Dalat to Hoi An

Back to Russia

After two short stops – one at the supermarket to buy chocolate rolls and one at the mechanic to fix a small oil leak – we are back on the road. Once we find our way out of Dalat (not that easy, to be honest), we have to drive uphill for a while before we can start our long descent through one of Vietnam’s most beautiful mountain passes. We’ve been looking forward to this for a while now.

Unfortunately, just like on our way up the hill two days earlier, the weather is screwing us over. The first half hour of our drive the enjoyable spring sun accompanies us, but while we climb even higher up the mountain we drive into a massive fog. We can barely see the road beneath our wheels! We hear waterfalls crashing down the mountain very close to us, but we’re unable to see them unless they are less than 50 feet away. It’s only by the time we have descended 1500 feet that the fog starts clearing and we can actually enjoy our stunning surroundings. Another short shower on our way down forces us to find shelter for a moment, but we manage to drive into the city of Nha Trang more or less dry. Hello, seaside!

Or should we say, “Hello Mother Russia”? In the city of Nha Trang there are without a doubt more Russians than Vietnamese to be found. Signs and menus are translated into Russian and stores have names in Cyrillic writing. We’re fortunate to have practiced our Russian reading skills last year while visiting the country. Even though those skills are a little rusty by now, they’re still a lot better than our knowledge of Vietnamese.

The stereotypical annoying Russian tourists are hard to come by here. We’re pleasantly surprised; we read some bad comments about Nha Trang before coming here. It’s incredibly easy to spot the Russians, but they are all quite well behaved, quiet, keep to themselves and they keep the beach clean as well. On top of all that, we’re enjoying the weather, which is a million times better than up in the mountains. We’re appreciating our time of relaxation so much we even decide to stay an extra night so we can have another picnic on the beach. Although it’s not that surprising we’re feeling rather good here, we did like Russia as well last year.

Strangetown

Our refreshing stay by the seaside has recharged our drained batteries completely, which is important as we have around 335 miles to cover before we reach our next destination, Hoi An. Of course we’re splitting this drive and divide it over two days of riding. Our stopover is planned in the city of Quy Nhon, which in some ways feels a similar to Vung Tau down South. For this drive, we have planned some alternate routes to the “National Route 1A”, as we’ve read that this is a dreadful and busy road to drive on. All our worries about these first 150 miles are completely ungrounded. The alternate routes are indeed phenomenal: perfect tarmac roads along the cliffy coast without any traffic. But the feared 1A is not bad at all either, on the contrary! Although it is without a doubt a busier road, the view of the bays, beaches and the ocean are as magnificent as on the smaller roads.

The hotel we stay at in the evening is brand new, spotless and dirt cheap. In one word, perfect. But the small town we’re staying at – we’re not actually staying in Quy Nhon but in a small town 12 miles North of the city centre, so we have a head start the day after – is a place so peculiar we really have to mention it. It’s called Xuong Ly and it has a very weird atmosphere. It’s extremely hard to describe, but we’ll try anyway. The two descriptions that come to our mind are: “a village that has been abandoned by its inhabitants a long time ago, but they are now slowly starting to return” or “a village that has been cut off from the outside world for decades, but the rest of the world has been destroyed by a nuclear war in the meantime and the inhabitants of this village are not aware of this because of their secluded life”. Well, at least that’s how we felt...

Early the next morning we shake of the strange feeling left by the little village and start driving like the wind, because we have 190 miles to cover today. We want to reach Hoi An before sunset, but it’s a hell of a drive. The first 60 miles we have the advantage to drive through nice scenery, but unfortunately on very bad roads. The next 130 miles the road condition is nearly perfect as we are driving on the 1A, unfortunately the highway is very much monotonous and hectic. A long day, prolonged even more by the need to visit a mechanic because we didn’t change the oil soon enough. On top of that we slip and fall over on a small stretch of gravel in a traffic jam, doing barely one mile per hour. Our bags break our fall so there’s no mechanical damage whatsoever, but Loulou gets a huge burn on her calf. Ouch!

We head towards the next gas station to find some running water to cool the burn before hitting the road again. More boring highway, more traffic, saddle pains and an aching burn accompany us along the way, until we finally reach Hoi An just before sunset. What a day…

Recommendations

• Nha Trang

• Have a picnic on the beach.

Striking

• Crocodile is a popular dish in Nha Trang. A lot of menus mention this delicacy and it’s not just showing off; we do see the scaled reptiles revolve on a grill here and there.