Ducati Monster Forum

1. Turned in my resignation at work
2. Purchased one-way ticket to Vietnam
3. Vietnam Visa

Say Whaaatt!!! Yup no BSing. Ive reached a point in my career where it was time for a change, but before i make that change I've been having thoughts of going to see the world. The travel bug has hit me hard in the last year and is one of the main reasons for retiring from racing.  So a few weeks ago i finally made the decision to do it. Turned in my letter, bought a ticket and got a visa.

So far the plan is to fly into Hanoi, buy a motorcycle(mostly influenced by the Top gear episode in Vietnam) and head south and figure out the rest when i get there. Eventually i plan to end in Singapore, hop through some of the islands in Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Japan, and China. And some where in there make a trek to Nepal for Everest base Camp. Depending on the season i get back to the US, trip around the US stay with random DMF'ers along the way, then come October head south. Baja, hop over to the mainland head towards Argentina. Id like to take a year or more if possible to do all of this.

So at a high level thats the plan, who knows how far ill make it or when money will run out. But i think its going to be fun till it does.

Group ride anyone?

Fack yeah, Dan.  [thumbsup]  Vroom, vroom.   [moto]

PS:  need me to babysit your KTM?  ;D

Get in line, Jammen has already filed out the paper work, just trying to get me to sign.

May need someone to babysit the CR125  ;)

 [thumbsup]  [moto]

Is there any more to the choice of Vietnam than just the TG ep?  

get some of this to dip your old boy in before you go:

(http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_lrg_images/421/208056421.jpg)

Soooooooo jealous.

You will keep us (the DMF) posted.

And of course, if you need anything, I hope you won't hesitate to let us know.  [thumbsup]

Daniel...wow!  What can I say...you're going to have an amazing time and you will be missed.  Come back to us soon(ish) and in one piece.  You going to do a blog or something?  I have a friend that traveled a bunch.  I could put you in touch with her.  She managed to stay on the road for nearly 3 years all over the world--mostly Asia and S. America. 

Geographically its a good place to start, Its The farthest North East i can get without being in China. Sapa and Halong Bay look beautiful. As it turns out its going to be easier to get a bike and registration in my name in Vietnam. Where as trying to get a bike and Reg in Thailand is more challenging. Also not many bikes are allowed to enter Vietnam, but going to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand with a bike should be no issues.

Nice,the other option i was looking into was hot wax, or a bucket of latex paint. This seems less painful and more durable.

Im guessing you've done this before [evil]

will do, haven't yet decided the media channel. Blog, DMF, FB, ect.. May have to do all, as long as the code is the same, i can just type once and cut and paste everywhere.

Blog FB, DMF, ill keep in touch somehow. Sharing the Pictures and stories is going to be some of the fun of this trip.

Does you friend have a blog? I have lots of questions still, but there has been a lot of resocures on the net that i can pick through. Thinking im just going to bounce along and research a few days before i get to a location, just cause theres so much info out there.

 [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap]

She returned last summer, but I bet her blog is still up.  Traveling is her passion.  She works a few years at a time here in the States and then takes off to explore.  I'll shoot her an email and put you two in touch.  If you need her, then you've got her with just a phone call... If I were you, I'd pick her brain a little.  She's not...er....a prude--about anything--and she might be able to tell you how to have a good time safely.   ;)

dtm ... you should chat with michael paratore (the guy who used to manage the DOCs @ the factory in italy) ... he spent a year in vietnam ... knows all the things to do, and all the things NOT TO DO. 

all i remember from his many tales of daring do while in vietnam is that he wrecked a bunch of vespas, and came back with a nasty intestinal parasite (that he still has after 5 years).

Can you bring me back from Snake Wine. I hear Vietnam is famous for that =)

(http://www.asiansnakewine.com/snake-wine-scorpion-wine-combo.jpg)

So when are we throwing you a going away party. I think Rabbits Foot Meadery is in order.

Like I said on FB, this is cooler than cool. Long Way Down, Sideways, Around, Across, whatever. You had mentioned that NZ was a possibility on your FB post - I'd highly recommend it. The riding is absolutely spectacular and the scenery will knock your eyeballs out.

It'll be an amazing adventure.

seems like a spectacular method of duping the customer and getting away with putting less wine in the bottle  [evil]

You're the man, Dan. 

 [popcorn]


Yes, we have to give you a proper send-off. [thumbsup]

Put me in line for the KTM.

You should talk to smducman before you go. He grew up there and still goes back a lot. Maybe we can lure him to ZG next week?

Wow! what an amazing idea, you are going to have such a blast.  Enjoy and be safe! [thumbsup]

NZ looks amazing. I hope by the time i get there, ill still have money to get a bike and ride it. If all works out all land travel will be by bike. Well thats ideal anyways.


I think ill stick to the rice wine. Yes RFM before i go.

Miss you to MrI. Hope to be around when JrIncredible is born.


On my list of things to do before i go. [thumbsup]


Thanks!

Think you can get a kitchen pass to meet me in Thailand?  [evil]

If you head up to Oregon once you're back in the US, you've got a place to crash with Mother and me.

Danny is asian?  I couldn't tell. 



















 [cheeky]

yes, you will see signs on the massage parlors "DUCATIZ NO WELCOME"

make sure to get your ear wax removed by a street vendor.  cost you about 2 bucks and they will use these horrifying looking wire loops and scoop out about a pound of earwax you never knew you had.  bring a small jar to take it home with you.

It may be a while before i get home, can i send you the ear wax to hold for me? You can shape it as famous people like Tiger and his 11 chicks  [laugh]

Thanks! you didn't know it but you were first on my list ;D

i think it's illegal to mail it, but you can try   [drink]

Oh man...that's freakin' awesome! There's a spot for ya on the couch if you need a place to crash when you're back.

Thanks g, i know i can count on you. If you feel like a vacation, come meet me wherever im at. [thumbsup]

I like your style.  [thumbsup] [drink]

I'll be in French Guyana for about 6 weeks at the start of 2011-if you make it to South America, I can put you up.

Dan - here is my friend's blog.

http://www.tamirowan.blogspot.com/ (http://www.tamirowan.blogspot.com/)

these posts will be especially helpful -
http://tamirowan.blogspot.com/2008/09/make-dream-reality.html (http://tamirowan.blogspot.com/2008/09/make-dream-reality.html)
http://tami-recommendations.blogspot.com/2007/10/general-tips-for-southeast-asia.html (http://tami-recommendations.blogspot.com/2007/10/general-tips-for-southeast-asia.html)
http://tamirowan.blogspot.com/2008/09/gear-that-stood-test-or-not.html (http://tamirowan.blogspot.com/2008/09/gear-that-stood-test-or-not.html)
http://www.tami-recommendations.blogspot.com/ (http://www.tami-recommendations.blogspot.com/)

Let me know if you want her email and I'll PM it to you.  She's very psyched about your trip and wants to help you in any way she can.   [thumbsup]

Yes please :D

Some great info there, id love to get more.

That timing may be perfect, if i leave her round October or so, Id be in that are around the first of the year.

Sa-WEET!


Dude that is awesome!

Pending a few details you can stay with me in China if you get over here. I'm at the southern tip near Hong Kong. Hong Kong rocks btw. Not to be missed after all the ancient and traditional places, HK is is off the hook into the future. Major party scene with people from absolutely everywhere. Weather is amazing. It's 72F right now, flowers are blooming, lots of motos out and about. PS. you want to be here not in the Summer. I understand it gets blazing hot. Go north then.

Otherwise don't ask me freaking anything. I'm an Asia n00b but learning fast. Trip #2 in a month. I'm here often.
ok, 1 thing: United sucks. Cathay Pacific ($800 fairs right now specials often)  [thumbsup] Singapore Air  [thumbsup]  

You are going to freak. Its awesome in 17 colors. So much to see. Happy happy joy joy!



Cop bikes in China
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4184369792_694388fe77.jpg)

 [moto]

have fun brah...

I willl be following your updates

 [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap] [bow_down]

This is awesome.. Good luck Dan, and may all the Gods from pass present and future ride with you..

Your back and forth in Shenzen huh? Im sure at some point ill be going through Hong Kong or if you get a chance add in a little vacation time and meet me somewhere since youu be over there.


Got it bring steaks for the puppy :P


Thanks for the blessings, i may need it  [thumbsup]


With any luck ill heading that way over summer, When is the best time for the Jersy Shore  [cheeky]

Shortly after you turn 65, judging by the crowds.

DTM, when you leavin'?

Jan 14th

Ya for sho. If you give me enough warning (two months or so) I can plan for it and catch you there. There is another DMF'er in HK as well.
Get a good portable camera and a flickr account. This will be a tale for the grand kids.  [thumbsup]

the ones dtm leaves behind in vietnam, singapore, new zealand, etc ...  [evil]

Dan,
that's awesome.
hopefully you will let us live vicariously through you.
document it and take lots of pics, then share.
more power to you for living the way you want to and doing an adventure like this.

Ciao!

...or something you'd never want them to hear about [evil]

Man...  I'm not on the DMF for a couple days and look what happens.  Geesh!

Congrats, Danno!   [clap]

Yeah it was time for me to get out of this rut i'm living in and do something ive wanted to for a while.


Thing happen quick around here  :P Hey don't you have a sabbatical coming up?  [moto]

Inoculation Day

Went to visit the travel doctor and get some shots, pills, creams. Hep A, typhoid, Tetnis, Cipro, Malarone, Japanese Encephalitis. Mosquitoes in that part of the world are nasty little buggers. Also been looking to get a private tutor to teach my Vietnamese for a few days when i first get there. I think it will be a great way to enhance the experience while there if i can learn a few simple phrases and have a clue of what is going on.

I guess they can't inoculate against scabies...

No, but its easily curable with no lasting issues.

I've been considering Australia/New Zealand in the winter next year.  I've also been thinking Europe during the summer / early fall.

Werd.

Just spray your nads with malathion or permethrin.  Not only will you not get the scabies, you'll cure anyone you "come" in "contact" with.

Of course, your kids may end up with three arms, but hey, at least no itchy nads.

The party at the shore goes from Memorial Day to Labor Day... 

have you seen the show? 
http://www.mtv.com/shows/jersey_shore/series.jhtml (http://www.mtv.com/shows/jersey_shore/series.jhtml)

This is a very accurate representation of every person in New Jersey BTW...

Congrats Dan.

Have you decided on gear yet? 

Also, there are some podcasts for just about any language you want to learn. 

HAha yeah ive been watching that.




Getting a mesh jacket, and my 'stich pants, MX helmet. I got a waterproof jacket for a underneath layer. If it gets cold, pack on everything i got. Using Hiking boots for a dual purpose hiking and riding.

Links for podcasts?

~holds up paperwork for KTM transfer~

You, um, forgot to sign these at the bar the other night, something about not being able to hold a pen.   ;D
I'll just drop em off and you can finish em up at your convenience. 

The midget has a couple more recommendations for people you can contact over there, I'll try and wrangle the info outta her.

I haven't seen a thread for the bon voyage fête. 
Heather!!!

Well, hell, I was gonna wait till Spring, but this seems as good a time as any... We can keep it a little more intimate and just invite Dan-o and his friends and all the moto peeps.  I'll of course see if I can get any sympathetic cagers (esp. good looking, single women) to join us.  I guess we're pretty limited on dates...we can do the 9th of Jan.  Dan, you around or are you going to be busy right up until the last moment?  Is there something else already in the works?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=learn+vietnamese+podcast (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=learn+vietnamese+podcast)

9th would be good, but you don't have to go out of your way to host anything for me, we can just do a Zeitgeist night. Unless you were looking for an excuse to throw a party and moto get to together.

I've had a request or two for another shin-dig.  We'll get out the firepit and the 150 to see you off properly. 

http://tinyurl.com/yhq2mpl (http://tinyurl.com/yhq2mpl)

I could have done that, thought you had a source you used.

I have a place for you to crash on your way up or down the coast. Just bring a good story with you.




Also I don't mind babysitting the 125.  ;D

Started an official thread here

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=34037.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=34037.0)

For those of you who don't frequent General, Dan's postin' pretty regularly about his travels.  Looks awesome.   [thumbsup]

danke, dood.

I was wondering when the blog was going to start... Apparently it has been going for a while now.

Hey Dan, check it out - you're a trendsetter!

On the Beer Trail in Vietnam (http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/travel/21explorer.html?ref=travel)

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/02/21/travel/21explorer_span-CA0/21explorer_CA0-articleLarge.jpg)

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/02/21/travel/21explorer2/21explorer2-popup.jpg)

February 21, 2010
EXPLORER
In Vietnam, Traveling an Unlikely Beer Trail

By RUSS JUSKALIAN
THE setting could have been any typical Central European beer garden. There were long rows of wooden tables stained in dark, rich hues; half- and full-liter beer mugs hanging from metal racks; and two beautifully crafted brass decoction tanks used for mashing traditionally brewed beer. But on this warm afternoon in November, I wasn’t in Plzen, or Munich, or Bruges. I was at the Hoa Vien Bräuhaus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The humid air buzzed with conversations in melodiously tonal Vietnamese. This, too, surprised me. Considering that Hoa Vien’s founder is an honorary consul of the Czech Republic (that is, a noncareer diplomat), I had envisioned throngs of expatriates knocking their glasses together. But the crowd was made up of young Vietnamese men in slacks and button-down shirts — lanyards with key cards still dangling around their necks — and couples chatting under large, shady trees. All part of Vietnam’s growing generation of hip, young professionals.

At the beginning of a beer odyssey through this long, slender country, I savored the unexpectedness of it all as I sipped two draft brews made on the premises, carrying Hoa Vien’s Hoavener label. The crisp, freshly poured bia vang (yellow beer), what we would call a golden lager, had a bitter hops flavor somewhere between a typical Czech pilsner and a Munich-style lager. The bia den (black beer), a dark lager, was more intensely bitter, and had just enough bite to balance a beautiful malt-caramel flavor. Both were wonderful.

For the first-time visitor to Vietnam, the variety of local and regional beers can be surprising. It seems each city has a beer named after it (Bia Can Tho, Bia Thai Binh, Bia Saigon, Bia Hanoi, Bia Hue, and so on), and the best of the bunch depends on whom you ask and where you’re asking. But in recent decades, Vietnamese beer culture has morphed, adopting traditional European styles as well as embracing a uniquely ephemeral home-grown brew called bia hoi. The latter is so popular that to many of the roughly four million people who visit Vietnam each year, drinking bia hoi on the streets of Hanoi is as emblematic of a trip to Southeast Asia as ordering pad Thai in Bangkok.

Ho Chi Minh City is home to a handful of European-style microbreweries, most of which are centrally located in District 1 and some of which claim to brew their beer according to the Bavarian purity law known as the Reinheitsgebot. This trend took off in 2001 when Hoa Vien, which had previously been importing Pilsner Urquell, built a Euro-style brewery inside the restaurant with the help of experts from the Czech Republic. Other breweries followed, trying to tap into a domestic beer culture that stretches back at least to the 1890s (that’s when the Habeco brewery, now state run, was founded by French colonialists), was revitalized during the Vietnam War in the 1960s, and currently produces more than 2 billion liters of beer a year.

The European influence was visible at two other pubs I visited in Ho Chi Minh City. Nguyen Du Brauhof, a small open-air restaurant, served Adler Bräu beer alongside German dishes like schweinshaxe and traditional Vietnamese fare like eel. And across the street from the Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theater, not far from Graham Greene’s old haunt the Continental Hotel, the Lion Brewery & Restaurant resembled a giant Munich bierhalle — complete with wall-size murals of Oktoberfest revelers in lederhosen and dirndls.

Heading north from Ho Chi Minh City, I flew to Nha Trang, Vietnam’s most popular coastal resort town. The typhoons that had devastated the Philippines last fall had obscured Nha Trang’s beach under waist-high drifts of tree parts and human-made jetsam, but the Louisiane Brewhouse, nestled beneath undamaged palm trees on the southern sweep of Nha Trang’s main drag, just an arm’s length from the sand, was open for business. Here was a place, I had heard, where beer influences collided: classic Northern European styles transformed by Southeast Asia’s tropical flavors.

I first ordered a Crystal Ale draft, a top-fermented beer made with passion fruit and local rambutan, a tropical fruit similar to litchi. It tasted faintly of honey, matched with floral highlights and a mild bitter finish. Next, I had a Passion Fruit Witbier draft, a slight twist on a Belgian classic. The witbier base itself was made with a mixture of local and imported wheat grains, and a gruit, or flavoring base, consisting of local coriander and orange, and imported hops. The resulting beer, served with a slice of lime, reminded me of the Portuguese wine vinho verde with a spicy kick of coriander. An excellent match for freshly caught seafood.

No beer tour to Vietnam would be complete without heading to Hanoi to sample the ultimate people’s beer, bia hoi. Consumed in frightening quantities by everyone from Vietnam’s newly rich to its hard-working street vendors, bia hoi, sometimes called fresh beer but literally meaning gas beer, is an unpasteurized, unpreserved brew made before the sun rises, and often imbibed before the sun sets. All throughout the day, motorcycle deliverymen can be seen carting the grog around in everything from 100-liter drums to smaller plastic jugs. Much of it comes from three huge breweries, but scores of smaller mom-and-pop operations flourish as well.

Walking around Hanoi’s narrow, warrenlike streets, one sees bia hoi joints on just about every corner — with locals quaffing the low-alcohol brew (2 to 4 percent) as early as 8 a.m., after which time, some locals say, the peak flavors are already in decline. The décor at these places is a remarkably consistent mash-up of the children’s section of Ikea and the ultimate in street-life voyeurism: stands of shin-high plastic tables crammed right up to the curb and matched with semicircles of knee-high plastic chairs, all facing the road. Food venders are always nearby hawking the perfect complement to a tipsy evening: grilled meats, dried squid, pork buns, noodles.

The best bia hoi places in Hanoi serve a crisp, cold beer with a clean taste suggesting rice and an almost subliminal whisper of something like hops. Daytime visits to these chatty, casual settings are a great way to strike up a conversation with a local resident. But at night, patrons at many of the locals-oriented spots may be too consumed with their conversations to notice a wandering tourist.

I sampled some of the freshest bia hoi in the city at 22 Hang Tre and 19C Ngoc Ha Streets, respectively, during the day. In both places the beer was low on bitterness, light, and had subtle notes of straw and rice — a world apart from the double I.P.A.’s, imperial stouts and other high-alcohol, high-impact beers popular with American craft brewers. I opted to spend the bulk of my evenings at the intersection of Luong Ngoc Quyen and Ta Hien Streets, a busy confluence of foreign tourists and English-speaking Vietnamese known informally as bia hoi corner.

THE beer at bia hoi corner is from a small local brewery, and varies in quality by the batch. At 3,000 Vietnamese dong (roughly 16 cents) a pint, it is so inexpensive — “cheaper than water,” a gregarious Vietnamese man told me — that locals know to buy a single drink to test the day’s offering before deciding whether to stay. They also know that the beer is just one aspect of what makes socializing at one of these places, filled with an eclectic spectrum of people, so much fun.

One night I had a conversation about the American electoral college with a 26-year-old Vietnamese chemical engineer dressed in chic slacks, a button-down shirt and designer glasses; the next day I traded New York City dining tips with a former sushi chef from Queens.

After my last hot day in Hanoi, which included a visit to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, I finally came to a stop at bia hoi corner. Sitting in a Lilliputian plastic chair by the curb, I watched street vendors sell mangoes from baskets balanced across their shoulders on bamboo poles, motorcycles overloaded with passengers and goods weave through the traffic, and the occasional young girl and her grandmother going for an early evening walk in pajamas and flip-flops.

Pretty soon I would be braving the crush of Hanoi’s traffic myself, stuck in an overcrowded shuttle on the way to the airport. After experiencing Vietnam’s pleasantly vibrant beer culture, I was in no rush to pack my bags.

IF YOU GO

HOW TO GET THERE

There are many airlines flying between Kennedy Airport and Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi. Many of the itineraries have two stopovers. A recent online search found round-trip flights in March to Hanoi starting at $1,228 on Cathay Pacific, and flights to Ho Chi Minh City starting at just over $1,000 on Air China and at $1,140 on Cathay Pacific.

Vietnam Airlines (vietnamairlines.com), Air Asia (airasia.com) and Jetstar (jetstar.com) offer cheap domestic flights. Popular routes can fill up quickly.

WHERE TO GO

In Ho Chi Minh City:

Hoa Vien Bräuhaus (28 bis Mac Dinh Chi Street, District 1; 84-8 3-829-0585; hoavien.vn)

Nguyen Du Brauhof (98 Nguyen Du Street, District 1; 84-8 3-822-6891)

Lion Brewery & Restaurant (11C Lam Son Square, District 1; 84-8 3-823-8514)

In Nha Trang:

Louisiane Brewhouse (Lot 29, Tran Phu Street; 84-58 3-521-948 or 84-58 3-521-831; www.louisianebrewhouse.com.vn (http://))

In Hanoi:

Many bia hoi joints are known simply by their address — or even the intersection they inhabit. New ones pop up, and old ones close or relocate. But wander around Hanoi for a few minutes and you will see locals sitting on undersize plastic chairs drinking straw-colored beer at any time of the day.

Bia hoi corner (Luong Ngoc Quyen and Ta Hien Streets) is a central gathering place. For some of the freshest, best tasting bia hoi in the city, try:

19C Ngoc Ha Street (Ba Dinh District). Catering to an upper-class Vietnamese crowd, this is a great place to get an afternoon beer after waiting in line to see Ho Chi Minh in his casket — since Uncle Ho’s mausoleum is literally just out back.

22 Hang Tre Street (Hoan Kiem District). Another bia hoi joint — or two, it occupies both sides of the street — just off the main tourist drag, but totally off most tourists’ itineraries.

That is where this picture is from. Having some Bia Hoi for 3000d sitting one those little plastic stools. Tastes like watered down beer with a hint of lime. Had 6 glasses one night and didn't do much. But not bad for less than a dollar.

(http://lh6.ggpht.com/__WCKsvKd7HA/S1PBDbylJgI/AAAAAAAAAJI/_PAw52m98_E/s640/IMG_6378-1.JPG)


I think i barfed on the beach next to this place on new years. Those beers sound yummy, wish i knew it was there.



I remember walking by one of these places and laughing that they were trying to recreate the Oktoberfest theme. Guess i should have walked in.

Cool find MM