The Hai Van Pass is a mountainous coastal stretch of road in the middle of Vietnam linking Hoi An and Hue to each other. The journey between the two cities was made famous by British TV programme 'Top Gear' when they filmed a Vietnamese special back in 2009 (video below) and ever since then it has been an extremely popular traveller attraction to bike between the two cities.
As our time in Hoi An came to an end a group of five of us were dedicated to finding our next adventure and decided instead of another grueling night bus that we would attempt biking all the way to Hue. We used our hostels bike hire to make the journey which cost around £15 each, and gave them our backpacks as they would deliver them to our destination for us that very day - as riding a fairly sketchy bike with a massive traveler backpack probably wouldn't end up very pretty.
We gave ourselves a day's practice on the bikes just to feel a little more confident before we began our lengthy trip as all bar one of us had no experience on a motorbike prior to this.
We then set off the following day and it wasn't even an hour into the journey until one of our bikes broke down but the company we hired from quickly came to the rescue and gave us a new one.
I think the most interesting part of this trip in general was that every corner we turned, we never knew what amazing scenic view we would see next. Along with the adrenaline rush you get from whizzing around the mountain in and out of the clouds.
I made the mistake however of getting overly confident and trying to undertake a lorry driving cliffside going round a bend... (rather stupid I know) Luckily I came out fine other than a few cuts and bruises from the lorry pushing me into the cliff barrier, so learn from my mistakes, slow and steady wins the race!
ELEPHANT FALLS
Along the way we made a stop at 'Elephant Falls' and cooled of from the radiating sun in the chilled mineral waters with a handful of locals. We were all in absolute awe by the extraordinarily scenic views of the cascade running down this picturesque mountain covered in forestry. After several hours playing around in the waters and having lunch we then decided to hit the road as the sun started to set and we didn't want to be driving for too long in the dark.
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