It was a beautiful and sunny morning with just a bit of wind and it was not too humid either. The prefect weather to get on a Xe May (bike or scooter in Vietnamese) and go for a drive the 100 and something km to Hoi An.
At first I let my friend drive as I did not know my way around Hue well enough but after getting out of the city, I went behind the wheel…handle bars for the remaining drive.
Riding on a motorbike or scooter is truly the best way to experience Vietnam and once you understand how the traffic system (or lack of a system) works you can enjoy the ride. It was my first time riding a scooter as I am more a car person but I really enjoyed it.
While the initial road out of Hue is full of trucks, busses, cars and other bikes, if you take the right turn you get to an amazing temple on a lake in between the mountains without many people around.
Once you arrive at the junction for the Hai Van pass, the main traffic goes for the tunnel and you have a beautiful ride through the mountains with almost no traffic and nobody around.
The road trip was amazing, we could take our time and enjoy the scenery, take pictures and in general drive only as fast as needed to get to Hoi An by the evening.
Alone the smells of incense, burning fires, the plants around you and of course the exhaust of other cars in the first and last part of the journey make this very memorable.
I had a great time and have to thank my friend for coming along with me to Hoi An and letting me drive the bike all the way.
Once we arrived at the hotel after dark and checked in, we went out for a walk and dinner in Hoi An, this time without half the old town being flooded but with damage from the storm that just passed through.
Tomorrow will be spent in Hoi An with little to no driving as it's been a long day on the bike today.
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