out and about: 'Nam Coastal Ride

Our first stop on the tour; fishermen boats on the way from Hue to Hoi An

Greg and I decided to hire two motorcycles to take us to Hoi An rather than doing the bus or train. We booked it with Hue Riders the night before and couldn't have been more pleased. Ben and Li, our drivers, picked us up at our hotel around 8:30am and we headed off for the Hai Van Pass with a few stops along the way. After booking it, we were most excited to experience the madness of riding on the back of a motorcycle in Vietnam. The traffic is nuts here to a foreign pedestrian and within minutes we were in the middle of a massive intersection. So exhilarating! Never felt unsafe though. Li spoke English well enough to get a few conversations in while Ben didn't speak any so we had some language barriers to get over at times but they were both really nice.

At our first stop (pictured above), Li told Greg and I about the fishermen and about the people who live just outside the cities such as Hue and Da Nang. Greg then walked away for a bit and Li asked me something but I couldn't understand. "Sorry?"

"How long you love him?" he said, gesturing as though he was putting on a wedding ring.

"OHhhhh, we're not married," I said, laughing.

"Why not?!"

"I don't know, Li, sorry, we're just not."

"But he is so handsome!"

"Yes, yes, very handsome."

"And you're so beautiful!"

"Well thanks, Li."

Most people that we have encountered in Vietnam have been so puzzled by the fact that we're traveling together without being a couple. I don't really think it's that weird but we expected people to be confused so it hasn't bothered us much. Every time we show up to a hotel and ask for two rooms the hotel workers just don't understand. Even a bunch of Americans and Germans that we have met don't understand. I'm sure one day, people will accept our ways of traveling haha.

We left there and proceeded up the mountain to a vista overlooking the ocean and rice paddies before taking a dirt road off the highway to Elephant Springs. On our way there we passed a group of water buffalo and a small patch of field with bamboo soccer goals. While at Elephant Springs we ran into three girls on the same tour, one from Montreal, one from Wisconsin, and one from Uruguay. We cooled off in the water and then headed back to the bikes. Before riding off I had the chance to use my first squat toilets in Vietnam. When I changed at the elephant springs the bathroom I changed in was actually a few rocks with a crack and a tarp wrapped around with a bamboo roof. There were two bricks presumably to stand on, I'm not sure. I chose to use the more sophisticated toilet where the bikes were parked which had a bucket of clean water and a toilet/hole in the ground. Typical squat toilet. Good times, haha.

We set off for a view of Lang Co Beach before hitting to top of Hai Van Pass and checking out an old ruin. A woman, who also thought we were married, offered us some cold drinks and Li took a photo of us looking awesome on the bikes. I'm not sure what kind they were but they were some sort of Hondas. The speedometer and odometer on Li's was broken but Greg said we never broke 40 mph--they were great drivers.

Our next stop was the beach in Da Nang. As we got off the bikes and started walking towards the beach Li shouted to us, "WAIITT, I have to take your picture!!" He was very adamant about taking our picture at every stop. Li, what a guy! The sand was burning hot but the water was really nice. We set off again once again, this time for the Marble Mountains. We ate some lunch at the bottom first with Li and Ben. We talked about the water buffalo and Greg showed Li a photo of the buffalo he saw in South Dakota. "Are those rice paddies?" "No, just rice."

We began our walk up to the top of a Marble Mountain and realized that it was a longer hike than we had anticipated considering the heat. There were several pagodas and then a pretty nice view at the top. Surrounding the mountains are tons of stores selling marble statues and jade jewelry among other things. Li told us that one massive Buddha can take up to 2-3 years to make (if I remember correctly..).

We road off to our last stop: a tailor in Hoi An. Li and Ben waited while we were measured for clothes. Greg and I ended up deciding to get a few things even though we didn't get to check out the other tailors first. Online reviews for the place Li chose seemed pretty good and, although Li was probably getting a commission, he was a great guide for us so we saw no reason to think that he would steer us wrong. We actually picked up our clothes today and are really pleased with them.

Anywho, after the tailor, Li and Ben left us at our home stay. More to come on Hoi An in the next post. For now, Greg and I are off to our last Hoi An dinner (I'm a little behind on these posts...). Hopefully I can catch up a bit later tonight. Tomorrow: Hanoi!

Photos