Hue to Da Nang

The night train arrived a bit late in the former imperial capital of Hue, but it was still early. It came as a bit of a surprise to us that in the although large city there was no Grab whatsoever except for GrabBike. Even in Ninh Binh there was still GrabTaxi available. So, for the first time in our world trip travel, we took / had to take a taxi. A short ride it was to our accommodation, and the fares were clearly displayed by stickers (less chance of fraud) on the window. The meter and the complete dashboard of the taxi were even sealed shut with seal tags, so you could see immediately if it would have been tampered with. After a 15 minutes’ drive, we were dropped off at the entrance to the alleyway leading to Tâm homestay. Oh boy. This might have been the best accommodation we have seen during our world trip so far. Although a bit tucked away, it guaranteed tranquillity and the Buddhist-inspired design and appointment of the whole house was in perfect balance. We were welcomed by a very friendly host and his wife, and although English was limited, it was more than enough to communicate and inquire about our travels. Meanwhile, complimentary tea and delicious ginger cookies were served while we could refresh with heavenly smelling face towels. Yip, definitely a winner! And for no money: a double room with private bathroom for 12 EUR…

After we had installed and inspected our room – which came with a private separate seating area by the way, we went in search of some brunch, which we found at DMZ Café. After withdrawing some much-needed cash, we walked across one of the bridges connecting the old and new part of Hue. On the other side was namely the old UNESCO’s protected imperial city. Armed with an audio guide, we set of to explore one of the three self-walking tours, learning quite a lot about this intriguing and immense site. After a short shelter-break from a rain front, we exited and found a nice café to rehydrate ourselves again. In the evening we walked to Nook Eatery. Normally we aren’t really following Lonely Planet recommendations, but rather looking for nice-looking spots along the route we walk, but this one had also a social-economic mission, so it was worth it. We finish our cultural day nurturing a beer – or two – at a sidewalk table at the café at the corner of Hue’s night walking street (where there’s a high concentration of drinking holes and clubs).

The next day, Thursday, we rose early for our next adventure: a motorbike ride from Hue to Hoi An, organised by Le Family Riders, recommended to us by one of my colleagues whom had visited before. Although it’s of course quicker and cheaper to just take a public or express bus, or even train, it’s very popular amongst Vietnam’s visitors to do it this way. We choose to sit as a passenger. Holding a driving license, you can also drive a motor yourself. You can also opt to self-drive a scooter. Technically a type A driving license is required, but most companies will also let you drive if you have driven a scooter enough before. In Southeast Asia it’s mostly easy to just drive around hiring a scooter, without proper driving license, insurance or rental agreement. So, no problem as long as everything goes according to plan, but know you can be in a pile of shit if you have an accident. Another advantage of sitting as passenger is that we could enjoy our surroundings and the drive itself much more. We were even able to take pictures on the go.

In a group of 6 riders, we first drove to a small coastal fishing village to take some pictures and where we got a brief introduction to the local fishing life. After that, it was onwards to the elephant waterfalls. A completely overrated and dirty hotspot for locals and tourists alike in summer, now it was depressingly dirty and quiet and especially pouring rain. Luckily, we got there before the rain started. The elephant in the name is even an artificially created by cementing a trunk onto a simple rock. The place is strewn with discarded plastic and other assortments of garbage and therefore we quickly left again. The only upside to this place was a very cuddlesome cat seeking Véro’s attention. Lunch was enjoyed during another downpour in a seaside restaurant where we had an assortment of seafood and vegetarian dishes laid out. Quite good. After lunch, and miraculously after the rain stopped again, we drove on towards the highlight of this daytrip: the Hai Van pass. For some reason I thought this would be in the mountains, but it isn’t. It’s passing through a tiny peninsula and offers on the one hand flashing views of the ocean, on the other hand lush (almost wet) green vistas. On the peak there’s an old fortification which was in use in the imperial times (both in the Middle Ages and during the American occupation). The views towards the ocean and the city of Da Nang alike are pretty awesome, but poor urban management has seen it fit to build, on both sides of the hill, high-voltage electrical distribution lines, so the views are a bit fucked up by the cables. A few pictures later, we straddled our steel horses once more for a pretty long stretch of driving along Da Nang’s causeway to the Marble Mountains, a series of temples and pagodas set into lush karst rock formation. The views might’ve been spectacular at some point, but the tourist industry rise has seen to it that the once pristine beaches are now pockmarked with concrete mastodon’s hotels and apartments. The temple complex itself is however a pretty oasis of tranquillity and quiet (if the big tourist groups decide to shut up at least). After this stop, we had a final fruit juice in the local café at the rock’s base and went onwards to Hoi An. A complimentary taxi arranged by Le brought us to our hotel for the night here: A Tran Boutique Hotel. It turned out it was very conveniently located: on the backside of Hoi An’s main dinner/nightlife scene street, only 2 blocks from the daily night market street and just a leisurely stroll over one of the bridges to the UNESCO old city centre.

So, we went of course out, when the evening had set in already, to find the streets alight with all kinds of colourful lampoons. Véro decided to go back to the hotel to get her camera, and she snapped loads of pictures while we were strolling along the riverside and into the night market. We tasted some great street food, drank a can of Tiger beer, had a nightcap at one of the riverside pubs and called it a late night.

The next day we explored the old city centre by checking out several of the temples and museums and enjoying a coffee at Phin Coffee, recommended to us by Bruno. It was a very decent brew, the process even explained to me by a – to me seemingly rather bored – barista. We had lunch on the first floor patio of a riverside restaurant and went back to the hotel to catch our ride to Da Nang. Here we booked one night in the lovely Minh Boutique Hotel. It might seem a bit weird or strange, but the soothing music played from the in-room speaker system was actually pretty comforting and relaxing. That notwithstanding, we dragged ourselves out for dinner, went to a seafood restaurant where the fish was indeed delicious, but waaaaay to much fiddling and waaaaay not enough meat to it for my liking. Much more to the liking of Véro though, she loves this! We were then encouraged by both the hotel and restaurant personnel to go and see the weekend dragon-fire spectacle on Da Nang’s famous dragon bridge. So, we got ourselves a premier vantage point spot at the top floor of a local watering hole and watched the dragon first spit fire and afterwards water. We, especially I, are used to the tons of fireworks Rammstein provides during their shows, so yeah, this was really disappointing. But hey, still a nice piece of bridge engineering, a lot more original than the ones in Europe and also a nice display of Vietnamese / Asian kitsch. And since we were here anyhow, it was worth it!