Central Highlands of Vietnam

Short note:

Still having loads of problems with the internet and no access. We're now in the Phillipines diving and have finally gotten to a place with decent internet. I have three posts ready to add to the blog so expect a short turnaround!!!! Hope everything is well....

Biking in Vietnam

In my research of Vietnam, I continually came across comments about Easyriders, a company that offers motorbike tours. As Ian and I both ride bikes back home, I had dreams of riding motorcycles on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Vietnam, but the more research I did, the less this seemed possible. Traffic, as I’ve mentioned before, is unlike anything I’ve seen and I do not understand the rules of the road. Quite often buses pass slow moving trucks despite traffic coming towards them and I did not want to play chicken with a bus.  As well, bikes often drive the wrong way down roads, round-a- bouts are an insane chaotic mess and the roads themselves are not always in the best shape. On top of all this, I didn’t know which company to trust – the reviews were sometimes poor of both the guides and the tours themselves. I therefore set this dream aside.

We were flying to Dalat, a resort town in the Central Highlands then making our way to the coast up to Nha Trang, Hoi An and Danang. Dalat is a 40 minute flight, or 7 hour bus ride, from HCMC. It was discovered by a European in 1893 and the French visited there soon after to escape the heat of Saigon. The area is now the honeymoon capital for the Vietnamese, it is both chilly and pretty.

I was researching some places to stay in Nha Trang when I came across a review of Tide Hotel. The woman who wrote the review mentioned the hotel owner’s blog so I paid it a visit. Owen, the hotel owner is Canadian and low and behold, he also did motorcycle tours. Needless to say, I sent off an email and he responded quickly to say he’d be glad to work out a tour for us. A list of pros and cons of riding our own bikes was shared. I had already decided to be a passenger but Ian, who has ridden a bike since he was 12, was understandably keen to give it a go. Then Owen mentioned insurance and the impossibility of Ian getting coverage. Not only that, but Ian would be so busy watching the roads he wouldn’t get to relax and enjoy the scenery. I left the decision to Ian and his mature responsible side (haha) decided to be a passenger (and he whined about it the whole trip).

After many emails, we decided on a 5 day tour of the highlands starting at Dalat and ending in Danang. Although our tour didn’t officially begin till the 11^th, Owen offered to pick us up from the airport on the 10^th – which was handy as it was located 30 km from the city.

As Ian and I sat in the airport in HCMC waiting to board for Dalat, he suddenly realized the camera wasn’t in his side bag.  A quick call to Rex Hotel and a search of the room, revealed nothing so we were panicking. There were a few photos of Phu Quoc on there so that was somewhat disappointing.  We left our number hoping that it might turn up (perhaps in their coffee shop that we had visited before leaving). On route to Dalat, we figured it was gone and we made plans to buy a new one.

As promised, Owen and Tien were waiting outside the tiny Dalat airport. Owen is a bald burly looking fellow while Tien is a slight Vietnamese. They greeted us warmly and went to retrieve their bikes. Owen drives a 400cc ‘Harley USA’ a bike made in Malaysia (clearly copied from Harley Davidson) with a backrest and a ‘throne’ seat with extra padding that gave passengers some height. As I was the shorty, I’d be riding with Owen.

Tien drove, well, we're not entirely sure; the frame was a KTM but the engine was a Suzuki 125 and he had a Ducati sticker on his gas tank. It proved a sturdy capable bike that could handle the Vietnam roads easily.

We told Owen about our camera and he kindly lent us his until we bought a new one. The guys secured our bags with cords and off we went. The ride was smooth and Owen's bike, although loud, didn’t vibrate like many American Harleys (what a relief!).  Early in the drive, Owen hit a pothole and I went flying out of my seat clearing 10inches (or at least that’s what it felt like) so that was interesting. Otherwise, the air was cool and it was great moving up into the hills on smooth curvy roads.  Overall, I felt relaxed and at ease.

The bikes pulled into the parking lot of Datanla Falls that was on route to Dalat. Visitors could either climb down the hill to the falls, or ride a bobsled down a windy elevated metal track.

