9 Day Central Highlands and Mekong Delta Guided Motorcycle Tour in Vietnam
Mekong Delta Motorcycle Tour in Vietnam
Many people now know that northern Vietnam is a fantastically beautiful area. But the South also has much to offer. It is a short trip and can be combined with the North-South Vietnam trip and also with the Northern Vietnam Highlights trip.
Key information
- Terrain: asphalt, 20% off-road tracks, and jungle paths
- Bike: rental bike (Kawasaki KLX 150cc or Honda XR150cc), motorbike upgrade: XR250CC or CRF250CC
- Mileage: 1145 kilometers / 774 miles
- Daily rides: 143 kilometers / 96 miles
- Riding gears: the following items are mandatory: helmet, motorcycle jacket with protection, gloves, a good hard-wearing pair of (motorcycle) trousers with protection, and solid high (mountain) boots.
- Meals: all breakfasts
Meet the instructors
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Highlights
- Starts and ends in Ho Chi Minh
- A ride through the famous Mekong Delta
- Ride to Cat Tien National Park and Phan Tiet
- Stop in Lagi and Vinh Long
- Motorcycle rental for the tour
- 8 nights accommodation
- Airport transfers
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Accommodation
During this tour, you stay in a mix of accommodations from semi-luxurious to simple homestays.
Program
Day 1: Arrival - Ho Chi Minh City
You will be picked up at Ho Chi Minh airport by a local contact person who will bring you to the hotel in the center of the city. In the hotel, you will meet the tour guide. During lunch or dinner, the tour guide will tell more about the details of the trip.
Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City - Cat Tien (155 km / 96 miles)
After picking up the motorbikes, you ride out of town at the busiest moment of the day. In the beginning, the roads are totally crowded with small motorbikes and scooters. To ride through this chaotic traffic is an adventure in itself. On the outskirts of the city, it is getting busier with trucks. You will follow the main road until lunch. Immediately after lunch, you leave the main road and follow a network of narrow roads and paths along the border with the Cat Tien National Park. Take two small local ferries and follow some rather difficult off-road tracks before arriving at your destination.
Day 3: Cat Tien - Phan Thiet (280 km / 174 miles)
This is the only real mountain leg of the trip. After taking another small ferry, you ride into the mountainous region of the Central Highlands. There are wonderful views over the lake created by a dam. In this mountainous area, one comes across a number of different peoples even some Hmong people from the north. However, today is mostly all about the magnificent views. At the end of the day, you descend to the coast and stay overnight in Phan Thiet.
Day 4: Phan Thiet - Vung Tau (180 km / 112 miles)
From Phan Thiet to the coastal town of Lagi, you more or less follow the coastline. Just before your coffee stop in Lagi, you take some challenging small dirt roads. After the coffee stop until lunch, you follow the scenic coastal route. You notice that the beautiful coast of Vietnam has been discovered by mainly domestic investors. The number of beach resorts is growing very fast. Try to arrive on time in the port city of Vung Tau, so that you still have time to go to the beach. Vung Tau is the oil capital of the country. Since after the Vietnam War, mostly Russian companies have been active here. This city is a real port city, with many cafes, restaurants, and, evidently, nightclubs.
Day 5: Vung Tau - Ben Tre (95 km / 59 miles)
In the morning, take the boat to the Mekong Delta. The motorcycles are ridden on board via a narrow ramp and sit in the back of the boat. The crossing is two and a half hours long. On arrival, one notices instantly that one has arrived in another part of the country. This is the Mekong Delta. The land is flat and everything revolves around the water. You ride almost immediately onto the narrow trails through the paddy fields, crossing over the distributaries of the Mekong River by several small ferries. You arrive eventually, via narrow paths, in the town of Ben Tre. It is a lively town with a bustling night market near the hotel.
Day 6: Ben Tre - Long Xuyen (165 km / 103 miles)
You start the day again immediately with narrow roads along the river. The support vehicle cannot follow most of the time. Stop in the city of Vinh Long for lunch. Before this, however, you need to take a number of ferries. In the afternoon you follow narrow paths once again, through rice fields and small villages. These paths are usually surfaced but some are unsurfaced and difficult to tackle when it has rained. You also cross over dozens of small bridges. At the end of the afternoon, you arrive in the larger town of Long Xuyen. At first sight, there does not seem much to do here. As one gets closer to the river, however, the importance of it becomes apparent.
Day 7: Long Xuyen - Chau Doc (150 km / 93 miles)
After breakfast, you take the ferry to one of the many islands in the Mekong River. Here you follow a narrow path to the next ferry and continue your way along the little tracks. After the third ferry, you will visit a local brick factory. You take another ferry and stop for a coffee break at the local market. After the coffee break, you follow a beautiful dirt road along a canal. In case you still have time after arrival in Chau Doc, you can take a boat trip to the colorful floating villages nearby.
