Had breakfast in a completely empty huge dining room which was build to hold hundreds of guests, but this morning it was only us two. There was no massive buffet breakfast (which we were secretly looking forward to), but eggs on toast and a decent cup of coffee. It'll do and hopefully give us enough energy to pedal up "a deserted ribbon of perfection—one of the best coast roads in the world." as the Hai Van pass was famously described by Clarkson in the Top Gear Vietnam special.
It was a bit grey and overcast when we left, but we were hoping to still be able to enjoy some good views from the top. After about 5km we reached the bottom of Hai Van pass and the start of the 500m climb which seemed like child's play after the 1000m climbs we did in the North. Unfortunately the clouds didn't clear. The views were nice, but would have been better in bright sunshine.
The pass is quite an attraction in the area with people coming from near tourist towns like Danang and Hoi An. We were passed by many mini vans and big tourist buses full of Westerners. We didn't see any other cyclist though. That is until we got to the top. There was buses full of cyclists with a support vehicle which drove the bikes up the hill for them. Now they were all nicely lined up ready for them to roll down the hill. Good fun for some I guess, bizarre for others. I would rather struggle up myself and then really feel like I have earned the downhill.
The top was a strange place. Very different from other mountain tops we have climbed recently. It was not only heaving with other tourists but also full of food and tat stalls and Vietnamese ladies trying to drag you into their stall and sell you coffee or whatever. We only stayed for a view minutes.
There was one good thing (apart from the downhill afterwards) about reaching the top of Hai Van though: the weather changed magically and it turned from grey and cloudy into quite a pleasant afternoon and we did get some good views.
We still had about 50km left along the coast road when we got to the bottom. We passed through Danang which was a big modern looking city with a big yellow bridge nicely styled like a dragons tail.
We arrived in Hoi An and saw the aftermaths of the recent flooding. The streets were still full of muddy water and local firemen were trying their best to hose off the worst. Our hotel up until recently had water up to the reception waist high and their pool which was oddly placed in the lobby was unusable and mud water had to be pumped out. There were mattresses, from ground floor rooms presumably, drying in the sun outside the hotel. We were glad we had a room in the first floor.
It was still early and we decided to to wander around town. We went to a restaurant called Balle Well (a suggestion from Lonely Planet). They only served one dish - barbequed pork on skewers, omelette, a variety of lettuce and veg all rolled up in rice paper and dipped in some special secret sauce. Hard to describe, but it was awesome! Probably the best food we have had in Vietnam.
Route Link
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| At the beginning |
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| buses full of tourists |
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| Almost at the top |
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| Lady, you wanna buy from me???Shopping! |
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| Some like it like this... |
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| Johanna at the traffic lights |
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| Yellow bridge in Danag |
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| Not all roads look like this in Hoi An |
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| Spot the dog! |
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| Drying mattresses |
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| The fire engines are big over here |
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| Japanese Covered Bridge in Hoi An |
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| Bale Well stands for best food ever |
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| Girls selling lanterns |
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