh Binh. Biking is a great way to see this fascinating and visually stunning part of Vietnam, offering both physical activity and the unique opportunity to observe a way of life that has changed little over the centuries. As we ride in Mai Chau we encounter Muong and White Thai minorities and are guests in their traditional stilt houses allowing us to see firsthand how these minority peoples live. In Ninh Binh we explore the beauty of “Halong Bay on the rice fields” on bikes.

Biking Ho Chi Minh trail

A new trip for the adventurous would be along the historical Ho Chi Minh trail. The so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail is one of the most renowned legends of the American War. The complicated road system winds along the Truong Son Range, which that facilitated movement of soldiers and war supplies from North Vietnam to battlefields in South Vietnam. Now the historic trail is being turned into a highway and hotels and towns are springing up speedily beside it. The route is incredibly beautiful with new mountain views around every corner, very little traffic, and virtually no tourists.

Weather

Weather in Southeast Asia is a big consideration and it is recommended to go from Late September to December or March to late May. The weather in the southern area of Vietnam stays warm and humid averaging 26°C with its rainy season from June to September.

BE WARNED: Vietnam sees monsoonal rains starting in June, peaking in August and tapering down in September. This season varies depending on location; Hanoi in the north generally has a rainy season that peaks earlier while Ho Chi Minh City may not see its rains slack until early October. Vietnam, especially central Vietnam, often floods and can hold up a trip for a week before the waters recede.

The hot season will see temperatures averaging 30°C, with the south staying warm all year round and the north seeing winter trends averaging 15°C. Depending on the time of year, it would be advisable to take a jacket to keep off the chill, especially if riding in the highlands, and a hat to protect against the sun.

Other Considerations

Visas must be applied for at least six months prior to entry date. Tourist visas are granted for one month, but may be extended after arrival in Vietnam, and only allow one entry into the country. Tourists must fill out arrival/departure papers and declaration papers, keeping both with the passport at all times. It is also recommended having a few extra passport-size photos with you as local authorities may request these and it is always a good idea to stay on the good side of authorities.

With over two-thirds of its roads unpaved and those paved roads sporting an abundance of potholes, the road conditions almost require a mountain bike.

The lush landscapes and warm hospitality provide anyone with a good biking tour of Vietnam. Take the time to look around and smell the proverbial “roses”.

Mai Chau among top ten fresh destinations

admin — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:27:46 +0000

Mai Chau, a small town in the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh, Vietnam was named one of the top ten “fresh” Asian destinations.

: Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam

Mai Chau was described as “a semi-isolated village in Vietnam…surrounded by limestone cliffs and green rice paddies, populated largely by members of the ethnic White Thai tribe…”

These destinations all had high growth rates and attracted many foreign travellers as well as increasing amounts of vacationing locals.

Mai Chau was described as “a semi-isolated village in Vietnam…surrounded by limestone cliffs and green rice paddies, populated largely by members of the ethnic White Thai tribe…Vibrant, verdant green rice paddies surround the town on all sides, and dramatic hills rise up on either side of the valley. The town itself isn’t particularly stunning, but it’s when one gets out into the countryside or head up into the hills that the breathtaking views get better around every corner. There are also several interesting markets to check out, as well as some nearby caves.”

With many foreign tourists, Mai Chau is the interesting ideal for trekking trips or cycling options to discover the natural beauty of the region and exotic culture of minority groups.

Recommend Biking tour or Trekking tour in Mai Chau by ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA

Trekking Mai Chau

: ATA Trekking Mai Chau

This trip offers a great combination of cultural expedition and trekking. We trek for three days through the spectacular scenery, visit remote and stay overnight in local homes where we have the chance to get to know these hospitable villages. From the mountainous region of Mai Chau, we travel back to the nation’s capital, Hanoi.

Highlights

Awesome scenery
Homestays in villages of ethnic minorities
Beautiful trails

Biking Hidden Paths of Mai Chau & Ninh Binh

ATA Biking Mai Chau

This trip offers a great opportunity to see the two area of outstanding nature beauty; the North West highlands of Mai Chau and the limestone mountains of Ninh Binh. Biking is a great way to see this fascinating and visually stunning part of Vietnam, offering both physical activity and the unique opportunity to observe a way of life that has changed little over the centuries. As we ride in Mai Chau we encounter Muong and White Thai minorities and are guests in their traditional stilt houses allowing us to see firsthand how these minority peoples live. In Ninh Binh we explore the beauty of “Halong Bay on the rice fields” on bikes.

