Blogs from Hai Van Pass, Da Nang , South Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia

It took us 2 days of hair-raising motorbiking to reach our goal. The Hai Van pass - a 21km long stretch of tarmac that wraps around the green mountains north of Da Nang - had, until earlier today, been nothing more than a distant dream, conceived long ago in a dingy pub back in frosty England. Today, Sam, Sam, Harry and I found that our heavy expectations could not meet the spectacular experience of driving a motorbike on one of the world's most scenic roads. Even Top Gear could not do the road justice. It's the closest to vehicular paradise we may ever get. The adventure began to feel tangible when we arrived in our base in Hoi An - one of the few remaining ancient cities in Vietnam. Here, we found ourselves surrounded by a ... read more

An early start saw us leaving Hue behind for a road trip of four hours through towns and villages, heading up into the mountains with the coast running along the left hand side of the road (with an ever increasing drop!). We were taking the road across the Hai Van pass, which I found out afterwards is the most dangerous road in Vietnam - so dangerous they built a tunnel road to use as an alternative! But what stunning scenery the way we went. Beautiful misty mountains covered in lush vegetation on one side of the road and on the other, in the distance, we could see the crashing waves of the ocean. We pulled in to a 'happy house' stop by the side of a lagoon with stunning views and while some of the group ... read more

The first image in this blog is a photo of me when standing at the summit of Hải Vân Pass (altitude 1,500m) in central Vietnam. This pass is located between Huế and Đà Nẵng, and to get there we have to climb up and down by car through many hair-pin curves. Hải Vân means "Ocean Clouds" in English, which is most apt since the peak of the mountain reaches toward the clouds, while its foot extends to the East Sea. In my opinion, the drive along this pass is the most scenic in Vietnam. We could view both mountains and sea, as well as both directions North and South in Vietnam. Some years ago, the Hải Vân pass was the only road connecting northern and southern Vietnam, until a day when a strong land collapse happened ... read more