We opted for the bobsled and what a blast. You could control the speed easily and the ride wasn’t nearly long enough.  It was great fun.

The falls were quite lovely. As it was later in the day, visitors were at a minimum but we did have to wait awhile to get over the bridge as one woman performed pose after pose after pose as her partner took photos of her.  It’s a common thing here….

Our journey up was by bobsled and wasn’t nearly as fun as going down. The sled was pulled straight up like a roller coaster cresting a hill. We loaded up on the bikes again and the boys soon dropped us off at our hotel with an offer to meet later for dinner. This is the view from our hotel.

Ian and I settled into our room and soon received a phone call from the Rex. They found our camera; it had sat all day on the table where we had had coffee.  Luckily we were returning to HCMC so we could pick it up then. In the meantime, we’d ask Owen if we could continue using his camera.

Dalat was really chilly and it would be worse travelling on the roads on a bike so I needed to buy something warm. Owen and Tien met us as scheduled and we headed to the market in town where we followed Owen to the second floor of a building which he called a real Vietnamese food court. Small areas serving as make shift kitchens were set up and we found a metal table and some stools. As we sat down, a movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I saw a rat run across the floor. Of course my impulse was to say something by why bother – this was just part of Asia. Ian and I ordered chicken pho and it was delicious, the noodles were amazingly fresh – best pho I’d had yet. We offered to buy the dinner since Owen and Tien had been kind enough to pick us up and 4 drinks and meals came to about 7 dollars. Crazy.

After dinner we headed to the market to look for a coat. I wasn’t expecting much since the Vietnamese, like most Asians, are tiny but the first coat I tried on fit. Unfortunately it was white – not the best colour for a bike trip – but the price was right. One dollar. It was used but looked brand new and since I’d only be wearing it for a few days – it was perfect. A pair of one dollar (new) gloves and I was all set.

Our night was quiet despite being in a room in the front and Owen and Tien were there at 9am to pick us up. Our bags were wrapped in plastic and secured to the bikes and I was bundled up in my winter coat and gloves. 

First stop was Cremaillere Railway Station built in the 40s but closed since 1964 because of VC attacks. It was a pretty little station with a couple of railway cars, one that still runs along a short section of track. Following this, we headed to a cable car that runs along a 2.5 km wire over pine forests to Truc Lam Pagoda. It was a lovely ride offering some splendid views. 

The pagoda centre is quite spacious and has wonderful views of Tuyen Lam Lake. The grounds are covered in beautiful gardens with a variety of colourful flowers and trees that have been coaxed into magnificent patterns.

I
an and I took our time here and at one point, sat quietly on a bench taking in the views.

We then headed to Hang Nga Crazy House. This house has been featured in many architectural magazines and I’ve come across its photo several times so I was excited to see it for myself. I was surprised to find that it was situated right in town and not out in the country as it seems to be in magazines. Lonely Planet describes it as a ‘free - wheeling architectural exploration in surrealism’ and you can see for yourself, they hit the nail on the head.

It has 9 rooms all of which are decorated in a very bizarre fashion. Rooms have ceiling mirrors over beds, disturbing scary animal statues with glowing red eyes, and beds built into cubby holes. Note the ‘tree’ to the left of this photo and the large ant crawling up it.

Each room is named after an animal or plant and the entire structure seems organic and maze-like.  You never know when you’ll happen upon a room. The swirly part in this bathroom is the shower.

You’d never find stairs like this in Canada – it might not be obvious but they are quite high, narrow, steep, and some areas have very low sides. I watched one woman go down the stairs by her bum. This would never meet building code in our country.

The owner of this hotel is Mrs Dang Viet Nga who holds a PhD in architecture from Moscow. The goal behind the building was to entice people back to nature. Rooms go from 40 to 120 a night and I had briefly thought of staying here…after seeing the rooms up close, I was glad I had changed my mind. It really is an odd crazy place.

I couldn’t help but note many quaint French colonial villas lining the streets of Dalat. There are some very pretty areas in Dalat and I could see why someone would want to spend time there.

We headed out and onto the open roads of Vietnam.