Into the Highlands

Today was a long day in the coach. We have left the coast and headed up into the central highlands for 3 days. As we drove from Hoi An northwards before turning inland what became obvious was that the development going on at Da Nang is far greater than in any other place we have visited. There are several stadiums, new apartments and all of the other trappings of the western world. Clearly the Viets want to attract tourists that they can come to Vietnam and not see Vietnam but Vietnam will get the money…well the companies that invest in the new constructions will get the money. Whether this gets to the locals is a moot point. The current Cambodian government has decided to offer foreign firms who invest in Cambodia the right to remove all profits from the country but how is this right, for the people?

Anyway, our drive was about 320 kilometres and took just under 9 hours. Our current driver, Mr Tien, is cautious but then again the road was narrow and steep with many steep drops over the edge of the cliff. We had to climb to about 2000 metres/6500 feet and this took until about 2 pm. What made the drive unusual was the almost total lack of traffic. The odd bus or lorry and a few bikes but nothing on the scale we have got use to. Unfortunately, it was damp and towards the summit, we hit the low cloud and mist. Visibility was very poor.

However, once over the top the rain ended and we had some clear views of the delightful countryside with steep valleys, wide strong running rivers and plenty of agriculture. The crops appear to be mainly tapioca, plus some coffee, a little rice, pineapples, and rubber. But the small towns and villages are not well developed and seem very poor compared to the coast. It is also an area that was badly affected by the war with the use of agent 'orange' amongst other things. This may well have been because the Ho Chi Minh (HCM trail) ran through the area. We can always tell when we are on a bit of this because the centre of the road is marked in yellow.

We did not get to our hotel until after 6 pm and this turns out to be one of those ex-East German builds. They have very formal, elaborate entrances but rather less exciting when we get to the bedrooms. They are certainly large and roomy but very tired and in need of a makeover…particularly the bathrooms.