Phong Nha to Da Lat - A lot of ground to cover!
Whew - I have not been good about keeping up with the blog. At all. Since the last time I sat down to write we’ve traveled 956 kilometers by bike - in what Google calls a 21 hour drive! Yikes. I’ll probably have to summarize my journey quite a bit, so I’ll do it with headlines and cover the highlights of each spot.
Phong Nha
The day after Neil’s birthday we made it to Paradise Cave, which was just massive. We probably walked for 20 minutes inside the cave just to see it all, and it continued far past where the platforms ended. I heard about some caving expeditions in the town that allowed you to spend a full week inside of the caves going from cavern to cavern. NO THANK YOU. Too many bats and too much darkness for me. This was a really nice experience though - the cave was really cool which was a great relief from the 101 degree temperature outside, and we got some really good exercise walking and hiking 2 km to the entrance. That night we ate some yummy pizza at Easy Tiger and played monopoly deal. Solid day.
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| Water buffalo in the mud! |
Phong Nha > Hue
The next day we hit the road again, this time to Hue - the old imperial capital of Vietnam. I didn’t know it at the time since I hadn’t been doing a good job on my history lessons, but the emperor was largely a figure head in Vietnam beginning in 1850 because of the French colonial rule. We got into the city around mid day and made a point to head out and see the imperial city in the afternoon. Neil and I split up to wander the premises on our own, and we each had a great time. I loved the emperor’s library and garden, and even got to pause to feed some fish in a coy farm. The “city” was huge, and you could walk through it for hours. There were multiple temples, buildings and courtyards to explore. The architecture was great as well - it was a very nice afternoon. On our way out we even saw some traditional dancers filming a performance in front of one of the main buildings in the complex. The outfits were amazing! We had dinner at an Italian/Vietnamese restaurant where I had an OK duck dish and Neil tried salmon pizza. Interesting but nothing to write home about. We stayed in a WONDERFUL homestay in Hue - SweetHouse 2. The host, Ms. Lien was so nice, and our room was incredibly comfortable. It was one of the best places we’ve stayed all summer! We ended the night with some monopoly deal and a FaceTime call home.
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| Imperial Palace in Hue |
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| Traditional performers on the palace grounds |
Hue > Hoi An
Hue to Hoi An is a very famous route, because you can drive the Hai Van Pass. The pass was made famous by Top Gun movie, and it is full of stunning views out over the Pacific Ocean. We loved our bike ride there, and even had the chance to take a detour down a side road for some extra views. A highlight was meeting a Vietnamese veteran from the war and hearing some of his stories and relations to American soldiers. It prompted me to want to learn more about the war, as I honestly didn’t know much. We arrived in Hoi An in the afternoon and checked into our hostel called Love.ly. A friend from school had recommended it to me, and said that the family dinners were the best part. Luckily they had a family dinner that night, so Neil and I dropped our stuff in our room, explored the Old Town for a bit, then headed back to the hostel to help cook and prepare a meal for 20 people! The kitchen got rather crowded, but we had fun getting to know the other travelers and making spring rolls from scratch. After dinner we went back to Old Town and began our process of finding a tailor to do some work clothes. We ended up choosing Tuong, where Neil’s twin had gone a few months back. It was a little pricier than the other shops, but the quality was phenomenal. We spent the first evening discussing items that we wanted and prices, then negotiating to get a slightly better deal. We ended with measurements and instructions to come back the next day for our first fitting.
Hoi An
One dinner was rather remarkable though. We went to a place called Nu Eatery which served wonderful veggie dishes and the best pulled pork sandwich we had ever had. We arrived during a busy time so had to put our name on a list for a seat an hour later, and during that time we had the chance to explore the area. It was located near the river and the night market, so we strolled over the bridge, marveled at all the lanterns and floating candles in the river, and explored the art and handicraft booths in the night market. It was lovely.
