4months and a scooter starting in vietnam

[cyrusa]

Howdy everyone, just landed in ho chi Minh City and plan to buy a local scooter to get lost for 4 months around vietnam, cambodia, laos and possibly thailand. Going light, with few excuses and no real plan. I have a few important questions I seem unable to find an answer for though, if anyone in the know might enlighten:
1, can I leave vietnam on a vietnamese scooter to cambodia and laos?
2, if so, what will I need specifically for papers?
3, any nuances I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed a little light so this bad actor cab get out and ride!
Btw, I got I local cell, should anyone be bored enough to just call 0126 745 4193

 

[Phil TK]

Howdy everyone, just landed in ho chi Minh City and plan to buy a local scooter to get lost for 4 months around vietnam, cambodia, laos and possibly thailand. Going light, with few excuses and no real plan. I have a few important questions I seem unable to find an answer for though, if anyone in the know might enlighten:
1, can I leave vietnam on a vietnamese scooter to cambodia and laos?
2, if so, what will I need specifically for papers?
3, any nuances I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed a little light so this bad actor cab get out and ride!
Btw, I got I local cell, should anyone be bored enough to just call 0126 745 4193

Hi Cyrusa
I like your style, just getting off a plane and deciding to buy a bike and head off with no plan and no worries. I've done it myself in the past.
I did a tour of Vietnam's North East earlier this year by motorcycle and used a company called Flamingo Travel, this company is quite well known and has a good reputation,they hire and sell bikes from mopeds to off-road machines and can also offer motorcycle tours with a guide if you want -a good idea to start off with if you are not familiar with Vietnam -but not essential if you've done a bit of motorcycle touring before and have a decent roadmap and guidebook. Flamingo are also very helpful with advice on paperwork needed to cross borders and are usually up to date on which border crossings are favourable. You may already know that border crossings in and out of Vietnam are a bit fickle, any up to date knowledge is worth having. Good luck and keep us all informed of progress.

Flamingo Address:-

30 Đỗ Quang Đẩu Street, Phạm Ngũ Lão ward, District 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam +84 98 675 10 20

Their website:-
Flamingo Travel | Motorbike Vietnam - Contact Us

 

[cyrusa]

thanks for the input, phil. flamingo told me they did not have any knowledge or experience about border crossings or bike paperwork- maybe i spoke with the wrong person. so still digging around. thanks again for the welcome!

 

[The Bigfella]

I got off a boat down the Mekong in 2010 and bought a scooter in HCM. Rode north as far as the China border and west to the Laos border. Ended up giving the bike to a charity in Hanoi. As a foreigner, I don't believe I could transfer the papers into my name... which would have meant I couldn't cross a border with it. I might be wrong on that, but I didn't want to waste the time stuffing around. The scoot only cost me $400.... and losing a couple or more days is worth more to me than that.

Have fun... its a hoot. Here's my scoot, getting a full engine rebuild... done in a couple of hours.... $100