Day 7: Da Nang & Hoi An
Once we passed the halfway point it felt like everything was better on the south side. Our drive to Da Nang was mild and even had some sun shining through! Right before entering Da Nang we got to drive on the Hai Van pass, which is a mountain pass (and was featured on Top Gear). It was such a beautiful drive, being surrounded by water on one side and the mountain on the other. Da Nang was also big change from the scenery we were used to. It’s Vietnam’s 5th largest city, and is pretty modern as well. Its skyscrapers, wide roads, and beaches made it easy to enjoy and relax.
We had originally planned to dedicate a day to Hoi An itself, but it was really close to Da Nang and we decided we wanted to spend more time in Cambodia, so we drove through and around Hoi An, and continued to Quang Ngai. We heard great things about Hoi An and probably would’ve loved it if we stayed. It was a nice, small beach town that reminded us of our stay in Goa.
Day 8: Quang Ngai
The rain caught up to us as we were 30 minutes from our hotel in Quang Ngai. We stayed in a riverless “Riverside Villa” and didn’t do much here other than the usual movie/staying indoors. It was a really nice place to stay to wait out the rain. We also decided to shave off another day by going straight to Nha Trang the next day (7 hour drive!)
Day 9: Nha Trang
Our butts and legs were so sore after this long drive. But, we made it and it was totally worth it. We stayed in an apartment unit run by a lovely couple – both retired teachers. The entire apartment unit (plus free laundry!) was only $15. Nha Trang is another big coastal tourist city. It was like Da Nang version 2. To celebrate almost being done our road trip, we went to a local “hipster” restaurant and had southern bbq, burgers, and beer!
Day 10: Mui Ne aka Police Trap
Mui Ne is known for its sand dunes, fairy stream, and overall small beach town feel. However, we were warned to avoid Mui Ne because it has also become a huge tourist trap. Confused? We were too, until we experienced it. Mui Ne has recently been flooded with tons of tourists that police like to pick on. They set up shop along the road leading into Mui Ne. They flag you down and insist that you have somehow broken the law. For us, the cop confidently stated that we were speeding (he knew, simply by just watching us). But, it’s a good thing that we were prepared. We had two separate wallets, one with 200,000 VND (we read this is the minimum amount that they’d accept as a bribe), and the other with the rest of our money. After haggling and arguing and wasting much of our time, they finally accepted our 200,000 VND bribe, as expected (that’s about $8). They shooed us away and we finally got to start our day in Mui Ne. As tourists, we did all the touristy things and captured it all on camera.
Day 11: Saigon (Ho Chi Minh)
F I N A L L Y! We made it. We were so stoked to do this road trip initially, and it just didn’t go as planned at all. But, we still enjoyed all the good parts, and can now laugh at the bad. There were a lot of great experiences and funny stories that came of our Vietnam motorcycle tour. By the time we reached Saigon, we were honestly just happy to have survived everything we’d endured. We were also really looking forward to flying out to Sihanoukville the next day. We had initially planned some things to do in Saigon, but decided to just do the bare minimum, which for us, was just a cooking class. We ended our night cashing in our bike deposit for USD, getting bubbletea and fried chicken and watching a movie in our hotel room.
TWO PACKS 