Road Trip. Love. It.

What do you do with a 4 day weekend in Vietnam? 

The beach you say? Of course. 

By bus you ask? Definitely not. 

By motorbike.... absolutely favorite thing to do in Vietnam. 

Jake and I went on a 10 day motorbike trip through central Vietnam back in 2008 and it was by far the best trip out of the 2 years we lived here. 

Now that I'm back, I've committed myself to seeing and doing more. This time, I had the pleasure of driving the bike and let me tell you, there is nothing more zen then cruising on a road through the jungle, or along the coast with one earbud of music and nothing else. 

The initial trip plan: Ho Coc Beach, drive there and chill for three nights. 

The real trip: Arrive at Ho Coc, realize it's horrible accommodation and the beach has a greenish yellow foam slash ooze up and down the shore. Stayed the night, played some cards drank a few vodka tonics and listened to my friend Eric play his guitar. Over breakfast we decided to drive further north to my personal favorite weekend getaway destination: Mui Ne. 

The drive there: approx:  240km (marked in yellow)

The drive back: approx: 215km (marked in purple)

I know it's a little tough to see the exact details of the route but you get the idea : ) 

I've fallen in love with the idea of being able to independtly travel. 

No tour group, no bus, just me and a bike. 

On the way home- we all got a little separated from each other (there were 5 people on 4 bikes) and I spent about 130km by myself. It was heaven. Alone with my thoughts, I was able to just take it all in and have that solo time I was looking for on this trip. 

However, no matter how much sun block I put on, I got extremely sunburnt! Even the tops of my hands.

A glimpse of the trip: 

Flat tire before I even left Ho Chi Minh City (pretty sure it was less than 10 minutes into the trip) 

Drink break on the way to Ho Coc...definitely needed that coffee, and to give our bums a break! 

What a beautiful sight. An empty road and my bike. 

Traffic. 

One of my favorite things in all of Vietnam are the graveyards. There is something about the color, the way they are spaced out and the feeling I have when I'm around them. I would love to be laid to rest on the hills of VN... or have a vikings funeral. 

Can't beat that view. 

SOO much livestock! The only thing missing.... cow bells. NEED MORE COWBELLS! I'll have to go back to the Swiss Alps for that one : ) 

Dinner. 

Happy Cori. 

We headed home early, which was amazing because we were back in Saigon by 1 p.m. Still time to have a lazy Sunday AND to purchase some new kicks: