We gave in and did it, when in Hoi An we got bored and on a nice clear day we decided to rent a motorbike as A) they are ridiculously cheap – 80,000dong= 2.50GBP and B) the roads are pretty quiet around the area.
So we rented one (the one thing my Dad asked us not to do….again, sorry, I love you!), put on our helmets (that is a very strict law in Vietnam and carries a hefty fine) and using a shoddy map, made our way to the coast. It was a beautiful drive, the beach was only a couple of KM’s away and we got to explore the whole area, to places we would not have been able to go and saw things we would otherwise not have been able to see.
The outskirts of Hoi An is the perfect place to practice riding a motorbike in Vietnam as the roads are relatively quiet compared to other crazy areas, and once you get more quiet you can take the bike into the old city and practice riding amongst the Vietnamese, the way they ride- without the use of peripheral vision…its an experience for sure!