A Short Ride in the Jungle: The Ho Chi Minh Trail by Motorcycle

by Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent

The Ho Chi Minh Trail is one of the greatest feats of military engineering in history. But since the end of the Vietnam War much of this vast transport network has been reclaimed by jungle, while remaining sections are littered with a deadly legacy of unexploded bombs. For Antonia, a veteran of ridiculous adventures in unfeasible vehicles, the chance to explore the Trail before it’s lost forever was a personal challenge she couldn’t ignore – yet it would sometimes be a terrifying journey.

Setting out from Hanoi on an ageing Honda Cub, she spent the next two months riding 2,000 miles through the mountains and jungles of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Battling in hospitable terrain and multiple breakdowns, her experiences ranged from the touching to the hilarious, meeting former American fighter pilots, tribal chiefs,illegal loggers and bomb disposal experts.The story of her brave journey is thrilling and poignant: a unique insight into a little known face of Southeast Asia.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Adventure, Travelogue, History, Biography Memoir

Hardcover

First published April 2, 2014

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvelous travelogue of a young woman who rides on a motor-scooter on what is left of the Ho Chi Minh trail.

She takes us on a journey, at times fraught with peril, from Hanoi to Laos, Cambodia, and ending up in Ho Chi Minh city (still called Saigon by many in Vietnam). The leftovers of the Vietnam War are everywhere on her trip. She encounters various groups (European and U.S.) that continue to dismantle the thousands of unexploded bombs leftover from the war (called UXO – unexploded ordinance). There are still hundreds every year in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia who die or are maimed by these UXOs. She herself has to be careful – especially when going off trail to be extra vigilant. She sees the holes in the ground in all these countries from the B-52 raids from so many years ago. Villagers use the parts leftover from airplanes and helicopters for their homes.

There is also a vast amount of development like logging and mining, much of it financed by Chinese companies. Since this book was written over five years ago, I would presume that the jungles of Laos and Cambodia have been diminished and deforested even more.

The author gives us a view of her daily life and the encounters she has on her journey. She stays at some “hotels” that were basically bordellos where she would have to fend off lude encounters with men. She had a lot of spunk and was resilient in repelling these predators. Not all were mean and vulgar; at one stage when she was in dire straits on the trail during a monsoon, she was aided by altruistic men who refused her monetary donations. This goes to illustrate the kindness and generosity one can receive from strangers in foreign land even when there are language and cultural barriers.

One comes out of this not wanting the adventure to end. The author enveloped you in her quest giving us a wonderful appreciation of the history, land, and people she met.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would've been a good travelogue for anyone with no prior knowledge of the region or it's tragic history, but having also motorbiked on more than one occasion through the same treacherous mud and sand on an albeit small section of the same trail, and sharing an avid fascination with the Indochinese wars I can only rate this book higher. The Honda cup and it's more modern descendants like the Wave and Dream are not to be sniffed at, they are truly go anywhere offroad vehicles in their own right, as the many locals one meets along the way so aptly prove. However, braving 3,000 km as a lone female through such remote and tough conditions is something else, even equipped with GPS and smartphones, requiring much riding skill and determination. Along the way, we get not only an intimate history of the Vietnam War from the ground perspective, but also see the rapid and mostly negative changes taking place in the massive deforestation, mining and road building that have questionable benefits for the local people.

At risk of a minor spoiler for anyone that hasn't read the book, the intrepid biker fell slightly short of making a complete trace of the trail in eastern Cambodia, at the very section I have visited, known for it's extreme conditions. Not only is this area challenging, but it is also among the most unspoiled and beautiful left in the entire region. Even so, as I write this that section could already be entirely paved over, bringing with it more deforestation and settlements. So, if reading this account inspires you to go see it for yourself, better sooner than later for in all likelihood the Ho Chi Minh Trail will very soon only be a memory and footnote in history.

[Chris Steeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book as Antonia travels on a Honda C90 following the Ho Chi Minh trail from Hanoi in North Vietnam down to Saigon in the South going through Laos and Cambodia. Great travelogue with lots of historical war facts thrown into the mix. She also recommended a book by Mark Baker 'Nam' which I have purchased as well so look forward to reading that. Thanks.

There was one sentence which was another horrible generalisation by a British person of Americans. I really do not like this kind of lazy writing. Other than that I highly recommend this if you enjoy travel writing books.

