Motoring through Nam part deux

We left for Dalat around 10am, once again later than we’d hoped to set off. Dalat is only about 200 km from Mui Ne but it took us 7 hours because of a long stop in the mountains that I’ll elaborate on in a minute. We saw very few cars for the first 150 km. It was a gorgeous leg of the journey, beautiful scenery, the road to ourselves. We drove on an unpaved road through the desert for a while which wasn’t much fun, hot wind blowing in our faces, covered in red sand by the end of it. But afterwards we drove into the mountains, affording us breathtaking vistas as we ascended the steep winding roads of the central highlands, stopping often to take pictures.

Then one of Evan’s tires went flat which burst our bubble, so to speak. There was a group of around 20 Vietnamese men and women nearby having lunch on the side of the road. We approached them and asked for help. The next 10-15 minutes were wrought with a lot of yelling in vietnamese, attempts to communicate with wild hand gestures, and most unpleasant of all, price negotiation. They had a large van and said they could take Evan’s bike to be fixed for $50 which was a bit ridiculous considering a new tube for a tire should cost maybe $4 at most, and the next town was only about 10 km away. Still, we had no leverage.

They were unable to get the bike into the van so the next idea was that I would drive to the next town and bring a mechanic back, a tall task for a white non-vietnamese speaker in a rural mountain community. Then someone else said (communicated to me with hand gestures) that he could take my bike into the next town and bring a mechanic back for $20. I did not feel very comfortable giving up my bike to a stranger but in the end I felt this was our only option.

Once he left with my bike the mood changed almost instantly. Evan, Emil, and I were invited to join them for lunch, and though we weren’t feeling particularly outgoing at the time we were in no position to reject this invitation. And wouldn’t you know, lunch turned into an unforgettable experience. The men who’d minutes ago been arguing with us were suddenly our close friends, asking us about ourselves, telling us about themselves, trying to set us up with their sisters and daughters who sat giggling in a separate circle. The food was simple but good – bread, pork, rice, peanuts, watermelon, and Tiger beer. They taught us to say “One, two, three, Drink!” in vietnamese (Mot, Hai, Ba, Yo!), a routine we repeated quite a few times.

For some reason they picked a very uncomfortable location to stop for lunch. They sat atop a patch of gravel with large jagged rocks. As I continued shifting to a butt cheek with some feeling left in it one of the men offered me his sandle to sit on, which I graciously accepted. Another man in the circle told me he was a singer, then sang us all a song. I then informed everyone that Evan was a singer and maybe he’d like to sing for all of us, like RIGHT NOW. Evan, to his credit, rose to the occasion, and delivered the first verse of Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel.”

Eventually the guy came back with my bike and a mechanic who fixed Evan’s wheel without issue. They told us they were only charging $10, “Discount for fun!” they said. We took several group photos, exchanged emails and hugged everyone goodbye. An amazing experience. Within an hour or so we’d gone from tense price arbitration to hugging.

The approach to Dalat wasn’t much fun because each of us was nearly out of fuel and the weather had suddenly become quite cold. After searching around town for over 20 minutes, getting lost for a time in a bustling marketplace just as it began to rain, we finally found our hotel. Here’s a look at our route on Google Maps.

 

 

We had a low key night, dinner, couple of drinks, a few games of pool. The following day we explored Dalat for a few hours before heading to Nha Trang. Dalat is known for it’s produce and acres of greenhouses. A cute town, romantic, manicured, a nice place for couples. The lake in the middle of town is surrounded by botanical gardens, exotic florals, fountains, and cheesy swan boats for rent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emil was able to sell his bike (not for much) and buy another one. Evan and I explored the botanical gardens and cruised around town for a while. Then the three of us packed up, checked out, and went to the Crazy House on the edge of town. What a place. Imagine a real life Alice in Wonderland castle, or perhaps Dr. Seuss manor. As a matter of fact, you needn’t imagine anything, for I can simply show you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterward we hit the road for Nha Trang. Though only around 150 km away the drive took 5 hours. Again, the route traversed the Central Highlands’ apex, so we were up high in the mountains. We drove through the clouds for a while, discovering a waterfall at one point. Beautiful. Once through the clouds we began a very steep decent down a sharp winding road. This was not the place to break down or run out of fuel. It was fun though and the views were spectacular.

We gassed up once on flat ground, then crushed a long straight away for the next 20 km going about as fast as our bikes would allow – roughly 85 km/hr. After this stretch I discovered that I had a flat tire. Luckily there was a mechanic’s shop nearby and I was fixed up in a half hour. Then we cruised into town and reached the Mozjo Inn by 6pm. Here’s a look at our route on Google Maps.

We spent three nights in Nha Trang, a beautiful town on the Southwestern coast. The first day we went scuba diving which was, predictably, incredible. I spotted a huge eel coiled neath a web of luminous orange coral. Evan scraped himself up on the reef when he laid out for an invisible football I threw to him. I admired his commitment to reeling it in, getting the toes down.

We took lengthy afternoon naps once returned to shore. I skyped with my family in the early evening, then the boys and I embarked on a night of unspeakable debauchery.

We spent the next day recovering both physically and emotionally on the beach for much of the next day. We had an easy night – entertained by a three-piece jazz band during a scrumptious seafood dinner, drinks and a couple games of pool afterward. The next morning we were on the road again. Hoi An, the next major destination, lay over 650 km away, a 2 day trip. They would be by far the two roughest days on the road.