Vietnam XI, Dalat

After three nights in the bars and clubs of Nha Trang, getting up early was hard for me. My mood worsened when I saw the flat front tire on my bike. All in all a bad start to a bad day.
Once my tire was patched, I set off to the highlands of Vietnam. My destination for the day was Dalat. Dalat is known for its French look and feel. Moreover, the climate in the highlands of Vietnam is much milder than in the rest of the country.
Before I continue writing about Dalat, I must describe in detail what happened on the way. I rode my bike from Nha Trang on secondary roads to Dalat. My gearlever caused me quite some problems, before but on the first section of this road it failed me all the way. The gearlever slipped permanently from the worn gear wheels of the corresponding shaft. I could not change the gears any more and had to consult a mechanic. The mechanic was able to fix the problem. However as so frequently in Vietnam only provisionally. I drove on and was soon in the midst of an ascent, which meanders for kilometers up the mountain. The bike went well despite my misgivings. Until the time as the provisional fix no longer worked. I drove in second gear until the motorcycle went out on a particularly steep spot. Without villages and thus mechanic in direct proximity, I had to fix the problem myself. After a short time I was joined by a Vietnamese couple and demoted from chief mechanic to spear carrier. My ego could cope with that and a little later I went on with a new provisional fix in place. When that no longer worked again I was fed up. I stood on the roadside next to my motorcycle and tried to stop trucks or buses to get a lift to Dalat.
After several failed attempts, I stopped a truck, but this one was too big and so the driver of truck one stopped a smaller truck. We agreed on a price, and shortly afterwards I went in the cab of truck one while my bike in the back truck two followed us. After 25 kilometers we stopped at a garage for trucks. There, the screw was replaced by a welded seam.
The rest of the way to Dalat I drove through rain at temperatures, that for me at this stage of my journey were only slightly above freezing (20 degrees Celsius).
I found a cheap guesthouse in Dalat off the main tourist stream. The cold rainy weather went on outside the hotel room, I ignored it as good as possible and ended the bad day in front of the television.
After the first bad day in Dalat, the second was only marginally better. I drove through the city in the morning until rain made me fled to the save haven of an internet cafe. When the rain was over I wanted to move on, but my Minsk had chosen not to. The first three mechanics on this road didn’t want to touch my Minsk, and then I found someone who tried but failed to repair it. I needed a specialist for Minsk bikes.
To determine whether there is someone in Dalat, I went to the Easy Rider Cafe. The Easy Riders are a group of motorcycle tour guides, who have adequate knowledge of English and of the area in order to create attractive tours. Mr. Binh or easier to remember Mr Bean had been a great help to find the Minsk workshop and rent a truck for transporting the motorcycle there. At the workshop the owner Sinh, a native of the North Vietnamese owners, started to work on the bike immediately. After two hours Sinh came to the conclusion that he had to open the engine. For me this meant another day in Dalat.
Later that day I walked into the city again and found that Dalat has its share of beautiful sites. But my bad mood, due to the continued bad weather and problems of my Minsk, clouded this impression.
The third day was by far the best in Dalat. I could pick up my motorcycle. A new cylinder and electronics should fix the problems. My suspicion about Dalat leads to the fact that I did very little on this day. I did not want to risk another bad day in Dalat.
Early in the morning of the fourth day I said goodbye to the guest house owners and drove towards the coast. A few days on the beach should make the chaos of my stay in Dalat forgotten.

Vietnam X, Nha Trang

The road from the highlands to the coast was excellent on the bike. Other road users had slightly more problems with the bends.
I came from the north to the city and thus had the pleasure to ride along most of the beach promenade.
When I went in my dorm room during lunch time and found half of the guests still in deep sleep, I thought of this as a good indication that Nha Trang's reputation as the party capital of Vietnam is true.
I spent the day at the town beach. The beach is very good for an urban beach and unique in the offshore amusement island Vinpearl. A cable car connects the mainland with Vinpearl. But ultimately urban beaches are always the second choice to secluded coves in my opinion.
The nightlife in Nha Trang was good. In the evening, the tourists head out to a handful of bars. Later everybody goes to a club with private beach. The audience there is a good mix of tourists, local partygoers and the in Southeast Asia inevitable prostitutes. At two ends in the morning the music is turned off, at least on weekdays, some of those eager to party continue to other bars, but nightlife is largely over. I had three very good nights in Nha Trang.
The beach life on the first day had not convinced me and so I went to explore the surrounding area on the second day. After reading the Nha Trang article on Wikitravel, I decided to drive to Long Beach 25 kilometers south of Nha Trang. The road to the beach offers a magnificent panorama on the stretch of coast. Arriving at the beach I was very pleased. The beach was lined with huts selling cheap drinks and seafood. After half a day of absolute relaxation on the beach I decided to prolong my stay by one day, to enjoy the beach and nightlife.