The other big characteristic activity of Hoi An was eating Bahn Mi’s. Neil probably had 20 during the 4 days we were there. There are 3 major places - Phúongs, Queens, and Phi. I tried all three and thought each was really good, but Neil fell in love with Phuongs so we were there at least once a day! It truly was delicious - my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! We got the chicken and cheese one and added avocado. SO GOOD.
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| One of many visits fro Phuong |
Hoi An is one of those cities that I expect I’ll visit many more times in my lifetime. There seems to be things for every aged traveler, and I can only imagine I’ll appreciate the bespoke clothing more and more as I get older and advance in my career. We missed some of the major sites due to the fitting appointments, but it leaves us things to do in the future! Top of my list is the full day cooking class, followed by the Golden Hands Bridge. Oh, and I can’t wait to return and have some coconut coffee again!
Hoi An > Pleiku
After 5 nights in Hoi An we were back on the road. Our main destination was Da Lat, but as it was a 14 hour drive we broke it up with two other stops first. The first was a town called Pleiku. We rode 7.5 hours to get there (330 km), and took a couple of wrong turns along the way to make it into a rather long day. Neil had to get some final Bahn Mi’s before we hit the road, so we weren’t on the road until 10 a.m. Grr. While we saw some nice rice fields and decent sites, it was a tough day with lots of bumpy roads. There were two highlights though - 1 GORGEOUS lake that was to die for, and driving through the jungle. We made it into Pleiku just before sunset, had a hot shower, then walked around the town for a bit before bed. I really liked the city - there wasn’t a single tourist in site, and you could tell that it was a nice place to live. We thought we’d go see a movie so we went to a mall, and it was a really nice one! They even had a whole floor dedicated to an English school for toddlers called APEX Leaders for Tomorrow. If I were to live in Vietnam, I’d go for a place like Hue or Pleiku for sure.
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| A gorgeous lake on our way to Pleiku |
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| Lots of soot, exhaust and dirt from a full day of riding |
Pleiku > Nha Trang
The next day we road another 6.5 hours and 293 km from Pleiku to the city of Nha Trang. It was a really lovely drive - my favorite by far! We went through mountains and ended up going through some gorgeous rice fields. The last 70 km were absolutely stunning. Unfortunately we did get rained on, and my rain coat really didn’t hold all that well. We had bought cheap plastic ponchos in Pleiku in the morning, but they ripped off in the wind before the big rain hit us, so we got soaked. Our stuff was OK though - luckily! I eventually saw some sturdier ponchos being sold at a shop on the side of the road, so we upgraded for the final stretch which made a bit of a difference. The rain stopped though and all in we were fine. We did hit one stretch of road that was just AWFUL. It was like dirt biking, but probably worse. It was also about 10 km long, so that just sucked. I liked some of the views and the people we passed were nice, but blehhhhh. Another highlight of the ride was meeting 2 cute young girls and their cat Lucy at one of the gas stations. The cat was hands down the most beautiful cat I’d ever seen, and it was so soft and fluffy and cuddly! Such a nice treat after some tough riding and rain. The final 20 km were eventful! They started by zooming down AH1, and then stopping because we thought we missed a turn only to learn from a nice man that my tire was splitting. Eeek! We changed our route and got off the highway, took a gorgeous scenic route into town, and drove no faster than 40 kph. Our first stop in the city was the dive shop so we could get a dive in the next morning and a recommendation for a mechanic, and then I went to get the bike fixed. It cost 350,000 dong, which is between $15-20, to replace my tire. Not terrible, and now I’m driving much more safely! It took a while, so I had the chance to sit and people watch for an hour of so which is always a treat. Traffic patterns in major cities in Vietnam are insane, and since we were on a busy corner I had the chance to marvel at the way bikes cruised through crowded intersections for a while.
