Tag: motorbike
-
Buzz Escooters – British Engineering in Vietnam
Pat Joynt, the owner of Saigon Scooter Centre, is also developing electric bikes in Vietnam. Over the last 10 years, classic Italian Scooters got converted into electric bikes. The VTronic and the EBretta were the results. Now, the Buzz Escooter has arrived. We photographed the prototypes at our studio in Ho Chi Minh City. …
-
Fortune favours the prepared mind – The race for a sunset location in Tra Vinh
We roamed around the country side all day, passing fields being harvested and stopped wherever we felt would be a good location. As the daylight started to decrease its strength, we started contemplating a suitable location for a sunset shot. Something visually interesting that could serve as a silhouetted foreground. After a wild goose chase…
-
The Mouse, The Snake & Facing your Fears in Tra Vinh
Saigon 5am a Friday morning. We are setting off on our road trip to our destination, Tra Vinh. 10.30am we check in to our hotel with sore buttocks. A few pitstops on the way, each one proved more and more difficult to dismount the bike as the soreness increased. It was worth it. We will…
-
Meet the Ebretta and the V-Tronic, the electric vintage looking scooters
Saigon Scooter Centre (SSC), have just launched two electric scooters, a Lambretta and a Vespa, perfect for inner-city travel. Speed of up to 60km per hour and a traveling distance of 40 kilometers on a full charge ought to be enough to whizz around town in green style. Patrick, from SSC, brought the bikes over…
-
On the road to Moc Bai, Vietnam and the Cambodia border
Thundering down the road at the speed of a turtle. Steamrolling through the landscape. It had to be captured. Man riding his big metal beast, flattening anything that may come in front of the rollers. Shortly after, we are thundering down the road too, on our metal horse, the motorbike. Stopping again to have a…
-
A chance encounter with the homeless statues
Where do broken statues go? Taking to the streets it seems. We spotted them while taking a road trip for the day. There they were. All huddled together around a closed shop. Their fate unknown, except that they were no longer wanted at their original location. We stopped. Walked around. Saw. Captured. Wondered. Only to…
-
On the road to Cu Chi and the hidden sights of the countryside
I had sat aside time for another day trip. Planning to go to Tay Ninh, however, I had to cut my trip short and keep it within half a day. A half day doesn’t sound a lot. Only a couple of hours. If you live in London, less than two and half hours will take…
-
Only skin deep…
July was truly a roller coaster. Pulled two teeth. Definitely downwards. Going on an amazing road trip. Definitely up. Having a motorbike accident on a location shoot in Saigon. Ouch, that’s down. I went down. Got hit by another bike while I was turning. We were doing b-roll for a corporate movie, no stunts planned…
-
Pure bliss (Part IV)
Just turned off the main road and heading towards Da Lat. Small country road, sun is shining, breeze is flowing as we ride along and are enjoying the road to ourselves. Pure bliss. Simply put. No more trucks and buses and exhaust fumes. Only the sound of our bike humming along the road. This would…
-
A new dawn in Nha Trang (Part III)
We had made it to Nha Trang. 14 hours on the road. Found a nice hotel to treat ourselves to a good night sleep before heading off the next day. Been informed that a potential client wanted to meet up in the morning since they have heard we would be up there. 8 am meeting…
-
Ride, drink and shoot (Part II)
That’s what we did. Like a British fox hunting party we set out and chased something. That something cannot be easily explained. We had no dogs to help us. They were all at home, barking at any creature that entered the grounds. No use to us. Not that we were fox hunting anyway. We were…
-
Break of dawn and barking dogs (Part I)
Road trip. Those are the magic words. Bringing a smile to my face as I splash water in my face. Been up since 4 am. SMS’ed James to see if he really would make it at 5 am. “Yes”, he texted back. That’s what a road trip will do for you. Even more so when…
-
Chasing the morning light along Saigon river
This is what you get by getting up early. Beautiful light. The road to yourself. Yes, it is a Sunday morning. Hardly any traffic. Fast forward 24 hours and you have the traffic jams. Sunday is a day of rest in most countries. Rest can be many things. It can be a stay in bed…
-
XO Tours, your two-wheeled experience of the streets of Saigon
XO stands for Xe Om, the name for motorbike taxis. However, XO Tours riders are far from your typical guy on the corner motorbike taxi. Mr Tung is the man behind the new tour concept of letting female guides dressed in traditional Vietnamese dress, Ao Dai, take tourists around for a spin. People arriving to…
-
Saigon Scooter Centre’s annual Charity Run 2010
This year was the fifth anniversary of the Charity Run event organized by Saigon Scooter Centre. My first time to attend. The event raises money for charity and the full information can be accessed here. This will be the longest blog post in terms of images. Take a look and get a feel of the…
-
Moto Moto!
In Vietnam a moto is a motorbike. In Zambia, they have the Moto Moto Museum. To them, Moto Moto is Fire Fire. Moto is also a nickname for Motorola. You have Moto Boy from Sweden. The Urban Moto magazine, the Moto programming language, another Moto Museum and Mr. Moto, the secret agent. China are famous for…
-
The masked riders of Saigon’s streets.
Motorbikes are plentiful in Saigon. Over 4 millions according to travelers websites, and in 2000 alone, 1.4 million units were produced locally and sold. According to a survey from 2008, 26 million vehicles are registered in Vietnam, 95% of them are motorbikes. Over 9000 new motorbike registrations daily. The numbers are just numbers until you…
-
Packed like sardines as accidents do happen
The image above was captured on the road from Phu My Hung heading towards district 4. A motorbike carrying building bricks had slammed into a SUV and consequently fell on the road, breaking most of the bricks. Police at the scene filling in forms while the traffic jam is building up as the SUV was…