Day 8: Chau Doc - Ho Chi Minh City (220 km / 137 miles)
After a couple of large ferries, you take another scenic route along narrow paths. Here too there are countless bridges to cross and you are always greeted by friendly people, who are very surprised to see you. It is totally enjoyable to ride your bike through this beautiful countryside. After lunch, you come to the larger road back to Ho Chi Minh City. Just before the city, another challenge begins...the busy traffic. Through the chaos, you reach the hotel in the center of town.
Day 9: Ho Chi Minh City – Departure
You will be taken to the airport for your flight back home.
Motorbikes
You will ride on a Kawasaki KLX or Honda XR150cc There is a limited option to upgrade to a Honda XR250cc or CRF250CC.
Tour leader
This trip will be led by a local guide who also is the mechanic, with a small group. This person has been the permanent mechanic on this Vietnam trips for the past 12 years. He knows all the routes, hotels, and restaurants well and speaks good English. A multilingual tour leader will lead this tour with a larger group.
Support vehicle
A support car will accompany this trip starting from 6 participants. The support vehicle will transport the luggage, spare parts, and tools. There is space in the support car for any companion passengers who do not wish to or cannot double up on a motorcycle.
Difficulty and off-roads
During this trip through the Mekong Delta, you ride neither at a high altitude nor through extremely remote regions. You ride on light motorcycles which makes the trip suitable also for those riders who have never undertaken an adventurous motorcycle trip before. The daily distances are not long which will give you plenty of opportunities for stopping along the way to take photographs or to visit villages. What might well prove difficult, however, is dealing with the busy traffic in and around Ho Chi Minh City. You ride lots of small tracks during this trip, but these are easily done without any offroad skills.
Driver's license
As of January 1st, 2016, Vietnam permits most nationalities to drive if they have both an International Driving Permit (IDP) and their national driver’s license. A license without the IDP is not permissible and only the IDP model 1968 is accepted.
Skill level(s) required for this tour: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Beginner:
- can ride for 2-3 hours
- minimal riding experience
- assistance required
- comfortable with curves and leans
- basic experience with unsurfaced roads
- short distance ascents and descents
Intermediate:
- can ride for 3-4 hours
- average riding experience
- little assistance required
- comfortable with extreme curves and leans
- average experience with unsurfaced roads
- steep ascents and descents
Advanced:
- can ride for 5-6 hours
- extensive riding experience
- assistance on demand (if required)
- experienced with riding a variety of motorcycles
- comfortable with any terrain and weather conditions
Instructors
Marco Brand
In 1991, Marco started to travel as a regular backpacker. He made a one-year journey through America, Australia, and Southeast Asia. After returning to The Netherlands, he started working as a tour guide for Koning Aap Travel, a Dutch adventure tour company. For eight years, he guided dozens of tours in many different countries on almost all continents. During his private time, he traveled the entire Asian continent, but most of all Southeast Asia. To share his enthusiasm and knowledge of the area, he organized in the year 2000 his first Motor Trails motorbike tour in Vietnam.
Location
This trip takes you to the Central Highlands, the mountains of South Vietnam. You will ride on narrow paths through the jungle here. Thereafter you ride along the coast for one day and take the boat to the Mekong Delta.
The second part of the journey begins in the Mekong Delta and you find yourself immediately in another Vietnam. The Mekong Delta is largely made up of the distributaries of the Mekong River. Life here takes place mainly on or near the water. You will take dozens of ferries of all shapes and sizes, drive over perhaps a hundred bridges and mainly follow narrow paths through small villages and paddy fields. If you like North Vietnam, you will find this fantastic too.
Food
Daily breakfast will be provided.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
Things to do (optional)
You can extend your stay after the tour to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. If you are interested, the days will look like this:
Day 9: Ho Chi Minh - day trip to Cu Chi
Today you will visit the Củ Chi tunnels in a van with a local English-speaking guide. You will be impressed by the ingenuity of the corridor system and the way in which people live here.
Day 10: Ho Chi Minh City - Overnight stay
This is an extra day in Ho Chi Minh City; there is still much to see here. You will, of course, visit the War Crimes Museum for a different look at all the wars that have ravaged Vietnam. You will visit the Reunification Palace too where the South officially surrendered to the North in 1975. The Ben Than market is also one of the places not to be missed.
Day 11 - Ho Chi Minh City - Departure
What's included
- All airport transfers
- 8 nights accommodation based on a double room with breakfast
- Motorcycle rental
- Transport motorbikes from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh and return
- Support vehicle with local driver
- Accompanying mechanic in support vehicle
- English-speaking tour guide
- All ferry crossings
What's not included
- Gasoline engines
- Other meals and drinks
- Personal expenses
- Cost of optional excursions
- Entrance fees to sights
- Travel and cancellation insurance
- Visa fees
- Airfare
- Upgrade to a 250cc motorcycle
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Tan Son Nhat International Airport
2 km
Transfer included
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 12.1% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through Tripaneer.com. All major credit cards supported.