Central Vietnam; The Journey Home Part 1
- Tom Hogan
- May 20, 2019
- 11 min read
Updated: Nov 7, 2019
The destinations within central Vietnam make up the majority of Vietnamese tourism ads. The timeless charm of it's ancient cities, its gorgeous coastline and the legacy of the DMZ all within a couple hours of eachother combine to make the central area a showcase for the best of Vietnam.
And so it was a no brainer to begin my final journey here. Well actually not so much, it took such a long time to work out the logistics of this trip. Managing three seperate, consecutive trips with three seperate groups of people is no mean feat. Plans would seem concrete and then crumble to dust moments later. At one stage I was certain my trip would look a little something like this.
To the untrained eye it may look like a mess but basically it details a trip begining in Da Nang and finishing in Ha Noi via a myriad of transportation and accomodation means. I wouldn't waste my time trying to work it out, I already wasted enough time making this only for the plan to change the next day.
Instead we opted to fly into the former capital.
Day 1: Temple Runs and Forgotten Dragons.
We touched down at Phu Bai airport, early in the morning. Myself and my two companions from the university were groggy, hungover and excited to begin the journey ahead.
We had arrived in Hue, or more accurately a sizeable distance outside the city limits of Hue.
After haggling for a fair price from the mob of taxi drivers expecting us we eventually found a reasonable fair and piled into an old clapped out car towards the backpacker district of the city centre.
The city is steeped in history, both ancient and modern their significance embraces you imediately. The ancient citadel with it's uniform grid layout and ancient moats draining into the perfume river heavily influences the layout of the surrounding urban sprawl.Reminders of the intense fighting during the Vietnam war are ever present although largely in the form of tacky western oriented bars and hostels.
We were starving after our flight and as soon as we disembarked the taxi we looked to dive into the local signature dish as soon as possible. Luckily we only had to look across the street to be aquainted with the spicy little noodle dish which shares it's name with the city.
Bún bò Huế can be eaten all over Vietnam but as the name suggests it's origins (and most delicious examples) can be found in Hue. It is a spicy beef noodle soup which is absolutely perfect to start your day with, especially after a dawn flight on a budget airline.
My friends had very limited time to see the central region due to work commitments and so our itinerary was tight. We wanted to see the sights of Hue, complete half the Hai Vann pass and reach the summit before it gets dark, to camp.
In theory it could be done. In reality, unforseen circumstances were at play.
But before we got anywhere, first we needed transportation.
Due to the popularity of the Hai Vann pass every bike hire shop, hostel and opportunistic local offers one bike pick up deals from Hue to Da Nanang or Hoi An. Basically this means that rather than having to return your bike to the shop from where you hired it you can arrange for your bike to be picked up from your end destination.
After what felt like an eternity we settled on some bikes which we liked and headed off towards the ancient citadel.
The bones of the Nguyen Dynasty's citadel still remain after more than 200 years despite witnessing some of the most destructive and deadly conflict of the Vietnamese-American War. Moats and heavily fortified walls enclose the the forbidden purple city and while it is free to travel throughout the outer citadel, the forbidden city requires purchasing of a ticket.
The inner city is incredible and worth the admission fee but a shadow of what it once was as only 20 of the 148 buildings remain after American Bombing during the war. It's easy to take your time and spend an entire day walking the grounds, Tours are also availble which combine walking with some large elongated golf buggy's.
Our next stop has become arguably Hue's second most recognisable attraction in recent years.
The former theme park opened in 2004 and has sat abandoned for ten years as it was handballed from investor to investor, all failing to resurect the decaying attraction.
The park sits in a beautiful lakeside area enclosed by forest and is roughly a 30 minute ride from central Hue by motorbike. Up until recently entering the park has been a fairly simple albeit slightly questionable procedure. The entire park is patrolled by a single "security guard" on motorbike who will harrass you to leave until he "gives in" and offers you to stay and explore for a small fee. Due to the size of the park and it's multiple entry points and the frequency of visitors there it is absolutely impossible for this guard to succesfully patrol the park. If you run into him it's pretty common for him to immediately zoom off to harrass another visitor who has just arrived and as a result it is possible to sneak into the park without paying the fee. However recently announcments have been made that the park is truly closed to visitors now and the guards will no longer be taking bribes so don't bother trying.
Vietnam is still developing and as a result Law and order is not so clandestine and I don't think it helps when wealthy westerners on holiday think they can just bribe their way through anything here, so I don't condone such actions.
