Cycling SE Asia 2023 Part 6: Lang Co, Oyster Farms and the Hai Van Pass

Travel from Hué to Hoi An

Our repositioning day (from Hué to Hoi An) began with some really beautiful cycling through the outskirts of Hué. The routes were relatively quiet and flooded farming areas with lots of cemeteries, working and grazing water buffalos, and bridge crossings over rivers.

Water Buffalos

 

Along the way we stopped for snacks hosted by an elderly couple who provided us with refreshing fresh squeezed orange juice. We could not help but notice their command of English. So we got the chance to chat with them. We came to realize that they were boat people refugees that had left South Vietnam at the end of the war and settled in Seattle. Their hard work and deprivation had assured their children of a new start in a new country. They were happy to know their children were thriving and they missed them. But they still felt tied to Vietnam and had opted to use the nation's repatriation system to return to finish their lives in the country of their birth.

Their lives were torn between the life they left and the life they created for their kids in a new land. But now, like countless refugees before, they left kids who are fully assimilated in the US and have no real ties to Vietnam. 

A generation torn between two worlds clearly takes its toll.

As we rode I loved watching everyday life pass by. Farmers in the fields, local cyclists passing and waving at us, and all of the scooters. One scooter passed carrying a child up front and produce and fertilizer behind. 

Then, as he passed, we saw he also was carrying two pigs in a cage behind everything. I swear they get more on those scooters than we get in our pickups.

The Family and Produce

And a Couple of Pigs on the Back!

At the end of our am ride we shuttled to lunch at an outdoor beachfront resort on the spectacular and peaceful Lang Co Peninsula.

Lunch Stop / Majestic Beaches Along the Lang Co Peninsula

 

After lunch there were two riding options. One was to cycle up 1600 ft to the Hai Van (Ocean Cloud) Pass. The second was to ride a loop around the oyster farms of the Tam Giang Lagoon and shuttle to the top of the Hai Van Pass.

 

For me, in the heat and humidity, this decision was a no brainer. I opted for the lagoon ride. It turned out to be spectacular. Those that cycled up the mountain did so on a narrow two lane road shared with cars, large trucks and buses, plus a stretch of repaving activities.    

Oyster Farming Lagoons

The placid lagoon was mirror still and filled with over water structures inhabited by the oyster farmers. There were endless piles of old bike tires along the way as they use them to provide nesting beds for the oysters.

The Tam Giang Lagoon

 

 

Crystal Clear Mountain Tributaries Flow into the Lagoon

 

Looking North from Hai Van Pass  

(The Lang Co Peninsula in the distance)

 

Looking South from Hai Van Pass

(barely visible off to the left is the massive city of DaNang)

The balance of the day was spent in our final shuttle to Hoi An where we quickly settled into our new hotel. The hotel provided a very well prepared western style dinner for us. It was good to just relax.

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2023