back on the Central Coast...Vietnam style

We slept at a flithy but wonderful guesthouse run by an American War Vet who fought alongside the Americans and now runs a guesthouse and hosts tours of the De-militirized Zone. Dong Ha had a grey brown haze over it, the streets were lined by dirty concrete buildings and the stream of honking cars and trucks never seemed to stop.

We left the ugly ugly city of Dong Ha early the following morning in pursuit of a Vietnamese SIM card for our phone. We tried having two of the many stores that say they have SIM cards for iPhones attempt to set ours up; without success, we headed to one of the official cell phone provider offices.

So off we went. While I set up my phone in the office, Brant roamed the street for food. And what he came back with would change our lives… a banh mi sandwich. A fresh baguette topped with pickled cabbage, fresh cilantro and cucumber, chili sauces, scrambled eggs, and barbecued meat. A cyclist's breakfast dream come true…

This was our first food experience in Vietnam that truly opened our eyes to the culinary wonders of Vietnam, just a simple little sandwich, but a perfect introduction to all that she has to offer.

We mowed a few sandwiches, and with the power of Google maps in our hand we headed south to Hue via an incredible side road weaving us through small beach villages. We had been warned of the misery of HWY 1, and had heard of an alternative road, and with our little smarty phone, we were able to get off the beaten path.

This road the size of a bike path took us through rice paddies  and past fishing boats and sand dunes. It winded us past water buffalo wiggling their adorable ears whilst wading in puddles and paddies, past school children biking home from class, and ladies in sun hats cycling the days vegetables home. It was a fantastic day of backroads riding.

 We arrived in the city of Hue in the late afternoon. Our small path turned into a packed alleyway in rush hour traffic. The bustling city was full of color and markets, the roads packed with motorbikes. It made us feel like "this is Vietnam,"in all of its noise and color.

We stopped beside a local market to orient ourselves towards a guesthouse. A man tried to sell Brant a coke for five times the normal price, and thus began our experience with tainted Vietnamese locals who try their darndest to rip tourists off. At the same time we met another touring cyclist who had just arrived by bus from Laos: Raphael from Switzerland. This guy was one tick off but totally content and happy. The kind of person who just goes with the flow, doesn't get annoyed that a million people are surrounding him and trying to sell him a can of coke for an exorbitant price--not this guy, he's happy as a clam.

We ventured off, across the river that splits the old city of Hue with the new one. Hue used to be the seat of Vietnam government; it boasts the remnants of a beautiful imperial city, surrounded by moats, and full of pagodas.
Most of the city's accommodation is across the river. We found a guesthouse down a quiet alleyway for a great price. We showered up and headed out to find some food. Along our twenty minute walk to a restaurant across town, countless "moto-taxi" and cycle taxi drivers tried to sell us marijuana. One guy followed us for blocks. But eventually we lost our stalkers and ate in peace.

The following day we decided to take a rest and explore the ruins of the Imperial City.

On our way across town, we ran into Raphael the happy cyclist. He proceeded to ask us where we were staying. The night before, he had apparently slept on the stretch of grass next to one of the busiest roads in the city, in his tent. Once again, just a touch off... But I have to say I envy his relaxed demeanor. I couldn't sleep in a busy strip of city park in any bustling metropolis, let alone in VIETNAM! 

After talking with Raphael and eating a nice plate of fried rice, we strolled into the great walls of The Imperial City, a beautiful place full of complex history. The old city functioned as the seat of Vietnamese government through French Colonialism. Much of it was destroyed by American bombs during the TET offensive in 1968. Wondering what it would have looked like before the war is a sad thought. It must have been magic (not that you would have been able to see it in its imperial heyday!).

 

It's been named a UNESCO world heritage site, and hundreds of people work on its restoration everyday.

The following day we made our exit out of the city after sitting in a little alleyway espresso stand followed by another magical banh mi stand. This lady let us use her bathroom located in the very back of the row house behind her sandwich stand. As she walked us back through her house, the smell of fresh baked bread filled the hallways. In the very last room there was a giant wood fired oven…this lady made her own baguettes. Dee-lish.

This day's ride was just as good as the last. Following the same sleepy side road in pursuit of the famed beautiful city of Hoi An. We had planned to break the ride into two days, saving the one mountain pass for the following morning's ride. We wound our way through villages and awed at the beauty of a sky blue sea.

This day we were introduced to banh xeo, a vietnamese "pancake" with shrimp, served with fresh herbs and lettuce and sometimes wrapped like a spring roll. A lovely woman taught us how to eat them. We wrote down the name and then proceeded to search for "banh xeo" in every town we went through.

That afternoon we made it to a beach town before the grade, found a place to sleep, and immediately jumped into the Pacific Ocean. She was perfect, welcoming and warm, but still refreshing, and such a treat.

We woke up early and found a sando stand and some iced coffee before heading over the hill. Most of the traffic heads to Danang (the city on the other side)  via a four kilometer long tunnel. But being on bikes we headed up, and the road was beautiful, winding us up to vistas of a deep blue sea, reminding us of cycling the Pacific Coast back at home.

At the top we played on some old French barracks and then flew down the hill into Danang. Just south of the city, we spotted two loaded bicycles in front of a small cafe. Intrigued, we stopped, found the culprits, and made new friends, Nicolas and Ludovic, brothers from Brittany, France. We ordered a coffee and began talking. Immediately, Nicolas and Brant hit it off, and for the next three days, I don't think they stopped talking.

Our bicycles attracted other passing motorists to join the table. He had toured South America and wanted to see who owned the Rohloffs (he and his wife have a Rohloff tandem and LOVE it). In good company we shared stories and laughs.

Hoi An, "an Ancient City," welcomed us with its atmospheric streets and cheap guesthouses. We all found a little hotel for ten dollars that boasted a swimming pool. After eating some incredible banh xeo we all splished and splashed in the swimming pool.

 

 

We spent two days in Hoi An, taking a cooking class, and roaming her gorgeous streets. This city is a treat in the hustle and bustle of normal Vietnam. Its midevil architecture is a blast from the past. Its plum riverside location is absolutely romantic. We enjoyed our days eating almost every meal at an A+ banh mi stand. We introduced our new friends to the blisses of this sandwhich and we had them HOOKED.

It was a treat to spend quality time with Ludovich and Nicolas. Nicolas rode his bike across Europe before flying to Hanoi and heading south. As always, we soaked up his travel stories taking in every detail of his adventures.

After our days in this dreamy sleepy city, we all packed up and prepared to head south together. We had convinced our new friends to get off HWY 1 as they were beginning to hate Vietnam after two weeks of riding on this dreadful road. We told them that the Ho Chi Minh HWY (HWY 14) was a blissful sleepy road full of villages untainted by tourism. Brant and I however needed to get south fast to put us on track for meeting Brant's parents in Bangkok at the New Year. So we were not going to head inland again, but instead take a train for a day to get us to Nha Trang, a beach resort town with a Warm Showers host, and a spot on the map where you can still ride the coast and not ride on the dreadful highway.