Instead of taking the easy route of letting the locals shuttle us to our next destination, we decided to rent a motorbike, and hoof it over Vietnam’s tallest pass.
Hai Van pass is a stunning road that switchbacks up mountains until it peaks into amazing views of the coastline below. The journey is both calm and chaotic at times, forcing you to earn the reward of the views from the summit.
It begins with long fast straightaways through the back roads of Hue and its surrounding beaches. An excellent insight to daily life, we’ve learned to appreciate the bad roads for the golden sights and priceless genuine kindness of the people who don’t live for tourism.
The dirt roads slowly changed to paved as we approached slightly larger towns. As the tunnel under the pass came into view, we stopped for a map consult and were approached by a raggedy old man in the middle of the converging highways.
He told us about his time fighting for the Americans during the war. He recalled stories of friendships with American soldiers who he still keeps in touch with. He thanks them for teaching him English, as now he is an English teacher for the local children in his village. We talked for a while until he decided he had kept us too long. Hugs, handshakes and toothless smiles were the start to our journey to the top of the pass.
Weaving in and out of massive trucks carrying oil, gas, and even cars made us quickly realize just how little these plastic helmets would benefit us, if it came to that. So we kept up with the quick moving traffic and tried to stay out of the way.
Feeling like Mario who just beat the boss and was about the rescue the Princess, we finally arrive at the stretch of the pass that cars weren’t allowed on. With the toughest part behind us, we leisurely cruised up the switchbacks, catching views, waving to other bikers, and enjoying the fresh air.
The summit was lovely. Windy, with tourists everywhere, but we hardly noticed. From the top, we had a jaw dropping view of China Beach, the infamous stretch of sand from the helicopter battle scene in the movie Apocalypse Now. On the way down, with Flight of the Valkyrie in our heads, our spirits were soaring high.
We stopped in DaNang for to fuel the last of our 8 hour motorbike trip to Hoi An. Filthy, happy and exhausted, we took our bruised butts to our oasis of a homestay, and welcomed ourselves to Hoi An with a cold beer and a sunset. Vietnam is good to us.