Highlights

Awesome scenery
Tam Coc – the “Halong Bay on the rice fields”
Homestay in Thai village
Traditional foot massage

Discovering Pu Luong Natural Reserve

admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:37:52 +0000

The houses-on-stilts nestled between the mountains, the yellow terraced fields and green primitive forests., white cloud around…making a natural and wild picture dream. That is scenery you may see when arriving Nature Reserve (NR) Pu Luong.

Located in the two districts of Quan Hoa and Ba Thuoc in the northwestern area of Thanh Hoa Province, Pu Luong Natural Reserve has preserved a primitive landscape and plentiful and diversified flora and fauna. With the above natural values, it has now become a fascinating destination for those who love to discover the beauty of nature.

Pu Luong Natural Reserve

Pu Luong Natural Reserve, covering an area of 17,662ha, is the largest low area of limestone mountain forests left in the north of Vietnam with three major forest types: thick forests on low land and low mountains; forests on limestone mountains and floristic compositions of bamboos, Neohouzeaua and bushes.

According to the statistics of Pu Luong Nature Reserve’s Management Board, the reserve has 1,109 species of vascular plants, under 447 branches and 152 families. There are 42 special-use varieties of plants of Vietnam and four species listed in the World’s Red Book. Furthermore, it is the place where there is the second largest population of Vooc mong trang (Trachypithecus delacouri) in Vietnam with 31-38 individuals, after Van Long Nature Reserve in Ninh Binh Province.

In Pu luong, tourists have different choices for their tours, such as discovering the beauty of the natural landscape, ecological forests with plentiful fauna and flora or learning the simple and interesting customs and habits of the Thai and Muong people.

Ahamlet of the Thai people with wonderful terraced fields

Day life in Pu Luong

During their trip, tourists can see immense terraced fields and learn the traditional farming methods of the ethnic people or discover mysterious caves in Hang and Kho Muong Hamlets. One of the destinations that tourists should not miss is Hieu Hamlet. Following a path, not far from Pho Doan Town, tourists can see many water wheels, a typical tool of the Thai people. After crossing over a suspension bridge and climbing a slope, tourists finally arrive in the place where two waterfalls rush noisily. From afar, tourists can hear the rumbling sound of these waterfalls. Here, small branches of a stream run around the hamlet, through houses-on-stilts at the foot of staircases, to paddy fields and then merge into two grandiose waterfalls.

Ahamlet of the Thai people with wonderful terraced fields

After a day discovering Pu Luong, tourists can stay in airy and spacious houses-on-stilts of the local ethnic people. It is a form of eco-community tours that has strongly developed in the locality. The tours are held by the local people based on nature and culture with the aim of improving the living standards and protecting the environment. Sitting near the fire, both the host and the tourists can enjoy delicious dishes, such as Com lam (sticky rice cooked on bamboo tubes) and a salad of banana inflorescence. They can drink Can wine and enjoy traditional dances and songs of the ethnic people.

Arriving in Pu Luong Nature Reserve where there are immense green forests and green terraced fields, tourists seem to be lost in a valley, completely separated from the outside world, with many mysteries expecting to be discovered.

Trekking Pu Luong

With many foreign tourists, Pu Luong Nature Reserve is the interesting ideal for trekking trips or cycling options. Biking in Pu Luong is one of the best ways to discover the natural beauty of the region and exotic culture of minority groups.

Source : Vietnamtourism

Recommend Biking tour or Trekking tour in Pu Luong Nature Reserve by ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA

Biking Pu Luong Nature Reserve: On biking tour we will ride on the first part of the historic Ho Chi Minh Trail and spend 3 nights in villages of Thai people.

