Day 10 - Da Nang to Hoi An
Since we set off from Hanoi on the 8th of November we have made really good progress and also managed to gain a further day by combining days 3 & 4. We had planned to arrive into Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday 1st December to meet family members who arrive on the Friday evening, but with our current progress rate we will arrive before they even leave England. So yesterday we decided to take the day off in Da Nang and today we added another stop off point in our schedule - The Ancient town of Hoi An.
Da Nang was a very busy and vibrant coastal city which we really enjoyed. Yesterday morning we went to the gym and in the afternoon and evening we explored the city and also visited the famous fire breathing dragon bridge.
At 9PM every weekend evening the Dragons head erupts into fury hissing water and breathing fire with the entire bridge and dragon body lit up in different colours. The bridge and riverside was absolutely packed with people waiting for it begin and it certainly didn't disappoint. The show only lasts for about five minutes but it was fantastic. An unreal experience.
This morning the ride down to Hoi An was a relatively short one so we went on a ride around the city and couldn't resist a ride up to the summit that over looks the city. The climb wasn't huge, probably around 7ks but it was a steady 10/13% gradient and in some places 18%!!! The view from the top was spectacular and we took some photos of the city below and over to the Hai Van Pass were we came over two days earlier. The entire mountain side was covered in trees and there were wild monkeys jumping from tree to tree and the odd one at the side of the small road scarpering away. The decent down was pretty dangerous, again some places 18% with the odd tourist coming up on motorcycles so we had to be really careful. Once we reached the bottom it was a rolling coastal road back to the beach front of Da Nang. We had done 35ks before we even set off for our destination so we pulled up for an ice cold coconut coffee and polished off some cake we bought the day before. We both discussed the ride we had done and agreed it was far more difficult than the Hai Van Pass!
The route down to Hoi An was the coastal road that passed the Marble Mountains which is a tourist attraction. We didn't bother stopping there as we had seen ginormous mountains scenes on days 5 & 6 and after this mornings first ride we wanted to get to Hoi An which is a well preserved Ancient town on Vietnams coast. The former port city's melting pot history is reflected in its building architecture, a mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shop / houses and temples to colourful French colonial buildings, ornate Vitenamese tube houses and the iconic Japanese covered bridge with its pagoda. We arrived in to Hoi An and checked into our hotel then decided to go on another bicycle ride touring the Anicent town. A pretty interesting place full of tourists taking photos of all the sites. We also ran into more tourists who we had previously met - The Austrialian guys who we are still level pegging with after nearly two weeks on the road!
In the evening Hoi An was lit up by pretty little street lanterns and street performers entertaining the tourists. Small boats lit by lanterns ferried tourists around the river dodging little floating wreathes with candles in that people let go into the river. I can see why it's a popular place with tourists.
Tomorrow we head due west were we pick up the HCM trail again for our next chapter and leg in Southern Vietnam.
Da Nang was a very busy and vibrant coastal city which we really enjoyed. Yesterday morning we went to the gym and in the afternoon and evening we explored the city and also visited the famous fire breathing dragon bridge.
At 9PM every weekend evening the Dragons head erupts into fury hissing water and breathing fire with the entire bridge and dragon body lit up in different colours. The bridge and riverside was absolutely packed with people waiting for it begin and it certainly didn't disappoint. The show only lasts for about five minutes but it was fantastic. An unreal experience.
This morning the ride down to Hoi An was a relatively short one so we went on a ride around the city and couldn't resist a ride up to the summit that over looks the city. The climb wasn't huge, probably around 7ks but it was a steady 10/13% gradient and in some places 18%!!! The view from the top was spectacular and we took some photos of the city below and over to the Hai Van Pass were we came over two days earlier. The entire mountain side was covered in trees and there were wild monkeys jumping from tree to tree and the odd one at the side of the small road scarpering away. The decent down was pretty dangerous, again some places 18% with the odd tourist coming up on motorcycles so we had to be really careful. Once we reached the bottom it was a rolling coastal road back to the beach front of Da Nang. We had done 35ks before we even set off for our destination so we pulled up for an ice cold coconut coffee and polished off some cake we bought the day before. We both discussed the ride we had done and agreed it was far more difficult than the Hai Van Pass!
The route down to Hoi An was the coastal road that passed the Marble Mountains which is a tourist attraction. We didn't bother stopping there as we had seen ginormous mountains scenes on days 5 & 6 and after this mornings first ride we wanted to get to Hoi An which is a well preserved Ancient town on Vietnams coast. The former port city's melting pot history is reflected in its building architecture, a mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shop / houses and temples to colourful French colonial buildings, ornate Vitenamese tube houses and the iconic Japanese covered bridge with its pagoda. We arrived in to Hoi An and checked into our hotel then decided to go on another bicycle ride touring the Anicent town. A pretty interesting place full of tourists taking photos of all the sites. We also ran into more tourists who we had previously met - The Austrialian guys who we are still level pegging with after nearly two weeks on the road!
In the evening Hoi An was lit up by pretty little street lanterns and street performers entertaining the tourists. Small boats lit by lanterns ferried tourists around the river dodging little floating wreathes with candles in that people let go into the river. I can see why it's a popular place with tourists.
Tomorrow we head due west were we pick up the HCM trail again for our next chapter and leg in Southern Vietnam.
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