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Back from Moc bai Visa Run done earlier this week. Smooth Journey there and back.

First leg to Saigon, no probs. 111 miles from Vung Tau to Hotel in Saigon. Afterwards, collected visa approval (invitation) letter, visited bank in Saigon and also got small repair on backpack done. Did everything the day I got to Saigon. That way, can leave Saigon early next day.

Left Saigon about 9:45am next day. At Moc Bai at 12:15pm. Distance = 72 miles.

Got Stamped out of Vietnam, applied for Cambodia visa (which was extremely quick - 2 mins). Stamped in to Cambodia. Then Stamped out.
Applied for Vietnam visa (enclosing invitation letter), fee (25 USD) + photo. A slight delay here even though there was no people the only officer at visa issue counter appeared to be doing admin work and also issuing visas.

Left Moc Bai at 01:45 pm. Arrived in Vung Tau at 6:45 pm. 5 Hours is not too bad (for 171 km) considering google maps said 4hr 15mins in a car non-stop. I took 2 stops for refuelling + 1 stop for lunch + handful of quick stops for confirming route. Oh!, by the way I didn't take the route mentioned in post #1. Just before leaving Moc Bai, I checked google maps again, and it suggested a route which was 2 minutes slower that the earlier one. But intriguingly, it was turning off the main road to Saigon much earlier than the previous route. I figured any road that turns way before Saigon is a plus. So decided to take it.

this is the route I took:


If anyone needs for border run here the link to the map:



You turn left at Củ Chi (on to DT8 road), avoiding Saigon all together. The road is pretty good, just a small stretch of about 10 km where it's single lane, so bit slow. But soon afterwards it's plain sailing all the way to Vung Tau. Wide roads (motorbike allowed) of 3-4 lanes most of the way. Only a couple of places where you have to turn off main road.

I was blessed with really good weather throughout (little bit of drizzle for about 5km on the way back). The only snag about this is that it can be really dusty. I just wore a half-face helmet. When I arrived in Vung Tau, face had black marks. Blowing nose revealed more muck.  Even showering well didn't seem to shift everything off face. Can anyone tell me if a full-face helmet can prevent this? (I would think it does)

Here’s a pic of my shirt when I washed it the next day. (BTW: I usually take a change of shirt but forgot this time, so wore the same shirt there and back )



That's actual dirt/dust/grime etc by the way, not the shirt fading. I've had it for years and it never fades when washing. For pps who ride Saigon to Hanoi or vice versa, they've probably seen it all before. Just thought I'd warn others though.

before I forget, anyone considering this trip with a half-face helmet. Get a good pair of goggles. They look like the glasses skiers (or scuba divers) wear. The reason I say this is because there's sand/dust and god knows what constantly going in your eyes. The wind can be strong it can make your eyes water. At night there are moths and other insects hitting your eyes. FanFan store in Saigon (google 'FanFan Saigon') does two kinds of goggles, clear day-time one, and night-time enhanced vision. They are both 95k Dong each. But then you could probably get a full-face helmet for around 350k. Up to you.

That's all for now folks. Hope you find some useful info here. Have fun and safe travels.

I have done this run about 8 times, traffic from Cu Chi to Go Dau is really bad at times, you have to be careful on that part of the road.