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Published: July 20th 2006
Way back near the begging of my trip when I was on Koh Tao island
doing my scuba course, a dive master there was telling me how he spent
five days on the back of a motor bike travelling through central
Vietnam. He said that it was the highlight of his year long travel.
After hearing this I decide that I wanted to do the same thing. So I
got in contact with Quang and set up my own trip, from Hoi An 1140 Km
down to the beaches of Nha Trang.
I met with Quang in Hoi An a few days before I was suppose to leave and we planned out our trip. Quang is a little Vietnamese man that was originally in Law school but had to drop out to fight in the war. He now works as a easy rider giving foreigners tours of pretty much any part of Vietnam. All his money goes to his kids who he is trying to put through university. Quang was a great guy he treated me like a king and made sure I was always having a good time through out the whole trip. Quang from the picture is tiny,
probably weighs 100 pounds soaking wet. So the first thing I asked him was me weighing in at a big 185 was I too big for the bike. He flipped through his photo album till he came to a page with a pleasantly plump dutch women and says 108 Kilo, big lady, no problem. So after talking for about 2 hours we decided on doing a six day trip from Hoi Ann to the beaches of Nha Trang.
Day 1 - Hoi Ann to Back Lak 220 KM
Quang picked me up at my Hotel in Hoi Ann at around 8:30 in the
morning. He passed me my Helmet before putting it on I took a quick look inside and found a small baby mouse, obviously dead. So I show this to Quang he quickly disposes of the mouse apologies and give the helmet a quick cleaning(rubbing the inside with a dirty rag). So i put on my helmet and we were off. We rode for about 1 hour and stopped at some monument, This monument was left intact during the war because a group of american's had protected it. We then rode for another 4-5 hours
to the small town Dak Lac. Mostly people who travel through vietnam take highway number one which runs along the eastern coast, but we took the Ho CHi Minh trail which runs along the western side of vietnam. This was the trail that the VC soldiers used as they attacked the south. So along the way Quang showed me spots where the American had bombed the trail. Since the war the government had paved the way and it's used as an alternate to highway number one. The view for this day and everyday we were traveling was amazing.
We arrived to the town on day 1 at around 3:00 pm, dinner wasn't until around 6:30 so I had a few hours of spare time. Since we were travelling on the Ho Chi Minh trail all these towns rarely see tourist. So honestly I was like a celebrity, while driving everyone looked up at me in a confused stare, like is there really a white person driving through here, once they realised it really is a white person, they wave and yelled a big hello out. Walking through this first town everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared
at me while I walked by. About halfway through the town a group of three guys convinced me to go down and play some soccer. So I played some soccer with the local and got passed the ball on pretty much every single play. I am not a good soccer player but I definitely held my own against this group of 15 year olds.
Day 2 - Dak lak to Tomb kum 130 KM
After a quick Vietnamese breakfast(rice soup with beef) we had an early start and when straight for the road. Today was a fairly short drive, this day was mostly through the mountains again with breath taking views. We arrived to Tomb Kum at around 2:00 and then went to check out a few of the sights the city had to offer. First we went to the minority village, this is a town where people are living with the very minimal amount of things. The people were very nice I spent about an hour talking to a girl there who was explaining to me their way of life. In the minority villages the women are head of the house hold. The women go out during
the day and work the field and the men stay home and look after the children during the day and have dinner ready for the women when they get back from the fields. Nest we went to a old catholic church. I had no idea but over 25 % of Vietnamese including Quang are catholics. When we got back to the hotel I went for a walk through the market and found out a lot of people in this town spoke french. It was really cool to actually be able to have a conversation with the locals. My french was definitely a lot better then most of their english.
Day 3 TOmb Kum to Mt Therem 230 Km
This day we spent pretty much most of the day on the motorbike. It was the longest distance we had to travel and pretty much mostly mountains so we barely got over 20 km/h. We made a stop at what Quang called a volcano. If you look at the pictures it pretty much was nothing but a big lake. We finally made it to the town and again it was a large town which hardly ever sees tourist. I took
a walk through the town and was again treated like a celebrity. Every time I sat down a crowd would form around me all trying to practice their english.