Highlights

Biking on the first part of Ho Chi Minh Trail
Homestay in villages of Thai people
Stunning scenery
Traditional foot massage

Trekking in Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Highlights

Unspoiled Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Friendly ethnic minorities
Homestay in villages
Beautiful trails
All meals included

Lucky Adventure Travel Indochina – Summer Promotion 2013

admin — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:18:33 +0000

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA has launched “Great summer holiday with lucky travels” for summer promotion 2013 in Vietnam, Lao, Cambodia. The program applies for all customers request tour on website from 25 March to 30 September 2013. Variety gifts such as discount up to 15% on tour request, free city tour, free one night at a luxury cruise or at hotel, free meal at elegance restaurant and others are in listing lucky gift.

ATA’s SUMMER PROMOTION 2013

Escape to learn from difference. Instead of staying at home, let’s trek through the jungle closer with wildlife, actively ride on bike or motor along the legendary trail to hotspots, the remote place in Vietnam, Lao , Cambodia to live like local people, enjoy the amazing food, learn new language, experience in rich culture, gain the historic knowledge. Leave everything behind to see the life in the different way. Why not?

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to assist all customers to travel in period between 01 May 2013 and 30 September 2013. Just have fun and get luck by request tour on website – get ticket number. Customers chance to receive summer promotion 2013. Each Monday ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA will announce lucky people via website, social network channel.

Customers have right to get the summer promotion 2013, following the Terms & Conditions:

The offer applies for all customers send the request and book tour with ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA from March 25th to September 30th, 2013 for travel period between 01 May 2013 and 30 September 2013.
The offer applies for all request of package tour (from 2 days more), cannot be applied to airfares, travel insurance, extra accommodation…
The promotion is only valid for request & booking tour in Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia.
The request applies for booking which is not too different from the original request in terms of location, activities, duration.
The prizes are not transferable and cashable.
End of promotion time, the prizes will be no longer available.

For more details: http://www.activetravel.asia/special_offer/2013_summer_promotions.html

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA (ATA) offers a wide selection of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia adventure tours, including hiking and trekking, biking, motorcycling, kayaking, overland touring and family travel packages. For more information, please contact ATA for tailoring your very own tour via:

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA (ATA)

Telephone: +844 3573 8569

Fax: +844 3573 8570

Email: info@activetravel.asia

Website: www.activetravel.asia

The Ho Chi Minh Trail – A Potted History from a Cyclist

admin — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:56:14 +0000

I had five days on bike into south tropical Vietnam following the famed Ho Chi Minh Trail, the supply route that leads thought forbidding jungle celebrated in a thousand Hollywood movies as an inhospitable place alive with all manner of ferocious mammals insects and reptiles all hell bent of inflicting a myriad of horrible experiences upon any wretched soul who has the misfortune to pass this way.

Biking Hochiminh Trail

As I learn more about the history of the Ho Chi Minh Trail begins to take shape with a far sharper outline than my previous blurred knowledge of what led to the American War and the necessity of the trail.

From my lessons so far I understand that by 1954 politics were, to say the least, unstable. Ho Chi Minh’s Communist Party was officially in power having given the French a decisive drubbing at Dien Bien Phu and unceremoniously booted them out. Uncle Ho, as he was affectionately referred to, swept to power in the first national election in a jolly long time. Ho’s communists were less than sympathetic to the nations catholic who they saw as friends of the French and American’s, people for whom the Communist Party felt no allegiance and very little sympathy.

The Communist Party had their capital and the parliament that presided over the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the northern city of Hanoi, whilst in the far south Saigon was the seat of parliament of the Catholic Party, rulers of the Republic of Vietnam, friends of the West, allies of The United States, sympathisers with the French and so, thoroughly dislikes by the communists. At this time Saigon was the most sophisticated city in South East Asia, a city of fine architecture, wide leafy boulevards and a level of development that left Bangkok, Kuala lumpur and Singapore looking like provincial backwaters. The nation was, in all respects, two nations with the country split conveniently across the middle by a UN imposed border 14 kilometers wide with the Ben Hai River running through the middle of it. The border was, apparently, a demilitarised zone, known as The DMZ and was a barrier designed to stop any cross border conflict, a fine and noble idea except that, then as now, nobody took a blind bit of notice of the United Nations.

