1428km solo scooter trip -Part 1

Date

13.04.21

– An idea just came to my mind. What if I drive my motorbike from Hanoi to Da Nang instead of moving by train or plane?
– Try it!!!
– But my motorbike is Honda Lead. Is it ok?
– Any motorbike can, bae.
Every time I think about a trip with my motorbike, my friends always said that the Honda Lead scooter can not drive on the Ho Chi Minh trail. So I threw that idea into the trash. Until this conversation with Tristan, he inspired me to pack the backpack and go. ALONE! This was the first time I drive more than 50km a day.

I don’t feel lonely because I have a companion, Rosé – my Honda Lead scooter. For me, Rosé is not just a motorcycle but my friend. I talk to Rosé on the way to feel what is the right speed for her, that we can go quicker or need to take a break, and which places we wanna explore.

The solo trip has its own beauty. You don’t need any plans. You just follow your own feelings and your own pace. And one destination to chase, that’s enough!
-Flav-

My Hanoi – Da Nang journey lasted 6 days with 12 stop places:
1. Quan Son & Tuy Lai Lake (Hanoi)
2. Cuc Phuong National Park (Ninh Binh)
3. Cam Thuy & Pu Luong (Thanh Hoa)
4. Pu Mat National Park (Nghe An)
5. Vu Quang National Park (Ha Tinh)
& the story of a girl cycling through Vietnam without money
6. Quang Trach white sand area (Quang Binh)
7. Quang Phu sand dunes (Quang Binh)
8. Huong Linh Wind Farm (Quang Tri)
9. Phong Dien Solar Power Plant (Hue)
10. Gác Trịnh (Hue)
11. Phuoc Tuong Pass, Phu Gia Pass & Hai Van Pass
12. Da Nang city

1. Quan Son & Tuy Lai Lake (Ha Noi)

Quan Son & Tuy Lai lake are like the miniature Ha Long Bay of Hanoi. This place doesn’t have many tourists, so it is still unspoiled and peaceful. It’s an interesting place for camping trips, weekend picnics with friends.
From Hanoi, you can go 50km along 21B road or drive on the Ho Chi Minh trail then turn left at Cao Thang, Kim Boi, Hoa Binh to DT76 road for about 5km.

With a peaceful mind, a murky day is also a beautiful day!
– Noname

2. Cuc Phuong National Park (Ninh Binh)

Cuc Phuong is the first national park in Vietnam. It features tropical rainforest with rich flora and fauna.
The road to discovering the Cuc Phuong forest is easy with 15km of flat concrete road. In the center of Cuc Phuong, you can park and trek 3km to explore the variety of caves and a thousand-year-old tree.
You can also trek to the top of May Bac mountain to enjoy the panoramic view of the national park, the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, and Bai Dinh pagoda.
The ticket price is 60,000 VND for adults; 20,000 VND for students; and 10,000 VND for children.
At the entrance, you can easily rent a bicycle if you want to explore Cuc Phuong slowly.
If you visit Cuc Phuong in May, you will be able to see the “butterfly forest” that beautiful as a fairyland.
I visited Cuc Phuong during the “Spring Festival”, so I was able to read many meaningful and profound messages.

Every morning, instead of getting caught up in the daily hustle and bustle, let’s go back to Cuc Phuong. After each peaceful sleep in the jungle, you will be awakened by a special chorus. “The call from the primates” is both a bell to welcome you into the new day and a message that reminds you of the flawless beauty of Mother Nature. Please join us, enduring efforts in the conservation of primates, in the midst of the wonderful sound of the great.
– Message from the Primates

Everyone thought we were slow. But is your awareness of our importance, your actions to protect us all faster? Coming to Vietnam’s first National Park, seeing the images of our conservation staff, you will know what it means to slow down and faster!
-The narration from the slow Turtle

Photo source: @flavtravel, wecheckin

3. Cam Thuy & Pu Luong (Thanh Hoa)

Coming to Pu Luong, you will see the beauty of the dense forests, terraced fields, the peaceful life of the ethnic people.
There are two of the best times of the year to visit Pu Luong. At the end of May and early June, when the season starts, you can see the terraces that be covered with the green color of young rice, which brings about a feeling of peace and tranquility. And September and October are the harvest time, Pu Luong at this time is terraced fields with brilliant and poetic yellow colors.
If you are a challenge lover, conquering the Pu Luong peak at 1700 meters high is an exciting experience. It takes about six to eight hours to reak the peak in nice weather conditions. However, it’s worth when you can admire the outstanding landscape of mountains and forests together with spotting stilts houses, and terraces in the valley on the mountain foot.
Son – Ba – Muoi are three different mountainous villages in Lung Cao Commune. The place is known as a “mini Sapa” thanks to its moderate climate all year.
Besides, Hieu waterfall & Muon waterfall are also interesting places to relax with cool water in summer and warm in winter.

