Day 9 - Hue, Hai Van Pass to Da Nang
We really enjoyed the recovery day in Hue sightseeing but it was time for us to move on. We woke just after 6AM and after the usual checking of mails and Internet reading we went for breakfast just before 7am. We discussed today's ride which would take us southwards out of Hue for a brief section on highway 1 before we would make a left turn and head out over an island connected to the mainland with a small causeway and large bridge taking us back to the mainland for another short section on highway 1 before we turned off and made our way to the start of the climb of the Hai Van Pass and over to Da Nang.
The recovery day did us both good, our legs were fresh again and we weren't saddle sore, we both felt really good and looked forward to the days ride. We had our photo taken with the smiley concierge guy at the Moonlight Hotel and started riding just after 8am with the sun beating down and 28.5C already. Traffic was chaos getting out of the city but both of us seam to have adjusted to the madness of it all now. After 7ks we exited the city limits and although it was the main highway 1 we were travelling south on the traffic seamed to thin out a little and it didn't bother us too much. After about 25ks in we made a left turn which took us east to the coast and the elevated road cut through really low lying areas with fields covered in water and large lagoons with the odd single man fishing boat in the distance casting nets. A couple of guys selling really small fish were at the side of the road along with a really old women who was absolutely filthy with black teeth drinking from a bottle which looked like it contained tea, we stopped and gave her some money enough for another bottle and she was very grateful. Eventually we went over a bridge to an island and cut south again through a series of villages scattered about with everyday people going about there business. The only thing which caught our eye was a guy roasting a pig on his front drive and about 4ks further a lady on a moped with a trailer with a load of cages on the back with live pigs in squealing, I think they knew their fate. We discussed this and we think this was the local butcher delivering pigs for the weekend roast.
Eventually we approached a large bridge which crossed over to the mainland were we stopped for a few photos were we were joined by two jeeps full of travellers from the UK who were touring Vietnam. We made it over the bridge then turned right and headed for another very short section down highway 1 were we stopped for a coffee, at this point we had already done 60ks. Further down highway 1 we hit trouble as when I planned the route, Garmin connect took us through a tunnel through the mountain which we was not allowed to travel through. We turned back for half a kilometre and made our way over the mountain which actually turned out to be a nice little warm up for what was to come. We turned off right at the other side and ridden around a large lagoon that took us direct to the start of the climb of the Hai Van Pass.
The Hai Van Pass ( Deo Hai Van / Ocean Cloud Pass ) which was featured on a Top Gear Challenge signifies a strategic point within Vietnam as it symbolises the divide line between North & South Vietnam. After a few photos at the start we set off up the climb which is around 11kms with ramps of around 10%. By this time we had already done over 80ks but both of us sailed up the climb without any issues and stopped at several points taking pictures. We really enjoyed the climb and on checking Strava at the end of the ride we were both the fastest cyclists to ascend that day!! The road snakes up the pass with a series of switch backs enabling you to take some epic photos of the ascending road and ocean beyond. There's nothing much at the top but a few shops selling drinks and snacks along with a car park full of buses with day trippers from the surrounding areas. The decent down the other side was spectacular and our destination of Da Nang was in the back ground but still 26ks away and there were some lovely beaches at the bottom.
The last leg of the ride took us through mayhem again and we made our way through Vietnams fourth largest city Da Nang after another 124ks and six hours in the saddle.
The recovery day did us both good, our legs were fresh again and we weren't saddle sore, we both felt really good and looked forward to the days ride. We had our photo taken with the smiley concierge guy at the Moonlight Hotel and started riding just after 8am with the sun beating down and 28.5C already. Traffic was chaos getting out of the city but both of us seam to have adjusted to the madness of it all now. After 7ks we exited the city limits and although it was the main highway 1 we were travelling south on the traffic seamed to thin out a little and it didn't bother us too much. After about 25ks in we made a left turn which took us east to the coast and the elevated road cut through really low lying areas with fields covered in water and large lagoons with the odd single man fishing boat in the distance casting nets. A couple of guys selling really small fish were at the side of the road along with a really old women who was absolutely filthy with black teeth drinking from a bottle which looked like it contained tea, we stopped and gave her some money enough for another bottle and she was very grateful. Eventually we went over a bridge to an island and cut south again through a series of villages scattered about with everyday people going about there business. The only thing which caught our eye was a guy roasting a pig on his front drive and about 4ks further a lady on a moped with a trailer with a load of cages on the back with live pigs in squealing, I think they knew their fate. We discussed this and we think this was the local butcher delivering pigs for the weekend roast.
Eventually we approached a large bridge which crossed over to the mainland were we stopped for a few photos were we were joined by two jeeps full of travellers from the UK who were touring Vietnam. We made it over the bridge then turned right and headed for another very short section down highway 1 were we stopped for a coffee, at this point we had already done 60ks. Further down highway 1 we hit trouble as when I planned the route, Garmin connect took us through a tunnel through the mountain which we was not allowed to travel through. We turned back for half a kilometre and made our way over the mountain which actually turned out to be a nice little warm up for what was to come. We turned off right at the other side and ridden around a large lagoon that took us direct to the start of the climb of the Hai Van Pass.
The Hai Van Pass ( Deo Hai Van / Ocean Cloud Pass ) which was featured on a Top Gear Challenge signifies a strategic point within Vietnam as it symbolises the divide line between North & South Vietnam. After a few photos at the start we set off up the climb which is around 11kms with ramps of around 10%. By this time we had already done over 80ks but both of us sailed up the climb without any issues and stopped at several points taking pictures. We really enjoyed the climb and on checking Strava at the end of the ride we were both the fastest cyclists to ascend that day!! The road snakes up the pass with a series of switch backs enabling you to take some epic photos of the ascending road and ocean beyond. There's nothing much at the top but a few shops selling drinks and snacks along with a car park full of buses with day trippers from the surrounding areas. The decent down the other side was spectacular and our destination of Da Nang was in the back ground but still 26ks away and there were some lovely beaches at the bottom.
The last leg of the ride took us through mayhem again and we made our way through Vietnams fourth largest city Da Nang after another 124ks and six hours in the saddle.
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