That day I headed out of DaLat towards a
town called Buon Ma Thout, it would take me along a small country road not
normally travelled by tourists.
The Road was hard to find in its own right,
it looked like a driveway in a small town not marked but then opened up shortly
after. It started off fine and climbed to some amazing views, then the road
turned to rubble and for the next 100km it was large stones and rocks. It was
still a amazing ride, it took me to some small villages and the people were so nice, I had
some great lunch in there small town and tried talking to some people, English
wasn’t a common language here but it was still nice to just sit and have a coke
with them.
I didn’t quiet make my destination that
night, I stopped as the sun was setting in a small village called Lak, The
houses were all made from traditional material and I must have been in the only
hotel in town. It was a good time to practice my Vietnamese that I had been
learning, ordering food, check please, and saying it tasted nice were all the
new words I had learnt. I downloaded a small podcast that went through some
basics. It proved a hit with the locals in there shop, and it made it fun.
The next morning I continued on, my
destination was not only to make up the 30km I had missed the day earlier and
head towards Nha Trang, the hill road was getting very cold and a bit wet.
I stopped off at a local market in a small
village, the local people were all dressed in there traditional cloths and it
was obvious they don’t see many tourists this route. Walking through the market
I was stopped every 10m with someone wanting to take a picture on there phone
with me. So funny ;) |
| Still cold and wet :( |
The closer I got to the coast the warmer
and less wet it got, eventually it opened up on the AH1, to a magical ocean
road. The beach, the sun… it was great, add the views and it was something
else.
In Nha Trang I spent the day on the beach,
I was considering going diving but the conditions were just not good and a
fishing trip was just to expensive. Instead I lazed around the beach for ½ the
day and spent the other ½ day riding around on my bike to visit the local
fishing villages and markets. 
The locals used a small woven basket as a boat to
get to there main boats and back. The fish markets were full of strange fish
and looked so yummy!I also stopped off at a nice old ruined temple, nothing to the likes of the ones in cambodia but it was placed on the top of a hill which gave nice views over the city.
On the way back into the city i also headed into a small tourist village, a chinese building which displayed traditional crafts and arts, a lady was making sand art. She would pore small amounts of coloured stand in layers to produce a image, not just on 1 side but both sides of the glass. Amazing skill and it would take here 2 months to complete 1 item. There was a rock formation just off the coast at this village that was nice as well.
I decided to head out of Nha Trang, as nice
as it was it was way to touristy and busy for my liking, I read about a place
to the north that was similar but not touristy. Sounded great… so off I went.
I thought I had seen every great road in
South east asia, but I was sooo wrong. It blew the great ocean road in
Australia out of water. Every corner was a new cliff view of white sand beaches
and crystal blue water. Sadly it didn’t last, the weather creeped in again and
by the time I reached Quy Nhon it was poring down cats… (no dogs they were all
eaten for breakfast in Phò (noodle soup)). 
I checked into a hotel and dried my
pants the only way I could… a coat hanger and a fan. J
There was another backpacker in the hotel and he was riding around on motorbike as well, same model of bike everything. We had a great time chatting about the ride from Saigon up and I told him about Laos and Cambodia.
The next day I left and decided to try my luck in the hills again, the way I figured was if I could get over the mountain range it could be better there…
Till next time, HAVE FUN!
Steffen
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