4 July 2016

It’s safe to say we didn’t really warm to Nha Trang. A major tourist haven full of rude tourists and over priced eateries, and beaches of sun loungers. So on just our second morning in Nha Trang we opted for an early start, a buffet breakfast in our hotel and then a quick visit to the hotel rooftop pool for an hour or so relaxing before hitting the road.
In the pool we got talking to an Aussie couple and their university age daughter about our trip, and shared a few stories.

It was then time to pack up and load up the bikes. I again had to bring both bikes out of the treacherous car park up the ramp, before we set off out of town. A quick petrol fill up (that turned out to be our first obvious rip -off of the entire trip that we’ve fallen for – the pump attendant caught us on two counts : firstly he went for the 95 pump and not the 92, and secondly he clearly didn’t reset the counter. Now, I didn’t see that he didn’t do it, but, the end measure was 17 litres. Given our bikes have an 8litre tank each, I am fairly confident he duped us. One more nail in the Nha Trang coffin.

The road out of town from Nha Trang was more of a country road, with a lot of traffic and also a huge number of potholes. Tracey was getting thirsty, so we stopped off to get some iced tea at a small roadside cafe. This ended being a roadside stop full on incident. As Tracey is attempting to park up her bike and dismount, the bike begins to topple. It’s too late to catch it, so all 110kg of bike and 20kg of luggage fall to the ground, with (overpriced rip-off) petrol spilling out of the tank. I get myself under the bike to lift it and get it back on its stand. Once the bike is stabilised we take a few minutes to relax and chill out over our iced teas. When it came time to repack Traceys bike to better distribute the weight, incident 2 happens: The man in the cafe tries to help Tracey with her helmet and her sunnies drop from her head and lenses smash in the ground. The woman owner of the cafe then finds it absolutely hilarious to wear the empty framed ray bans. Riding away from the cafe, we hope to leave Nha Trang and the incidents behind us.

However, just a short ride up the road and I notice a western girl and older local guy on the opposite side of the road. The local man flags me down. So I catch up to Tracey and together we go back to see why we were flagged down. It turns out her rental scooter from Nha Trang had broken down, and the rental place had refused to come out to assist her. The local man who spoke no English, just happened to be passing and also fortuitously was a mechanic. He was offering to tow her (using a stick and a few bungees) to the next village away from Nha Trang, and fix the bike for 300,000VND. We offer to follow and keep her company whilst she gets sorted. Now, this towing technique with a stick in between, a rope tied to her handlebars, and a bungee on his rear rack was a new one to me. We set off following, but maintaining a reasonable distance. A few km later we are glad we kept the distance, as the girl swerves wildly left whilst the mechanic keeps heading to the right. Two very severe jolts that cause both bikes to Buck and jump across the road, and thankfully the rope snaps. How both of them stayed upright I do not know. After both bikes coming to rest, the mechanic signed to us that his workshop was just up the road. We followed him along, and parked up, whilst he merrily set about stripping down the back end of the broken bike with just the smallest most basic tool kit. His young daughter came out and joined us on the street side, happily playing around and swinging about on her suspended chair. The mechanic didn’t stop laughing and smiling the whole time he was working. Showing us the broken belt with glee, and smoking away constantly on a cigarette whilst working. He managed to fix the bike inside of 30 mins, and once 300,000VND changed hands, we all set off – the American back to Nha Trang, and us on to Đà Lạt.

Surely this was the last incident of the day, we thought as we rejoined the main road.Only to seconds later ride past a very battered looking motorbike in the middle of the road, a coach across a ditch with all the passengers outside along with police, and part of the motorbike firmly wedged into the coach. It was clear that shortly before there was a big accident here; a rather firm reminder of how dangerous the roads can be.

As we continue on up the road towards Đà Lạt, the road begins to climb steeply. The map looks like a series of switchbacks that seem never ending, and the views are spectacular – mountains, valleys and huge waterfalls. The road itself is however exceptionally busy with tourist mini buses and coaches who drive the road as if it’s a race track and leave motorbikes very little space. We take a break at the side of the road in a rough lay by to grab some water and snacks, and also take in the views whilst resting. We are quite near the top of the pass and the tree cover has started to change to something we haven’t really seen in Vietnam before. There are conifer trees replacing the jungle that we have ridden up through. As we continue on over the top of the pass the conifers take over completely, and you could easily mistake the scenery for North America or Europe.

The road winds through the conifer forests and slightly downhill off the top of the pass. The temperature has been dropping steadily since the summit and actually now feels like a chill in the air. Not surprising given the altitude of 1,500 metres. The road is still exceptionally busy with coaches and also deceptive to ride, since the Tarmac itself is in excellent condition, and then out of nowhere huge potholes appear which can be very dangerous.

As we take the turn off towards Đà Lạt, with only 10 or so kilometres to go, a new sight starts to cover the landscape. Poly tunnels are appearing everywhere and eventually it’s just a sea of plastic covered strawberry and flower gardens on all sides. These scenes continue right up until the city limits.

With the rain setting in, we are in a rush to get to our hotel before getting drenched. The views across the town of Đà Lạt, over the lake from the high road are very impressive. The traffic trough the outskirts of Đà Lạt in the late afternoon is hectic, but nothing compared to the kilometre or so leading up to the hotel through the centre of town. Absolutely manic! The last couple of hundred metres is the busiest, and as we pop out of the traffic we struggle to find the hotel, having to do a couple of loops around before eventually spotting it.

We undertake the usual unloading and checking in. Then grab a shower and check out what restaurants are in the area. A German restaurant (Berlin85) appears on trip advisor to be both local and with great reviews. So we wander out to find it, and discover it is literally 50 metres from our hotel. As we go inside there are two Vietnamese woman at a table eating, and a life size cardboard Angela Merkel standing guard over the restaurant. There is no sign or sound of waiting staff, so we opt to take a table. Five or so minutes later the German owner wanders out and apologies profusely for leaving us waiting, he then brings us menus and tells us his offer today is on Heineken beer at 10,000VND a bottle. We order a couple of drinks and some meatballs and pork dish with mashed potatoes and red cabbage. When the food comes out we are blown away by how good it tastes. An awesome find, and a super friendly owner. If we are in Đà Lạt long enough we will be back.

What a ride day, much needed glass of wine!

Eddie, restaurant owner & cardboard Angela at Berlin 85

With full bellies and tired from the days ride, we say good bye to the owner and head back to the hotel to sleep.

Full days route here:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1246447540