The small town of Truong Son

Whilst the folks of Saigon were enjoying the good life, far away in the north the government in Hanoi was becoming a touch agitated with what they saw as the splitting of their nation, a situation they intended to rectify. All was not quite as rosy as it could be in the south either, with a fair faction of the population eager to follow the bidding of Uncle Ho in the guise of The National Liberation Front. This organisation, better known in the Western world as the Vietcong, had been formed to help rid the South of Catholics, imperialists and all other enemies of communism that helped keep Saigon in such a fine condition. These freedom-fighters/guerrillas/resistance fighters/terrorists -delete as you see applicable – needed supplying, as did the ever growing number of Communist troops congregating south of the DMZ.

The logistical problem of supplying the Communist forces in the far south would to most people have seemed insurmountable. The DMZ was around 700KMS south of Hanoi, Saigon a further 1100KMS. Sea was the easiest option for supply but as we all know the advisory capacity of The Americans in this civil war soon became a fully fledged military intervention, and their navy was not inconsiderable. But the jungle was to the Americans what the US navy was to the army of the north, and so it became the ally of the Communist forces in the shape of the route we now follow, Ho Chi Minh Trail.

View from above Truong Son moutain

Originally a series of trails dating back centuries as trade routes through one of SE Asia’s most inhospitable regions a network or trails crisscrossed through jungle, across mountains and through Valleys. The route soon became essential to the military operation of the Communists and by 1964 it was estimated that over 200 tons per day and up to 9000 men per year were reaching the south along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The route, or series of routes, led not only through Vietnam but also through Lao. It was tough, inhospitable and many who set out along it never reached their destinations.
In the year 2000 the then prime minister gave the go ahead to link up the most suitable of these small roads and trails to form an inland alternative to the oh so congested Highway 1. By 2005 it was pretty much complete. In places it splits, with two or more alternative routes. At times we come across smaller roads that parallel the HCM, or cut between the east and west options. Some of these alternatives we explore as we go.

Source: David’s blog

Recommended Vietnam cycling tour by ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA

The so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail is one of the most renowned legends of the American War. The complicated road system winds along the Truong Son Range, which that facilitated movement of soldiers and war supplies from North Vietnam to battlefields in South Vietnam. Now the historic trail is being turned into a highway and hotels and towns are springing up speedily beside it. The route is incredibly beautiful with new mountain views around every corner, very little traffic, and virtually no tourists.

Highlights

Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Phong Nha Cave
Vinh Moc tunnel & DMZ
Hoian

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA recommends for customers when riding in Vietnam

admin — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:51:00 +0000

Vietnam is a frontier destination and a motorbike ride on a motorcycle through its rugged mountains is an unparalleled adventure. Be amongst the first to explore a land steeped in natural beauty and rich cultural heritage and experience face-to-the-wind just what this wonderful country has to offer.

Motobiking Vietnam

Riding in Vietnam is not for the feint of heart. It has the second highest rate of traffic fatalities in the world and is the second most dangerous place on earth for motorcyclists, just after India. There are approximately 40 traffic fatalities per day in the country. The way people ride in Vietnam is very different from yours : no rules! To ensure an authentic taste, make sure to ignore any Traffic Rules you know. This should help to achieve a fine balance between two-wheeled fun, fine roads, beautiful landscapes and complete and utter chaos.

1. Do and dont

These following rules are practical and informal:

Do:

- The traffic looks very crazy at first, but it’s not that bad. It’s like a river and when you are in it you have to flow. First rule is no rules.

- Larger vehicles have right of way. Avoid anything bigger than you and slow down.

- Use signal and the most important thing is the horn. People don’t care about the noise of horns.

- Use both brakes at the same time with more back brake as if you apply more front brake it slips

- Our guides were born and grow up in Vietnam, so they understand Vietnamese traffic. Follow the guide, ride behind him for safety.

Do not:

- Speed limit in Vietnam is very low (25-80km/h). Don’t break the speed limit.

- Don’t ride on one wheel (free wheelie).

- Animals are everywhere in the country or mountain roads. Dogs and chickens are the most then come water buffaloes, cows, pigs and horses…If you kill a dog or a chicken don’t stop, cry and feel sorry, it’s not your fault. Slow down and don’t hit water buffaloes, cows, pigs and horses, simply they are too big!

- Do not drink and drive.

Important:

- Be careful with spilt oil from trucks and buses at curves on the mountain roads, extremely slippery and we have had at least four small accidents related to this matter.