Other road user

Fisherman

Vinpearl

Long Beach from my point of view

Vietnam IX, Buon Ma Thout

At seven in the morning I left Kam Duc with the goal to arrive in my originally planned destination for the day. So I had to go the planned distance for the day plus 120 km from the previous day. The streets were unfortunately not worthy of the name in some parts. At least this time the bike was running smoothly. After 390 kilometers, or 9 hours I did arrive in Buon Ma Thout.
There I checked into a cheap hotel, which was situated next to a big supermarket. After the exertions of the day I had satellite television in my room. I spent the evening in my room and watched the action star ensemble of "The Expendables". Since I was not in the mood to explore the city and only had food stalls a few steps away from my hotel, I could not gain further impression on Buon Ma Thout.

At the side of the road

Vietnam VIII, Kham Duc

I started in the early morning in Hoi An, to make sure that I could ride more than 250 kilometers to Kontum. But on this day, I should not arrive in Kontum. Instead, I learned the frustrating aspects of being a Minsk owner.
The first one and a half hours passed relatively easily, I missed a turn, but came back on the right road. After that I filled up my bike, it only run few kilometers further on, and then it broke down. My attempts to restart it failed. I pushed the bike to the next workshop. Thus began my repair odyssey.
The first mechanic’s attempts lasted for 45 minutes, half of the time I had to use kick-start. When the first mechanic realized that his Minsk-specific knowledge was not sufficient for the repair, he called in a colleague. The second mechanic drove up on an old Honda. His mustache showed additional expertise. He confirmed the impression replacing a missing gasket with a cut out piece of cigarette packaging. After another 40 minutes, he brought my bike back to life. How could I doubt the glorious Minsk only for a minute?
I went with the hope that this was the only unexpected stop. But after eight kilometers, the Minsk fell silent again. I was frustrated. In the next workshop, mechanic number three went to work. He tried his best, but localized the problem at the wrong place. His conclusion was that he could fix it with the right spare part, but that he couldn’t obtain anywhere near. My mood worsened again. I wondered how I could continue my journey. Ultimately I decided to seek a second (fourth) opinion.
After I had pushed my bike for 50 meters, a motorcycle tour guide stopped next to me and offered to help. With his help I could specifically ask for a mechanic with Minsk-experience. Ten kilometers away, there was one. I was towed by a scooter there. It took mechanic number four half an hour of work to get the Minsk running again. After a few kilometers the bike broke down in the same manner as before. The second trial of mechanic number four was success.
Having spent five hours at repair shops, I drove on. At an intersection I followed the signs for the Ho Chi Minh Highway. It was the most beautiful stretch of road I've driven on in Vietnam so far, the disadvantage of this road was that was that I was going North instead of South. After 30 kilometers going in the wrong direction, I realized my mistake and turned around.
With my accumulated delay I had no chance to reach my intended destination for the day Kontum. Instead, I went in this direction as far as I could make it until dusk. I ended up in a hotel in the small town of Kham Duc. This time I was definitely far off the beaten path.

