motorcycle diaries (Route 1)

Our eleven-day motorcycle trip was incredible - numb bums, farmer tans and all! We began the trip in Hoi An and headed down Route 1 along the coast. Riding a Honda Wave 110cc motorcycle we took one day pack and my 50L backpack (kept tucked between Ari's knees). We took the first day relatively slow and rode at 40 km/hr. We were a little overwhelmed by the 18-wheelers and tourist buses barreling down Route 1 at three times our speed with the sole intent of running us off the road. In Vietnam size does matter. And as Fran put it "Your helmet only protects you from the sun", we were cautious.


Despite the chaotic nature of this two lane national highway (although it's really four since smaller vehicles ie bicycles, ox-drawn carts, motorcycles, and cars resort to driving on the dirt shoulder) it is surrounded by beautiful neon green rice paddy fields and mountains.


Along the highway and on the surrounding hilltops, Cham towers still remain. When we first heard of the Cham people, we thought they were a tiny ancient population that lived in an isolated area in the south of Vietnam. Turns out they lived all along southern Vietnam and had a relatively large empire (My Son was their religious center but was heavily bombed in the war after the NVA used it as one of their base camps). Though the temples haven't been as well preserved as those of the Khmer (e.g Angkor Wat) they are still impressive and an interesting glimpse into the conquered empire of Cham.

Using our trusty Vietnamese phrasebook to converse with the caretaker and a Cham descendant.

We took almost an hour detour to find the road, or any road that would take us to this Cham tower. The locals laughed at us when we asked how to get there.

We ended our first day in the small beach town of Quang Ngai, off of Route 1. Being the only tourists (local or international) the beach front was a strange experience. With identical restaurants and storefronts, signs, and even touts, we rode in thinking we had entered something of an urban blair witch project. Having been almost chased down a seemingly endless road by touts, one lady even grabbed the handlebars to stop us from passing, we wondered where the other tourists were...


However, with the sun setting we settled into the one and only guesthouse. The next morning we headed out early to visit the My Lai Massacre Memorial. The My Lai Massacre was the murder of 300-500 unarmed civilians (believed to be VC) by the US army during the Vietnam war. Extremely tragic and gruesome, the museum grounds still house the foundations of homes burnt to the ground and mass graves of the men, women and children that were killed.

Gravestones

With another long day on Route 1 ahead of us we hurried on (at the breakneck speed of 60 km/h - surprisingly it feels pretty fast) and reached Quy Nhon, a city on the coast. Having traveled almost 300 km in two days this was the perfect spot to rest our bones (and bums) for a few days with cheap local food, air conditioning, and wifi in the room.

What more can a couple of hardcore bikers ask for?