[Rick Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author and adventurer Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent was introduced to the Ho Chi Minh Trail during a producing job for a reality TV show. She rode parts of the trail in Vietnam and Laos with an advance crew scouting locations for filming, and the trip inspired her to try driving the famed North Vietnamese wartime supply route solo. On a pink 1989 Honda Cub moped.

Traveling from Hanoi into Laos, crossing mountains and jungles, into Cambodia, and back into Vietnam to end her trip in Saigon, the author recounts her adventures with bad weather, near-impassible terrain, mechanical problems, and the dangers of unexploded ordinance and landmines among much of the trail.

The people she encounters along the way will have the reader alternatingly losing and regaining their faith in humanity. Some of the sexual harassment she faces is disturbing, but then she is also met with selfless generosity by locals who help her out when the bike breaks down (and in once case she deals with both extremes at once).

There's an engaging cast of adventurers, bomb disposal workers, former soldiers and pilots, and backpackers that she meets along the way, and her storytelling style is equally adept for pointing out the horrors left behind by war, or for recounting her odd and quirky interactions on the road.

I've lived in Vietnam for a year and a half now, and found this book added immensely to my understanding of the country I've grown to love, and the surrounding areas, including a lot of places well outside of the standard tourist tracks that I've stuck to so far.

I also learned a lot of history, something the author incorporates very smoothly into her narrative. This book presents a great picture of today's Southeast Asia while filling in much of the needed background. It also manages to be a pretty gripping adventure story.

[Sarahndipity · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. I found this book while traveling in Vietnam, and had no idea how inspiring or informative it would be. I was left in awe and with a knowing that I need more Southeast Asian motorbike adventures in my life!

[Debbi Barton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An account of a journey discovering the Ho Chi Minh Trail. To quote the author's exact words 'I hadn't undergone a spiritual transformation or discovered myself in some ecstatic epiphany. This like the author didn't wow me. I still want to travel to Cambodia and Vietnam, but certainly not on a bike!

[David Twine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The intrepid author rides a Honda 90 across Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The bike survives numerous tediously detailed mechanical failures. This is not "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". The book's interest (for me) lies in the recounting of the war-ridden recent history of the area and the reminder that much of the area is still littered with unexploded bombs.

[Bidasari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sejenis buku yang seawal ayat pertama nota penulis membuatkan hati den terpesona. L

Perjalanan penulis selama 6 minggu merentasi Ho Chi Minh Trail = Truong Son Strategic Supply Route - Sihanouk Trail (Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia) dengan menunggang Honda Cub C90 berwarna pink pada tahun 2013.

Perjalanan penuh berliku. Motor tersangkut dalam lumpur terpaksa ditinggalkan semalaman. Menyeberang sungai melalui titi buluh. Perlu fikir cara hendak menyeberang sungai yang tiada titi (perlu upah beberapa kanak-kanak menjunjung motor, dsb). Motor breakdown. Terjatuh motor. Kehabisan minyak petrol. Kehabisan minuman dan makanan. Bermalam di rumah/motel yang macam udah 10 tahun tidak dihuni orang, dsb.

Penulis juga berjumpa dengan ramai orang sepanjang perjalanannya. Orang yang telah menjelajah Ho Chi Minh Trail sebelum ini.
2 beradik orang Australia yang merupakan pakar dalam mengenalpasti tinggalan bom dan memusnahkan bom tersebut.
Pekerja-pekerja syarikat balak yang sudi membantu mengeluarkan motor yang terbenam dalam lumpur, memberi tumpang tidur dan berkongsi makanan.
Penduduk tempatan yang menunjuk cara menunggang atas batu licin untuk menyeberang sungai. Mekanik-mekanik yang memperbaiki motornya sebanyak 4 kali sepanjang perjalanan. Dan ramai lagi.

Buku yang menceritakan tentang sejarah Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia terutamanya semasa Perang Vietnam.

Baca cerita pasal perang ni biasanya memang buat sebak sebab mengenang kekejaman, rakyat yang terkorban, dsb.

Antaranya: Kisah perjuangan Ho Chi Minh memperjuangkan penyatuan Vietnam Utara dan Vietnam Selatan dan seterusnya kemerdekaan Vietnam. Lepas tuh sedih juga bila Viet Cong menyebabkan ramai rakyat South Vietnam terbunuh. Tidak terhadam kekejaman Pol Pot melalu rejim Khmer Rouge di Phnom Penh yang mengorbankan hampir 2 juta rakyat Cambodia dalam 4 tahun (1975 - 1979). Pol Pot ni asalnya adalah seorang sami dan cikgu. Kemusnahan dinasti monarki diraja Cambodia yang berusia 600 tahun. Tentang campur tangan USA yang membawa kehancuran pada Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia.