Personal story: The first night of the journey, I stayed in Cam Thuy, Thanh Hoa. That evening, I had a Tet meal with the hotel owner’s family. They let me enjoy a local specialty dish, it’s Chung cake with sugarcane molasses. Anh chủ khách sạn kinh doanh trong lĩnh vực du lịch ở nhiều khu vực, cũng đã từng là một chàng trai thích đi phượt. Hai anh em nhâm nhi ly rượu vang và trò chuyện về những cung đường. He said that Son-Ba-Muoi is still untouched. It’s not easy to go there, even going by semi-automatic motorbikes. But when you get there, you can enjoy all seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter in one day. It’s like a mini Dalat.
The next morning, I left early to move to Pu Luong. It was a cloudy day, also not in the rice season, so I didn’t feel much about the beauty of Pu Luong.

4. Pu Mat National Park (Nghe An)

Pu Mat National Park is one of the most primitive forests in Vietnam. This national park is exploited for tourism with many attractive places, notably Kem waterfall, Pha Lai dam, Giang river, and primary forest discovery tour.

The road to Kem waterfall is about 20km from the administrative area of the national park. It is a wide, winding road between the primeval forest, which can be moved by car. Entering Kem waterfall by motorbike, you can feel the cold of the old forest, the sounds of the mountains, and looked at the tall trees, the tangled vines trying to reach out of the sun. Looking at Kem waterfall cascading down from a height of 150m, flipping white foam like a soft silk strip down the cliff, suddenly finding yourself so small in front of Mother Nature. If you like adventure and have enough safety equipment, canyoning will be an unforgettable experience!

Pha Lai Ecotourism Area is about 30km from Con Cuong town. Pha Lai is exploited for boating activities on the Giang River. This is a great place for a relaxing weekend with friends and family.

Exploring the Pu Mat primeval forest is an activity not to be missed if you are adventurous and love the forest. To explore the primary forest, you need to contact the National Park Administration to make the schedule and obtain a permit to enter the forest. The price for this activity depends on the number of people and the number of discovery days, it usually ranges from 2,000,000 to 10,000,000 VND.

Personal story: “I have been working here for 12-13 years, this is the first time I have seen a girl come here alone, and also insisted on going to the primary forest!” – Mr. Duc, a ranger in Pu Mat National Park said.
On this trip, I just explored the Kem waterfall and did not spend time exploring the Giang river or exploring the primary forest. I make an appointment with rangers that I would come back in good healthy another day to explore Pu Mat primary forest with them on a 10-day trip. At this moment, I wrote new lines on my bucket list: “Explore the primary forest”.

5. Vu Quang National Parl (Ha Tinh)

Vu Quang National Park is known as one of the most biodiversity places in Vietnam, including many rare and precious animals that need priority for conservation. Vu Quang is one of ten national parks in Vietnam recognized as “ASEAN Heritage Park”.
Vu Quang is a little-known name due to have not been explored for tourism. Currently, the 4,000 ha Ngan Truoi lake is being researched for tourism development by TH True Milk (a large Vietnamese corporation), promising to be a tourist resort in the future.

Personal story: The rangers in Vu Quang are very friendly and hospitable. I was lucky when Mr.Hoat took me to visit Ngan Truoi Lake by canoe for free. Normally, the price of renting a boat to visit the lake is 1,500,000 – 2,000,000 VND. Ngan Truoi lake is very wide. We need an hour to finish a lake tour.
After the lake tour, I had lunch with the forest rangers. I was treated to a dish of fish cooked with bitter vegetables, a stewed fish that I forgot its name, and wild pork.
They said, if I like to go to the primary forest, they can take me to explore it for 1-2 days. But I was an alone girl, I was not ready at that time. I made an appointment that I’ll come back.

Also here, I heard from Mr. Son about a girl named Trang, who visited Vu Quang in the summer of 2020. She is on a cycling journey through Vietnam. The interesting thing is that she’s doing it without money. In each land, she makes friends with the local people and asks for sleep and meals. If she couldn’t find a place to sleep, she would sleep in a tent overnight. Now, she has been on her journey for more than one year. She’s somewhere in the Central Highlands. Last year, Trang stayed at Mr. Son’s house for two days, then he gave Trang a pepper spray bottle. A few days ago, Trang called him to celebrate the new year. She was happy to share that she still does not need to use that pepper spray. You know, it needs a lot of courage, a lot of recklessness, and let go of many things to dare to undertake such her journey.