Conquering the Hải Vân Pass
Hello and xin chào!
My time in Vietnam is wrapping up soon, so I've been ticking off the last few boxes of places I want to see here. Two weeks ago, I took a sleeper train right after class from Hanoi down to the Central Vietnamese city of Huế, which I visited in January. From there, I rented a motorbike to cross the coastal Hải Vân Pass and then spent the night in Central Vietnam's largest city, Đà Nẵng. It was basically a 24-hour trip with one main activity, so this'll be a pretty brief entry.
The sleeper train was a fun experience, and I actually managed to sleep for a good chunk of it! Luckily only one of the other four berths in the cabin was occupied, which meant that it was relatively quiet and spacious. Overall it was a really pleasant way to make the trip down to Huế.
Bathrooms notwithstanding, everything was quite clean, but dear Lord was the train old. It was also a super rocky ride, which was good for sleeping but definitely not for stumbling around looking for the bathroom at midnight. (You accessed it from the weird no man's land in between the train cars, which took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out.)
I read that there were water dispensers on board, but the one in my car was broken. I visited both neighboring cars, and in both of them the cold water nozzle and been removed, leaving only a boiling water nozzle. I got so thirsty that I filled my bottle with boiling water and waited for it to cool down. So it goes. After 14 hours and an almost-full night of sleep, we pulled into Huế, where I picked up a rental motorbike and headed toward the last town before the Hải Vân Pass, Lăng Cô.
After about an hour and a half of driving, it was time to stop for lunch, so I headed to a seafood place literally on the beach. I had some kind of fish—I think the guy there was telling me that it was snapper—cooked head-to-tail in soy sauce with cooked onions and scallions. On the side, there was sticky rice, and I also ordered some morning glory—a spinach-like vegetable popular in Southeast Asia and usually stir-fried with garlic. I also had an amazing fresh fruit smoothie (pretty sure it contained at least banana, pineapple, and mango). Overall, probably one of the best meals I've had in Vietnam.
The views were lovely, and the beach was abandoned. After I finished eating, I took of my sandals and waded into the water for a little bit. It was bath-water warm and a wonderful way to wrap up lunch before heading into the mountains.
In 2005, a tunnel opened along this same route, massively cutting down travel times. Motorbikes aren't allowed to use it, but it meant that there was very little traffic on the route. The road was in surprisingly great condition, and the only real obstacles I encountered were a few trucks in a double decker configuration completely packed with live pigs.
I reached the top of the pass after 45 minutes or so. Since the pass is something of a tourist attraction in and of itself, there's a collection of open-air cafés and souvenir shops at the top. I stopped for some water and took in the views for a bit.
I also ascended a hill with some ruined buildings of indeterminate origin. I really have no idea what was going on here, but I sure got some nice views out of it. The views descending into Đà Nẵng were wonderful as well.
I got a kick out of seeing several cows on the other side of the guardrail on my way down. (I was less charmed by all the litter.) It was about 45 minutes before I made it to sea level and the outskirts of Đà Nẵng. Eventually I made it into the city and dropped off my rental bike.
I stayed in a cool hostel a few blocks from Đà Nẵng's famous beach. The fast-growing city was actually the first place U.S. ground troops landed in 1965 and became well-known for hosting one of the largest U.S. military bases in all of South Vietnam. Nowadays, it's mostly known as a beach and nightlife destination—and it actually landed in the New York Times' list of 52 places to visit in 2019, which likened the city to Miami.
I was pretty worn out after my long day on the motorbike, so I pretty much walked over to take a look at the beach and then rested in some A/C. A friend of mine happened to be in Hội An, only 30-45 minutes to the south, so she came up to meet me for dinner and drinks. (We had amazing fish tacos with wasabi coleslaw.) The next morning, I had an early one-hour flight back to Hanoi, where I took a nap and taught later that evening.
Overall, it was a really lovely getaway from the oppressive urban heat of Hanoi. Check out a few more photos of this trip here! I'm also continuously adding photos to my previously shared Hanoi album—check that out here. And last but not least, if you missed my Malaysia post that went up last week, here's the link.
