Hue to Hoi An in style

After experiencing the beautiful city of Hue from the back seat of a couple of motorbikes - really fun and exhilarating and, on occasion, terrifying - we decided to use the same means of transport to travel to our next stop, Hoi An.  It's about 150 kilometers to Hoi An but the trip would take us most of the day as we had a few stops planned along the way.

Our trusty drivers were Mr. Tai and Quan of Hue Adventures (www.hueadventures.com), the same guys that took us on the Hue city tour.  We met them at their restaurant, the Avocado on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, and started to load up our backpacks.  We were really worried about how they were going to deal with the backpacks which looked really big next to the motorbikes but they wrapped them in plastic and strapped them on the little parcel shelves on the back of their bikes.  You barely knew they were there.  Lee's pack even doubled as a nice backrest!  Then we hit the road.

We've traveled on so many buses throughout our trip so traveling by motorbike was a completely different experience - a welcome change and so much fun.  The traffic getting out of the city was pretty crazy.  The horn is key in Vietnam.  Every single driver uses it and they use it often.  Basically if any vehicle is within 30 feet of another they will lay on the horn to let the other driver know they're there.  Trucks and buses give a bit more warning and if you hear one of them and you're on a motorbike it means get the hell out of the way.  The rule is the bigger vehicle gets the right of way - bicycles give way to scooters, scooters, to motorbikes, motorbikes to cars, and so on.  EVERYTHING gives way to buses because they're huge and the drivers are generally psychotic. Anyway, although it looks and sounds like complete chaos, the drivers seem to know what they're doing (you have to tell yourself that when you're on the back of one of them doing 60) so after a while you get used to it and just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

We made a short stop about 15k out of Hue to take a look at the local fishermen working in their long boats before heading pressing on towards the Elephant Falls for some swimming.  It's called Elephant Falls because it is a waterfall with a large Elephant carved into a rock. The falls had various wading pools, a large main pool, a natural water slide, a large rock that you could jump from and a wooden bridge. We immediately changed into our swim suits and jumped into the cold water which provided some much needed relief from the beating sun.

After about an hour of swimming we were back on the road....and then off again....Court's bike got a flat!  Luckily there are almost as many motorbike mechanics as there are motorbikes so we were able to get it fixed and we were on the move again.

We climbed a mountain and stopped at an American bunker at the top.  The views were amazing.  Vietnam's coast is beautiful and much hillier than we thought it would be.  We made our way down the winding roads on the other side of the mountain and into the city of Da Nang for a late lunch.  Tai and Quan took us to a great little restaurant that they often go to and ordered us a delicious multi-course lunch that included fresh fish, noodles, steamed vegetables, rice, omelet, and soup.  We made a brief stop at the famous China Beach but it was a little overcast so we decided just to grab a couple of pictures and carry on moving.

View from inside the bunker

Our final stop was at Marble Mountains.  Marble Mountains is a cluster of five marble and limestone hills located in Ngu Hanh Son ward, south of Da Nang city in Vietnam. The five 'mountains' are named after the five elements; Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth).  All of the mountains have cave entrances and numerous tunnels, and it's possible to climb to the summit of one of the peaks. There are also several Buddhist sanctuaries within the mountains.  The area is famous for stone sculpture making and stone-cutting crafts.  The stairs to access the mountains are pretty steep and there are a lot of them so we got quite a workout.  We spent about an hour exploring the caves, tunnels and sanctuaries before jumping back on our bikes to go the final few kilometers to Hoi An.

Mr. Tai had recommended a hotel in Hoi An so we decided to check it out.  Upon arrival at the Houang Trinh Hotel (http://hoangtrinhhotel.com/English/index.html) we were greeted with hot green tea and some delicious coconut macaroons.  The room was great and was only $12-a-night so we checked in immediately.

This trip was definitely one of the highlights of our travels so far.  After having such a good time over the last 2 days with Mr. Tai and Quan, we were sad to leave them.  In fact, we briefly considered having them take us all the way to Saigon but we already had plans to meet up with Kate and Lizzie (our travel companions from Australia) in Hoi An so we couldn't do it.  As we said our goodbyes we promised to see them again on our next visit to Vietnam.

Hue, Vietnam

After our long, overnight journey we were happy to arrive in Hue but extremely tired and smelly from the overnight adventure. Instead of roaming the city in search of a place to stay, we decided to turn to the trusty Lonely Planet guidebook. We ended up staying at Thai Binh II which was nice but not spectacular for the price. We spent more then planned ($24 a night) but it did include breakfast and air-conditioning which was a bonus. The staff was extremely nice and the rooms were clean.

