Everyone who wants to go on an adventure of a lifetime has to take a trip to South East Asia and visit at least one country. In this article, we’ll write about going to Vietnam, and taking a tour of this exciting country with a motorbike.
Traveling generally requires a lot of planning, especially when you’re going to visit a country on a different continent. But, it’s not such a difficult task, due to the fact there are agencies to help you organize motorbike tours Vietnam, like bigbiketours.com.
Before we start writing about what should you pack with you, here are a couple of information you have to know prior to your travel.
Population and arrangement
This is a socialist country with about 95 million inhabitants. It is quite large and has more than 2000 km of coastline from north to south. This is what people may not realize if they do not get to know the state beforehand. The capital is Hanoi with about 7.5 million inhabitants, but the largest in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) with over 8.5 million inhabitants. Saigon is also a more modern city.
The Traffic
An interesting fact that you may not need to know when you plan a motorbike trip is that Ho Chi Minh City has 6 million registered motorcycles, which is 30% of the total number of motorcycles in Vietnam. Irrelevant information, but if you take into account that you will be a traffic participant, in this case, a motorbike driver, it is very important. They have fewer cars, due to a very high tax, even 200%.
SIM cards
What can also be useful to you, especially if you are staying longer, is information about the SIM card or a virtual card. We suggest you buy a Vinaphone card at their store (not at the airport or in the newsagents, but in Hanoi at their store). For 11 dollars, you can get minutes in national traffic and 2GB DAILY of surprisingly fast and good internet, which is everywhere, maybe not somewhere in the jungle, but mostly everywhere yes.
Currency
If you are withdrawing money, you should know that VP bank ATMs do not charge a commission for foreign cards, while other ATMs do, and the commissions range from 20,000 to 50,000 dong, which is ok. The amount you can withdraw is from 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 dong depending on the bank. Check the exchange rate before the trip, and it would be good to check the ATMs before withdrawing money. On most of them, it is written in the withdrawal process how much commission will be charged to you, so you can accept and continue or refuse.
These are some basic information you should be aware of when planning to go. Now for the packing essentials, find below what you should include.
Personal documents
These are by far the most important items to pack when traveling. They include your passport, of course. You need it to leave the state and set out on your journey. One thing you should check is that it is valid for at least six months before you plan to return. Visas are required for most countries of the world, hence it is important to obtain one before you go.
Aside from the passport, you’ll be needing a driver’s license, since you plan to go on a bike tour. Not all of them are accepted by the authority, but at least they can prove your driving skills and competencies. What you will read on the internet is that if you plan to ride a 50cc motorbike, you don’t have to have a license. Still, it is highly recommendable that you do, just in case.
Some driving licenses can be converted into a Vietnamese ones, if you feel like traveling even safer, check the requirements online.
Additional advice is to make a copy of your ID and passport, as it may be of great help if in any case, you end up in a situation where you lose, or someone steals your documents.
Having copies with you, and stored somewhere in the virtual space as pdf files will mean a great deal just in case something happens.
The final document on our list is the insurance policy. By no means should you travel anywhere without it. As you are riding a motorbike in a foreign country, it may be difficult to get used to their way of traffic. Whatever happens, you’re safe with an insurance policy.
Clothes
One of the biggest dilemmas is what to wear, and for a reason. Different regions have different weather conditions. Different seasons tend to be very different from each other. So, your selection of clothes will depend on where you plan to ride. Plan your wardrobe accordingly.
What is essential for any bike trip, is the following:
A helmet, a pair of riding gloves, some protective goggles, boots, knee and elbow pads, a specialized pair of pants, and a jacket.
Essential health kit
As you’re going to one of the regions of the monsoon, it is highly recommended to pack an emergency health kit. It’s not just the monsoons, depending on where you are traveling from, water and food can cause quite a lot of digestive issues. So, make sure your health kit includes a mosquito repellant, some vitamins, anti-dizziness medicines, probiotics, and other medications to aid your digestive system, some band-aids, and maybe even eye drops. If there’s something you can’t find in your country, pharmacies in Vietnam are super equipped with everything you’ll need.
Our final advice would be to make a list of all the essentials (aside from the ones we’ve mentioned) and have it close by at all times. It will give you a piece of mind, and ensure you don’t forget something super important.