- Your guide leads the group and he gives you hand/body language if there are big pot holes, trucks, blind curves or any danger. He can see you in the mirrors and if you want to stop use the signal or simply pull off but be careful with riders behind you. If you got lost, just stop and wait for someone to find you or call us.

- If the police stop you (this rarely happens), your guide will not come back. He will wait for you, out of sight up the road. Just keep talking English or whatever you want and they’ll soon give up and let you go in less than five minutes.

- If a bike is technically broken, we will replace with the same type of bike or the next available model.

2. What to bring:

You don’t need to bring everything with you on the trip, pack essential things in a small bag (medium size, max 10kg) and put it on the back of the bike.

Here are items we suggest for motorcycle touring:

- Clothing: rain gloves, Wellington boots (rubber boots for rainy season from April to September), summer gloves, balaclava, T-shirts, socks & underwear, long sleeved shirts, turtleneck shirts, extra jeans, a light jacket, leather chaps, zip-lock bags, riding boots, bandannas, sunglasses, goggles, and contact lens solution.

- Personal items: basic toiletries, emergency cash, sunscreen and earplugs.

- Emergency items: a first aid kit, emergency contact number, list medical conditions, list medications, a flashlight, chargers and a duct tape.

- Miscellaneous: a small towel, a bath towel, trash bags, camera and cargo net…and probably some gifts for children.

3. Group Size

Motobiking Vietnam

Motobike Vietnam

The maximum group size for rides in the north is from 5 to 8 people per group (limited to 6 motorcycles), riders or pillion passengers. This will enhance your experience and ensure a high degree of personal attention. Rides down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, however, can accommodate much larger groups because we use a support vehicle at your request (extra fees applied). Small groups enable us to trek into remote areas with minimal intrusion to the local cultures. Riding in a large convoy with all the inherent complications and delays is just not our way.

The best group size is from three to four riders, not too many and not too little. More people means more fun but too big a group means less information the guide can provide as he needs to take care of your safety. Our largest group ever was 12 riders but we divided into two groups and two guides came on the trip.

Recommended Vietnam motorcycling tours by ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA

- Motorcycling Northwestern Trails

Discover Vietnam’s rugged and scenic northwest and its people first hand. By taking to the roads and riding from the capital Hanoito the remote area of the northwest we can see life as it truly is for the Vietnamese. The perfect itinerary and the support crew ensure you get the most out of the trip in terms of comfort, enjoyment and adventure. Along the way we encounter dramatic landscapes and sweeping panoramas as the rural population goes about its business. Highlights include the terraced valleys ofSapa, challenging roads, stunning scenery and many different colorful minority groups.

Highlights

Stunning scenery

Challenging roads

Stunning Pha Din Pass and Tram Ton Pass

Terraced valley of Sapa

Colorful ethnic minorities

Details program are available here

- Taste of Ho Chi Minh Trail

This trip offers a stunning motorcycling route with great exploration of nature and culture of northern Vietnam. The trip is organized for first time rider and easy adventure.

Highlight

Awesome scenery

Homestay in villages

Beautiful quiet road

All inclusive

Details program are available here

Vietnam in top 10 cycle routes recommended by National Geographic

admin — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:47:07 +0000

The road from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam is recently listed as one of the best cycle routes in the world by the National Geographic.

The prestigious National Geographic travel guide, Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Greatest Trips, cataloguing the most famous and lesser known trips of a lifetime picked the World’s Top 10 bike trails on the planet, chosen for their beauty, length and excitement.

According to this list, Vietnam ranked fifth in the list, follow by Canada, Chile and Australia. It is described as suitable for who want to mix the bikes and beaches. Traveler will be passing through the 746 mile- (1,200 kilometer) route, between the country’s two biggest cities, taking along vast stretches of sandy coastline; it’s no picnic, as road surfaces vary considerably and there are many natural obstacles like the Hai Van Pass, the historical division point between North and South Vietnam.

Recommended cycling tour by Active Travel Asia

With 8 Years of local travel Expert’s experience, Active Travel Asia (ATA) has a
deserved reputation for innovation, for quality of service and for providing once-in-a-lifetime active holidays including hiking and trekking, biking, motorcycling, kayaking, overland tours and family travel packages in Indochina. ATA’s accumulated expertise allows travelers to maximize traveler’s precious holiday time and to experience the very best of traveler’s chosen destination. The tour packages and custom itineraries will take travelers through exotic destinations to really experience the culture, history and nature of Asia.

