Hai van pass to Da Nang

We climbed onto the back of Chucky's friends motorbikes, with our bags each strapped to the back it was like sitting on a comfy sofa with a back rest. We were waved off by Chucky and Cindy and shortly after crossing the bridge from the village we were on Hai Van Pass.

The same coastal road used on the top gear Vietnam special Hai Van pass means 'Road in the clouds'.
For the first 30 minutes we were climbing the mountain, whinding up and around. We had the jungle to our right with waterfalls meters from the roadside and the pristine beaches and ocean to our left. Jeremy Clarkson described this road as 'a deserted ribbon of perfection, one of the best coastal roads in the world'
He wasn't wrong, for once I understood why people love motorbikes. It inspired me to want my own. Once we reached the highest point, we could see Lang co village on one side and Da Nang city on the other. We stopped here for about 15 minutes. There were lots of 'Top Gear' trips so we were there along with a few coaches. It was then another 30 minute ride down the mountains through the cows and clouds and into Da Nang.

Once we reached our hotel we dumped our stuff and headed straight for the train station. With the next train available not until 8 days away we left the station discussing other options.
As we had both enjoyed all the riding on bikes the past few days we considered the option of completing the rest of our journey ourselves on motor bikes. We had met a couple doing the whole of Vietnam on bikes back in Ha Long City and considering all the thousands of bikes we had seen throughout Asia we hadn't seen a single accident. We sat down to get a coffee, still discussing the bikes, with the inflation of prices almost 5 times what we should be paying for each journey and the Vietnamese contact to help us purchase a decent bike each, we were definitely swaying more towards this option UNTIL a motorcycle accident happen directly in front of us. Two motorbikes and children involved. Probably the greatest omen I've ever received, the idea of motorbikes went straight out the window and we started researching local buses to Hoi An.

We explored the city a bit before heading back. It was more a buisness type city with not a lot to see, by buisness I mean when you go to London you see the sights but this was more the Canary Wharf of Vietnam. No tourists here. And with Tet lasting 10 days everything was still closed. So we walked back to hotel where we climbed straight into bed to watch the hunger games and catch an early night.

Eager not to miss out like we did in Hue I quickly did my research before we checked out of hotel to make sure we weren't missing anything in Da Nang before moving further south. With Da Nang's pretty beaches and sky rise coastal line, it reminded me a little bit of a more exotic Barcelona. But with it just coming into spring season the weather was no where near warm enough to warrant a day on the beach.

Da Nang to Hoi An

We caught the local bus to Hoi An, and only got ripped off a little bit for the ticket. The standard 'tourist' rates apply even on the local bus where the ticket inspector / money collector (usually a woman), comes along looks you up and down and decides how much money she wants to pocket of yours. With an amount normally equating to around £2 extra then what should be a 50p per person journey we generally don't even bother arguing and risk waiting an hour for another bus, we just pay and be glad it's not £40 each the tourist coach is charging.

We arrived in Hoi An after a short 2-3 hour journey and due to Christopher compass's map skills we were only a 'short' walk to our Homestay. Short normally meaning 30 minute walking in 30 degree heat with 18kilos on your back and 5kilos on your front. But for the first time ever, this was genuinely only a 10 minute walk but with my fat legs and smoking habit it took us 20 minutes ha!
We arrived at this beautiful house set on a quiet road. And ate ginger and drank vietnamese tea, neither of which I really like, both of which however are a custom when being welcomed into a home in Vietnam.

My most difficult point in travelling came when I was in Hoi An. After leaving Lang Co I was really missing my family and friends. I was having a really bad time with my insect bites at this point as well, several were infected and I couldn't walk anywhere without feeling although I wanted to saw my feet off. My IBS was really playing up, the constant travelling was exhausting, and all I wanted was a plate of dads dinner and a cuddle with my Pierre. Chris was really good and pep talked me through the tears and temptation to bite my limbs as the itchiness was so bad. We hired bicycles and headed to a chemist to get some antibiotics, headache tablets, antihistamine, and cream for the bites. After a lengthy conversation with the pharmacist, which neither sides could understand I left with herpes cream! Ha. Going back and trying to explain im not a dirty scab and that my bites are weeping because there itchy resulted in a game of charades! All the while this was happening, when I finally left with some bite cream, I wasn't even itching anymore! Job done!

