A contender for the most famous road in Vietnam, the Hai Van Pass is a short but scenic route winding around a mountainside above the East Sea, on the central coast. The Ocean Cloud Pass is famous for a number of reasons, but I heard of the Hai Van Pass through the Top Gear Vietnam Special, in which the presenters waxed lyrical about the pass, inspiring myself and a generation of travellers to take to the road on two wheels and hit the Hai Van Pass.
To avoid the worst of the traffic, I leave Hoi An’s old town early and take the coast road to Da Nang. On the edge of the city centre, I turn west onto the famous Dragon Bridge over the Han River and into the city. I then cruise along the river bank before skirting the ocean along Nam O Beach. At the end of the beach road, I join Highway 1 for a short stint before the road starts to climb into foliage: this is the start of the Hai Van Pass.
Curling around the mountainside, the pass opens up spectacular views across Da Nang Bay. At the top of the pass, a collection of overpriced food and drink shacks vie for my custom, as I stop briefly to consider whether to scramble to the ancient gate and old gun towers. The Top Gear Vietnam Special must surely have inspired thousands of travellers to follow in their tyre-tracks, because one of the hawkers at the top of the pass asks me: “Are you here because of Top Gear?!” With this question, my decision is made. I clunk my bike into gear and ride off just as a huge bus full of tourists pulls up.
Snaking down the other side of the pass, the views get even better: looking over the winding tarmac as it drops towards the long, empty beach of Lang Co. Just after one of the last hairpin bends of the pass, a picture-perfect scene opens up over Lang Co bay and fishing village, with a long bridge over the water and the lush, misty mountains behind. This might as well be known as the ‘Top Gear Viewing Point‘, as it was here that the final scene on the Hai Van Pass from the Vietnam Special episode was filmed, with the three co-presenters all gazing at the sunset, enraptured by the beauty of Vietnam’s landscape.
Although it is certainly not the greatest road I have ridden in Vietnam, the Hai Van Pass is still a lot of fun to ride, with excellent views and hardly any traffic.
Sadly, after the fun of the Hai Van Pass, it is necessary to join Highway 1 briefly. The turning for the Chan May coast road cannot come soon enough. The Chan May road is empty and stays close to the coast. Veering left off the Chan May route, I head towards the short and sweet Phuoc Tuong Pass - a mini Hai Van Pass. On the other side of this pass, I weave my way across Highway 1 to join a dirt road (QL49B) which heads north along the shores of the Cau Hai Lagoon, one of southeast Asia’s largest lagoons.
Just outside the ancient capital of Hue, at the end of the sweltering sandbar that forms the east coast of the lagoon, I see an opulent phoenix soar through the heat while a diligent caretaker gently rinses sand from its mosaic talons. I slow down and see acre upon acre of screaming dragons skirmish for superiority as gilded crosses and Buddhist swastikas tower into the afternoon sky. This is Vietnam’s City of Gods.
I have mixed feelings about Vietnam’s extravagant tradition, especially when a lot of the country is living in homes much smaller than these palaces for the dead. I mull this over as I ride to the end of the peninsula and follow the Pho Loi River into Hue.
Just outside the ancient capital of Hue, at the end of the sweltering sandbar that forms the east coast of the lagoon, I see an opulent phoenix soar through the heat while a diligent caretaker gently rinses sand from its mosaic talons. I slow down and see acre upon acre of screaming dragons skirmish for superiority as gilded crosses and Buddhist swastikas tower into the afternoon sky. This is Vietnam’s City of Gods.
I have mixed feelings about Vietnam’s extravagant tradition, especially when a lot of the country is living in homes much smaller than these palaces for the dead. I mull this over as I ride to the end of the peninsula and follow the Pho Loi River into Hue.
After a pitstop to freshen myself up, I jump in a taxi to race to the heart of Hue, the Citadel. At this time of day, most of the tourists have gone home. I am therefore able to enjoy a leisurely stroll around the bizarre combination of meticulously restored palaces and weed covered ruins, as the sun dips below the crumbling century-old walls.
Distance: 189.7km
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