Hai Van Pass Scooter Day Trip from Hoi An

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Thanks to the "Top Gear Special on Vietnam" Tomas was set on wanting to follow their route up to the top of the Hai Van Pass.

We hired a scooter from one of the many roadside offerings for just US$4 for the day and then about the same for a full tank of fuel.

I had naive confidence in Tomas that he would be able to negotiate these treacherous roads but really, I think that it was more luck than anything that we managed to get home in one piece.

We had to take the coastal road to Da Nang and then continue further for about double the distance until we reached the top of the Pass.

Probably about 120 km round trip.







Strange dealings were going on as we waited for the woman who was renting us the scooter decide at last minute to give us the scooter that another Vietnamese woman had just turned up riding.

I later thought that she was probably a friend who had an empty tank and wanted it filled by some tourist. Who knows!

She took Tomas to the petrol station and made sure that the tank was filled and then they returned with Tomas driving.

She was very happy to have learned that Tomas actually did have an official motorbike licence, which I doubt exists in Vietnam.

Upon returning she said to us -you go to beach, you park bike and you swim and spend day at beach.

The beach was 5km away, yes, she certainly would have done well when we returned the scooter after the day trip that she suggested after filling the tank.

I absolutely didn't want to let her know what her actual plans were. She probably wouldn't like that we were taking the scooter so far.



I was feeling far from carefree in my head. We could break down when we were miles away or even have an accident! Then what!

Tomas said we deal with that when and if we have to. There were other groups of Western tourists along the way, speeding passed us as we putted along. Some were not even wearing helmets- carefree, or stupid???







Before we had even got to Da Nang, which was about half way we had witnessed several near misses.

One was a car that over took us and some other scooters and then when they changed lanes they changed, knocking over a scooter with 2 people on it.

This was a few metres ahead of us. The scooter fell to the ground.

The driver swiftly ran off the road and his friend, on the back, was stuck on the road with his foot caught under the bike.

The car that knocked them over had stopped ahead of them. Tomas' was alert enough that he could negotiate around them.





Next incident we were driving straight ahead hugging the right hand curb.

A large truck turned right into a driveway directly in front of us.

It would have been so obvious that he was cutting us off and we had no where to go. Luckily, Tomas wasn't going so fast.

We stopped successfully but not comfortably.



As we were passing the entrance to the Marble Mountain Temples a woman on another scooter started riding her scooter along side of ours and asking us if we were heading to the Mountain.

She was trying to make conversation as we were travelling! She would have been wanting to sell us something.

I noticed this a few times during the day; scooters riding alongside each other and having conversations while riding.

Traffic lights, lanes and footpaths were merely suggestions.

When returning from the pass we were trailing a vehicle that took each right hand turn much wider than necessary and swung to the left hand side of the road onto possible oncoming traffic.

Remembering that you drive on the right hand side of the road in Vietnam, it was completely unnecessary.

It was another 38 degree celcius day, with full sun and the breeze on the scooter made the day easier to handle.

Most people riding scooters here wear a full mask over their mouth and nose. I initially thought that this was for pollution but after our day I realize that it is for protection from the strong sun and hot wind. It is a few days later now and my nose is peeling despite the sunscreen.





Pleasantly, the road that lead up the pass was in very good condition.

Most traffic heading north takes a tunnel, so the pass had very little traffic.

The road surface was so new that the tar was still wet. It was being resurfaced at the time of our trip and luckily most of it was completed with only a small section on one side still in the process of being laid.



The top of the pass was full of tour buses and tacky eateries with vendors shouting at anyone they saw to urge them to visit their shop.





By the time we got back to Da Nang we had been on the seat of the scooter for a few hours without a break.

I had not felt relaxed enough to stop all the way to the Pass but once we were on the Hoi An side of Da Nang we took a break under the palm trees by the tidy beach side.

This part of the beach was developed with luxury beach resorts.

There were deck chairs and umbrellas on the beach but it was particularly deserted.

We rested our sore back sides by laying on the grass. Expecting to be hassled or asked for money to stop there we waited for each passing scooter to approach us but no one did.





It was such a pleasant stop that we each went for a swim, one at a time. The sand was scorchingly hot but the water was extremely pleasant, warm and clear. I just went in with what I was wearing, drying on the scooter was not an issue.





A few kilometers further we took the turn off to Marble Mountain being completely ignorant of what it was.

I spotted a western looking face and asked if he could help me with information.

He initially waved me away and I realized that he thought that with my motorbike helmet on that I was probably Vietnamese and wanted money from him.

That was funny because I had asked him for help, rather than a Vietnamese person for the very same reason.

He turned out to be a young guy from Taranaki in New Zealand, travelling alone.

Once within the Marble Mountain Complex we chatted a while longer under a shady tree until the sweat had stopped dripping from our faces.







The Marble mountain we visited is one of five craggy mountains of limestone and marble. Within and on the mountain are pagodas and caves used for Buddhist worship.

Surprising small cave entrances opened up into a vast places of worship.

Once inside the complex it was surprisingly free of people trying to sell anything further, so it was quite relaxing and peaceful. They are most likely forbidden.

We spent a few hours there, although it was very hot and I struggled to climb up to the highest viewing point at the top of the mountain.







Once we got back to Hoi An we sat in a river restaurant to cool down and eat dinner.

Today's trip had been something that Tomas had really wanted to cross off his bucket list, so he was very happy.

I enjoyed the day very much but was really glad it was successfully over. In my opinion the scooter ride was fun, although risky. The scenery may have been spectacular for Vietnam but living in New Zealand we are very spoiled for beautiful scenery, which really is hard to top.



Here a new YouTube video of our trip to the Hai Van Pass. Copy and paste the link into your browser to watch

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Photos

Top of the Pass
Pitty about all the Rubbish

Hi Van Pass Scooter Trip
Post trip Beer

Marble Mountain
The View from a very hot climb to the top

Comments

[Sue]

Motor scooter madness!
Wow! Temple looks amazing and worth the effort.