p0nderosa: Vietnam - Hai Van Pass, Marble Mountains

Hai Van = Ocean Cloud

When heading from Hue to Hoi An you can either go through the Hai Van Tunnel which will take around 2 hours, or make it a 5 hour trip and take the scenic route. The scenic route can cost a few dollars for a bus, upwards to $60USD for a private driver with stops along the way.

I booked my driver through Orchid Garden in Hue, and all credit to them the driver was excellent, a genuinely nice guy. He knew all the best places to check out, warned us of any scams, gave us overviews of the locations and pointed out almost every Top Gear related place possible. (I am guessing they must have gotten an influx of tourists doing the route after that episode?!)

Heading out of Hue there isn't too much scenery, beyond loads and loads of rubbish that is. The country is so heavily polluted that it really is quite a shock after living in a clean country by comparison. Such a shame as underneath all that garbage is a beautiful landscape - the worst area to witness all this is in Halong Bay as even though it is still beautiful I can only imagine how stunning it would be if it were a pristine environment.

Anyway, enough of that. The drive from Hue to Hoi An should include a couple of must-see stops. First one, the viewpoint down to the village of Lang Co. Great photo opportunities here but as it is a regular tourist stop, don't think that it being in the middle of nowhere will deter the touts from chasing you down! Next stop is the main viewpoint of Hai Van Pass, where you can see the mountains shrouded in clouds and ending in the ocean. This place marks the point between the old North & South Vietnam - there are a number of towers at this point built by the french, and used by the vietnamese & americans. Our driver was especially cautious in this area, and warned us to avoid any of the people at the stalls as they were some of the more aggressive sellers we encountered. Having a private driver was definitely a bonus here as he kept his eye on us the entire time and would come to our rescue if we looked overwhelmed.

Further past the Hai Van Pass, there is a viewpoint down to Danang Bay where a leper colony is situated. This is probably the only time in your life that you may envy someone with leprosy as their colony is on one of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam. The next beach along is China Beach, which everyone would recognise as the rest place for all the American GI's during the war. Dotted all along this coastline were big old building sites, multiple story developments going up everywhere to accommodate for tourists, luxurious looking suburbs, golf courses and resorts. Methinks in a few years China Beach will be the Gold Coast of Vietnam, so might be a good time to soak it in now before the entire place is paved over and sitting under the shade of skyscrapers.

Finally it was the main event, the longest stop for the roadtrip and the most beautiful - even though you have to work for it. The Marble Mountains is situated on the edge of Danang, and consists of a group of mountains that were buddhist sanctuaries, supposedly the hiding place of valuables back in the day. At the base of the mountains are numerous store fronts selling marble statues, originally hacked from the very mountains you are going to climb, but now sourced from elsewhere. My number one tip to you - take a bottle of water as this is not going to be a leisurely stroll looking at touristy stuff, this is going to be a gruelling walk up extremely steep and slippery steps, not made easier by the fact you might be under a time limit. Once at the top though, there are pagodas, lookouts, buddhas and quite a few caves to explore.

Once you have seen all there is to offer at Marble Mountains it is only a short drive to Hoi An.

Driver: Booked through Orchid Hotel Hue
Cost: Approx $60USD
Web: www.orchidhotel.com.vn