After our long, hot showers we decided to go searching for food because it had been over 16 hours since we had eaten. Roaming the streets, we stumbled upon a restaurant called Avocado located on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street. We met the owners, Mr. Tai and his wife, and immediately felt at home. We ordered a traditional Vietnamese dish, Pho, which is a noodle soup. After talking with Mr. Tai for a bit Courtney decided to ask what we should do during our two day stay in Hue. It turns out that Mr. Tai and nine partners also own a motorbike tour company (www.hueadventures.com) and said he could take us on a full city tour for $12 US dollars each including lunch. We could not pass up the price or the company. We were almost set to book for the next day but realized our camera was still broken from the motorbike spill in Tha Khaek. Mr. Tai said he could take us to a shop to see if they could fix it and let us borrow his camera in the meantime. Full Service.

Our motorcycle guys Quan and Tai

Our tour started at 9 AM the next day at Avocado Restaurant. Mr, Tai and one of his partner Quan were our drivers for the day. We felt safe in their hands even though the roads in Hue are a bit chaotic. Our first stop was a set of American bunkers overlooking the Huong River where soldiers were stationed to look out for invasion from the north. Today, the bunkers overlook beautiful landscape to the north and the south. There was even a wedding celebration along the river.

 American bunker overlooking the Huong River

We also got to check out several pagodas around the city with Monks chanting their morning rituals. The architecture is modest in Vietnam with more intricate designs and less bold color than in Laos and Thailand.

One of our favorite places to walk around was Tu Duc Tomb which was constructed in 1867, This area is where the Emperor worked and relaxed during his life and now where he and his family are buried. There were tons of tourists because this is one of the most popular historical sites to visit. Admission to the site was 60,000 Dong (about $3).

Lunch was one of the best parts of the day. Mr. Tai and Quan took us to a great restaurant filled with locals. It was nice to get away from the tourists and we would have never been able to find this place on our own! We ate a delicious local noodle dish and fresh spring rolls which are the only two items on the menu. The food was so fresh and Lee's Beer was cold!

From there we took a few more pictures of historical sites in the city and then headed 20 km out of town to a small village. The drive out was really interesting passing all the women working in the bright green rice paddys and the little children walking home from school. The kids yell hello and put up peace signs as your drive by on motorbikes which Courtney absolutely loves. Even when we are with the local drivers people can spot us from miles away!

In the village we visited a small museum funded by the government that demonstrates local customs, farming/fishing techniques, and daily life activities. One of the village elders, who we could tell has worked in the rice fields for many years by her hunched over back, demonstrated the steps of harvesting rice.

After a wonderful day cruising around on the motorbikes we decided to have Mr. Tai and Quan take us all the way to our next stop Hoi An. The trip would take about 5-6 hours and stop off along the way for swimming and exploring. We figured it would be a nice way to see some of the Vietnam countryside. We booked our trip for the following day!

The Magical Mystery Tour: Laos to Vietnam

We had originally planned to get a bus direct from Tha Khaek to Hue in Vietnam.  Our LP book informed us that this was possible but upon arrival in Tha Khaek we couldn't find any information about what days the buses run, what time they leave, or if there even were any buses going to Vietnam.  We were pretty confident we could get a bus to the border from Savannakhet, a town 3 hours south of where we were, so we headed for the bus station to catch the next bus south.

Our luck was in.  We arrived at the station minutes before a bus was scheduled to leave for Savannakhet.  We grabbed a couple of waters, hopped on board and we were on our way.  Off to a good start.  We pulled into Savannakhet 3 hours later and headed straight over to the ticket office to purchase tickets for the next bus into Vietnam.  It's a 12-hour, overnight journey from Savannakhet to Hue in Vietnam and there were several options - the VIP sleeper bus, the regular air-con bus, and the local bus.  We were hoping to travel in relative comfort on the sleeper but it was a Saturday and it only runs on weekdays.  Same story for the regular air-con bus.  That left us with the local bus.  We'd heard quite a few stories about the local bus but hadn't yet had the pleasure of riding one.  Now we'd get 12 full hours on one!

We were scheduled to leave at 10 pm so we killed some time in Savannakhet before heading back to the bus station.  Our ride rolled up at about 9:30 pm.  Didn't look too bad.  A bit shabby but pretty much in tact.  Nobody seemed in much of a rush to get on so Lee jumped on to check out the scene and try and secure some decent seats.  The seats only went about halfway back in the bus, the rest of the space looked like it was for transporting cargo.  On this particular bus there were 2 large spare tires and a number of boxes including one which contain several live chickens.  A hammock was also strung up between 2 poles toward the rear.  Most of the seats had boxes jammed under them which didn't leave much space for your legs.  We grabbed one of the few seats that had a bit of space below.  Much to our surprise the bus left on-time, the windows and front door were all open so there was a nice breeze flowing through the bus and we started to think this might not be so bad after all.

