Mui Ne and Dalat

I got a later start heading out of Ho Chi Minh City than I would have liked and it was a particularly hot day. There are special highways for cars, trucks, and buses, but motorcycles are only allowed on the back roads, which have a top speed limit of 60 km/h. Since I'm traveling so slowly and the heat was so intense, I decided it would be okay to wear shorts and a polo shirt. I lathered up with a lot of sunscreen.

It took over an hour to get out of the orbit of Ho Chi Minh City. The outskirts of town have lots of construction and roadwork, and as I sweat off my sunscreen it mixed with the asphalt dust and grime from the road and I became filthy.

About two and a half hours in, I stopped in a reasonably large town called Long Kahn (where presumably the scammers take their time) and ordered an orange juice and a water from a roadside cart. When I sat down, I drew a crowd of locals who had a thousand questions about my life in the US. They brought out little samples of every food and drink and refused to let me pay for anything. They asked me how old I was and whether I was married, then started showing pictures of local women on their phones. It ended up being a much longer stop than I planned, but I left unbetrothed. I've got spurs that jingle jangle jingle.

I was awfully tired by the time I got close to the coast of Mui Ne, but I got a resurgence of energy when I smelled the ocean. I passed a harbor with beautifully painted old wooden boats, but I didn't take any pictures because I really just wanted to get to my hostel. I arrived about seven hours after I left Saigon.

There was a pretty limited offering of hostels in Mui Ne, and my decision to choose the cheapest one didn't work out for me. Some hostels are so inexpensive that I suspect that the beds are a loss leader to attract traffic for their primary business as a bar and restaurant. I also suspect that some of these hostels make their environments deliberately annoying so that only guests who want to spend a bunch of money at the bar would ever visit. The dorms at my hostel in Mui Ne were all in one huge grass hut with interior partition walls to give the impression of separate 16-bunk rooms. There was no air conditioning, but there was a DJ who played stuff like "Mambo Number 5" at outrageous volumes all night. Anyone looking for a good night's sleep should steer clear—places like this are for party kids who want to stay up all night and pass out wherever they end up. Somehow, though, I tuned it all out and slept okay.

I got an appropriately early start the next morning. My route was taking me into higher country, so I wore long pants and had a windbreaker stashed where I could get to it conveniently.

The ride from Mui Ne to Dalat was stunning. It started with a beautiful ride along the coast, then red sand dunes, coffee plantations, jungle, mountains, and a huge mountain lake. I didn't stop for pictures because it was one continuously beautiful view. I took a quick video at a random pit stop, but the views were this good the whole way.

Eventually the quality of the roads deteriorated and the riding got pretty technical. There were excellent twisties, but the roads would frequently turn to gravel. There was also a level of excitement in figuring out how to choose a line while weaving past the pot holes. There were a few insanely high quality twisties on clean roads, though. I hotdogged it a bit here:

I stopped when I saw a few dozen adventure bikes parked at a rural roadside store. These guys all had proper riding gear and were on big bikes (mostly GSs) so I assumed correctly that they were on an expensive package tour. They had come from the opposite direction so I described the fun riding that laid ahead for them. They warned me that it was "bumpy as shit" the way they came, but it turned out to be exceedingly gentle compared to what I had just ridden and what they hadn't ridden yet.

I considered renting a larger capacity motorcycle, but the Honda 150 XR that I picked up is perfect for both the cities and the mountain roads. You've really got to work the gears effectively for the power to show up, but it's super quick off the start. Besides which, since the highest speed limit is 37 mph, there's just not that much performance required.

It started raining as I approached Dalat, and with about an hour to go I stopped for some pho. I wasn't expecting the pho to be very different in Vietnam than it is in the US, but it's incredible how much a little change in seasoning impacts the taste. The Europeans I've been meeting along the way have never tried Vietnamese food, so everyone is completely blown away when they get here. It's fun being around people trying it all for the first time. I feel pretty grateful to have so many options at home.

Dalat is a very pretty mountain town. The arrangement of colorful homes on the hills and the windy roads feel a bit reminiscent of San Francisco.

On my first day in town I checked out Maze Bar, which is a trip. You order your drinks at the entrance (I got an artichoke tea) then head into a disorienting labyrinth with lots of little alcoves for people to hang out and talk or get another drink. I went in the middle of the day when it was empty, but I'm sure it's a fun idea when it's busy.

The next morning it rained a lot, but by the afternoon I went out with some friends from the hostel (we actually all met in Saigon and we're planning to cross paths again). They rented scooters in town so we were able to do some more exploring in town before heading out to a lake just outside of town.

Later, while looking for a waterfall, we stumbled upon an attraction with several mountain coasters and a zip line. We took one of the coasters and it was a really fun experience.

When we got back into town, we hung out for a while in a big public square, then my friend Monish was determined to fish on the pond where a few locals were successfully fishing. It turned out he had a collapsible fishing rod in his backpack the whole time.

Next stop: Nha Trang. The road from Dalat to Nha Trang is supposed to be one of the prettiest in the country, so I'm waiting for good weather to head out there. I'm feeling a little pressed for time, though, because my visa is only good for a month and it's going to take a long time to get all the way to Hanoi if I'm riding less than four hours per day. I may have to reconsider my plan when I get to Hue.