Central Highlands Road Trip, Part I

SkyWest's long time CEO has always been fond of cycling and has taken bike trips all over the world.  So it was no surprise when he asked if we could do the same during his weeklong visit to Vietnam.  Of course, I was on that like white on rice!  Les was as well, so over the last month or so, we've been doing research as to where the best two day bike trip in Vietnam might be.

After several iterations, we finally decided on a trip through the Central Highlands of Vietnam, starting at Buon Ma Thuot, heading east and "down" to the beach town of Nha Trang, then west and "up" again to the mountain retreat of Da Lat (Sorry about the map; no matter what I did, it wouldn't expand out so you could get a context of where we were in Vietnam).


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Buon Ma Thuot is Vietnam's coffee growing capital and is central to a largely rural, agricultural area.  At my suggestion, we kept off of the main Route 26  east and instead made a loop south of BMT, then east along Vuon Quoc gia Chu Yang Sin (shown above and which I think is Vietnamese for "this green space on Google Maps might be pretty") before returning north again to rejoin the main route.  Once back on Road 26, it would be nice drive down to join the AH-1 for the remainder of our trip into Nha Trang, a very popular tourist beach destination. 

So, after finishing business on Friday night, Les, Jerry and I, along with Huy (Mr Viet, the chairman's 27-year old son who also happens to be on the Board of Directors), as well as Mr Luong, Air Mekong's HR Director hopped aboard our Air Mekong flight from Hanoi.  Sadly for Huy, Mr Viet forbade him from riding a scooter with us, so he and Mr Luong were to accompany us in their chauffered SUV.  No one's quite sure why Mr Luong came along although there are several theories: 1) to make sure Huy didn't actually ride a scooter, 2) to serve as the events official photographer (which he did, ably) or 3) to make most every eating event somewhat more awkward than it already was. 

In any case, the five of us arrived in BMV (as the airport code is known) just after 10pm Friday night where we were met by our chauffer whose name I never did get.  We were quickly taken to Dakruco Hotel, "Buon Ma Thuot's first and only international four star hotel"! 

I'm not sure who opened this place, but it was weird.  Massive open spaces with undersized furniture all pushed to the walls, marble everywhere and a funky, chrome circular staircase to nowhere:

No matter where you turned, there were reminders that you were staying with "Dakruco Hotels" so I thought it must have been some obscure Chinese or Korean chain.  But there's only one. 

They even spelled out "Dakruco" in the landscaping!

The hotel is probably 10 years old and, in its initial attempt at luxury, featured all sorts of relatively tacky, over-the-top furnishings and finishes, which is bad enough.  Unfortunately, over the life of the hotel, they've not kept the place up which is even worse.  There were all sorts of unfinished repair-jobs in the bathroom.  The carpet was thin, lumpy and stained.  The chairs were orange and well worn.  And, like the lobby, the room was big, but everything was pushed to the edge. 

Four-star luxury at Buon Ma Thuot!  You can even see the carpet lumps!

Suffice it to say, I won't be staying with the Dakruco Hotel Chain again!

Fortunately, I slept well and woke the next morning to a beautiful sunrise.  We met at 6:30 in the unsurprisingly weird "Apricot Cafe" and had brunch, which I limited to fruit and toast, before we headed out of town at 7:00am.

Leaving Buon Ma Thuot

It was a perfect day for a ride.  Beautiful, sunny, clear skies and mild, mid-70s temperatures.  And, more importantly, the route we had chosen was fantastic.  A quiet, two lane highway from town through spectacular rice fields with lush, green hills in the distance.

Mr Luong asked this nicely dressed, toothless, long-bearded man for directions
when we needed to turn off of Road 27

(Yes, this road is part of our route.  It looks like a sidewalk
but it's a real road, cars and all)

Of course, taking in mile after mile of spectacular scenary, one gets pretty parched.  Naturally, there's nothing better for a dry mouth than a round of ca phe sua das at a cute roadside stop!

Grandma, on the right, just woke from her nap in the hammock

These three ladies offered me something like sunflower seeds and were laughing and
giggling.  They apparently thought I was cute and wanted my phone number according to Huy.

Then we were off again to take in some more spectacular scenary.

Lots of corn!  Just like Iowa!

It was really an incredible morning driving through rice paddies, coffee plantations and corn fields.  And, once again, I was reminded how truly lucky I am to be able to see an incredibly scenic part of Vietnam that most never get to see.

Tomorrow: Lunch!