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| The beginning of our rain rides. Sweet cow! |
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| Gorgeous rice paddies and vibrant greens |
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| Some bumpy roads for the bikes |
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| A couple KM of this road made for a tough afternoon |
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| Back on track. Making sure that our bags were wrapped in rain gear to protect them |
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| Gorgeous mountain views - one of my favorite portions of the entire ride |
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| Neil cruising on by |
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| Rice paddies outside of Nha Trang |
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My favorite greens - prettiest single stretch of the journey
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Hitting seaside in Nha Trang - I loved all the fishing boats
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| Bike troubles - getting a new tire |
We had a delicious dinner at a Russian owned restaurant and then hit the hay at our glorious hotel with a California King bed. It was only $27/night and even had a view of the sea. Such a solid find.
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We were suckers for western food
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| Rolled mango ice cream for desert! |
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Nha Trang
We spent one full day in Nha Trang where we went scuba diving, spent time in a coffee shop, then had dinner and went to a movie. The diving was nice - it wasn’t the best marine life, but we saw some interesting jelly fish and eels, and the dive included some cave swim thrus which were rather fun. The water was much colder than it is in Cambodia or Thailand, so it wasn’t as comfortable of an experience, but it still wasn’t terrible.
After diving we went to the hotel, lounged in a coffee shop, then went to dinner at a place called Louisianes where we tried passion fruit beer and Neil ate an ENTIRE family sized pizza (minus the one slice that I ate). He says he has no shame. Hahaha. I had wok’d morning glory and spring rolls. Yum. We followed it up with Lion King and then a nice stroll home.
I thought it was a very beautiful town, but it’s certainly overrun with tourist. For some reason the Russians dominate the place, and most shops have signs first in Vietnamese, then in Russian and thirdly in English. We were confused for Russians a few times by various promoters, which was a first for both of us. All in all it’s just a big tourist city, so we decided to only stay 1 full day before continuing on to Da Lat.
Nha Trang > Da Lat
This ride was actually manageable in distance - only 120 km or so schedule for 3 hours. The drive was stunning, with beautiful rice fields and gorgeous scenic outlooks as we made our way into the mountains. Then, it started raining. Raining HARD. The wind blew so strongly that it moved our bikes and we were absolutely battered by the rain. Despite all the rain gear we had, I knew some of our stuff was going to get wet. It took a long time to progress in the rain but we decided not to stop since there wasn’t a really good option to wait it out and the forecast said it would continue raining into the evening. By the time we made it to the hostel we were frozen and grumpy. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to book us beds in an 8 person dorm room, and when we checked in we found out it was actually a 9 bed room, we had top bunks, and there was NO WHERE for us to put our stuff. I was not a happy camper, and neither was Neil. However, after a hot shower and a little rest, we got over it and made ourselves comfortable and I went for a 90 minute hot stone massage to try and get some of the kinks out of my shoulders from the miserable ride. We played some monopoly deal with other travelers that night then called it. Luckily I slept well, but Neil only got about 5 hours of sleep the first night.
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| The ride into Da Lat was beautiful because of the elevation, but shortly after this we got stuck in rain and wind - it was a scary part of the journey. And COLD! |
Da Lat
Da Lat is a cool (literally) town in the mountains. It’s 65 degrees here where the rest of the country is topping 100, and it feels like we’re in the Swiss alps or something. It’s known for its agriculture: strawberries, flowers, and coffee. It also has a number of strong educational institutions that are a legacy from the French colonialism era. Unfortunately it’s been raining most of the time we’ve been here, but we’ve been able to do a couple fun things nonetheless. Our first full day we visited 3 coffee shops and a coffee farm and then did family dinner at our hostel followed by cards and a few drinks before bed. The coffee farm was so interesting! We got to learn about all of the different species, see the trees, and even roast our own batch of beans! The guide, Dusty, was really friendly and shared a lot about his personal life and Vietnamese culture as well. It was a really nice experience, and it was just the two of us with Dusty! I didn’t have breakfast or lunch before we got there though, so by the time we finished I was starving! It was nice to be hungry at family dinner though :)
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| Coffee shop in town where they sort the beans |
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| Coffee farm out of town where we saw the berries growing on the trees |
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| Neil learning how to roast coffee |
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| Our very own batch! We brought this back home. |
