From Hue to Hoi An in a Motobike
Le Family Riders
We woke up early in the morning, even before 6am as we were all excited about the day ahead of us. We were going from Hue to Hoi An by motorbike, 130km of pure, beautiful and astonishing road. At 8am we were all ready to go in front of our hotel.
As we started the ride, just a few minutes after, we got away from the city scene and back into the beautiful countryside that we enjoyed so much in Luang Prabang. Our first stop was at a ridiculously expensive and as much beautiful built for a Vietnamese family living in the US, who only get the chance to visit it once a year.
After a while we were back on the road, heading to the Elephant Springs! When we got there the view was absolutely amazing, the clear water of the springs full of people jumping from rocks, having fun around the small “lakes” the springs create. Everybody was just relaxing either on hammocks or in the water.
We hit the road around 1 hour later as we were all hungry and waiting for the so promised seafood lunch. When we got there, the landscape around us was one of the most beautiful places around the world. In the middle of a laguna filled with seafood traps, meaning that you can’t get fresher seafood than that. As we sat and waited for lunch over a cold beer, the plates full of seafood started arriving and every single plate was more amazing than the previous one. I can gladly say that given the whole lunch experience, it was the best seafood I had so far! Although we were full, we didn’t want to leave such a wonderful place, but the road needed us so we headed in the direction of the mountains to do the famous Hai Van Pass (as seen in Top Gear).
Just as we were at the base of the mountain we did a brief stop to enjoy a breath taking view of the laguna surrounded by the mountains, fishing villages and right in the middle, the intervention the modern world of technology and innovation, as an enormous bridge connects two opposite landscapes, the village and the mountain.
As we headed up to the mountain, at every single turn we made, the scenario although changing remained as beautiful as you could ever get. Every turn is full of excitement and with the imagination building up how it would be at the top.
After a while we finally hit the top of the mountain, where we managed to explore for some time the surroundings as it was an advantage point during the Vietnam war, it was full of small stone turrets created by the US during the war where you could climb and have the perfect view of the two sides of the mountain, as we could see our next destination (Da Nang). We sat down and had a cup of iced coffee and prepared ourselves for the way down.
At the end of our coffee break we hopped on our bikes and headed down the mountain. As the sight of Da Nang and its surroundings became clearer we could see the two clearly distinguished beaches around the bay. As we were told, the smallest one was built for 93 families suffering of leprosy to keep them isolated from the rest of the city. It’s hard to imagine a better place for them to rest and enjoy their time.
Da Nang came to me as a surprise, I wasn’t expecting a young developing city, but the, still few, skyscrapers around the city give a very magical touch to its environment. As 70% of the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is for real state, one of the newest buildings around the city is really gorgeous as it gives the vibe for a brief moment that you are next to The Gherkin in London. We went straight to the beach to enjoy a quick swim on the sea and eat an ice-cream.
We headed to one of the 5 mountains in Da Nang, named after the five elements of nature. As we arrived there we went up on an elevator to check a Pagoda and some Caves on the top of the mountain. Almost at the end of our trip we headed to Hoi An — our final destination.
As we headed in the direction of Hoi An, we went through a road that connects the town with the beach, needless to say that the whole road that could barely fit two cars was fully packed with at least 4 motorbikes heading in each direction at the same time. When we arrived at our destination, we couldn’t help but to feel that this journey is definitely gonna be one of our best memories for this trip, and my in our whole life.
I cannot stress it enough that everybody should at least once in their life to this trip, as the whole experience is simply amazing and totally worth it.