The park has 3 Main sites, the most recognisable of three being the enormous and foreboding Dragon, you can ascend an internal staircase up the dragons spine for an awe inspiring view from it's mouth. Other sites include some old twisting slides into a black stagnant pool and finally a small arena area with a handful of bizare sculptures scattered throughout.
After a few hours exploring with some local kids and avoiding the extremely ineffective security guard we were back on the open road. But with daylight fading rapidly chances of setting up camp on the hai van pass was looking incredibly slim. And slimmed faster than a biggest loser contestant after some shocking navigation gafs which saw us heading down the complete wrong stretch of highway for way too long.
Eventually, faced with ascending the scenic mountain pass in pitch black darkness we decided to set up camp on Lang Co beach. Dead tired, the three of us had no idea for what would greet us when we awoke in our two man tent the next morning.
Day 2:
Lang Co is the Gateway to the Hai Van pass and we had unknowingly camped out on one of Vietnam's most picturesque beaches... and also in front of a graveyard. It's actually quite difficult to access the beach due to holiday resorts cordoning off large sections of the coast, which is unfortunately common throughout Vietnam.
Despite worrying forecasts we had perfect weather to complete the Hai Van Pass to Da Nang. After a morning swim in the rolling waves we set off. but we wouldn't get far before disaster struck.
A bit of Background on the Hai Van pass for those who are unaware. The Hai Vann pass is a coastal mountain pass stretching from Lang Co to the City of Danang. It is popular among tourists due to its picturesque scenery, good surfaces and it's starring role in the Topgear Vietnam special.
We had only just rounded the first corner of the pass when Theo, one of my friends, inexplicably crashed his bike, simply lost traction and slid out at about 25kmph. Luckily he wasn't badly hurt but he had some nasty scrapes. We attempted to bandage them as best we could with strips from Phil's towel, despite being fairly shaken, Theo was comitted to finishing the ride in the hope that we would find better medical care in Da Nang.
We continued to wind through the coastalmountain range, navigating the switchbacks and revving our little Honda's to their limit. I highly recommend a choosing a bike with a semi automatic transmission as some areas can be quite steep and the freedom to choose a lower gear and reach the higher rpms makes a big difference. The midway point of the Hai Van pass is marked by a small cluster of shops and the historic ruins of an old french fort at the highest peak of the road. It's a fun little area to explore and snack up or in our case seek medical attention for our walking wounded.
If you follow a steep and narrow track further up the hill you will eventually come across an open camping area overlooking possibly the best vista of the whole pass. Our initial plan was to camp here on the previous night but unfortunately we didn't get the chance. The camping area is pretty large and it doesn't require booking or payment, sadly it is quite messy as many people simply leave their rubbish at the site.
From this point it's a simple downward slope to Danang with plenty of roadside lookouts where you can enjoy the view over the Marble mountains and the Redbeach while enjoying some fresh mango.
The final stretches of the trip take you through downtown DaNang, Vietnam's third largest city and arguably it's most modern and approachable. The city is split down the middle by a large river and as a result DaNang is the home of several very impressive bridges. The bridges in fact double as major tourist attractions thanks to their accompanying nightime light shows. The most famous of all is the 666 metre long steel dragon bridge which breathes fire and water on weekend evenings.
After an evening getting drenched by a giant steal dragon and eating some fantastic mini banh xeo, it was time to sleep back at the hostel to farewell my two friends as I continued my journey to Hoi An alone. Getting there would prove to be a little interesting.
Day 3
Hoi An is a world heritage listed town just 30-45 minutes away from Da Nang but due to it's pull as a tourist attraction there are thousands of ways to get there and most of them try to take advantage of tourist dollars as best they can. There are countless tours and express buses which charge you a premium for the short drive and thrifty locals will offer you a lift on the back of their bike for an inflated price as well but just ignore all of that. Being a town so close to the Da Nang you can utilise the public bus system to get you to Hoi An relatively fast and dirt cheap. The only issues are finding the bus stop and waiting for one to arrive. In vietnam a bus time table is a laughable concept, it will simply come when it comes.
After spending a long time at My Khe beach Bus stop I realised it was the wrong place to catch the public bus service. It is very beautiful though and well worth swimming at.
I walked further inland to the AH1 highway and found the stop. The only Information I had gathered about which bus to catch was to look for a "Yellow bus" and so I sat and waited and waited.
To pass the time I glanced down at my phone, instantly I looked up at the sound of a yellow bus appearing from thin air. A guy who I assumed was the conductor jumped off the bus without even waiting for the bus to stop and pulled me and my bag onto the bus, before i could even read if this was the right bus I was away.
