2026 DIY motorbike guide
Owning a bike in Saigon means the border is closer than you think. This guide covers the full DIY run: the road through Cu Chi and Trang Bang, what to check on the bike, where to park at Moc Bai, and what the day really costs in 2026.
The short answer
The DIY motorbike visa run from Ho Chi Minh City to Moc Bai works the same way it always has. You ride National Highway QL22 out of the city, park the bike on the Vietnam side, walk across into Cambodia at Bavet, and come back through the gate with a fresh entry stamp on an approved e-visa. Then you ride home. No fixers, no van schedule, no bus to chase.
On your own bike the numbers are small. Fuel for the 160 kilometer round trip runs about 100,000 to 150,000 VND. The Cambodia visa at Bavet costs roughly 30 to 35 USD in clean cash for most nationalities. If your Vietnam e-visa is already approved, the whole day comes in around 1,000,000 VND all in. Add a new 90-day e-visa at 2,400,000 VND single entry or 3,100,000 VND multiple entry and the day still lands under what a service charges for transport alone.
One thing to set straight before you read on: the bike stays in Vietnam. There is no casual way to ride a Vietnamese-plate motorcycle through Bavet on a day trip, so every version of this run is park, lock, walk, cross, walk back, ride home. That is normal. That is how it is done.
Who this page is for
This run makes sense if you already own a motorcycle in Saigon, which most long-stay expats do. The bike is paid for, you know how it handles, and the only transport cost is fuel. It also works for a couple on one bike: a 125 to 150 cc machine carries two people and a day bag on QL22 without complaint, and both riders need helmets by law.
Rent one for the day and the math changes but stays reasonable. Day rentals in Saigon run 150,000 to 250,000 VND, which still puts the motorbike option under the van seat and roughly level with the public bus, with one advantage the bus cannot match: the return trip leaves when you are ready, not when the schedule says.
What the ride does not suit is a short-term visitor on a scooter they rented this morning. QL22 is a working highway. Trucks, buses, and locals on commutes all use it, the heat is real, and the border procedure eats into your day. If you have been riding in Vietnam for a while, this page is your checklist. If you have not, the bus and shuttle options are the saner introduction.
The route
The run is almost insultingly simple to navigate because one national highway does the whole job. You join QL22 at An Suong on the northwest edge of the city and stay on it for about 80 kilometers until it ends at the border. There are no turns to memorize, no provincial route changes, no ferry. The road runs straight through Hoc Mon, then Cu Chi district, then crosses into Tay Ninh province at Trang Bang, and carries on to the Moc Bai gate.
The first stretch out of the city is the slowest. From An Suong through Hoc Mon you share the road with local traffic, markets spilling onto the shoulder, and buses pulling in and out. It thins out past Cu Chi, where the tunnel complex turnoffs sit off to the sides and the highway opens into long, fast sections between towns. Trang Bang is the last real town before the border zone, which makes it the natural place to stop: fuel, a drink, and a stretch before the final push.
Expect two to two and a half hours each way on a bike. Riders who know the road and leave early do it closer to two; anyone leaving at mid-morning, when the trucks are out in force, should budget the longer number. The Moc Bai route guide has the full drive-time breakdown if you want the details before you go.
Timing
The whole day works better when you treat the morning as the point of no return. Leave between 5 and 6 AM. Saigon traffic is still thin, QL22 is on the empty side before the truck traffic builds, and you roll up to Moc Bai around 7:30 or 8, ahead of the tour vans and the mid-morning crowd. On a normal weekday both crossings take 15 to 20 minutes each at that hour.
That early start also fixes the return. Cross back, collect the bike, and you can be on the road home by mid-morning and back in the city before the afternoon heat peaks. If you sleep in and reach the border at noon, the queues are longer, the sun is brutal, and you are still facing a two-hour ride home in the hottest part of the day. Aim to be rolling back through the gate by early afternoon at the latest.
Season changes the picture for riders more than for anyone else. The dry season from December to April is the comfortable window: cool mornings, no rain delays. The peak of the rainy season, roughly late September through October, brings afternoon downpours that flood patches of QL22, and rain at speed is miserable and a little dangerous. The best time to run guide goes month by month if you are flexible on dates.
Bike prep
A 320 kilometer day round trip is nothing for a healthy Vietnamese bike and everything for a neglected one. Spend ten minutes the night before and the ride stops being a gamble.
On the bike:
In the bag:
At the border
Moc Bai has motorcycle parking on the Vietnam side, right by the passenger checkpoint, and the main checkpoint operates around the clock. Pull into one of the official lots, pay the small day fee, and keep the ticket. Take your bag, your valuables, and anything you do not want to lose. Phone mounts, GoPros, and anything quick to grab should come off the bike or go under the seat.
Do not hand your keys or helmet to the touts who wave you in near the gate. They offer to watch your bike, and some of them will ask for money when you come back for it. The official lot charges a posted fee and watches the bikes as the job. Pay there, park there, and you have nothing to negotiate on the way out.
Then you cross on foot. Vietnam exit stamp first, a short uncovered walk to the Cambodian side, and the visa-on-arrival window at Bavet for most nationalities: roughly 30 to 35 USD in clean cash, a passport photo if they ask for one, and you are stamped in. Turn around immediately, clear the Cambodia exit, and re-enter Vietnam on the approved e-visa. Check the new entry stamp before you walk away. The Cambodia visa page has the nationality list if you want certainty first.
