Three days in the hectic city was enough we feel, the three of us headed to the airport.
The flight up to Central Vietnam was a smooth affair and only took an hour, it was good to breath in some cleaner air!
We took a taxi from Da Nang airport to our rooms in Hoi An, it took around 30 minutes, we checked in, sorted our lives out and took a stroll in to the Unesco World Heritage Site that is Hoi An's Ancient Town. Hoi An is pretty much the polar opposite of Vietnam's financial capital, for starters there are zero motorbikes in the centre, there are dozens of boats with women in leaf hats offering little river tours, and almost everyone is just leisurely pedalling along absorbing the river views and the authenticity, centuries old buildings (see our previous post on Hoi An for more detailed description of the wonderful ancient town)!
The day was growing late, but before grabbing a beverage we thought we'd start our time in this picture perfect town on the river, we approached one of the older ladies, and we scrambled on to the small row boat. 20 minutes of slowly moving up the river with the orange glow of the setting sun, it was a peaceful way to start our time here!
During a few beers in the only Irish bar around we planned out our time here!
My Son Temples
A storm was on it's way!
We expected the worst when we woke up to heavy rain and read that a Typhoon was heading straight for us! But with true English spirit we brought umbrellas and plastic ponchos and just dealt with it. The organised tour went ahead despite the weather and after an uncomfortable hour for Luke on the mini bus (an overweight bloke dumped himself next to Luke, even though there were spare seats), we'd arrived at My Son Temples.
An ancient cluster of temples dating back to the 4th century (unfortunately many of the 70 temples were damaged during the war by American bombs), built by the Kings of Champa!
Our half day tour was filled with scores of facts and figures told by our eccentric guide (all the guides walking around were jokey joke makers, we often caught the tail end of their stories which was a good laugh) who loved the colour blue, all the time he was saying 'TEAM BLUE!' The Hindu temples are pretty incredible (see our previous post on Hoi An for more details), some of them have been restored to there former glory, way back when it must've been truly spectacular! some of them had grass growing on the roofs and some areas were overgrown, however this only added to the mysteries of the complex! The tour felt a little rushed but great none the less, especially with it costing so little!
We spent the rest of the day just waiting out the rain and hoping for the best.
Hai Van Pass
The following day, we had a stroke of luck!
Blue skies and welcoming warmth, the incoming storm had changed direction over night! We wasted no time (apart from Luke's hotel supplying him two motorbikes, both were shockingly bad and un-rideable!), we rented petrol powered two wheelers from our hotel and set off to conquer the famous (thanks to Top Gear) Hai Van Pass. Luke got used to the bike in no time and we were steaming along. Getting out of Hoi An was busy, but the roads heading towards Da Nang were easy going apart from some dusty road works. I jinxed our luck by by saying 'I'm glad everything's running smoothly', looking in my mirror I noticed Luke flashing (his lights) and sounding the horn, we all pulled over, Luke's rear tyre was flat! Thinking that our plans for the day were ruined, a local came over from a construction site and made a phone call. Within 15 minutes a mechanic pulled up with half of his workshop strapped on to his two wheeler. The weathered looking mechanic just started cracking on with fixing the puncture! £4 and 30 minutes later we were on our way again feeling grateful to the mobile mechanic, initially we thought it was going to kill the day!
The formally named Hell Highway did not disappoint! After getting out of Da Nang City and passing it's golden, glorious beach it was all up hill. With nothing but a few oil tankers to contend with, the coastal mountain road and it's winding course produced spectacular views of deserted beaches, the deep blue ocean and the lush green mountains. We stopped a couple of times to absorb our surroundings and by around 1 O'clock we reached the amazing Lang Co Bay!
Other than a few wooden huts serving food, the beach and it's white sands and majestic mountain backdrop was empty and beautiful (See our previous post 'Hoi An' for more information on the Hai Van Pass and Lang Co Bay). The ocean was a devilish mistress, swimming any further than waist deep would've been suicide (due to the tail end of the typhoon), so after a quick dip and a couple of hours chilling out with some refreshments, we took our sun burnt hands back to the bikes for the return leg! It was great to tackle the adverse cambers and bends of the Hai Van Pass twice in one day!
The return journey was a stressful one, during rush hour! Motorbikes buzzing everywhere, pulling out and coaches nearly ramming people off the road, we took our aching, numb bums off the road and took a breather at the Marble Mountain.
Marble Mountain
This cluster of marble and limestone karsts gives great sweeping views (after a lot of steps) of the surrounding area and beaches, also there're a number of caves, intricately and colourfully decorated Buddhism style. The place is a very spiritual and although it was busy inside, it was a peaceful and a cool little pit stop. The grottoes were fascinating to look at, plus the pagodas were also impressive! We explored for around 30 minutes only, we could've spent longer however it'd been a long day battling with the crazy roads of Vietnam. It was back to the motorcycles and time to get back to the room!
It had been a long and eventful day, yet an amazing adventure! Aching forearms, red raw hands and sore bums we felt victorious. The day ended with an ocean side dinner and a few beers, it was one of those days that we will remember until we're old and grey, a great thing to do with my brother!
