Here Be Elephants

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Mostly, once again, the roads are good quality but with medium levels of traffic. Good size shoulder to ride in. We mostly stayed on Highway One except for a few detours mentioned below.

2010.12.13
Cities: Hue to Danang
Distance: 65.7 miles
Total Ascent: 1950 feet
Avg Speed: 9 MPH

About 35 km outside of Danang, the main highway goes through a massive tunnel under a mountain that two wheeled vehicles and people aren’t allowed to use. Instead, we had to use the old highway which involves a pretty intense climb for about 8 km to get through a mountain pass. The bonus is there are some old bunkers right at the top which make for a cool sight.

2010.12.14
Cities: Danang to Hoi An
Distance: 17.8 miles
Total Ascent: 170 feet
Avg Speed: 9 MPH

We took a highway closer to the shore to do the short leg between Danang and Hoi An. Quieter road than the 1, but still too far from the ocean to provide any better views.

2010.12.18
Cities: Hoi An to Quang Ngai (BUS)
Distance: 78.2 miles
Total Ascent: 700 feet

Running low on time with deadlines to make, we took a night bus out of Hoi An to go to Quang Ngai. Set up through a tourist agent in Hoi An, it cost us $22 for both us and the bikes. You could go further, but since the bus leaves at 7 pm you run the risk of arriving in a new town at a very strange hour.

2010.12.19
Cities: Quang Ngai to Bong Son
Distance: 52 miles
Total Ascent: 404 feet
Avg Speed: 9.8 MPH

Nothing special about this stretch, just powered along the highway.

2010.12.20
Cities: Bong Son to Qui Nhon
Distance: 58 miles
Total Ascent: 800 feet
Avg Speed: 9.5 MPH

Another non-eventful day. We hopped onto the 19 to actually get into Qui Nhon, but at the time the road was actually busier than the 1 due to massive amounts of motorbike traffic.

2010.12.22
Cities: Qui Nhon to Tuy Hoa
Distance: 64 miles
Total Ascent: 1700 feet
Avg Speed: 9 MPH

We took the old Highway One (labeled 1D I believe) out of Qui Nhon. Followed the coastline tightly in the beginning, providing some of the best views of the trip. Meets up with the main highway about 20 miles out of Qui Nhon and continues on with more of the less interesting views.

2010.12.23
Cities: Tuy Hoa to Ninh Hoa
Distance: 55 miles
Total Ascent: 1155 feet
Avg Speed: 9.6 MPH

A small climb on the highway brings you close to the coast again and provides some outstanding views. Nice 20 km or so before returning once again to the flat rice fields we’ve grown used to.

2010.12.24
Cities: Ninh Hoa to Nha Trang
Distance: 23 miles
Total Ascent: 300 feet
Avg Speed: 8 MPH

Short leg brought us into the big tourist destination Nha Trang, nothing of note on the road though.