The money
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel, round trip | 100,000-150,000 VND | 160 km total on QL22 |
| Bike rental, if no bike | 150,000-250,000 VND/day | Adds Saigon city riding to the total |
| Border parking | Small day fee | Paid at the official lot on the Vietnam side |
| Cambodia visa at Bavet | ~30-35 USD cash | Clean, unfolded bills only |
| Food and water | ~100,000 VND | Breakfast stop and lunch on the road |
| 90-day e-visa, if needed | 2,400,000 VND single / 3,100,000 VND multiple | File before you ride; 3-4 working days standard |
Add it up and the honest totals are two: about 1,000,000 VND for the day when your e-visa is already approved, and about 3,400,000 VND when you also need the new 90-day e-visa. The full Saigon visa run cost breakdown compares those numbers against every other way to do the run.
The honest risks
The license question comes first because it is the one that can follow you home. Vietnam recognizes a 1968-format international driving permit with a motorcycle A category, carried together with your home license, for riders from countries in the Vienna Convention. Permits and licenses from the United States, Australia, and Canada are not recognized on their own, and enforcement has tightened since 2025. Riding unlicensed carries fines in the millions of dong, and a check can mean the bike is held. If your paperwork is not valid here, this is not the day to find out.
Then come the physical realities of a 320 kilometer day. April and May put the heat at its worst, and hours of highway riding at midday drain anyone. The monsoon peak from late September through October turns QL22 slick in patches. Fatigue is the quiet one: the road home is the second two-hour block, and tired riders make the mistakes the first leg never offered. If you are not used to long rides, or the bike starts feeling wrong at Trang Bang, stop while stopping is cheap.
The border failures are the same ones every DIY runner meets, and the step-by-step guide lists them all: the e-visa that was not approved in time, the wrong entry port on the approval letter, the creased USD bill, the single-entry visa already used. None of them are motorbike problems. All of them get harder to solve when your transport is a parked bike and the clock is running on daylight.
Compare the options
The motorbike is the cheapest option on this page and the one that keeps your whole day on your own schedule. It is also the only option where you are the driver, the navigator, and the one who has to stay alert for trucks for four hours. That trade is worth it to expats who already ride. It is a poor deal for someone who does not ride regularly.
Without a bike, the public coach from Ben Xe Mien Dong in Binh Thanh is the budget answer, at roughly two and a half to three hours each way. The catch is the schedule: the last bus back toward the city leaves in the afternoon, so a slow morning at the border can mean an expensive xe om ride home. The bus guide covers both the coach and the door-to-door shuttle.
The van or car service at 2,000,000 VND per traveler is the version where none of this page applies to you. A driver handles QL22, Tay Ninh fixers queue the Cambodia counter and check your paperwork before you reach the window, and pickup runs before sunrise from District 1, Thao Dien, Thu Duc, or Phu My Hung. The budget ranking page lines up every option by total cost if you are still deciding.
FAQ
Yes. Ride QL22 about 80 kilometers to Moc Bai, park on the Vietnam side, cross on foot into Cambodia at Bavet, and re-enter on an approved e-visa. Own bike, fuel runs 100,000 to 150,000 VND, Cambodia visa roughly 30 to 35 USD cash, and the day lands around 1,000,000 VND when the e-visa is already approved.
A motorcycle license Vietnam recognizes, plus helmets for rider and passenger. A 1968-format IDP with motorcycle category A works for riders from Vienna Convention countries when carried with the home license. US, Australian, and Canadian permits are not recognized on their own; riding unlicensed risks fines in the millions and an impounded bike. If unsure, take the van.
About 80 kilometers, two to two and a half hours each way on QL22 through Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, and Trang Bang. Leave before 6 AM to stay ahead of the truck traffic, and be back on the road by early afternoon so you ride home in daylight. On a quiet weekday the two crossings rarely take more than an hour total.
Official motorcycle lots sit on the Vietnam side near the passenger checkpoint, run around the clock. Pay the small day fee, keep the ticket, take your valuables, and do not hand keys or helmets to the touts near the gate. You cross into Cambodia on foot; a Vietnamese-plate bike does not pass through Bavet on a day trip.
Late September through October, when afternoon downpours flood patches of QL22, and the hottest midday hours of April and May. Also skip it if your license is not valid in Vietnam or you are not used to long highway riding. The van service runs every day at 2,000,000 VND per traveler with pre-sunrise pickup.
Motorbike is cheapest if you own one and you control the return timing. The public bus from Ben Xe Mien Dong is the cheapest no-bike option, but the last return bus leaves in the afternoon. A shared van seat at 2,000,000 VND removes the driving, the queues, and the paperwork mistakes. Your call is time and risk versus fuel money.
Connected routes
Moc Bai is the border for Ho Chi Minh City, and the ride guides on the sister sites use the same honest style if you are planning a run somewhere else:
The motorbike run is not the only way to reset your visa. The van and car service picks you up before sunrise from District 1, Thao Dien, Thu Duc, or Phu My Hung, handles the crossing with Tay Ninh fixers, and has you home by early evening. Message WhatsApp +84 369 308 237 and the team confirms your package within one business hour. Pay on arrival, cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.