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It was 8pm, I was at the peak of the Hai Van Pass, from top there although the world below seemed well lit and beautiful, but at the top the only source of light was the headlight of the bike I rode that guided me through the next hundred metres. It had just rained, the road was still moist, one could smell the petrichor on the breezy evening. I kept the speed of my bike under sixty, but my heart, it was pumping faster than it had ever before, partly because of everything I had done in the last twelve hours, and partly because of the anxiety the empty 21km huge curvy and slippery pass gave me with no signs of any other human existence on it; in that moment I prayed as I rode hoping to make it to my destination – HoiAn. I was on my spontaneous, unplanned first solo trip to Vietnam, and I had decided to travel the old school way, without any reception on my phone. I landed up in Hue, and my host offered a bike rental that allowed me to rent the bike from Hue and drop it at my next destination, HoiAn, I was thrilled and immediately jumped at the chance. I was supposed to leave with a fellow traveller I had met at the homestay, but then he took his own sweet time and I knew I had to stop over at the elephant springs and cross through the Hai Van Pass, so I decided to leave by myself. Here I was, with a bike and a map to guide me, it took me some time to adjust to the right-hand riding; as I hit the highway and rode through the beautiful boulevard, I sang to myself in my frog-like voice, and couldn’t stop being amazed at the adventure I had signed up for. In the middle of the highway, I stopped at a café to grab some coffee and empty my weak bladder, I tried to chit-chat with the waitress there through signs and flaunting the few Vietnamese words I learnt in the last few days. When I was all set to get going, my bike refused to start, I applied all the bike knowledge I had but in vain. While I aimlessly dragged my bike through the highway hoping to find a mechanic, getting amazing sun burns in the peak of the afternoon, well this definitely wasn’t the idea of adventure I had; my eyes twinkled when after a km I found a mechanic, who in signs communicated that the batteries were down and it’d take an hour to charge. I spotted a small joint across the road, the old woman there was kind enough to host me and offered some tea, after failed attempts at having a conversation because of the language barrier, it was time to bid adieu and hit the road. After having wasted so much of time, I sped up aiming to hit the elephant springs soon, making no stops except a waterfall sign that grabbed my attention, and that is where I met Alexander, we were both headed to the springs and decided to go together, after asking multiple people, the directionally challenged us managed to reach the spot. He guided me through to the top most point, midway I cursed myself for accompanying him – hiking was bit of a challenge for me; the view from the top was spectacular, with no other human presence. The two of us sat there enjoying the view, sharing a smoke, with no common language for us to talk, we had the most beautiful conversation, and I couldn’t thank my stars or him enough for this experience. After taking a dip for a while, I had to take a leave, he escorted me to the base, the downward drill was easier, I hugged him goodbye and left. I now had the endless road ahead till I reached HoiAn, it led me to the most awaited stopover, the Hai Van Pass, it was pitch dark when I reached the pass, it was nerve-racking; but I knew in my heart to keep going and the lights shall guide me home.