We realised that we'd be missing out massively if we didn't do a motorbike tour from Hoi An through the Hai Van Mountain Pass to Hue which was made famous by the Top Gear Vietnam episode - Clarkson praised it as 'one of the best coast roads in the world'.
Neither of us have driven motorbikes before so we found a tour where we had a driver and we sit on the back of the bike taking in the scenery and enjoying the ride. It was a family company called Le Family Riders and I'd definitely recommend them to anyone - they were brilliant. Huub came along too on the bike he'd bought while the other 4 we were meeting in Hue decided to drive separately.
The first stop of the tour was Marble Mountain. We wandered round for an hour or so and visited the caves there. It was just as well we stopped here as Huub's bike had broken down - turned out there was no oil in it whatsoever!
The next leg of the ride was the Hai Van Mountain Pass which was just stunning. We stopped a couple of times at the side of the road to take in the view. After making it over the mountain we stopped for lunch at a floating restaurant on a fishing lagoon. There were buckets of all the live seafood so you could see how fresh it was. I've never really liked shrimp or clams before but I actually liked them here.
After lunch we headed to Elephant Springs where we swam about under the waterfall for a few hours. We drove into a rain shower on the way to a Fisherman's village. Our guide explained that these people were extremely poor but very happy. Their children don't go to school but learn from a young age how to fish.
We drove on to Hue where the tour finished. Thank god Huub had decided to ride with us as his bike broke down again but the guides were able to get it started so he could make it to a mechanic!
Y x
