11/05/2023 From Da Lat to Nha Trang
What to expect
Nha Trang
We decided to bicycle all the way from Da Lat to Nha Trang. If you know at least one of us, then you also know that cycling is not our biggest strength.
Cycle from Da Lat to Nha Trang
This is why we weren’t sure what to think of cycling for 70 km in one day. Our only positive thoughts were that it would go downhill a lot.
We got picked up at 7.30 a.m. from the same guide who took ua canyoning two days ago. The idea was to cycle together while another driver would carry our backpacks to the final point.
Let’s cycle
After a banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) stop for breakfast at a street food stand, we randomly stopped on the main highway to start our cycle trip. At this point we weren’t really sure anymore if our guide was actually an expert in cycling as well…
The guide and the driver took out our mountain bikes and explained to us how to ride them and how to use the brakes (like we were cycling for the very first time). And then it was time to start our six-hour-journey.
Just us and the trucks
Even though we were cycling on the main highway to Nha Trang, there wasn’t much traffic and the road conditions were good. Whenever some cars or trucks overtook us, they honked their horn so loudly that I nearly fell off my bike from the shock of the loud horn.
Nature ruined by garbage
Luckily, apart from one steeper uphill part, the road was either flat or went downhill. We passed beautiful waterfalls and stopped at great viewpoints.
However, oftentimes I had a hard time enjoying them because all I saw was one thing: trash everywhere! I have never seen so much garbage in the wild as badly in any other country as in Vietnam! There was garbage all along the side of the road which must have been deliberately thrown out there. At some “rest areas” there were massive amounts of plastic stacked on top of each other. It was so sad and also eye-opening at how little the government in Vietnam does in terms of a better recycling system or educating the locals about how to deal with garbage.
Back to being hot
When we got to the peak of the mountain at over 2000m, we had accomplished the hardest part of the tour.
From now on it would be 27km downhill. It felt exhilarating! Furthermore, we could feel the temperature change from the cool air up top to a hot and humid air the further we rode downhill.
And this is where it ended
We stopped for lunch at the bottom of the hill together with our guide and our driver. After that we only drove for another 15 minutes until the sky turned gray and we got hit by a massive thunder storm. We were wet to the bone when we finally decided that it wouldn’t make much sense to ride any further. Luckily, the driver was close enough to pick us and our bikes up and drive the last few kilometres to Nha Trang instead.
To be honest, I doubt we would have made the entire way on bicycles even without the rain forcing us to stop. But we were proud of us that we did cycle for 54km. It was a great experience to see Vietnam on a bicycle.
12/05/2023 Nha Trang
An incredible hotel for little money
We were so grateful to have splurged on a nice hotel (Aaron Hotel) by the beach after the long bicycle trip yesterday. By splurging we mean paying 10€ each, which in Vietnam gets you a “deluxe room” with an ensuite bathroom with ocean view (we got an upgrade with my genius membership on “booking.com”), a rooftop pool overlooking the ocean, a gym on the top floor and a big breakfast buffet with an egg station in the morning – we love Vietnam’s pricing!
Our bath tub 
The gym on the rooftop
A lot of down time
The past eleven days in Vietnam have been quite eventful. In order to reflect on all the past experiences and to make the most of our nice hotel, we relaxed A LOT today. It felt amazing relaxing by the pool on the rooftop. I only left my sunbed in the shade (36°C with high humidity) in order to go for a swim or to leave for dinner.
Get a Vietnamese massage
We went out for Indian comfort food with the biggest naan bread I have ever seen!
Afterwards we treated ourselves to an amazing massage – for 8€ each for an hour! It was our first massage in Vietnam… and hopefully not the last!
13/05/2023 Nha Trang
What comes after a full day of relaxation? Exactly: more relaxation! At least today we were going to leave our hotel for it.
A workout in the morning
I started the day with a visit to the gym on the rooftop. Breakfast just tastes better after working out (not that I’m speaking out of experience on this trip).
Take a mud bath
After some more time at the pool (and for Blake watching a soccer game in a bar), we rented a scooter for today’s activity: the mud pools.
Riding a scooter in Vietnam is so interesting. Even though we were used to riding a scooter from Bali, it felt a bit more chaotic here and Nha Trang seemed like a bigger city.
Nha Trang is also called the “Miami of Vietnam” with all its big skyscrapers at the ocean. It actually reminded us a little bit of Surfers Paradise at the Gold Coast of Australia with its big skyline right at the beach.
Let’s get muddy
At the “I-Resort” you have different options for your spa treatment. We went for the mud pool and hot springs.
For 20 minutes we could sit in our own mud bath tub. It felt a bit fancier than our mud bath experience in Fiji, where we put mud on each other and then walked into a big pond filled with water and mud.
A fun and relaxing experience
After washing off the mud we:
- walked through a cave with water streams coming from each side
- stood underneath a big waterfall
- sat in different thermal baths
- went down the water slide into hot water – kids will be kids.
We really loved the mud bath and spa, which was a perfect way to unwind after the cycling trip.
Full circle
After dinner we went back to the massage place from last night to finish the day as relaxing as it had started.
Quick turnaround
And then we tried to go to bed early (which usually never works when we have to) as our train to Da Nang was leaving at 4 a.m. tonight!
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