Anyone who has seen the Vietnam special of Top Gear will be familiar with Hội An; the beautiful village where the presenters purchase a tailored suit for an unbelievably small amount. Despite having something resembling a fever (most likely a fever) the first thing we did is walk to Yaly, the largest tailor in town, and get measured up for a suit. Total cost, $75. For a fully tailored suit. Incredible! Somehow resisting the temptation to get something ridiculously flamboyant I eventually resigned myself to having a pink lining, but an outwardly normal suit. I was feeling so ill, and the weather was so unappealing that after a tasty dinner I went to bed, leaving Holly to socialise.
The next day, feeling much better, Holly and I set about exploring. The old town is really picturesque, but it’s the riverfront area which is really the main attraction. Here we sat with a drink, chatting to the owner. Holly was also looking for some tailoring, and somehow ended up cycling to a nearby market to get fitted, leaving me to enjoy the view and engage in some people watching.
That afternoon I went for my first fitting for my suit, before we agreed to do a tour with a local boat owner. The tour exceeded both our expectations, as we wove between islands we came across two fishermen; naturally we were both given the opportunity to try our hand at fishing. Holly went first and, despite having a great technique was unsuccessful in catching anything. I had a little more luck, and successfully managed to throw the net over Holly, who had been moved into the tiny fishing vessel!
Our next destination was Đà Nẵng. Here we made the same mistake I’d previously made in Konya, Turkey. The small village our complete lack of research had led us to expect was actually a huge city, with a population of around a million. Despite a huge number of hotels there were very few tourists, giving a bit of a strange feel to the place. In our eight bed dorm Holly and I were the only occupants; in a several storey hotel we only saw one other patron. Despite feeling like we should go to the nearby Marble Mountain the mizzle and grey instead inspired us to go to the cinema. This was in a large complex which also included a supermarket, something we’d not seen in a while. Instead of eating out we purchased a bottle of local wine and sandwich ingredients; these were enjoyed in our private balcony overlooking the twinkling lights of the city.
Described by Jeremy Clarkson “a deserted ribbon of perfection—one of the best coast roads in the world“, our road for that day, the Hải Vân Pass lived up to its reputation. Even the grey skies couldn’t dampen our spirits as we ascended and descended the mountains on the twisting, narrow roads. Our only complaint being that it wasn’t twice the length!
By the time we arrived in Huế the rain was once again falling, and the bikes were starting to respond to the punishing conditions. My exhaust had completely sheared in two and Holly’s, after attempting to leave a coffee shop, no longer had enough power to move without being pushed. Fortunately in Vietnam a mechanic is never far away, and in the time it took us to eat a bowl of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) both bikes were in working order again. My repair bill came to 20,000, or $1!
We finally arrived in Huế. We walked around the citadel in the city centre, but it was hard to stay motivated in the incessant rain. Even so it was still a worthwhile visit, the town experienced several battles during the civil war, remnants of this include bullet holes in the walls of several buildings in the city, including the citadel.
It was in Huế the weather finally got to us, and we made the decision to get the train the remaining 700km to the capital city, Hanoi. Although the prestige of completing the trip by bike would be lost the driving had become more of an ordeal in the rain, and was often outright dangerous. Although the sleeper bus was slightly cheaper we deemed the train more convenient and comfortable.
Against my expectations Hanoi turned out to be my favourite location in Vietnam, or at least I had my best few days there. In order to get my Chinese visa sorted out I visited the embassy every day, but as it was a pleasant walk this wasn’t an issue. The main thing we knew we needed to do would be sell our bikes, something we expected to be easy. How wrong we were! We initially tried a few dealers and were met with responses ranging from outright laughter to a paltry $70. Feeling uninspired we went to watch a water puppet show, traditional Vietnamese entertainment. Here we met Stu, who later introduced us to Caroline who was interested in buying a bike. That night was one of my favourite in Vietnam, having got lost the four of us stopped at a restaurant. The table next to us, four local businessmen, offered to share their vodka and before we knew it we had become one, large group. As we chatted more beers and vodka appeared, and they told us about life in Vietnam as we told them about ourselves. As one of them was also a programmer I cracked a few programming jokes; he didn’t find them that funny so I can only assume the humour was lost in translation!
My final, and favourite, day in Vietnam came about as the result of a series of coincidences. I’ve often thought how different my trip would have been if I’d taken a different route, sat at a different seat on a bus, ordered a different drink at a bar etc. I only met Holly as we were in the same bunk in my second hostel in Saigon. I met Xuân Thảo on my flight to Vietnam, we both had randomly assigned seats and the seat in between us was empty. And we only struck up conversation because she spotted my watch, an old Casio, was very popular in Vietnam when she was younger. It’s amazing that my favourite day in a country hung on so many small coincidences! While on the flight she gave me a short lesson in Vietnamese, told me some of her favourite foods and where to get them. She also suggested we meet up again when I made it to Hanoi.
The day started well, in my fourth and final trip to the Chinese embassy I was finally given my passport containing a shiny new visa. Next Holly finally passed over the keys of her bike to Caroline leaving us with just one bike to sell. At around midday we rode several kilometres out of the centre of Hanoi to meet Xuân Thảo and her niece. They first took us for an amazing lunch, followed by a tofu based dessert which was incredible. After briefly returning to Xuân Thảo’s house we drove across Hanoi, where we got ice cream followed by a regional speciality: egg coffee. Being shown around by a local completely changes your impression of a city, the whole experience becomes richer as small details you’d otherwise have missed are explained. Even the café we drank at, in the heart of the tourist area, I’d never even have noticed, being on the second floor with no noticeable way up (we walked through an unmarked corridor with bikes parked in it, then up two flights of stairs with no indication of the café at the top!).
After coffee we decided what to do next, riding around a second, larger lake was in Xuân Thảo’s bucket list so we decided to go and do that. Once again we came across great views and experienced the less touristic side of Hanoi. We finished up for sunset on the large bridge over the Red River. Although a train bridge, hundreds of motorbikes are also able to use it. I appreciated the simple elegance of the bridge, and was happy that clearly engineers had designed it without letting the architects near!
That evening I finally sold my bike to a girl I’d met the previous evening. I sold for a significant loss, but as Holly and I had agreed to split the difference the net loss was minimal, especially as some people had lost more than my initial outlay on the bike! The experience of driving through Vietnam, and the fact we’d both emerged unscathed was worth far more than a few dollars!
Overall Vietnam turned out to be yet another contender for my favourite country. The people are friendly, especially considering the volume of, often offensive, tourists they must have to put up with. The countryside is so varied, and being on a bike allowed us to pull over when we wanted to enjoy the scenery or have a coffee. Oh and riding itself is great fun! The cities are immense, crowded hives; weaving in and out of the traffic on a bike is exhilarating. While it’s a shame the weather wasn’t ideal, resulting in me opting to leave earlier and miss Sapa and Ha Long Bay, I still saw enough sun, and the experience of driving in torrential rain was fun. At least in hindsight! I’ll definitely be returning at some point, but probably not in the wet season!
1unwiseman 