We chugged along at a steady pace for the first couple of hours.  We were the only foreigners on the entire bus and we stuck out like sore thumbs, but nobody was that interested in us at all and they went about their business.  The seats on this bus were tiny, probably half the size of a normal bus.  But that didn't stop most of our fellow passengers getting comfy by contorting their bodies into seemingly impossible positions and nodding off.  There were feet everywhere.  Locals weren't shy about using the armrest of the seat opposite to stretch their legs.  Those who weren't sleeping were passing the time chain-smoking and flicking their butts into the aisle.  The chickens pretty much kept to themselves, save for the odd bit of clucking.  Only another 10 hours to go.

1am rolled by and we were feeling pretty good about the public bus.  That's when things started to get a bit....bizarre.  First a tough-looking little old man sans shirt (sounds like an oxymoron but he was a muscley little fella) came back through the bus collecting passports.  Everyone else handed them over without a fuss so we assumed this was standard practice but we knew the border didn't open for another 6 hours so we were obviously a bit concerned giving ours up to this character who was clearly NOT an official representative of the Laos government.  We reluctantly handed them over figuring as long as we're all on the bus they can't go anywhere.

A short-while later we pulled over in the middle of nowhere and everyone but the chickens piled off and proceeded to relieve themselves in a field - men beside the bus, women behind.  All very organized.

At around 2am, the bus stopped in a small town, outside what looked like someone's house, and once again everyone got off.  We initially thought it was another "comfort" stop.  Not so.  After several unsuccessful attempts at communicating with other passengers we finally figured out that we were already in the border town of Davannsah and that's exactly where we would be staying until 7am when the border opened.  Out of nowhere a woman appeared and started rustling up noodle soup for everyone (except for us).  Once snack-time was over people started making their way up some stairs at the back of the building.  Noodle soup lady made a sleeping gesture to us and pointed to the stairs.  Watching too many episodes of Nat Geo's "Locked Up Abroad" has made us a bit paranoid about leaving our bags unattended, especially when a border crossing is involved, so we grabbed our bags from the bus and took them upstairs with us.

We slept in what we can only describe as an unfinished attic.  Set up around the room were blankets and pillows on the floor along with mosquito nets covering them.  And it was HOT.  We eventually managed to fall asleep for about 2 hours.

By this point of course we have no idea where our passports are.  Grandad muscles is wandering around but the passports are nowhere to be seen.  Just as the nerves were creeping in a smart looking mustachioed man zipped up on a motor-scooter.  He marched right up to Lee and asked for his passport.  Lee could see it in his hand so pointed at it.  Mustache smiled and said " See you at border.  7am."  And with that he hopped back on his scooter and was off again.

The border was chaos.  Lee eventually found Mustache and asked for our passports.  He pointed at another man we'd never seen before who was wearing a lovely matching denim jacket and jeans and holding a big stack of passports.  When he saw Lee he magically produced both our passports from an inside pocket of his 80s stonewash denim threads. 

We had to walk from Laos to Vietnam. Every time we got a stamp in our passports it cost us a $1.  There were probably close to 50 people crossing at the same time as us but we were the only ones diverted to quarantine.  Not even the chickens were subjected to this!

Finally in Vietnam and back on the bus headed to Hue, we thought nothing else could possibly happen.  About 30k out from Hue, the bus stopped at a little roadside cafe for some food.  At this point we were informed that the bus wasn't even going to Hue!  We were told we'd have to get on a motor bike the rest of the way and pay another 20,000 kip each!  We politely insisted that we'd got a ticket for Hue and that's where we would be going on this bus.

Back on the bus it seemed that our protests had been successful as we continued on towards Hue.  Suddenly the bus stopped again and we were told to get off.  This time they weren't having none of it so we grabbed our bags and made our way to the door.  Just as we were getting upset, a woman who was somehow involved with the bus company (not sure how but she seemed to know everyone and was the main person insisting we get off) handed us some cash and said it was to pay for the rest of our journey.  We got off, completely baffled by the whole exchange and sat by the side of the road.  Not 2 minutes later, a mini-bus showed up and we were bundled on it.  We handed over the money we were given and before we knew it we were right in the center of Hue, much closer than if we had gone to the bus station.

Overall one of the most bizarre experiences we've had on this trip or otherwise.  At the time the scariest thing about it was being completely helpless - we couldn't communicate with anyone and had no control over what was happening.  In the end it seems that there was a system in place the whole time and although chaotic and confusing to us, seems to work fine for the Lao and Vietnamese folks who regularly ride the local bus.