Solo Travel: Hoi Van Pass on a Motorcycle

Hoi Van Pass on a Motorcycle

The next day I took a motorcycle ride through Hoi Van Pass, made extremely famous by the TV show Top Gear. This would get me from Hue back to Hoi An, to meet Tim as he continued to recover from COVID. I ensured that my larger bag would be transported separately, so I could have the full experience of being on the back of a bike without a massive piece of luggage to accompany me.

I met the driver/tour guide in the morning after breakfast, with my camera and sketchbook, and we were off for a full-day adventure. He was a native Vietnamese man who spoke fluent English, and regularly took tourists on motorcycle tours around Vietnam. I quickly realized that my helmet was too big, so we switched helmets and then I wrapped a headscarf around my head to stop the helmet from sliding down while I was riding.

As someone who has ridden on the back of a motorcycle before, it was quite fun to be back on one. However, this was quite different! I was riding on this with a complete stranger, holding onto him for balance for 4+ hours even though we just met. We wouldn’t talk during the ride. At specific stops, he shared key information about historical sites or a town. I would let him know if I wanted to take photos - which I frequently did!

The first exciting moment on the bike happened about 30 minutes into the ride. We drove through a road under construction, where we narrowly maneuvered the bike to pass next to large equipment. This construction was taking place alongside a river, so it was about keeping the bike on the asphalt next to the wall that separated the ripped-up dirt road from the river. Zooming in and out of this was quite fun, and he did slow down when the space was narrow.

After stopping for a coffee break, the bike had a flat tire. We took it to a repair shop nearby, and the driver worked with the owner to try to get us moving again. The driver was worried that I was annoyed we were spending time there, but I just happily drew the two men fixing the bike. At first, it was a loose sketch, but with 45 minutes of repairs, I was able to get further into the drawing itself. Both the driver and the repair shop owner were quite surprised at the drawing, and they both laughed when they realized that I included them in it. It was a great moment, to share my drawing with the repair shop owner, as he was an older man who spoke no English but got very excited by the drawing.

We were on our way and continued down smaller roads. The tour is inherently designed with local stops along the way so that you don’t spend 4 hours sitting on a bike. The next stop was a graveyard, which was a very elaborate burial ground where families would build small to medium-sized tombs for their family. My guide shared that many people who built these particular tombs had families living abroad and sent money back. You would pay for the tomb to be constructed ahead of time, and multiple generations would be buried here. The architecture was very elaborate! After seeing this tomb city, we continued onwards to lunch.

Lunch was INCREDIBLE. It was a full seafood meal in Chan May Bay, on the East Vietnam Sea. Of course, I changed and immediately went swimming. There were so many beautiful boats using the same blue and red patterns that we had seen throughout the country. My guide shared that fishermen are superstitious, and they believed that painting the boat blue was to respect the sea. If a boat that was not blue sank, it was because the sea wanted to show its power. He pointed out that even though folks might not fully believe this, taking that chance of a boat sinking was not worth the potential to tempt fate, so many people painted the boats blue.

Swimming in the area was lovely - truly an incredible experience where the sea was warm and transparent. I swam out to several of the fishing boats docked nearby to check them out more closely. It was lovely to be in the sea after a long day on the bike, and I LOVE swimming!

[photos of Chan May Bay]

Next, we went over Hoi Van Pass itself. This is a road with lots and lots of switchbacks to climb to the top. We stopped at the top, and on the other side of the top. From there, we could see Da Nang, the main city in the area that was 40 minutes north of Hoi An (and Tim!)

Driving on the switchbacks was nice, as the first set of turns was larger and not as sharp. By this time, I also felt incredibly comfortable on the bike, so going over the pass at this point in the journey was fun. As we climbed and descended, the views of the tropical forests of central Vietnam, the sea, the villages and boats, and the city of Da Nang were all amazing. Truly incredible. On the back of the motorbike, you inherently can’t do anything but look around and be very present. It was lovely to be there and see all this. It was a truly special experience, and I think now of all the turns we did. Getting sharper and sharper, watching people pass us at dangerous speeds, as we climbed up and down the pass. It was amazing. Truly amazing.

[the pass itself photos]

Upon coming down the Hoi Van Pass, we drove through Da Nang City. Now, I’ve been in cities in Southeast Asia at this point as a passenger in a car or tuk-tuk, and a pedestrian. But this was my first time doing this in the middle of the motorbike traffic, and that was fun and chaotic. We got to the city just as many people were getting out of work, so the road was packed with commuters. They had a very different idea of what urgency meant, as they were getting home on their normal route. Of course, some folks are coming from offices, entire families on the motorbike, people with their dogs, and parents with groceries. Everything that needed to be transported was made to fit on that motorbike - and boy did they make that fit!

Da Nang has had a huge amount of development money poured into it, attracting people internationally to be a smaller Singapore-style center for international business. In doing this, they created a bridge with a dragon as the motif on the bridge.

But, on Fridays, this dragon bridge literally breathes fire. Yes, literal fire. The bridge has actual flames coming out of the dragon’s mouth for several hours, while traffic still runs across the bridge. Because, really, all dragons should possess fire, no matter the circumstance. I was not there on a Friday, but knowing this fact made this beautiful bridge even more special.

Now we had the final stretch from Da Nang to Hoi An - and to my partner!

The road we used went next to the beach, passing between Marble Mountain (where marble is mined) and Western luxury hotels. On one side, there were intense gates to the compounds of the hotel grounds. On the other side were numerous marble stores selling stone statues. You could get a mermaid, Lady Buddha, a large cross, frogs, you name it. These could be 10 feet or 6 inches tall. But they were all there, out for the display as we drove. The air had that beautiful ocean breeze, which I loved. I knew the trip was coming to an end quite soon.

It was truly incredible to do the Hoi Van Pass, and I’d recommend the experience to anyone interested! It was unique to do on the back of the motorcycle, and I felt completely safe with my driver and guide. We chatted about everything, including his family (and his rowdy 10-year-old son) and travel and all sorts of things. It was truly amazing.

We finally got to Hoi An, and I met Tim at our new Airbnb in the vegetable village. I had missed him and had been worrying about how he was recovering from COVID. Plus, while traveling, Tim became my home. So it felt like coming back home to see him, even if we were still thousands of miles away.