Day 4 Mt THerem to Lak Lake 180 Km
Again the drive was full of mountain ranges and all sorts of neat things to look at. We made a stop at a waterfall complex which had 5 separate large waterfalls all within a small area. Today was the longest of all the days, we travelled 230 km and took us pretty much most of the day.
After arriving in Lak Lake I soon realised that we weren't staying in a regular hotel but a long hour in a minority village. This certain minority village live in these fairly large long houses which are raised about a meter and a bit off the ground and the animals live directly under the house. Luckily the one we were staying in wasn't a traditional one and had no animal directly below us, but there sure were all sorts of animals around us. Pigs, Dogs, Cats, cows and water buffalo roamed the entire place freely. I really don't understand how they know
who's animals belonged to whom, after asking the question I was told they just know. It rained all evening so it was an early night to bed.
Day 5 Lak Lake to Dalat 200 km
I was woken up nice and early by what seemed like one thousand rooster all screeching there wake up call under neath our long house. After a quick breakfast I went for a one hour canoe ride, this was very peaceful I laid back in a canoe which was carved out of a huge log while a minority women paddled me around Lak Lake. We then hit the road, and the scenery on this day beat out all the rest. We made a 1000 meter climb to the summit of the mountain. Again words can't describe the views and pictures just won't do it justice. We arrived to our final destination Dalat at around 3:00. Quang took me to a couple more sight seeing spots, an old kings house, and the crazy house. That night I went out for a few beers with some people I ran into randomly that I had hung out with in Hanoi.
Day 6 - Dalat to
Nha Trang 180 Km
We got up bright an early to hit the road at around 8:00 am. The drive to Nha Trang was mostly downhill again with really cool views. In the six days I took over three hundred pictures I will post a bunch of them on the website.
Way back near the begging of my trip when I was on Koh Tao island
doing my scuba course, a dive master there was telling me how he spent
five days on the back of a motor bike travelling through central
Vietnam. He said that it was the highlight of his year long travel.
After hearing this I decide that I wanted to do the same thing. So I
got in contact with Quang and set up my own trip, from Hoi An 1140 Km
down to the beaches of Nha Trang.
I met with Quang in Hoi An a few days before I was suppose to leave and we planned out our trip. Quang is a little Vietnamese man that was originally in Law school but had to drop out to fight in the war. He now works as a easy rider giving foreigners
tours of pretty much any part of Vietnam. All his money goes to his kids who he is trying to put through university. Quang was a great guy he treated me like a king and made sure I was always having a good time through out the whole trip. Quang from the picture is tiny, probably weighs 100 pounds soaking wet. So the first thing I asked him was me weighing in at a big 185 was I too big for the bike. He flipped through he photo album till he comes to a page with a pleasantly plump dutch women and says 108 Kilo, big lady, no problem. Sop after talking for about 2 hours we decided on doing a six day trip from Hoi Ann to the beaches of Nha Trang.
Day 1 - Hoi Ann to Back Lak 220 KM
Quang picked me up at my Hotel in Hoi Ann at around 8:30 in the
morning. He passed me my Helmet before putting it on I took a quick look inside and found a small baby mouse, obviously dead. So I show this to Quang he quickly disposes of the mouse apologies and give the helmet a quick cleaning(rubbing the inside with a dirty rag). So i put on my helmet and we were off. We rode for about 1 hour and stopped at some monument, This monument was left intact during the war because a group of american's had protected it. We then rode for another 4-5 hours to the small town Dak Lac. Mostly people who travel through vietnam take highway number one which runs along the eastern coast, but we took the Ho CHi Minh trail which runs along the western side of vietnam. This was the trail that the VC soldiers used as they attacked the south. So along the way Quang showed me spots where the American had bombed the trail. Since the war the government had paved the way and it's used as an alternate to highway number one. The view for this day and everyday we were traveling was amazing.