ATA would like to suggest the most impressive cycling tour for travelers who want to explore Vietnam by bicycle. The Biking Ho Chi Minh trail tour brings travelers a great chance to learn about the Vietnamese modern history and see it beautiful nature.

On the way, traveler will have chance to explore Pu Luong nature reserve, or amazing caves atPhong Nha Nation Park. The trip concludes in Hoian, a charming ancient town in centre Vietnam.

When to travel: The custom trip is offered weekly year-round. But the best time to travel is from Sep to May. This trip is private and travelers can start any time they want.

Price: Starting at $1,425 per person for the group of seven. It includes AC bus for the whole trip, bike truck for the biking section, mountain bikes with helmet and biking gloved, boats in Phong Nha & Hue, hotels based on twin shared, mechanic for the biking section, English speaking guide for the whole trip, meals as indicated in the itinerary, water and snacks every day, sightseeing fees and entrance fees.

More information at http://www.activetravelvietnam.com/tour.php?op=detail&tourId=65

Supported by Active Travel Asia – Explore the hidden land!

Hanoi Office:

Add: Floor 12 Building 45 Nguyen Son Street, Long Bien district, Hanoi, Vietnam

Tel: +844 3573 8569

Fax: +844 3573 8570

Email: info@activetravel.asia

Website: http://www.activetravel.asia/

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA launches New Year Promotion 2012

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:11:55 +0000

Human Christmas and New Year approaching, ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA (ATA) sends to all travelers of the faithful, heartfelt words to wish a peaceful Christmas and New Year exuberant grace of God. With the approaching of Christmas and New Year 2012, ATA is providing discount up to 7 % for all loyalty customers to buy ATA’s tours during the period from Feb, 1 2012 to Apr, 1 2012.

ATA runs the most adventure tours available in Indochina and Asia. ATA’s active trips are designed for all levels of outdoor enthusiasts, real people seeking real fun and adventure. Of course, a reasonable level of personal fitness, good health, and interest in outdoor activities is advisable, but the customers don’t need to be a tri-athlete or be an expert in any of the activities you will undertake.
There are variety kinds of adventure tours ATA’s customers can choose from: motorbiking, trekking, hiking, biking, kayaking…
About ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA:
ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA is one of the Indochina’s leading adventure travel companies. ATA offers a wide selection of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia adventure tours, including hiking and trekking, biking, motorcycling, overland touring and family travel packages. ATA’s packages and tailor-made private itineraries will take you through exotic destinations to really experience the culture, history and nature of Asia. Visit more, go to www.activetravel.asia.

Vietnam: ethnic tourism among the valleys with no name

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:32:17 +0000

A typhoon had blown in during the day. White rain clouds lay like a boiling sea in the valleys, creating the illusion that the twisting mountain pass was an ocean road. As our vehicle turned a blind corner we came across a gaggle of motorcyclists, caped against the rain and gawping over the edge.

A Red Dao mother and child

A lorry had gone over while overtaking another lorry, trusting to a hard shoulder that had gone soft in the rain. Through the clouds we saw that the plummeting vehicle had ploughed a vertical groove of red earth in the sheer mountainside. Its roof was visible, a couple of hundred feet below.

Incredibly, the driver had just been hauled up alive and whisked off to hospital. As the men continued to stare, a woman in a beautiful and strange costume strode away from the scene as if in disgust. She was the reason we had come to this remote, mountainous region in the north of Vietnam, just 50 miles from the Chinese border.

Her distinctive look – black tunic and trousers embroidered with red-and-white patterned panels, red scarf and headdress – marked her out as a member of the Dao ethnic minority, one of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. The Viets are the biggest group, accounting for 86 per cent of the population and dominating mainstream culture. To varying extents, the remaining minorities lead marginalized lives, both culturally and geographically.

Most live in rural areas, growing rice, practicing slash-and-burn farming, keeping animals, making handicrafts, worshipping their ancestors and believing in spirits. Many still wear their distinctive, traditional dress – or at least the women do; men tend to go for the easy option and wear Western clothes these days – and this is part of what makes them especially intriguing and attractive to foreigners. Market days, when different groups come together in a throng of color and noise, are thrilling spectacles.

