Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City Motorbike Trip: Day 10 - Hoi An to Kon Tum

I woke up early, showered, and packed up my gear. I had phở with coffee for breakfast. Pleiku was my target destination.

At 9am I was driving. While I was filling up with gas I realized that I had forgot my passport so I went back to get it at the hostel.

My wifi stopped working a couple hours outside Hoi An. I could check google maps but it wasn’t giving an updated, accurate position. I took the wrong road and ended up at a construction site with 2 angry dogs running out and chasing me in the opposite direction.

I spent about half an hour driving back an forth asking Vietnamese people which way to Kon Tum. Finally I was pointed in the right direction. I rode on Highway 1 for about 20 minutes. It wasn’t fun. There was a lot traffic. Trucks were filling the air with smoke and dust. The traffic was moving fast enough so that any errors could cause serious accidents but slow enough that we weren’t making good progress.

I turned off the highway and took country roads toward Kon Tum. I took a wrong turn and ended up going in circles. Despite getting lost, the day was enjoyable. The weather was great and the scenery was beautiful with mountains and blue lakes. I was impressed by a big dam that I drove across.

Eventually I reached Kon Tum. It was already late in the day so I decided that I couldn’t make it to Pleiku and that I should sleep in Kon Tum. I booked a hotel room and went out to get my oil changed. It took a while to find a shop that would do an oil change at 8pm. Most of them were closed already. Then I went to eat phở.

Everyone I met was smiling, friendly, and nice. The hotel staff smiled. The mechanic and his mom chatted with me about the USA. At the phở restaurant I met 2 nice Vietnamese girls who asked for my phone number. I was pleasntly surprised by Kon Tum. It has a population of 400,000; roughly the same size as my hometown, Anchorage, Alaska.

I saw 2 other foreigners walking on the sidewalk as I was driving in Kon Tum. Other than that it was all Vietnamese people. I went to bed at around 9:30pm. I was tired and I wanted to be well rested for he next day.