Because the Canadians had limited time we jumped off the bus
in Hue (just one of them as the other had fairly seriously injured himself in a
motorbike crash some weeks earlier and wasn’t going on the trip….reassuring)
and proceeded to rent bikes and hit the road right away.
It was
a really beautiful ride up over a winding mountain pass and even better was
light on local traffic as a tunnel had recently been built as an alternate
route for big trucks and car traffic. Big trucks are by far the most harrowing
part of driving cross-country in Vietnam as they tend to be completely batshit
insane with no qualms of passing their slower compatriots going around blind corners
even if they have to run a couple motorbikes off the road in the process. The
reasoning being apparently something like, ‘Hey I honked didn’t I and besides I’m
bigger than you so suck it.” So that was nice not having to deal with that,
except for the odd one or two loaded with explosives or live animals anyway.
Halfway up the pass we did get hit with a sudden torrential rainstorm which was
less than pleasant as we had no ponchos or anything but it cleared pretty quick
and we still got some nice views at the top of the pass and saw some Vietnam
War era bunkers. Cruised down the other side and through the town of Danang on
our way to Hoi An. Driving through the cities is always a bit hair-raising with
all the motorbikes in a giant ceaseless pack and uncontrolled intersections and
roundabouts where it’s basically just every man, woman and child for
themselves. Made it through safe and sound and had a nice cruise down a wide,
4-lane beautiful coastal road to arrive happy and satisfied in Hoi An. Really a
great way to see the country.
Hoi An
is a beautiful beach and river side town with a fun vibe where it’s,
apparently, pretty much eternally happy hour and the bars compete with each
other by perpetually giving out free shots of cheap whisky. What’s not to like?
Spent the first day chilling out at the beach and having a swim and then met a
nice Danish and English fellow and we rented bikes the next day for a cruise up
to nearby Marble Mountain. Was a pretty cool little temple complex and you
could scramble up to the highest point for a stunning 360 degree view. All in
all a fun day and great weather.
Unfortunately
the next few days turned out to be extremely wet and unlike the usual heavy but
brief rains I’ve come to expect from time to time this was an unending
multi-day torrent that had the river over its banks and encroaching onto nearby
streets and led to thoughts that maybe building an ark isn’t such a dumb idea. Still
got to enjoy the town’s awesome food and fun nightlife (and far too many free
shots) and met a bunch of cool people. Met an Australian lad I’d seen
previously in Hanoi and we agreed to split a room in the beach resort town of
Nha Trang further down the coast.
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