Kham Duc

Vietnam VII, Hoi An

I stayed in Hoi An for four days. During this period I've spent most of my time at four places and in my hotel room.
The first place was the Sleepy Gekko Bar, another advice from Ben. There I had my breakfast-mojito when I arrived in Hoi An and my questions about accommodation, etc. were answered. This bar, with a wonderful view of the market of Hoi An and free rum with each order, was the place where I spent most of my nights.
The second place was Danang. It sounds a bit absurd to name a different city as a place, but if you have your own motorcycle, you can go shopping in a city 30 kilometers away. I went twice to Danang. The first time I bought a new camera. In the electronics shop I was served by five female employees and questioned about most of my private life at the same time. My second trip to Danang was mainly to pass some time. I bought sunscreen and loads of stuff I didn’t need.
The third place was An Bang Beach. On this stretch of beach I spent a few hours.
The fourth site was at the tailor. Hoi An is known for its reasonably priced clothes. The local tailors can produce pretty much everything if the money is right. I had three suits tailored for me. A man, who propagates his private life online, should at least spread some elegance.
In addition to these four places on the first night I was had dinner in one of the finer restaurants with Scott and Xaver, another German. The theme of the evening was how far can you go as a Western tourist until the Vietnamese react to your misbehaviors. We could not answer this question conclusively, because our inhibitions were reached before any response could be recognised. It was a very entertaining evening, which would be difficult to repeat in a similar manner in Germany. I want to assure the reader that we have inflicted no damage or harm.
After four days in Hoi An I needed a break from the main flow of tourists. I sat on my bike, with fully functional rear brakes again, and made my way into the central highlands of Vietnam.

View from Sleepy Gecko Bar

An Bang Beach

My Minsk on the beach of Danang

My new suit

Vietnam VI, Hoa's Place (Danang)

The road from Hue to Danang leads over the Hai Van Pass, if you stick to the less used roads. The road winds along spectacular rising from sea level over a mountain. Unfortunately my camera was broken. On the pass I met three Vietnamese motorcyclist and an American on a scooter. The Vietnamese had strapped a case of Red Bull on one of their motorcycles and invited the American, Scott and me to have a can.
On the pass, I Scott and I joined forces on the way further south. At a railway crossing in Danang, my Minsk needed a break, the rear tire had burst. Luckily there were three workshops in the direct vicinity. Scott and I drank had cold beverage, while the mechanic went to work. Both activities were completed about the same time. After a few kilometers, I realized that the mechanic had damaged my rear brake while changing tires. I decided against seeing a mechanic, Instead I was going to ride the short distances of the current and the following day only with a working front brake and some extra attention. A few kilometers outside of Danang we stopped the bikes after spotting a large crowd. Scott suggested a Buddhist festival was the reason for the crowd, he was wrong. It was a football game. We spend twenty minutes watching the game and slowly becoming one of the entertaining elements for the crowd ourselves. To foreigners at a footie game in rural Vietnam.
After the game, Scott went to Hoi An and I was heading back in the direction of Danang, because I had missed the road to my quarters for the night. When I arrived the owner was not there, but I got a room and a cold drink. I came to this place, because I had heard that Hoa, the owner, is a former Viet Cong and can tell a story or two over a beer. During my one day stay, I met Hoa only twice for short periods – no Viet Cong stories for me. Otherwise the place was certainly very likeable. There was a communal dinner; drinks and food had to be written in a book on a trust basis, and the location is in close proximity to a beach.
I left Hoa's Place in the morning and had only a 15 kilometers ride to Hoi An to do. During this ride along the coast I became aware of Hoa’s situation. He is the last budget accommodation on this beachstrip, which is being "developed" at the moment. The question that arises is, how long can a place like “Hoa's Place” continue to exist between the hotels, villas and golf clubs.

Vietnam V, Hue

On the way to Hue, I stopped for lunch in Dong Ha. Ben gave me the advice to eat at Tam's Cafe. Tam employs exclusively deaf people in his cafe. So you can eat and drink for little money with the good feeling to support a meaningful project.
From Dong Ha to Hue, I had to take the coastal highway. On this busy road riding a weak motorized bike is not much fun. I tried not to get in the way of faster cars and buses along the way.
Arriving in Hue, I parked my bike for the next day and a half and checked in a hostel. I walked around for some time in the afternoon. In the evening I felt rather antisocial, so I grabbed my book and read. On the second day I visited the Fortress of Hue. The fort is in bad condition, falling apart and overgrown by plants in large parts. This sparked mixed feelings in me. First, it is nice that one can look at the buildings and instantly recognize, that they are old. On the other hand there is an obligation to maintain this site for future generations. My attempt to load the photos of my second memory card on a computer, ended with the failure of my second memory card.
In the evening I drank a few beers in the hostel bar and met Chris, an American. Ben had got him a job in the hostel. Chris explained me how to go from Hue to Danang, taking Highway one as little as possible. So the next day I would have no problems with buses and cars. Chris was going to meet me on Monday, his day off, in a bar in Hoi An.
On the morning of my departure I took my time at the free breakfast. Then I bought a new memory card for my camera. Before heading for Danang, I let my tires get pumped up.