Hoi An is quite possibly one of the most beautiful city's in Vietnam. The atmosphere is incredible, with a happy buzz throughout. The buildings are French inspired, with wooden shutters, large rooftop terraces and lanterns throughout the streets instead of street lights. It reminded me of the Chelsea of London, the posh, chic and boutique feel of every coffee shop and restaurant lining the river side and through all the cobbled streets the markets and tailors.
Hoi an is famous for its tailors, and being able to replicate any dress or item you may desire, or design yourself. But considering I was already struggling to shut my backpack we figured we would leave the shopping for the holiday makers. It's so amazing how every city is completely unique. By night time Hoi An's lanterns moved to the rivers and its Goodluck to light a lantern and let it float through the city by water. It was like something out of a Disney film watching all the different coloured lanterns float down.

It was a Saturday night so we decided to go out, like out out. Being away for so long we had realised we hadn't had a night just us two like we used to for a while. Making friends along the way has been great but there's nothing better then the company of each other. Plus I really don't think any one else truly gets us.
Self confessed weirdos. So we had a nice meal and a few cocktails, after 2 drinks I was drunk and after 3 drinks my IBS kicked in. So contrary to the pre travelling Chribella antics, we were in bed by midnight on a Saturday night rather then midday on Sunday afternoon. But it's the taking part that counts!

The next morning we spent cycling around the town, indulging in ice cream and mostly watching Chris try to take a selfie with a cow. 3 now angry cows down, he still didn't manage it!
As Tet celebrations were still well and truly underway the karaoke was rife! You couldn't walk 10 meters without hearing that same beat and the screech of the karaoke artist performing. We found it really amusing and had I known the words to the songs I would have undoubtedly been up there!

Hoi An to Dalat

So after 2 cities in a rather slow 2 days, us adrenaline junkies felt it was time to head back to some action. A 15 hour trip to city number 3, Dalat was scheduled and we were on our way to the mountains.
We got fantastic seats on the coach, YAY and generally that's when I like to sit and write my latest blog. However recently the reason I've ran so behind is because I've been sat near someone who just basically doesn't shut up. An American couple I met earlier on in Vietnam had told me that they met someone who had cards printed, looked like business cards that just said 'stop talking' on them, and this guy would just hand them to the person sitting next to him on long journeys. At the time I thought that's a bit rude but haven given off several different types of body language to this girl and several other people throughout our trip and no hint being taken I decided that those cards were something I was going to need. I even had people sleeping in the aisle either side of me on this particular bus...who she just spoke over. After 3 hours I took 2 Valium's and told her I was going to bed, it was only 8pm but I just rolled over and faced the French woman's bum to try and get some peace!

URGENT REQUIREMENT.... Ear plugs!

After changing from the sleeper coach to the mini van to head up the mountains I fell back to sleep immediately, only waking up to my head wacking on the window every twist and turn the van made. This part of the journey took 3 hours and when I woke up at the end, we were above the clouds.

Dalat would best be described as a ski resort with no snow. The French Alps out of season. With its mountains and picturesque setting this sleepy town so diverse from the other places we had seen was an absolute gem.

After finding our hotel, we walked up 6 flights of stairs and dumped our bags. City view they said....

The first thing we do whenever we get to a new place, is basically sort out activities we want to do, and how to get to the next place. You arrive and begin your 4/5 hours of researching and work before you can actually enjoy your surroundings.
We set out to book our canyoning trip and our bike ride. Yep bicycle to the next town rather then bus. Stay tuned for details...
We went for the original tour company to discover the canyons and waterfalls. Phat Tire ventures were the ones who actually inserted the hooks in the rocks for the safety ropes and had the dangerous task of trying out the canyons first. The other companies around who now all do the same tour as Phat Tires we learnt had individually each originated from there company. Got the bright idea of creating there own company, copy catting the exact route and method but for a cut of the cost. With the cost being so low, the other company's could not afford the European certified harnesses or ropes and just basically cowboy'd there way through with no official certification and a high turnover of staff. We felt the $10 extra for our company was a wise investment.
Whilst we were in the office we got measured up for our road bikes and helmets.

