Dalat - Home away from home

Tom wanted a short break from driving, as he did already over 600 kilometer in three days this was well deserved. And this would be the place to do so. A lot of nice people in a very nice guesthouse were everyone eats and drinks together. It was like being back in the Hague in my old student house. Drinking bears by the campfire and eat and chill. Much needed, cause ofcourse we have a very though life! 

The owner and it's family were the nicest. Only one person spoke English but that did not stop the elder grandpa and grandpa rattling to you. The just set up the family stay and it was such a succes, no wonder for 10 dollar included breakfast, lunch and dinner plus tea and coffee, that he was always overbooked. Which happened to us as well and thus we being send to his uncles hotel. A short walk later we came to a quite luxery hotel. Atleast for our standards it was a 5 star. So we ended up with this hotel for a couple of nights and the joy of the homestay and it's people. Best of both worlds!!

The third day we went with the dutch people on a trip, Nina apparently also favors the dutch people, as there were also Germans who were... Woohoo!! Anyways, The trip was crazy. The day before two of the group that went with did a guided tour through the jungle and waterfalls and thought they would be able to guide us. We rented a taxi and were on the way. But not to a normal start of a hike. Nono somewere across the road we went down with the taxi driver looking at us if we were crazy and were the hell we were heading too. Yet somehow we got off at the right spot. 

We walked several hours through the jungle getting of waterfalls and climbing down and even did rock jumping from 10 meters high! It was crazy, really like how the horror movies start. 3 guys and 3 girls on a trip through the jungle with no one close. We were utterly alone! After a while we found a path leading up the mountain which they used yesterday back the road, from there we tried to hitchhike back to town. The second car picked us up and said we would all fit in together. 1 in front and 5 in the back! Hahaha 

After we decided to celebrate and cook dinner for the whole guest house including family. Pasta!! With tomato sauce. Tom and the owner of the guesthouse went to a local market to buy all they need. 5 kg tomotos to start with. The vietnamese family had never tasted such thing and for us it was delicious to eat something from home again.

Hoi An - The beginning of our much needed adventure

I don't know why but somehow Tom kept mentioning the name Hoi An to me for the entire time we were travelling through northern Vietnam. When Tom found out that this city is famous for its delicious food - there was no question - we will go to Hoi An and stay there for some time. 

Arriving by motorbike, we directly got a climbs of the old town in the evening - beautiful with lanterns everywhere. 

However, Hoi An was not the place we felt at home at. Yes, it had a beach and the beach was nice but it was too cold. And yes, the old town is beautiful but it is full of tourists which destroyed the beauty a bit. Of course we are also tourists and we also like touristy places but when it's too much, it's too much. The atmosphere was just not right. Tom was not that satisfied with the food (it was not bad but not as good as expected!). So instead of staying here for some time - we decided to move on. Instead of taking a bus - we rented a motorbike for 2 weeks! 
We were missing the adventurous feeling as south east Asia was making is everything so easy. We knew that it's not allowed for tourists to ride a motorbike without a license but we did it anyways - feeling as adventurous as ever! 

Hue - exploring the rich but sad history of Vietnam

Our 2nd time to visit a DMZ - this time not an active war zone anymore but a place that tells the history of Vietnam. From Hue, we booked a day tour to see the old DMZ, the vinh moc tunnels and the old US army base. 

Unfortunately we spend most of the time on the bus as everything was so far away. But when we got out and went to the actual places it was very interesting. Especially the vinh moc tunnels where for 6 years people lived to be protected from bombing. There was even a nursery in these tunnels and 12 baby's were born there. It felt strange to walk through there - 10 to 15 meter underground - and to imagine the life here during the Vietnam war and not seeing the sun for 6 years. 

