A Vietnam Vespa Adventure
Are you looking for a fast, fun, thrilling and totally unforgettable experience to cap off a fantastic holiday in Vietnam?
You need look no further than a Vietnamese scooter tour. On one of our favourite experiences in all of Indochina, our friends at Vespa Adventures will have you riding pillion on the back of a beautiful vintage Vespa, darting through the city streets amongst countless scooters or speeding through the countryside with the wind in your hair.
If you're a regular reader of our blog, you may remember Enfys's 2013 post about her night-time Saigon Vespa tour, or Tyler's video of the same. This time, however, I took to the streets on an evening street food tour of the World Heritage town of Hoi An!
For those who don't already know, Hoi An is one of our all-time favourite destinations. An important trading port for centuries, the central Vietnamese town has been shaped by a long history of intercultural exchange, and most of the buildings in its beautiful old town district remain from the 16th-17th centuries. Not only this, but venture just outside the town and you'll find mile upon mile of beautiful, lush countryside and sleepy rural towns. What better setting for a Vespa adventure?
My very own Vespa driverOur fleet of experienced drivers zipped to meet us by the riverside in the late afternoon and we jumped aboard. As haphazard as Vietnamese traffic is (and myself a nervous driver at the best of times), I had my reservations about climbing onboard - but it didn't take long before I felt completely at ease in the capable hands of my driver.
Heading off on an exhilarating ride through the town, our first stop was Vespa Adventures' own café for the first of many included drinks and delicious, traditional snacks. Did I mention that Hoi An is renowned throughout Vietnam for its fantastic food?
From here we went on to stop at four more bars, selected for their great food and local authenticity. In the middle of town we stopped see a demonstration of "white rose" dumplings (and try a few, of course) before paying a quick visit to the night market and jumping onboard a local boat for the journey to Cam Nam Island - where we sampled fresh seafood overlooking the Thu Bon River at bar number three.
Heading onwards through the alleys of Cam Nam we arrived at our next stop, where we enjoyed Vietnamese hotpot and learned how to make our own Vietnamese wraps, before concluding the journey at a restaurant in the middle of the nearby rice paddies for a BBQ grill of local delicacies.
As mentioned in a recent post, after dark Hoi An comes alive with night markets, paper lanterns and cafés packed with locals and tourists enjoying the fresh evening air - all of which makes this a superb destination to enjoy a Vespa tour.
Having heard plenty of glowing reviews of Vietnam Vespa Adventures in the past, I can gladly report that my personal experience lived up to every expectation. For an authentic, local experience you would never be able to recreate by yourself - I can't recommend it enough!
Vespa Adventures offer a wide range of day and night tours in Hoi An, Saigon, and Siem Reap. If you would like to include a Vespa tour in your InsideVietnam Tours itinerary, don't hesitate to get in touch with one of our travel consultants now!
