The 'Road' to Da Nang

I've been driving between Hue and Da Nang more times than I can count by now so I'm always on the lookout for another road I can take to explore the area more.

It came as a surprise when Microsoft Maps and Maps.Me showed me a new road to Da Nang leading through the mountains.

The road was not on Google Maps but since this is Vietnam and no mapping solution is 100% accurate I decided to see if the road exists and in what shape it is.

I had plenty of time to get back to Da Nang so I decided to first head to Thuan An beach, follow the road there for a round trip back to Phu Bai Town and after a short stint on the boring AH1 road turn off towards Khe Tre.

Up until Khe Tre the road was pretty good, some roadworks near the road but it was paved and not much traffic on it.

As soon as I left Khe Tre behind and started the journey across the mountains the road started to deteriorate. First here were just a few potholes, then more potholes until finally the road ended.

In it's place was a dirt track or 'road under construction' full of rocks, rivers, streams, mud and lots of dirt. In other words great fun but very difficult to drive at the same time.
I lost count how many small rivers and streams I did drive through, how many rocks hit the underside of the bike and how much mud ended up on both me and the bike.

After having a flat tire in the middle of nowhere I was lucky enough to find a workers village where they had a pump to at least get some air in the tire, even if it still wasn't fixed but it did manage to get me back all the way.

Well, 6h (for the 160km), a flat tire (including pushing the motorbike for 2km in the midday heat), a dirty motorbike and shoes to match later, I arrived in Da Nang.

My bike with the flat tire in the middle of nowhere.