[Photos] Down From the Mountains: Da Lat to Nha Trang by Motorbike

The winding northern route which snakes between Da Lat and Nha Trang is full of pine forests, mountain jungles and coastal plains.

There are more trees than people. Though both tourist destinations are worthy in their own right, TL652 is a literal – and figurative – breath of fresh air. It starts up high, nestled in the wooded mountains of the Central Highlands before sliding into a stretch populated by waterfalls and red-dirt patches. The wider, greener leaves of palm trees start to appear. Before long, the heat and noise arrive, pulling you down into coastal Vietnam's chaos. If you gun it, the drive only takes a few hours. But with views like these, why rush?

 A countryside vista in the Central Highlands.

Elephant Falls.

The Da Lat Train Station, built in 1938, features a combination of Art Deco design and traditional Vietnamese longhouse architecture.

A farmhouse on the outskirts of Da Lat.

Route TL652 is a mere ribbon of pavement at the bottom of this valley.

Winding into the coastal plains on the way down to Nha Trang.

A farmhouse sits in a sugarcane field near Nha Trang.

A small village 50 kilometers outside of Da Lat.

A makeshift pitch after a rainstorm.

A worker tends to her fields.

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