Travelog yang menarik teruk

[Drew Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Southeast Asia holds a special place in my heart, as a traveler and photographer. This made the book a particular pleasure to read but I believe it would be engaging to anyone who loves travel writing and contemporary adventuring. Ms. Bolingbroke-Kent’s goal of riding a small motorcycle along a notoriously difficult trail is a good excuse for direct contact with the people of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Fortunately, along with the necessary pluck to reach the end of the journey, given all the challenges you might expect in a jungle - oppressive heat, torrential rain, insects, mud, river crossings by whatever means available, she is a sensitive, empathetic presence. I learned some history, caught up with contemporary politics of the region and laughed often, as the author used wit to navigate the peculiarities of her undertaking. A fun, informative “ride.”

[Rachael Hewison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been on my To read list for a while. I added it shortly after I travelled through Vietnam and Cambodia myself and thought it would be interesting to read about someone else's journey through these two amazing countries (unfortunately I never made it to Laos).

Bolingbroke-Kent writes a fantastic travelogue. It's a great mix of writing about her journey, the history of each of the countries and the effect that past events have had on the countries in the present day. She's a very descriptive writer and you can easily imagine each of the places she's describing (although a few pictures wouldn't have gone amiss). There were a few spelling/grammar errors I was surprised to find but overall it was a really interesting book.

[Zoe Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this would be an interview read as I was headed to Vietnam on holiday later this year. So spotted in Waterstones and duly picked up.
Not disappointing at all and found this an engaging informative read. Expecting it to have some history I found the way the history of Laos Cambodia and Vietnam was interweaved in to the adventurous motorcycle route down the Ho Chi Minh trail to be quite fascinating.
Quite the story of human suffering, exploration exploitation and celebration of spirit in one.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gem of a read this book is. Bolingbroke-Kent has a perfect balance of humour, observation, historical facts and narrative writing. I could barely put this book down. I can't recommend it enough.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting account of a an unimaginable undertaking by the author. I really enjoyed the historical perspective and the experience she had in the current day as well. If your searching for adventure, here is a great one.

[Jamie Horan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light on detail about the trail.

[Ali Crain · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I have no desire to follow in the authors footsteps, I really enjoyed her adventure and learning more about the effects of the war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took awhile to read. But still a good journey

[Mohammed Farhan Drd]

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[Kalen Manshack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! Absolutely fascinating

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read - bloody love this book. An inspiring read with loads of history.

[Beverly GP · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absorbing read from start to finish. Just as interesting as Antonia’s journey is her peppering of history of the Vietnam War, communism and dictatorship experienced by the three countries she travelled through. I really enjoyed her writing style and learning more about a part of the world (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) I would otherwise not know much about.

[Ape · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this on goodreads a month or two ago.

This woman is my hero. She is a complete Snufkin, and living the adventures I wish I could if only I had the money, time, and I think most importantly the connections. The fact that she knew a guy in Hanoi who'd biked a lot of the trail; and a Vietnamese mechanic who sorted out this little pink scooter motorbike she'd be riding on are priceless I think. But in doing all this, writing about and publishing a book means I can sort of get to live the dream through reading this book.

Antonia travels the Ho Chi Minh trail on a wee bike - it must have been in 2012 or 2013. It's a supply route that went from Hanoi in northern Vietnam, through Laos, Cambodia, and down into southern Vietnam to Saigon. These days the state of the route varies from brand new tarmac roads, to disintergrating mountain tracks, swampy mud pits and everything else that you really wouldn't consider taking a bike down. She goes through villages and towns, jungle, mountains, low lands, gets to experience what's really going on in these countries away from the popular backpacker resorts, where people are trapped in poverty and are having their natural resources stolen away from them, with foreign organisations mining up the minerals, and illegal logging going on. And on top of all that, there is the legacy of the Vietnam war in all three countries, and then the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, which are still having a massive effect on people's lives today. Agent Orange causes genetic changes and cancers down the generations, there are unexploded bombs EVERYWHERE, so people are still getting blown up and maimed today, and further more aren't able to use the land for farming, responsible forestry, building a hospital or school... Unsurpisingly this is also a bit of a history lesson into the war. I wasn't a complete newbie to it all, but even so, some of the facts just horrified me. Considering Vietnam WON the war, this area has been left in a steaming disaster crater. Some money is given every year for teams to go in and continue the incredibly slow process of clearing the unexploded bombs. But this is an insultingly small proportion of the money that is spend every year for teams to go in and look for the remains (ie. teeth, bits of bone etc) of American soliders who haven't been completely brought back yet. How can the dead be put ahead of the living in such an awfully blatant way? Reading this, it just reminds you how the world over, politicians have no morals towards humanity or pride or loyalty to the benefit of their own country - we'll rip it of resources regardless of whether it can survive after that longer term; we'll let people live in abject poverty surrounded by half buried live bombs we dropped there, because it's more important to collect a few rotting bones out of the jungle. Even touching upon how soliders and civilians were treated during the war makes my blood boil - and this is a an issue on both sides. The way the US soliders were bullied into being sadists; and the statistics of how many Vietnam Vets have committed suicide since the conflicts... my God. This book made me want to watch The Killing Fields again - heartbreaking and so depressing to see the teams of brainwashed kids as bands of meathead bullies running the show... and I actually feel like I want to read more about this area.

