My head in the cloud again…? Kon Tum and the hill road to Hue

(Sorry for the delay in posts, I've been a bit busy with some volunteer work, tell you all about it later)

I think you missed a spot,
you could have fitted more!

I headed towards Kon Tum, it didn’t take long before the weather cleared and I found a “short cut” to Kon tum, a road that looked almost new, well it was.. about 10km in the road turned to road base then dirt.

Ducks and Chickens...
Is there even room for the rider?

But… it took me through the hill tribes and past several villages that would only just have had a big road come through them, the people didn’t know what hit them when I pulled up and asked for some noodle soup. It was great.

The houses were all in the traditional fashion as well. I made Kon Tum that night and the town was full of people from the surrounding villages. Only 5 more days and it would Tet (Chinese new year) and people needed to buy food and gifts for there family as during this time everything would be closed.

The local còm (Rice with some meat) shop had live music, granted it was the next door people singing very very bad karaoke but the town didn’t seem to care, they were all singing along and dancing in the street. It was one big party and everyone was invited. After about 20 min though the music was to loud and off key for me so I moved on.

The next day I went for a walk around the town, there wasn’t much to Kon Tum, but I needed a day to dry out my cloths as it was all still wet from the previous few days on the road. In town there was a massive old church and several small minority groups around the edge of the town. Otherwise the main thing to do was sit on a deck chair and look out over the mountains and the river that ran past Kon Tum. It was a very lazy day in deed.

I headed out early the next day, my goal was to drive along a road that’s now been called the Ho Chi Minh Hwy, it follows much of the old Ho Chi Minh trail through the maintains and along the ridges. 


I would then aim to get to Hoi An, and spend some time there. The road was not bad, but it was extremely heavily bombed during the American war (aka Vietnam War) that all the trees and jungle that use to be there was just barren, and due to many bombs still imbedded in the hills they could not be used for farming.

The trees had barely recovered and it was a very sad sight. Never the less the road did have its beauty aspects and it was really windy, up and down and around many corners. It was a lot of fun to ride.

I reached the edge of the mountain range and back on the AH1 around dusk and it was dark when I reached Hoi An, it was only a few days now till Tet and things had already started to climb in price and fill up with tourists.

There wasn’t much that I was interested in, in Hoi An. I was more interested in the ruins and the forts and things and for that I would have to go to Hue… I flipped a coin, I could either stay in Hoi An and risk arriving in Hue 2 days from now and everything being full and closed, or… I could leave today and have 1 day before Tet to get a hotel and bunker down for the start of the holiday. It landed on head to Hue so that’s what I did. The next day, I checked out of the hotel and I was off to Hue.

The Road to Hue was again cold and wet, I was definitely in the north of Vietnam now. I doubted highly that it would clear up any better the further north I went but I had no choice really.  

After a few Km the road climbed on a ridge and I stopped at a spot that was full of tourist busses. There was several old American bunkers scattered over the hill top. It was so foggy that you could not 5 meters in front of you, so when out of no where this bunker appeared it was quite surreal.

Oil Drum and some pipes
equals Rice wine!

I stopped for some lunch down in the valley, the shops on the Hwy were all brewing there own rice wine on the side of the road. It was a simple setup with a old oil drum and some pipe.

Further down the road I stopped at a lookout, that was the same place that the guys from top gear stopped and took in a sunset over a small coastal village. Amazing views and it was nice and peaceful.

I finally entered Hue that evening, it was only 120 km from Hoi an, but it took me all day to reach because of the road and weather...

The traffic in Hue was amazing it was busy and packed with motorbikes, it didn’t take me long to find a hotel that was open and had some rooms and I parked the bike.

The next day I hired a local moto-taxi to take me around to see some sights in Hue.

The first sight was a tomb of a old emperor of Vietnam, it was a small temple like building which had inside a lavish display of jewels and treasures. The wall was covered in ceramic pieces of plates and jewels. It sparkled and shined in the light.

Outside, concrete warriors stood guard. Much like the terracotta warriors were in china. The temple was tiered to have stages to it and it overlooked a nice valley.

The next place on the list was another tomb but this one was much, much larger, it was set on a large ground with stages from the gate to the tomb of which you had to walk through, each one had its own meaning and it also had living areas for the care takers and libraries for monks. A lot of the tomb and buildings was sadly destroyed during the recent war. But you could still get an idea of its beauty.

The we then had a short ride to visit the next tomb which was more of a small fortress, with a high wall and mote surrounding it. Inside was a lake and a island that apparently use to host exotic birds. Again it was a very Chinese building and partly of it was destroyed.

The 2^nd last place for the day was the imperial city of Vietnam. It was a large fortress that in its prime would have served the same as the imperial city of Beijing china. But now a lot has been destroyed and is under reconstruction. There was only 5 or 6 buildings that could be entered and some didn’t allow photos. It was still a nice walk. The preparations for Tet celebrations that night were also in full swing with the military preparing fireworks on the roofs.

The buildings again were very very chinese looking, the grounds were se-rounded by a great mote and at the front was a giant flag pole with the Vietnamese flag on prime position up top. This could be seed from all over Hue.

The last place before it got dark was a temple with a 7 story pagoda, this seemed to be a very touristy temple, a few busses had parked out front and the monks working didn’t seem to happy (not that I could blame them) I had a small chat with a younger monk who was working and he showed me there bonsai garden. Then I headed back.

That night it started to pore down with rain, a shame as tonight was the start of Chinese new year. The celebrations would all be taking place at the imperial palace where I visited earlier.

I headed there at 11pm and there was a great concert on with dancers and songs. I found a place behind the crowd. 


In reality I could have stood anywhere I was the tallest person in the crowd and have no problems seeing the stage. A young lady walked up to me with her school mates and had a nice long chat about where I was from, what I was doing, and what I did in Oz. 
1 hour flew past as she practiced her English and I practiced my limited Vietnamese and learned a few more words. Then 12 o’clock struck and the sky was lit up with a bang. Chúc Mừng Năm Mới !! (Happy new year in Vietnamese)

Tomorrow the old DMZ then onwards to Hanoi!

Till next time,

HAVE FUN!

Steffen.