june-2012

HEAVEN’S
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The
trusty Honda; testing a
bridge near Mai Chau; city
traffic in Hue; Hai Van Pass
from the beach; a break
in Hoi An; the Vinh Moc
tunnel; riding with Ngoc;
Vietnamese coffee
“A deserted ribbon
of perfection, one of
the best coast roads
in the world…”
These are the sort of words
you’d expect for roads around
the French Riviera, or even
Australia’s Great Ocean Road. But
Vietnam’s Hai Van Pass, a 21km
over-mountain stretch that just 10
years ago was considered one of
the most dangerous roads in Asia?
Even more oddly, these words
didn’t come from a guidebook or
a tourist brochure, but from the
notoriously grumpy TV presenter
Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear,
who rode the Hai Van Pass on
a motorscooter during the BBC
series’ Vietnam Special in 2008.
Furthermore, prior to riding this
stretch, Clarkson had nothing
but snide remarks to say about
motorbikes. Clearly the Hai Van
Pass changed all that. I know the
feeling; riding a motorbike in
Vietnam does that.
Yet if first impressions are
anything to go by, then “perfection”
is probably not the first word that
comes to most people’s minds
when describing motorbiking
in Vietnam. For many, “chaos”
would most likely be their first
choice. Almost anything goes on
these roads. Ten-tonne trucks
happily overtake on blind turns,
motorbikes tottering with
everything from entire families,
mattresses and pigs to trays of
BEACH: getty images