Vietnam Cycle Tour - Nha Trang to Hoi An

Part three of our ramshackle cycle tour was a coast cruise up Vietnam from the busy seaside of Nha Trang to the ancient port of Hoi An.

Day 15 - Nha Trang to Dong Hoa (111km with hills)

Leaving the city of Nha Trang at daybreak was a battle through hordes of early morning market traders and indecisive mopeds. After some cajoling of the GPS we found Highway 1 and were reminded of the ear shattering chaos from weeks before when leaving Saigon. Each little bit of progress saw the road to be quieter and quieter, though, until the roads were lined with bright green rice paddies extending past the horizon. With little in the way of shade, and no corners or hills to break up the journey, this did eventually became tiring. The late morning coconut stop was rather welcome.

Our grasp of Vietnamese still being poor saw us accidently order a sleep inducing heavy beef stew for lunch instead of a light sandwich. During the gluttony we were gesture-quizzed by the curious restaurant owner about marriage, age and children - in which we may have got a little mixed up - she was quite tickled to hear we have 26 kids.

In the afternoon the road ran alongside a coast of turquoise water bays and small fishing villages, with unusually shaped islands sitting out at sea. As the sun was setting we still had a tough cliffside climb and a long descent inland - and then another hour before we finally found a hotel.

Laundry in the sink. Ate some food. Slept.

Day 16 - Dong Hoa to Quy Nhon (105km with hills)

Foggy were the first few hours which is good for covering distance if not for the soul. It lifted in a graceful fashion to reveal a cinematic landscape of mysterious hills and ponds of cute little ducklings.

The day continued in an aesthetically pleasing fashion - even the lunch stop at a service station had a surprise white sands beach! The afternoon ride took us past coastal fishing villages and cordoned off seafood farms with little water wheels keeping the water oxygenated.

We became rather confused as the road signs and maps started giving us different feedback regarding the road we were on - and became worried that we might be way off course. It turned out that our map had two roads when there only ever was one - so when we saw the turnoff onto the archipelago of land towards Quy Nhon, our relief was palpable.

We nearly always get cheers on uphill stretches (thanks, Vietnamese people!), but the large hill at the end of the day took the last of our energy which could not be replenished through cheer - and so we flopped lifelessly into the city of Quy Nhon ready for a proper mug of English tea.

Day 17 - Quy Nhon (Rest Day)

Barbara's Backpackers do a proper mug of English tea. It's really the only touristy place in town and is little more than a greasy spoon cafe. It was our temporary home.

Quy Nhon is a strange city which like most of the surrounding coast is predominantly fishing based. It has 300,000 residents but is a relatively quiet place. We were kindly treated as welcome guests in the city and on two occasions vendors would not even accept full payment for foods!

It is off the tourist trail but then again there isn't a great deal to do apart from eat, drink and wander about anyway. It certainly isn't a great place for a dip in the sea as there is a conspicuous sewage outlay right on the beach (we thought it seemed quiet). So we instead indulged in various baked goods at street side stalls. One find was a vietnamese style Scotch Egg - pastry with a little mince and a whole boiled quails egg. No idea what it was called but it was amazing!

Day 18 - Quy Nhon to Tam Quan (102km with baby hills)

The road eased away from the coast and threaded through farming towns where seeds dry by the roadside and ox-carts abound. It was a little overcast which made for pleasant riding weather. Amusingly, all the children in this district have bright yellow helmets so overtaking them is like swimming through a bobbing sea of fluorescence.

Another curious restaurant owner today brought her family to stare at us over our breakfast noodles and point at our big noses! It made for a rather self conscious eating experience. At lunch we had a similarly inquisitive chef but we ended up drawing stickmen and using google translate to discuss plant watering and the hotness of chilis. A lot more fun.

Day 19 - Tam Quan to Quang Ngai (74km with baby hills)

We ambitiously wanted to cycle for three days in a row, but upon being destroyed by the first tiny hill it became apparent we needed more rest for our weary legs after today.

A little research into cuisine meant we could look for something lighter for lunch than half of a pig - and found some bánh tráng trộn, which is a tasty rice paper and green mango salad. Goes lovely with a plate of fish balls (cá viên chiên).

A sad note about today is we saw a dog wagon, that is a large van of howling dogs stacked in cages destined to be used for meat. The worst aspect is that they transport the dogs in the hot sun without cover, which is gut wrenchingly inhumane and quite hard to deal with when the wagon passes you.

Day 20 - Quang Ngai (Rest Day)

The internet told us on no uncertain terms that the city of Quang Ngai was cold and impersonal - but we found it to be friendly, busy and completely non-touristy. The kids here were really funny and would shout "hello" and show us the peace sign, laugh with each other and chase us down the street to practice their English (which was really good).

Our hotel room was unfortunately a mosquito colony (or so it seemed) so we had to cleanse the place with some enthused flamenco dancing mozzies murder. While trying to ask to have some laundry done here, there was another gesture misunderstanding in which I was taken down the road to a tailor who was rather shocked that I wanted a whole bag of clothes altered! A couple of significantly better gestures later and there was relieved laughter from the hotel manager, the tailor and a confused me.


Day 21 - Quang Ngai to Hoi An (113km of flatness)

Not our most pleasant ride. Seemingly the entire road is being ripped up so there was a lot of dust and a lot of noise. It was entirely flat so we could go fast but this also meant there was no freewheeling down hills - so when we finally stopped our legs were still going round and round.

The highlight of the day was seeing a kestrel swoop down and catch a mouse not 20 meters from where we had paused to stand in awe.

The final turn off to Hoi An was a GPS win. It suggested the shortest route which turned out to be down some tiny paths through rural villages, not big enough for a car (even though the GPS was in driving mode) and past some rusty canal locks.  A few gulps of fresh clean air were very welcome and we arrived happily in Hoi An ready for a few days away from the road.

- Jon

Elevation profile of the 507km from Nha Trang to Hoi An