We arrived to the town on day 1 at around 3:00 pm, dinner wasn't until around 6:30 so I had a few hours of spare time. Since we were travelling on the Ho Chi Minh trail all these towns rarely see tourist. So honestly I was like a celebrity, while driving everyone looked up at me in a confused stare, like is there really a white person driving through here, once they realised it really is a white person, they wave and yelled a big hello out. Walking through this first town everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at me while I walked by. About halfway through the town a group of three guys convinced me to go down and play some soccer. So I played some soccer with the local and got passed the ball on pretty much every single play. I am not a good soccer player but I definitely held my own against this group of 15 year olds.
Day 2 - Dak lak to Tomb kum 130 KM
After a quick Vietnamese breakfast(rice soup with beef) we had an early start and when straight for the road. Today was a fairly short drive, this day was mostly through the mountains again with breath taking views. We arrived to Tomb Kum at around 2:00 and then went to check out a few of the sights the city had to offer. First we went to the minority village, this is a town where people are living with the very minimal amount of things. The people were very nice I spent about an hour talking to a girl there who was explaining to me their way of life. In the minority villages the women are head of the house hold. The women go out during the day and work the field and the men stay home and look after the children during the day and have dinner ready for the women when they get back from the fields. Nest we went to a old catholic church. I had no idea but over 25 % of Vietnamese including Quang are catholics. When we got back to the hotel I went for a walk through the market and found out a lot of people in this town spoke french. It was really cool to actually be able to have a conversation with the locals. My french was definitely a lot better then most of their english.
Day 3 TOmb Kum to Mt Therem 230 Km
This day we spent pretty much most of the day on the motorbike. It was the longest distance we had to travel and pretty much mostly mountains so we barely got over 20 km/h. We made a stop at what Quang called a volcano. If you look at the pictures it pretty much was nothing but a big lake. We finally made it to the town and again it was a large town which hardly ever sees tourist. I took a walk through the town and was again treated like a celebrity. Every time I sat down a crowd would form around me all trying to practice their english.
Day 4 Mt THerem to Lak Lake 180 Km
Again the drive was full of mountain ranges and all sorts of neat things to look at. We made a stop at a waterfall complex which had 5 separate large waterfalls all within a small area. Today was the longest of all the days, we travelled 230 km and took us pretty much most of the day.
After arriving in Lak Lake I soon realised that we weren't staying in a regular hotel but a long hour in a minority village. This certain minority village live in these fairly large long houses which are raised about a meter and a bit off the ground and the animals live directly under the house. Luckily the one we were staying in wasn't a traditional one and had no animal directly below us, but there sure were all sorts of animals around us. Pigs, Dogs, Cats, cows and water buffalo roamed the entire place freely. I really don't understand how they know who's animals belonged to whom, after asking the question I was told they just know. It rained all evening so it was an early night to bed.
Day 5 Lak Lake to Dalat 200 km
I was woken up nice and early by what seemed like one thousand rooster all screeching there wake up call under neath our long house. After a quick breakfast I went for a one hour canoe ride, this was very peaceful I laid back in a canoe which was carved out of a huge log while a minority women paddled me around Lak Lake. We then hit the road, and the scenery on this day beat out all the rest. We made a 1000 meter climb to the summit of the mountain. Again words can't describe the views and pictures just won't do it justice. We arrived to our final destination Dalat at around 3:00. Quang took me to a couple more sight seeing spots, an old kings house, and the crazy house. That night I went out for a few beers with some people I ran into randomly that I had hung out with in Hanoi.
Day 6 - Dalat to Nha Trang 180 Km
We got up bright an early to hit the road at around 8:00 am. The drive to Nha Trang was mostly downhill again with really cool views. In the six days I took over three hundred pictures I will post a bunch of them on the website soon.
http://josasia.myphotoalbum.com/
SO that's the end of the motorbike trip I am now Nah Trang for a few days of well deserved R&R and maybe a day or two of scuba.
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Joep
non-member comment
What an experience!
Lieve Jos, We now understand why you were radio silent for a few days!! Sounds like a fantatstic trip for both sights and experience. I think that you are maiing some outstandiing memories. I have been looking for you on MSN just before we go to bed between 11 PM and 12 midnight but you haven't been there. So, keep enjoying yourself and learning and continue to be careful. Look forward to your next comunique. Heel veel liefs, Dad