Till next time,
Gray
My time in Vietnam is wrapping up soon, so I've been ticking off the last few boxes of places I want to see here. Two weeks ago, I took a sleeper train right after class from Hanoi down to the Central Vietnamese city of Huế, which I visited in January. From there, I rented a motorbike to cross the coastal Hải Vân Pass and then spent the night in Central Vietnam's largest city, Đà Nẵng. It was basically a 24-hour trip with one main activity, so this'll be a pretty brief entry.
 |
| At the base of the Hải Vân Pass. |
The sleeper train was a fun experience, and I actually managed to sleep for a good chunk of it! Luckily only one of the other four berths in the cabin was occupied, which meant that it was relatively quiet and spacious. Overall it was a really pleasant way to make the trip down to Huế.
 |
| My cabin in the morning. The flowers were fake and stuck to the table. |
Bathrooms notwithstanding, everything was quite clean, but dear Lord was the train old. It was also a super rocky ride, which was good for sleeping but definitely not for stumbling around looking for the bathroom at midnight. (You accessed it from the weird no man's land in between the train cars, which took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out.)
 |
| The corridor of my train car. |
I read that there were water dispensers on board, but the one in my car was broken. I visited both neighboring cars, and in both of them the cold water nozzle and been removed, leaving only a boiling water nozzle. I got so thirsty that I filled my bottle with boiling water and waited for it to cool down. So it goes. After 14 hours and an almost-full night of sleep, we pulled into Huế, where I picked up a rental motorbike and headed toward the last town before the Hải Vân Pass, Lăng Cô.
 |
| Lunch on the beach in Lăng Cô. |
After about an hour and a half of driving, it was time to stop for lunch, so I headed to a seafood place literally on the beach. I had some kind of fish—I think the guy there was telling me that it was snapper—cooked head-to-tail in soy sauce with cooked onions and scallions. On the side, there was sticky rice, and I also ordered some morning glory—a spinach-like vegetable popular in Southeast Asia and usually stir-fried with garlic. I also had an amazing fresh fruit smoothie (pretty sure it contained at least banana, pineapple, and mango). Overall, probably one of the best meals I've had in Vietnam.
 |
| Panorama of the beach at Lăng Cô—the restaurant is on the right. |
The views were lovely, and the beach was abandoned. After I finished eating, I took of my sandals and waded into the water for a little bit. It was bath-water warm and a wonderful way to wrap up lunch before heading into the mountains.
 |
| View from the road on the northern side of the pass. You can get a glimpse of other parts of the road at center left and bottom right. |
In 2005, a tunnel opened along this same route, massively cutting down travel times. Motorbikes aren't allowed to use it, but it meant that there was very little traffic on the route. The road was in surprisingly great condition, and the only real obstacles I encountered were a few trucks in a double decker configuration completely packed with live pigs.
 |
| An extremely weathered map at the top of the pass. |
I reached the top of the pass after 45 minutes or so. Since the pass is something of a tourist attraction in and of itself, there's a collection of open-air cafés and souvenir shops at the top. I stopped for some water and took in the views for a bit.
 |
| Looking south towards Đà Nẵng. |
 |
| Looking north towards Lăng Cô and Huế. |
 |
| The view towards Đà Nẵng seen through an arch. |
I also ascended a hill with some ruined buildings of indeterminate origin. I really have no idea what was going on here, but I sure got some nice views out of it. The views descending into Đà Nẵng were wonderful as well.
 |
| This cow was briefly fascinated by me when I pulled over next to it. |
I got a kick out of seeing several cows on the other side of the guardrail on my way down. (I was less charmed by all the litter.) It was about 45 minutes before I made it to sea level and the outskirts of Đà Nẵng. Eventually I made it into the city and dropped off my rental bike.
I stayed in a cool hostel a few blocks from Đà Nẵng's famous beach. The fast-growing city was actually the first place U.S. ground troops landed in 1965 and became well-known for hosting one of the largest U.S. military bases in all of South Vietnam. Nowadays, it's mostly known as a beach and nightlife destination—and it actually landed in the New York Times' list of 52 places to visit in 2019, which likened the city to Miami.
I was pretty worn out after my long day on the motorbike, so I pretty much walked over to take a look at the beach and then rested in some A/C. A friend of mine happened to be in Hội An, only 30-45 minutes to the south, so she came up to meet me for dinner and drinks. (We had amazing fish tacos with wasabi coleslaw.) The next morning, I had an early one-hour flight back to Hanoi, where I took a nap and taught later that evening.
Overall, it was a really lovely getaway from the oppressive urban heat of Hanoi. Check out a few more photos of this trip here! I'm also continuously adding photos to my previously shared Hanoi album—check that out here. And last but not least, if you missed my Malaysia post that went up last week, here's the link.
Till next time,
Gray
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