Our History
HANOI BACKSTREET TOURS was founded in 2015 by Tho Nguyen (1983), a country boy, struggled during their childhood growing up in poverty in different villages in the countryside of Northern Vietnam before moving to Hanoi as students and settle down in the early ‘2000.
Tho Nguyen Studied tourism and hospitality business at the Hanoi Open University for tourism qualifications and developed a special love for the city he was learning about, and it is now like a second home-town to him. Having graduated with high distinctions in tourism and hospitality, a wanderlust took hold and the passion for his new professions as tour guide took him to all corners of the country where he honed their skills and were voted the “New-Faces of Vietnam’s Tourism Industry” by several travel magazines and praised by his peers.
In the childhood, Tho Nguyen got special love and passion for the rush and simple iron-horse, Minsk Motorcycle as it help him and his family to carry everything in the rural villages from home to farm and from farm back home as well as going around. As a result, in the early ‘2000, after passing into the Uni, Tho got a Minsk motorcycle to go to the Uni as it was cheaper than most of the other current motorbikes at the time . Tho Nguyen has lots of fond memories with his Minsk motorcycle. Though getting some more new bikes, Tho still got special love with his Minsk and he joined in the Minsk Club for those who have same love and hobby with Minsk. In 2015, when launched Hanoi Backstreet Tours, Tho Nguyen decided to used Minsk as a vehicle to carry his travelers visiting Hanoi to share his love of the city and Minsk with his beloved customers.
Working for more than 15 years in the travel industry has given Tho Nguyen experience and insights into what visitors to Vietnam want to experience, Tho Nguyen made a decision to launch “HANOI BACKSTREET TOURS”. An achievement, of passion, love, integrity, creativity, experience and responsibility (PLICER) which is the foundation of the core values of Hanoi Backstreet Tours (HBT).
Hanoi Backstreet Tours’ Vision & Mission
Hanoi Backstreet Tours strives to be the best vintage Minsk motorbike tour company in Hanoi by providing a unique, impactful and once in a life-time travel experience for those who want to learn and discover the real Hanoi.
Hanoi Backstreet Tours’ Travel Concept
Travelers will ride as pillion passengers on a vintage MINSK motorbike into a labyrinth of backstreets and the zigzagging alleyways are definitely the best way to experience the good, the bad and the ugly of Hanoi- they are the real-deals of the city.
Other travel companies show you just the tourist sites, the beautiful of the places and tell you to run away from the bad and the ugly of them. However, at Hanoi Backstreet tours, we want you to experience not only the good but also the bad and even the ugly because they are the real-deal experiences.
Exploring with Hanoi Backstreet Tours is to travel with all your senses heightened – watching, feeling, touching, hearing, tasting and smelling this unique place that you will discover on our tours. Therefore, travelling with Hanoi Backstreet Tours is the opportunity for the travellers to get out of your comfort zone and to open your heart and soul for the good and the bad.
Experience the city through the real-deals of Hanoian’s of the time, taking a behind the scenes ride on the back of our vintage MINSK motorbikes through the backstreets of town that will also take in the highlights of Hanoi on every single tour we run.
Hanoi Backstreet Tours’ Products
What set Hanoi Backstreets Tours apart in the marketplace are our products. Our products are uniquely hand-crafted to provide real-deal travel experience, featured with the good, the bad and the ugly of the city. Thus, the backbone of our tours is the harmony of our six core values: Passion – Love – Integrity – Creativity – Experience – Responsibility – “PLICER”.
Passion and Love: Hanoi Backstreet Tours was founded from the bottoms of our hearts, the ultimate passion and a true love for Hanoi, for travel and for the vintage MINSK motorbikes of Hai, Tommy and Tho. They all admit to being the craziest fans of vintage MINSKS, their wanderlust spirits and Hanoi, their second home town. Passion and love is the fundamental element of our products and they would love to share this passion with you.
Integrity and Creativity: At Hanoi Backstreet Tours we believe that many heads are better than one, and that it is team-work that makes creativity. There is no way for other travel companies to copy our ideas as we are proactive and innovative! That’s why Hanoi Backstreet Tours’ products are unique.
Experience: Experience is everything we aim to give you on our Minsk trips! We know that the most extraordinary travel experiences occur in the most ordinary places. It is the journey beyond the familiar that takes you to the very heart of Hanoi. On our trip you will have spontaneous learning and discovery and be welcomed by a local family at their home-hosted visit in their tiny old Russian apartment compound from the 1960s. Enjoying a cup of Vietnamese green tea and learn about the Vietnamese tea ceremony while having a small talk with them and interacting with their friendly and noisy neighbors.
As a pillion passenger on the vintage MINSK motorbikes you will enjoy an enhanced itinerary featuring real-deal experiences about where local people live and work and also experiencing the good, the bad even the ugly of Hanoi. We encourage you to travel with all your senses heightened not just watching but also hearing, tasting, touching, feeling and smelling. Challenging and thrilling you in the zigzagging, narrow alleyways that are fully stuffed with people, motorbikes, shops, stalls and hustling and bustling markets. You’ll experience all aspects of Hanoi daily life behind the scenes and also enjoy backstreet authentic local foods and family know-how cuisines. It is only a Minsk journey that could take you to those backstreet restaurants to have such a meal of your life. After all, you would say nothing but “wow”, what a life-time experience!
Responsibility: Responsible travel is about attitude when traveling. Our trips are designed to ensure to respect and benefit local people, their cultures, economy and the environment. Travelling with HANOI BACKSTREET TOURS is to travel with peace of mind by giving back to the world where we travel to, to support the ones in need. We are dedicated to set-aside a portion of our profit for the October Foundation. This organization is a non-profit and non-government organization which aims to hand to hand and heart to heart support the ones in need by providing support with the education of young children in remote rural villages and orphanage centers, giving meals to poor patients in hospitals, disadvantaged and street kids in the cities and support to provide essential services.