In recent years, tourism has cottoned on to this, and some minority communities have benefited by offering homestays and selling their beautiful textiles. This “ethnic tourism” is at its busiest in the old French hill station of Sapa, 150 miles north-west of Hanoi, where each year hundreds of thousands of trekkers and photographers pitch up via train and bus from the capital.

Hearing stories of commercialization and exploitation in Sapa, my partner and I had decided to hire a car, driver and guide and head instead to less-visited minority areas, culminating in the province of Ha Giang to the north-east of Sapa. Abutting the border with China, this province was the scene of heavy fighting with the Chinese in the Eighties; though it is now completely safe, tourism there remains undeveloped.

Hmong women in Sapa

Our goal, a cluster of ridges and valleys said to harbor the largest diversity of ethnic populations in Vietnam, is so little known by the outside world that it doesn’t yet have a name. If I were a marketing person, charged with putting it on the map, I would name it after the high pass that is the main route into it.

The pass is called Cong Troi, which means Heaven’s Gate. We crossed it shortly after passing the scene of the lorry accident. The landscape around us, glimpsed through the clouds, was indeed celestial – rice paddies cut into the hillsides that looked like the steps of Aztec temples, valleys plunging to hazy nothingness and waterfalls in noisy spate. Here, where many had seen white faces only on television, we were often as much objects of curiosity to the minority peoples as they were to us.

From Cong Troi we twisted down through clouds to the valley bottom and the village of Thong Nguyen, which serves a local population of about 5,000 living in the surrounding hills. Tourism has already arrived in a small way here – there’s a French-owned lodge on the outskirts – and the village authorities are evidently fearful of what it may yet bring.

Using Pan Hou Lodge as a base, we spent the next two days trekking up into those shimmering green hills to visit remote communities perched on the lips of steepling rice paddies. In a Dao village we drank green tea beneath an old picture of Ho Chi Minh and then, inevitably, the woman who made it, with a baby in a sling on her back, submitted to photographs.

And that, of course, is the subtext of ethnic tourism. You come to gawp and click, to capture those eye-catching costumes and quaint customs in pixels. One woman I tried to photograph, with a mouth blackened by betel nut, covered her face, saying, “I am not beautiful any more. I look like a goat!”

I knew what she said because our guide translated. Having him around enabled us to enrich encounters that were inherently voyeuristic. And his life story, which he related in a series of chats over the week, provided great insight into the minority way of life.

On our visits to minority houses he would explain layouts and functions. The houses tend to be built on stilts, with motorbikes and chickens kept on the open ground floor and cooking and sleeping taking place on the enclosed first floor.

The Dao, of which there are several subgroups such as Red Dao and Long Dress Dao, live pretty hard and basic lives up in these mountains. One woman laughed at the idea of having a day off. “If we rest, nothing to eat,” Son translated. Other communities are visibly more prosperous.

We had started our tour in the village of Mai Chau, a three-hour drive south-west of Hanoi, where the Mai Chau Lodge was the base for walks out to White Thai villages. Here, among gardens of jackfruit and banana, and fighting cocks in wicker cages, they sell textiles and offer homestays with Western lavatories and hot showers.

As thunder drummed on the surrounding hills, women toiled in the paddy fields, their conical hats periodically bobbing up to the surface of the rice (quick, photo!). Daily life here is still back-breaking, but not as tough as it once was, judging by the cars parked next to some of the stilt houses.

Between Mai Chau and Ha Giang Province we broke our journey at Thac Ba Lake, where La Vie Vu Linh Eco-Lodge is part of a long-term project aimed at rejuvenating the local minority culture. The lodge – jointly owned by a French-Vietnamese called Frédéric Tiberghien and a Dao family from the adjacent village – runs a school teaching cultural history, languages and hotel management to 15 or so children.

Vietnam‘s ethnic minorities had a particularly hard time of it following reunification, but projects like this give hope that their distinct ways of life can flourish. Tourism is certainly a vital part of the process. And it’s not, of course, a one-way street. As Tiberghien said to me, “Next time you come to Vietnam, stay longer with the ethnic people. After two weeks, you will be amazed how similar you are.”

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk