20th May - Mui Ne to Dalat

Wanted to get an early start today but for some reason didn't get ready to leave until ~10am. Had decided to leave Mui Ne as I wasn't in a beach mood so planned a route to Dalat which is a former French hill resort.

Not long after leaving Mui Ne, I stopped by the side of the road to check a turn on the atlas when a russian couple pulled up next to me on another Honda Win. They asked me how the bike had been, how much I paid for it, etc. They'd paid the same for theirs but it seemed to have no end of problems, apparently every day it broke down at least once and it had a absolute top speed of 60KM/h which is weird because mine will do at least 100 and it feels like it will do more. We did both have crap headlights though. I carried on feeling smug that my bike was doing well but also wondering in the back of my mind what problems my bike would end up with.

The journey continued along Highway 1 swhere I stopped for fuel, not wanting to run out again. The girl operating the pump spoke a little english and asked me where I was headed to, when I replied "Hanoi" she looked a bit shocked, looked at my bike and said "you not get there". I explained I was stopping along the way and pointed out Delat and the other places but she still seemed incredulous. She wished me luck and I carried on until I reached the coastal town of Phan Rang where I turned off onto the decidedly less busy Highway 27.

On the map Highway 27 is the same thickness and could as Highway 1 so I'd foolishly assumed it would be a similar road but that couldn't of been further from the truth. The vast majority of it was an unsurfaced dusty track with more potholes than road and a few lorries and buses throwing dust everywhere. On occassions the road would turn into a beautifully surfaced dual carriageway and I'd get my hopes up that I could make some progress before it quickly and without warning turned back into a track.

After a while though the road started to climb up the side of the hills and, whilst the surface didn't improve, the views certainly did.

The climb was tricky and the road often washed out with boulders everywhere from landslides. I thought I was doing really well to make it up here but I'd ocassionally see a bog standard mini bus like the ones you'd see on any UK road flying over the rocks like they were nothing. It's weird how what seems like an extreme adventure is actually just someone elses every day life.

Part way up the hill the skies darkened and it was clearly going to rain very soon. I really didn't want to be climbing this hill in the rain. Some of the potholes were more than big enough to swallow the bike whole and obviously if they were full of water I wouldn't be able to tell which were OK to drive through and which weren't; it's basically impossible to avoid them all together. Also it's clear that this road suffers from landslides. This part of the road is called the Ngoan Muc Pass and zig zags underneath two huge pipes that lead down the mountain to a hydroelectric station.

I had my raincoat in my bag so when it was safe to do so I stopped by the side of the road at a little roadside stall where I was beckoned over by the owners for a coffee. Realisng I hadn't actually had anything to eat all day I ordered an ice coffee and the only food they had, a pineapple. There were a couple of local guys there and they saw my Vietnam atlas and wanted to take a look. For some reason most of the Vietnamese people I've met along the way are fascinated by it, I guess not many people own a copy. I asked them where I was along the road and it turned out that I'd missed a turning a bit futher down but that I could continue up the way I was going and it would only add a few extra KMs to the journey, which was good as I didn't fancy going back down. I said my goodbyes and carried on up the hill.

I stopped again for fuel in Phu Than not wanting to run out on the steep parts of the slope and a woman ran over from a shop telling me that it was raining further up and that I should be a poncho, I pointed out my coat but she insisted it wasn't enough. I declined the offer though as the poncho looked just like the emergency one I had in my bag. As we were having this conversation the boy operating the pump had filled my tank right up to the point where it leaked. Everyone near the pump then started pointing out the leak and I explained through mime that it only happened when full. They suggested going to the mechanic across the road to get it welded but I thought it wise not to get a tank full of and covered in petrol welded right now and headed off up the hill to Dalat.


Dalat is centered around a man made lake with hotels, etc. everywhere and I had no idea where to stay. I circled the lake and parked up to take a look in Lonely Planet for somewhere to stay, something I normally don't like to do but I'd been riding for over 7 hours and it was getting quite dark (it seems the 6v electrics on my bike don't quite provide enough power for a decent headlamp) when a local guy pulled up next to me on a motorbike and asked me if I was from Sweden; quite an odd greeting I thought.

It turned out he was an "Easy Rider", basically a motorbike tour guide that either takes you on tours of the central highlands as a pillion or that you can follow on your own bike. He asked me which hotel I was looking for and as I had none in mind he recommended me one that was cheap and fairly nice. He was also wearing a decent looking, almost western style, motorbike helmet and, as these seem to be a bit of a rarity, I asked him where I could get one. It turns out they sell them in Dalat so I'll take a look tomorrow as the one I got with the bike, which is also the same as most peoples, is nothing more than a thin piece of plastic, not even as protective as a UK bicycle helmet.

In the end I followed him to the hotel and took a look. For $7 I got a 4 person room with TV bathroom with hot shower, tables and chairs and a balcony. No AC or fan but it's pretty cold up here anyway.

I stupidly turned the TV on and ended up getting sucked into "The Green Hornet" before heading out for a wander round town.There isn't a great deal going on around Dalat at night so I just walked the streets for a while before making my back towards the hotel. When I was nearly back I heard someone shouting hello to me and it turned out to be another easy rider with an english guy who'd just been on a tour with him. They were sat drinking on the pavement so I joined them and chatted for a while before we all headed off to our beds. Unfortunately I hadn't realised what time it was and when I got back to my hotel all the shutters were closed and locked so I had to bang on the door and wake the owner up, which he wasn't to pleased about.
I think I'll probably stay in Dalat tomorrow as it seems quite nice and laid back and if I keep up this pace on the bike I'll be in Hanoi far too early.