There was standing room only and as I looked around at this crazy bus many of the passengers met my look of shock with a little giggle and a shrug.
A lady with a thick stack of notes came to me and charged me the fare which from memory was about 30,000 VND ($1.80 AUD) and eventually I got a comfortable window seat for the short journey to Hoi An.
From the bus terminal in the outer suburban area of Hoi An it was only a 20 minute walk to my hostel, A beautiful family run villa, surrounded by orchards of bright orange Kumquats. As it was outside the historic but bustling town of Hoi An the area was super quiet and peaceful.
The afternoon sun beamed down radiently as I took advantage of the hostel's free bicycles and lazily cruised down to the picturesque riverside town. The roads to Hoi An are possibly the least busy in the entire country and you can feel completely at ease on a bicycle, there's a real tranquility in Hoi An which is hard to come across in this high octane country.
Hoi An existed as an important port for chinese and Japanese merchants until the 19th century when the river silted up and rendered it useless as a port. As a result their 16th century architecture has been beautifully preserved. 800 of the Buildings of the old town have received UNESCO world heritage listng. It is best seen on foot as vehicles are banned on a large area of the inner old town. You can check out as many cafes, restaurants and tailors as your heart desires. In the night time the town really comes into its own as thousands of paper latterns adorn every building and street. Free public shows of ancient Hoi An are performed in the streets and the night market buzzes with vendors selling all kinds of street food.
The crowds can feel a little overwhelming at times but Hoi An is certainly a top tier vietnamese tourist attraction. Compared to many other attractions I had seen up to this point, this was the first one which didn't feel like it was overselling and underdelivering on it's promises.
Day 4
I decided to make the most of my time with the hostel Bicycle by exploring the surrounding coastline. I packed some water, my camera and swimming gear and made my way to the famed An Bang beach.
The route took me through some idyllic rice fields and flowering boulevards. The surrounding suburbs were quiet and besides some groups touring on bicycles the roads were relatively empty. The route to An Bang is very flat and straightforward but upon arrival I received a very strange greeting. As I glided in on my bike a short balding british man struck up a conversation with me. Imediately it felt like being trapped in one of those conversations with a charity pest or member of the socialist club on swanston street. He regaled me with a tale of how he had been a little bit blazed on the devils lettuce one night and managed to lose his wallet and phone and as a result he was now begging me for help. Of course with Vietnam being the home of the scam I approached his request pretty cynically. Supposedly he needed to get to Danang and make a call to his bank, from within the bank. I didn't trust his story much at all but it did stir something within me. I imagined that in the case that he was telling me was the truth, and if a similar thing ever happened to me, it would be really really shit. So out of goodwill I gave him 100000D for fuel (even though a bus ticket would have been far cheaper) and I was free from him. He promised to pay me back somehow as his voiced faded into the distance.
The beach itself was nice, not as nice as the beaches of Da Nang but still pretty nice, the expansive development of Da Nang had not yet reached this far down the coast and so it was still possible to not feel boxed in by resorts.
After my dip I dried off and changed into some dry clothes and attached my bathers to the back of my bike so they could dry as I continued to ride to the headlands at Cua Dai beach.
The long stretch of road is intruiging and eerily quiet. The road is flanked by multiple abandoned hotels in various stages of construction and acres of overgrown empty lots.
Supposedly the illfated development was intended to be a 5 star resort and host numerous villas but financial difficulties saw the plans discarded before the hotel even received a request for free accomodation from an influencer.
Continuing to the headlands there is a small lighthouse and the headquarters for the coast guard. I reclined in a hamok with a coke and a friendly dog by my side and watched the fishing boats potter around the headlands, it is truly the most peaceful spot in the whole Hoi An area.
I cycled my way back to the old town for some lunch and to pick up the shirt I got fitted the day before.
I spent the rest of the day wandering around the old town one last time and I stumbled across a massive Vietnam/American war memorial on my way home. The hundreds of identical concrete tombs a stark visual reminder of the costs of that brutal point in world history.
As the day slowly drew to a close so did my time in Central Vietnam. The north and all it's promise awaited me and I was excited to see some more friends after a couple days solo traveling. For me Hoi An was a place of great internal reflection, Returning home was still a distant thought, in this moment everything was pleasant. The weather beamed down on me, my bank account was still promising and the trivial annoyances of work and uni were far from my mind, for now was the time to experience the present.
-T
All images are my own, captured using a canon 600d or Google pixel 1.
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