We made it to Hoi An!
We started early this morning, with the lady from the rental company arriving at 8am to give us the bike and helmets and talk is through the map.
It was probably about half 8 when we set off, with us taking a wrong turn almost straight away and getting lost in Hue! This meant it was about half 9 by the time we had found a petrol station, filled up and headed on the right road!
We drove the first 10km to Thuan An Beach. This is the first beach we have seen in what feels like forever! A local couple helped us to park our bike in their front yard and we went for a quick walk to stretch our legs and take in the sand and sea!
We headed off pretty soon after, making our way along the coastal path, with the amazing views of all the farmland on the other side! I got a bit confused navigating on the back of the bike and ended up taking us back onto the main highway, although the less bumpy roads were a bit of a relief! We had to stop again for a bit on the side of the road, as the bike overheated and lost power and then wouldn't start! We gave it 10 minutes and that seemed to sort it out!
We carried on taking the road around Cau Hai Lagoon, before taking the turning that took us up into the mountains to elephant springs. This is a beautiful lake and waterfall with an elephant shaped rock formation. The water was completely clear and it looked amazing! However, we hadn't come prepared for swimming so instead just sat in the shade to cool down, taking in all the stunning scenery.
We headed back to the bike and onto our next stop, which was Lang Co Bay. We drove alongside the beach and into the town, where we stopped for some really good food at a place that was on a business card in the bikes storage space!
After this we drove towards the part we had both been looking forward to the most, the Hai Van Pass. As we came around the corner that would take us up into the mountains there was a traffic officer waiting there who signalled for us to turn around. Really confused we headed back to another group of backpackers on bikes to see what was going on. They said we weren't allowed up to the pass, but didn't know why. We all then headed back to the traffic officer to see whether we could find out any more, eventually being told that there had been an accident and the road could be closed for 3-4 more hours. As much as we wanted to wait and ride the road, we knew it would be getting dark and it was too long to wait. A local guy who had helped translate what was going on said he could show us how to get through the tunnel, which is the alternative way. You aren't allowed bikes through the tunnel, so he took us to a bus station where they loaded our bikes onto the back of a truck and we got on a bus and followed them through the tunnel. On the other side we collected our bike and headed off again towards Danang. We made it to our last stop before Hoi An, which was Marble Mountain. We got our ticket and headed up the stairs to see all the caves and marble statues that are up there. It was just after 4.30pm at this point and both of us were pretty tired and probably didn't appreciate it as much as we should have! The ticket included a one way trip in an elevator that had been built into the mountain, which we used on the way down. This did give you pretty incredible views over Danang.
Finally we headed off on our last bit of the journey, a straight road into Hoi An, arriving at about 5.30! We found our hotel straight away and the lovely lady on reception checked us in and showed us where to put the bike. We went up to our room and waited for our luggage to arrive, as part of the rental includes luggage transportation so we didn't have to carry our big bags. It finally arrived at 7, after another quick phone call to see where they were! We both had a much needed shower, grabbed some food and are now heading off to bed after an incredible but tiring day!
We were both really disappointed about not being able to drive the Hai Van Pass. However, a straight through journey from here to the other side, where we were told we couldn't pass, should take about and hour. This means we might rent a bike for the day and do the journey there and back so we can see the part of the journey we really wanted to! However, I think both of us are ready for a quiet and relaxed day tomorrow, so we may leave that for our last day in Hoi An, before our night bus picks us up!