How to Ride a Motorcycle Across SE Asia
Originally Posted on OffTrackPlanet.com When it comes to Southeast Asia, everyone has the same guidebook and the same itinerary. Chances are you’ve island hopped through Thailand, trekked through Laos, hit a tranny bar here and there and you still haven’t left the crowd behind. You’re stuck on the Banana Pancake Trail. It’s time to get … Continue reading
The Minsk Dies (Lost in Central Vietnam)
The bike died three days later. Actually, it died three times within three days, but each day I refused to give up on The Minsk. I did all I could to bring her back to life, but my efforts were in vain. I was putting band-aids on a corpse. I’m no doctor, but I knew … Continue reading
MIA in the DMZ (Lost in Central Vietnam)
It was getting dark. I stared at my map, trying to find out where the hell I was. I had not passed a proper town for hours, the highway I was driving down was not even on the map and I was rapidly running out of energy. I needed to find shelter fast, or else … Continue reading
A Mad Dash Across Vietnam (Dak Lak – Kon Tum, Vietnam)
Thank God that rice whiskey leaves no hangover, else I may not have completed the journey from Dak Lak to Kom Tum. It was a beast of a ride, the longest leg of my journey by far. 300 kilometers of straight freeway, just a high-speed burn up the Ho Chi Minh Highway through Buon Ma … Continue reading
Motorcycle Diaries, Day One (HCHM -> Mui Ne, Vietnam)
Three Challenges – Challenge One – Challenge Two – Challenge Three I know what you are thinking. Motorcycle Diaries? You mean like Che Guevara? Haha, yes, cliché isn’t it? Or should I say, cli-Ché? (This cheesy joke is hereby patented by Mark Ayling). Well, if Che Guevara had ridden across South America on this Russian-made … Continue reading
The Minsk (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
I bought the bike within minutes of seeing it. It was a piece of junk, and it suited my purposes perfectly. It was an old Russian Minsk, a simple 125cc bike that has not changed in design since before World War Two. Minsks are tough; they can drive over any terrain, from muddy mountain roads … Continue reading
Marko Polo Travels 