That evening we found the most delicious vietnamese food at a local restaurant. Chris and I both had traditional style hot pot before heading back to hotel, handing in some laundry and getting an early night.

We got picked up at 7.30am from our hotel in a pickup truck it was just the two of plus Tom a friend we made on the journey. After a 15 minute drive we arrived at the peak of Dalat. There were 2 guys looking after us. An older very serious man and a younger porter. The young man put our harnesses on for us, life jackets, helmets and gloves soon followed. Wow the safety here was worlds apart from the gibbon experience in Laos where we had nothing but a little harness and hook which we were left to our own devices to sort out! Ha.
First we were given a demo on a tree down a steep mud verge by the older man. He showed us how to abseil down by free fall, jumping and then walking. He was so strict and when it came to me doing my practice he didn't find it funny me flying all over the place and laughing. He kept stressing the safety and telling us to sit on the harness like we would on a toilet, which gave me the giggles and put me in his bad books. In fact whilst a group of 20 or more people had all had there demo and done a trial run each, us 3 were still being made to go down the 5 meter mud verge over and over again!

Once Scrooge was finally satisfied we were good enough we walked down to our first section. It was a natural water slide with Rapids, we were told to cross our arms over our chest and keep our elbows tucked in. So I got into position, only to find Mr Scrooge grabs your feet and spins you round so your upside down and throws you down. After bouncing up and down, being plunged into a pool at the bottom and finally scrambling to the surface for some air, I could see Scrooge had a smile on his face. Him smiling after being SO serious was making us all laugh. We were allowed to go down this section as many times as we wanted before we moved on to the first abseiling section.

This was a dry cliff about 15 meters high with a river at the bottom. Our instructions were to walk the top section then do the jumps at the bottom. I went first, and although I was nervous to begin with, being strapped up, and noticing Scrooge had returned in his militant toned voice barking demands from me, I enjoyed every moment of it, and came to realise he just wanted us to be safe. Like a loving parent needs to discipline there child, he needed to express the dangers and wanted us to remain serious whilst on the rope. Chris's journey didn't go as smoothly as mine, he was told off throughout, being typical Chris and just jumping when he fancied and inventing his own moves he was given a good 10 minute ear bashing on the way to the next site.

The next section was another natural water slide, Rapids were a lot faster and this one looked a bit more angry with more twists and bumps then the first one. Old Scrooge was smiling again, he obviously knew what was coming, I laid in position and he flew me down, this time it felt like I flew 5 meters in the air before reaching the pool, and then scrambling for air to see Scrooge now laughing, this was definitely his favourite part of the job.
After we had all been thrown around by the rapids and had enough of close to drowning experiences we moved on to the big one.

25 meter abseil down the Center of a waterfall. I was literally so excited. The boys let me go first (as usual) and Mr Scrooge strapped me in and explained in a more soft tone this time what was going to happen. There were strict instructions not to jump down this one and take large steps instead. Although I followed his instructions down to a T I still managed to tumble and fall against the slippery rock half way down. At which point the water was so powerful I could neither hear Scrooge at the top or the young man waiting for me at the bottom for instructions. Instead I just said out loud , get up Bella don't panic Bella. So as quick as I fell I was on my feet again, making large steps down to the point the rock inverted inwards so I had to make one large jump outwards and just free fall about 5 meters into the pool. As I reached the surface I was so happy I wanted to go again, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time. Meanwhile I looked up and Chris was in position ready to go, except it felt he was being instructed for about 10 minutes on what to do. When he was finally let loose, he done some steps and then began jumping again, I was cracking up, we were strictly told NOT to do that, I could see veins popping out of Scrooges head from below and even young matey boy was laughing. Chris fell at the same point as I did, he got up quite quickly then jumped outwards into the pool. When he rejoined me at the side he showed me the video footage from his go pro at the top, it was literally him just being told off by Scrooge, so funny. For once I found a sport I was better at then him!

