You would think Dave Willis has his fill of motorbikes at Orwell Motorcycles but he’s just returned from a trip to Vietnam which included some two-wheel touring.
He had a well-earned break with daughters Harriet and Maddie, including a motorbiking adventure through some of scenic and mountainous rural Vietnam.
After a few days in Hanoi they took the sleeper bus to the Ha Giang district, in the north of the country near the border with China, which is popular with back-packers.
Here they spent four full days touring on motorbikes and scooters with Dave, on a Honda XR150 trail bike, and Harriet also riding and Maddie pillion.
Dave said: “It’s such stunning scenery but I missed out on a lot of it because I had to concentrate on the road. It’s quite nice to sit on the back and watch the scenery.”
Riding up to eight hours each day, and stopping to take in the sights or enjoy boat trips, they stayed in hostels along the route.
“The roads were okay, better than I had expected, apart from the one they were resurfacing.
“We were held up there while they took rock off the side of the mountain and crushed and rolled it to repair the road. Then it was off you go,” said Dave who celebrated his birthday while on the motorbike tour.
As a solo experienced rider, Dave often found himself temporarily picking up a pillion passenger from other motorbikes in the group if they got a puncture so, while it was repaired, the other riders could continue.
Having completed that tour, they rented scooters for three days to explore Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in the heart of rural Vietnam.
Now that is what known as a busman’s holiday.