Day 1-2-3 biking the highlands

As Nina explained, we missed the adventure. Simply cause we had so much adventures which tented to be much more adventurous than South East Asia. By this we mean China. Only because there you are not a money cow plus the bigger majority doesn't speak a word of English. We had to work with hand and feet language making noises. Like making a bus with sounds and all to find out were the bus station is... This doesn't excist anymore in SEA. Everything is run down by tourists and the country is set up just for them making everything easy. And at one point we were done with that! The tourists are the tourists, and the tourists towns are not the real sights of a country. We were up for a adventure! And in vietnam that means, get two Wheels beneath you and roll. With summing riders on the storm felling alive as ever.

To do so we rented a bike for two weeks and had to cover around 1500 kilometers. With around 300 the first day. With Nina, me and 1 backpack on a 135 cc yahama motor bike. Also we had to plan the road. At first we had to stay away from high way one as that's know to be a death trap with only dust and trucks. So why bother. After research we came up with this map: ADD LATER

During the First day we rode 300 km to Kon Tum. All was good till like 100 km before Kon Tom, the so called sitting area became quite painful and the road not paved and dusty as it gets, needless to say the last 100 km took as long as the other 200 combined. Note to our selfs get face masks the next day! The road was as always, beautiful, as highlands are supposed to be. Happy to say that we made this choice else it would be by a boring bus were you see nothing at all. 

The Next day, 250 km to Buan Ma Thot, yay less kilometers.... NOT. With still pain some pain in the bud we crawled back on our bike to see how far this dusty dirt road would stay a dusty dirt road. Apparently nearly the whole freezing way! No asphalt for at least 200 km with a highest speed of like 50 kmh but mostly 30 kmh it took forever. Atleast we got our face masks, which was the smartest thing we did that day. Somewere in the middle of nowhere we stopped for our daily coffee break. The coffee in vietnam is so delicious that you at least need one per day! The owner of the little shop was still building the place but offered us a coffee right away.  He was so happy to see us that he came and sit down with us and shared his cigarette with Tom (of course not with the woman....). Well, you can't say no to that so here we were: sitting on a small Woden chair, drinking coffee and Tom smoking together with the owner. He told us that the sandy road will continue like this for the next 100 km. so driving on the other hand was not so much fun anymore. After 12 hours on the road we arrived and after a fast dinner (delicious com tam) next to the random hotel I was sound asleep.

Day 3, to Dalat. Dalat is the coffee area of Vietnam. The road to here was luckely a asphalt rods straightforward through the mountains without a lot of traffic. And to say the truth, I'm glad it was so after these last two days! Without issues we arrived im dalat in a nice little guesthouse outside the town and somehow full with dutch people sitting by a campfire. Can it get any better?

Top gear Vietnam - hai van pass

For the top gear fans, the famous mountain pass in vietnam. Google it! 

We decided that it was time to hop on a bike again even though its illegal for us foreigners to do so. But for someone who wants to experience something special and amazing must sometimes bend the rules a little. I mean, vietnam is corrupt as hell as I'll write later. A Few dollars get you far in this part of the world.

We searched online for a reliable motorbike rental which also had a shop in the next city, Hoi An, so we would't have to drive twice. Tripadviser being quite usefull as always set us up with a nice shop, which even gives free knee and elbow protection with the rental. Instantly this shop was favored by Nina. Yet, first I had to show that I could drive! Also a first timer in Asia. Normally they are like "here is the bike, bye". With a guy from the shop on the back I drove around Hue trough the masses like i don't know any better. On the way the guy asked were I learned to drive as I drive like an Asian. It's ofcourse a compliment but I wonder if ill ever be able to drive in Europe again. Apparently I'm cut from the same wood.

The pass was amazing. Loads of bends next to the ocean with amazing views. No trucks since these all go through the tunnel. It's there only for the people willing to drive, needless to say in the low season we are traveling in that we merely had the road to our selves. I wished I could show pictures but sadly..... Our laptop broke with water damage. So for the last 3 posts and this one there wont be many pictures unless we took a few with our phones! I took the liberty of taking one from the internet, a picture says so much more. It's amazing! In imagine the picture shown below and then think it is only a small part of the whole Mountain pass.