For the rest of Luke's visit and our time in Central Vietnam we spent it basking in the sun at AnBang Beach, other than one day where the oceans were still rough from the threat of the typhoon, and a Chinese man got dragged a little further out than he felt comfortable with, he started shouting for help and eventually a few people came to the rescue. I thought he was just having fun and shouting a lot, without realising he was in trouble, I was a little bit late to the rescue party but he was saved none the less! It was great to round off the trip relaxing on the golden sands, the weather took a turn luckily for us and turned out to be scorching everyday! It was also great fun buzzing around on bicycles almost everyday!
Cam Kim Island
To mix things up a bit, instead of lounging at the beach, we decided to visit a nearby island on the river. We were able to take our bicycles on the long boat and enjoyed being on the river for 20 minutes as we chugged along to a small island called Cam Kim Island. The tranquil and idyllic Island was incredibly peaceful and with only the odd local waving at us from the river bank, it was the ultimate rural
Vietnam experience. It was also interesting to see long boat workshops, where the traditional river cruisers are built and repaired! We spotted a small wooden restaurant with floating booths on the river, after overcoming the almost impossible language barrier, we managed to get some food, floating on the river only heightened the serene afternoon! We was on a time limit because of the boat lady we'd made an agreement with, after some difficulty finding her we felt like we was on the right track. With Kirsty in front of me and Luke, we were cycling casually along the only main road on the island, when a motorbike with two men on, wearing dark clothing slowed down along side Kirsty, who was wearing a small over the shoulder bag, they reached for the bag, grabbed it, and managed to pull and break the strap of the bag, then sped off with it! Me and Luke rushed after them but with us on pedal bikes and them on a motorbike with an open road, we stood no chance! Luckily Kirsty was unharmed (although angry, bloodthirsty, upset and gutted!), it all happened so quickly (I've never felt so useless in my whole life!), it was over before she realised what had happened! They got away with Kirsty's phone and around £10, but the most upsetting thing was all of the lost pictures on the phone! We reported the crime, but we didn't get a number plate of the bike, so it'd be a needle in the haystack trying to find them!
Other than this unfortunate event, the time spent in Hoi An and its surrounding areas was thoroughly enjoyed by all, a truly beautiful and historic part of the world!
The flight back to Ho Chi Minh was as smooth running as the flight from there, and that's where we said our goodbyes to Luke, it was to catch up and go on some memorable adventures together (forgetting the few times he was hit with some bad luck), it was great to have my brother around, we had a good laugh and a good few beers!
Final Days & Forgotten Photos
After saying our goodbyes to Luke, we had to go back to Mui Ne to gather our big backpacks before heading to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
The straight forward 5 hour bus from Ho Chi Minh landed us in a rainstorm troubled Mui Ne, a bit of bad weather transforms this shabby yet authentic and charming seaside strip, into a grey misery, and with the palm trees swaying back and forth, the threat of coconuts dropping is always a worry! We located a cheap room and just waited out the weather! The following day we were again hit with a stroke of good luck, the sun was breaking through the clouds! To make life easier we rented out a bike and decided to visit the one attraction we missed during our previous stay here, The White Sand Dunes!
Nestled around 30 Kilometres away from the main drag, the roads leading there were like desert highways, empty, sometimes ran along the coast and had sand dusting the tarmac. It was a gorgeous stretch of road with some similarities to the Hai Van Pass, there were so few road users, even Kirsty had a go on the motorbike!
The Sand Dunes themselves seemed like they were plucked from the Sahara and dropped off in South East Asia, It really didn't feel like we was in Vietnam! They were pretty vast and at the top the wind was causing the sand to whip our legs and faces (I didn't think the camera was going to make it!)! It was like a Mad Max set, especially with all the quad bikes and jeeps roaring up and down the white dunes (we were going to rent an ATV but we didn't want a guide sitting on the back with us!).
The desert area was made even more pleasing to the eye and scenic by the lake located adjacent to the dunes, overall the whole place was surreal yet beautiful and really different to anywhere we'd been so far on this trip, also it was a fantastic way to round off our time in Vietnam.
Vietnam Final Words
Our 3 months in this narrow, oddly sort of S shaped country was a special one, also really varied! We pretty much conquered the whole country starting in the North and working our way South. From the tranquil, idyllic countryside of Mai Chau to the bustling, polluted and hectic backpacker district of Ho Chi Minh, teaching at a an official kindergarten in the capital of Hanoi, to teaching at a beach side restaurant in the South, the amazing coastal roads, temples and the ancient town of Hoi An in Central Vietnam, to Ha Long Bay and the national park island of Cat Ba, where we cave hopped up North! We've learnt how to use chopsticks (unlike India, the food here didn't really blow us away but certain things were amazing! Kirsty didn't have a wide variety either), grew comfortable riding a motorbike and met some great people, also unbelievable value for money regarding everything and the people were really friendly! We missed out a couple of places however I feel we will be back, maybe to tour the length of the country on proper motorbikes!
We retrieved our backpacks, said our goodbyes and headed back to Ho Chi Minh for a final night, before heading to Cambodia!