Next stop was the free jump. One 7 meter one. To which I didn't hesitate and just flew. And then the 15 meter one which you had to run and jump in order to clear some rock sticking out at the bottom. I didn't quite fancy that as I was worried I'd trip as I ran or something and become scrambled on the rock at the bottom. I was told by all these Canadians as usual Id regret not doing it. I JUST ABSEILED 25 METERS DOWN A WATERFALL YOU DICKHEADS! I don't even care about this! Haha.

Next stop was the abseil they called the washing machine. It's pretty difficult to describe this one. It wasn't that high, maybe 15 meters, and it was completely dry at the top but half way down this water so powerful just literally swept you away from the wall and we were told at this point just let go. Even with a helmet and life jacket being underwater and swirled around for what felt like an eternity was pretty scary, and the whole drowning fear kicked in. Although I enjoyed the abseiling section, being underwater for so long at the end and resurfacing about 10 meters from where you let go made this one my least favourite. For the exact same reasons however this made the 'washing machine' Chris's favourite. He did it 3 times, and made friends with Scrooge in the end who even held him at the top so he could dangle free hand for a photo!

It was the end of our trip and we finally cracked Scrooge. He was laughing and joking with us on the way up the horrific hill and just explained he is always strict at the beginning so that nobody gets hurt. I quite liked him all along anyway, he told me I was star student, I'm never star student haha.

That afternoon Chris and I decided to go on the cable cars across the city, the views of the thousands upon thousands of greenhouses in the distance were incredible. It felt like a page in a children's book, for as far as you could see there were just green houses. Dalat supplies the whole of Vietnam with fruit, vegetables and flowers which explained the greenhouses. The Amsterdam of Asia! It was whilst sitting in the glass box hundreds of meters above ground level swinging past mountains that we were able to reflect on the mornings activities and realise that I was truly cured of my fear of heights. There was a time a ski lift prettified me. Now it's me suggesting to do these things!

When we reached the end we took an easy rider taxi bike back to the town and had a walk around the lake and market. We got back to the hotel and was handed our laundry and headed up the 6 flights of stairs ready to pack and prepare for our early start and epic 70km bicycle journey to Nha Trang first thing in the morning. As Chris unpacked our washing he noticed that all of our white clothes had bright pink splashes all over them. After having 4 tops already go missing from previous laundry, clothes stained with rust from the Gibbon Experience, trousers torn in half from the cave expedition and a woman in Laos trying to nick my Levi shorts this was boiling point for me. I marched down stairs with all the clothes and demanded to speak to the manager. The young man no older then 25 looked like he was going to cry when I showed him our clothes. I explained that even if we stayed in his hotel for a month for free it would not cover the cost of these clothes. He kept asking me what I wanted him to do, to which I responded MAKE MY CLOTHES WHITE AGAIN. Him being a man in the traditional sexist Asian world he had no idea what to suggest. So I rang super Sue Chris's mum and asked her for advise on how to take the stains out. I then marched back down armed with the knowledge I needed and asked to use the reception phone where I called Chucky my vietnamese friend and explained what happened and what I needed to fix the problem so he could translate to the manager. By the time I had gone upstairs to get the clothes again and back down to reception there was a kettle being boiled, some gloves, a bowel and some bleach. I decided that I would just clean them myself, as I didn't want anything to get more ruined. So there I am on the floor in reception in a cupboard with a head torch on scrubbing away. The stains came out instantly, so I took them all to the laundry room myself, pulled out the washing already in there and put the load on myself hoping it would be done in a couple of hours so I could dry it in time for morning. Once I had calmed down I felt sorry for the manager as it wasn't his fault but I explained to him that he must tell the house keeper to separate the colours. All the children seem to have pristine white uniforms so there not stupid they just seem to be complacent when it comes to tourist clothes.

It was now 9pm, we hadn't had dinner, and I still needed to pack. It has taken 2 precious hours to sort out and we were being picked up at 7.30am to be taken to the starting point for the bike ride. We normally would have just skipped dinner it being so late but Chris had Toms camera in his wet bag from earlier in the day and we had promised we would meet him so we had to quickly go to town, gobble down some food and head back to try and get as much rest as we could for the morning.

The monster bike ride was only a matter of hours away now.....