Top Ten Southeast Asia Off-the-Beaten-Path Adventures

Thailand Photos: Biking Bangkok

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It's a long hard climb with a payoff view of the Vietnamese coast: Just north of Da Nang, the jagged mountains of the Annamite Cordillera make for some great biking. These mountains thrust across the narrow waist of central Vietnam, jut into the South China Sea, and cut the country into two halves. Traditionally a barrier between north and south, the road across this extraordinary massif is called Deo Hai Van, or "Pass of the Ocean Clouds." It's a long and exhilarating climb to the old French fort that dominates the crest of the pass, but the clouds that cluster about the summit often draw back to reveal magnificent seascapes. Set out from Da Nang early so you can cross the pass before noon. Then it's an easy (if precarious) ride downhill to palm-fringed Canh Duong Beach. Swim and relax here until evening, then spend the night at nearby Lang Co village. It's another day's ride along Highway 1 past Cau Hai and Thuy Tu Lagoons (both home to hundreds of thousands of seabirds) before you reach Hue, the elegant old capital of Imperial Vietnam.