OK, there's a grim legacy here, but this book isn't depressing, and you do feel like you'd like to make this trip. She does meet some great characters on the road - most of whom are westerners as she doesn't speak Vietnamese/Laos/Khmer etc, but even so, there are bomb disposal people working out there, other bikers and hardcore travellers, geologists and aid workers. It's absolutely fascinating.

[Axel Widjojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who's new to travel literature, I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book. The ridiculous premise (in a good way) grabbed me: a lone British female traveling solo on a moped on a road that stretches from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, then Vietnam again. I think of the half-dozen books I bought not even a few weeks before, then decided to add this one to the pile.

Now that I've finished it, I can say that it was worth every penny. Antoine Bolingbroke-Kent has managed to combine the keen-eyed observation skills of the travel journalist with the telling of history interspersed in between, conjuring an authoritative yet non-derogatory tone of a humble, inquisitive college professor, also adding dashes of self-reflection that's none to obsessed with the self-congratulatory tone that threatens travelers--all neatly packaged in a well-written, well-edited prose.

You will enjoy this book, however much of the world you have or haven't seen.

[samsam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was offered this book before going on a trip around Vietnam and Laos. It is my first traveler book and so I didn't know what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised by Antonia's excellent writing and description, and her deep and emotionally intelligent self-examination as she goes through different emotional and physical challenges. In addition to her smooth story telling, she adds very interesting facts and numbers about the bloody american war on vietnam and its neighbours, and relates this to places she passes through and people she talks to. She shows the human side of wars, how it affects the victims, the resistance, and the aggressor. She has clearly read a lot and studied the HCM trail and the war.
It is a book that gives you an excellent insight into the countries in which the trail passes through (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), the wars that shaped them and still is, and the current corruption that takes over after wars and destruction.

Excellent read.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. I knew some of the history of the area in general but Ants brought it to life, in technicolour! I've ridden some of Vietnam and Thailand and visited Burma so have a clue as to what she went through to make this journey happen. Courage, determination and what a great idea in the first place. There is far too much to list re things I like. Suggest if anyone gets the chance, they snag a copy. It's a book I'll be reading a third time and that is what makes it a 5 star book for me.

More books like this please Ants. I'll buy them.

[Graham Mcmillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a travelogue of a lone woman on a motor scooter, following the route of the infamous Ho Chi Minh trail of the Vietnam War era. As she follows its length through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam again, she artfully weaves in the history and atrocity of the Vietnam War, her beautiful writing and clever use of the Queen's English (she IS a BBC correspondent after all) and her insightful commentary make this a remarkably enjoyable read.

[Paul Devall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading this kind of book. It fills in that need for adventure that can be lived vicariously through the lives of others.

But. I simply couldn't get into it. I couldn't find an affinity with the author at all.

In the end I gave up and moved onto another book.

It's on Kindle so may come back one day.

[Ben Twoonezero · Rating 3 out of 5]

A interesting book with a good premise and subject matter, the problem is you get the distinct impression the book would be better if some one with more humour and charisma had written it. I would read an over book by her, but she is no Mark Wallington.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brave, honest with occasional funny moments. Well done to Antonia for an engaging travelogue with a good blend of history. Interesting bunch of sidekicks - my favourites were uncle George and roger.

[Patricio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of a ride through the HCM trail. Gives a good insight into the idiosyncrasies of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

j'ai beaucoup aimé. Je connais la région et j'ai aimé la traverser à travers cette épopée féminine!