Tag 67: Motorbikes everywhere

For the upcoming days here in Ho Chi Minh City, we had a clear goal: to buy three motorbikes!

Since none of us had ever bought or ridden a motorbike before, we woke up visibly nervous that morning. After breakfast at the hostel, we started researching where to buy motorbikes. We had already agreed to buy three Honda Wins, as they are easily and cheaply repaired everywhere and are the typical backpacker bike. Through an ad in a Facebook group, we got our first appointment for viewing. When we arrived, we met Dante, an Argentine who had been riding through Vietnam for the last 6 weeks. Luckily for us, he gave us a free 'driving lesson' where he explained how to shift gears and what else to pay attention to. Afterwards, Jan attempted the first test drive in a small alley. Then it was my turn to test drive. Dante didn't give us the impression that he wanted to cheat us, so we bought our first motorbike right in the morning. It was also important that he gave us a free check-up at a workshop to make sure that the motorbike is in good condition. Afterward, we got SIM cards for our phones so that we wouldn't have to rely on all the free Wi-Fi anymore. After we had paid for our motorbike, we went with Dante to a mechanic. While we were waiting, I saw two guys with two motorbikes trying to sell them to a dealer. When they couldn't continue without success, I waved them over to the side of the road. Then everything happened very quickly. We asked Dante if he could test drive the two motorbikes for us, and after he said that the second one was really good, we suddenly bought two more motorbikes! Just like that, on the side of the road... Now we had to figure out how to get the motorbikes to the hostel. So Jan and I 'had' to ride the two motorbikes through the very busy city traffic to the hostel. That was our first real motorcycle ride. Throughout the day, we looked at one more motorbike, but didn't buy it. Actually, we were already quite satisfied with the results of the day, but shortly before dinner, we spontaneously had another viewing with a Dutch couple. Here, too, things went relatively quickly. I took a short test drive, we discussed the price, and suddenly we had bought three motorbikes in one day.

In the evening, we had a few beers together with Dante and let this very exciting day come to an end. The good thing was, we have tomorrow to explore the city in peace...