Hoi An Scooter Countryside Tour

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This is the diary of our second scooter day trip outing based out of Hoi An.





For this outing we decided to explore the country side, so I was not as nervous. The roads should not be as busy.



We took off at about 10 am always later than planned, after all, we are on holidays and the home stay breakfast is pretty good.

It is also inevitable that we forget something after leaving and have to return again, at least once.

By 10 am it was already hot and sweaty.



We went back to the same lady on the street beside our accommodation to hire the scooter again.

We had to wait until her husband delivered the one that they wanted us to use. It looked exactly the same as the one we had before but ran much worse, so lucky we weren't going far.

This time she let us go to the petrol station ourselves without being escorted.

She also offered that we could keep the scooter overnight. Use it for as long as we liked and pay later.

We usually need a rest day after a day out so it would be unlikely. Besides nothing on the dashboard nor the lights appeared to be working on this scooter.



No need to take down ID or sign insurance agreements here. She even told us that if she wasn't there when we returned in the evening that we could just leave the key at the reception of the nearest hotel.





We took off along roads that were familiar to us from the day we went cycling. First landmark was a bridge that took us to Cam Thanh Island where the countryside cycle was recommended.



At the point where we had got lost on our cycling trip I decided to ask directions. We were prepared to back track all the way that we had came, certain that we had gone the wrong way.

As it turned out we were already on Cam Thanh Island and we were almost at Coconut Island. This was where the girl whom had served us breakfast had recommended that we go.

Finding out where we were made us realize that we actually had covered quite a significant distance with the bicycles and had seen much more than we had intended.



Coconut Island was where all the package tourists take their little basket boats with a paddler and are guided up the pretty waterways with water palms on either side.

As we stopped to take photos we got the hard sell from the locals, who also rode along side our scooter to try to lure us to their area as we approached.

It was a lovely setting and the paddlers worked very hard pulling the weight of the basket boats against the strong current.



From this point we found a narrow concrete country lane that wound its way along towards Cua Dai Beach, where we had also been to before.

This time we took the road to the end of the isthmus to where the boats launch to go to Cham Islands.

I read that this isthmus has been severely affected by rising sea levels and that the next predictable strong hurricane would likely badly damage the existing coast.

It seemed strange that so much resort development was occurring in precisely this area seeming contradictory to what I had read.



We rode back passed Cua Dai beach again toward the heavily populated An Bang Beach.

Finding an amazingly isolated spot we laid our sarongs on the sand under the shade of some trees.

No one found us to try to sell anything for about a whole hour and we managed a swim in the clear, warm blue water before we were discovered.



On the way back to Hoi An we rode up to a roadside stall and bought our banh mi rolls for an easy late lunch, took them back to our home stay, showered and rested for a few hours before our next outing.





Our afternoon outing was even more of an adventure and I enjoyed it even more.





We decided that we had had enough of the beach, so did some research and found a new suggested route. We began toward An Bang beach again and turned off to the left onto a concrete path raised over rice fields where workers were ploughing with buffalo. Baby buffalo were basking and rolling in the water right beside us.

This path reached an end in the middle of the rice fields so we returned and followed a path parallel between the fields and local homes. This took us to the Van Duc Pagoda.

This pagoda is the largest and most active in Hoi An. As we arrived the monks, nuns and worshipers had begun their prayer and meditation and were chanting. We wandered around and sat to enjoy the setting. There was a beautiful pergola, surrounded by a serene fishpond area where we sat feeling very peaceful.

Cats and birds came up to the pond drinking: paradise for them as my heart broke for others I saw suffering in the heat with no water before coming here. Once the meditation was over a nun with no English offered us a green bean cake and tea, gesturing to us to drink.

The green bean cake was sweet and sticky; a little jelly like square made of tapioca, I guessed. Good to try because I will now search for it again.



Upon leaving the thunder and dark clouds were looming but no rain ended up falling. We continued on the same road in the direction back to Hoi An. Along here we passed a quiet little village with a little market on the roadside. It was starting to get a little busier and scooters were becoming more numerous as people headed home from work.

Once we turned back onto the main road we took advantage of another stop at the War Memorial Grave Park.
It was now peak hour. The road was thick with scooter traffic finishing work. Not far beyond that we found the bus station where we had initially arrived. It looked very different to how it had looked in the dark when we were confused and lost.

This was our opportunity to try the track that had looked too scary to walk on our arrival. The track was very narrow and wound behind basic local houses.

People were showering with their backyard hoses and the water ran onto the sandy track. We also had to dodge chickens and all sorts of animals. Scooters came in opposite directions as we wove around negotiating sand and puddles.

It was fun and exciting.We were so close to the Ancient town of Hoi An but it felt that we were miles away.

The little track wound a surprising distance before opening out onto a familiar road very near where we were staying. Before returning the scooter we explored the streets around our home stay and were surprised with what was so close.

On the other side of our island only a few hundred metres away was a long bridge that connected to the other side of the mainland.

There were more options of local eateries that we hadn't known about and more large hotels.

Back to our home stay for the third but not the last, shower for the day before heading out for a meal.

This time we decided to try a different food stall at the Central Market. One that we hadn't tried before.It was about 7 pm, so many had emptied their food displays for the day.

There was one remaining that looked fully stocked and still had customers.As we arrived I was dripping with perspiration and the lovely lady was fanning me down.

I was getting out my screenshot which said "No MSG" in Vietnamese and she started putting my hair up. Within a few seconds she had my hair in a twist on my head that I had never tried before.

She let me look through her seasonings so I could approve of what she was going to use and we ended up having a great meal there. I promised that we would return again and we did for the next 2 nights.



On our way back we picked up 2 fresh mangoes that we would later eat over our sink at the home stay.

I was adventurous and grabbed what I thought was a sweet called "mango cake" from a girl sitting on the roadside.

To my surprise it wasn't sweet at all. It was a ball of uncooked dough covered in flour with peanuts inside!



It wasn't until our last night in Hoi An that we discovered an irresistible bakery with decadent cakes called The Cargo Cafe. Had we have found it earlier we would have been there every day.



If you missed the YouTube video that I made of our day on the Hai Van pass. Look up the previous blog and scroll to the end. Cut and paste the link to your browser.

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Photos

An Bang Beach
Our Hiding Place

Comments

[Sue]

Fabulous!
What an adventure!