31/03/13
I had a crepe with honey for breakfast and it was a serious sized crepe, it was easily over a foot wide. Today was another one of those days where we hired bikes, they only had fully automatic bikes which was lame but better than nothing. Rob sped off towards the petrol station (which was about a km away), he took the wrong turn and wasted time waiting or us, whilst George and I filled up our bikes and headed back to the hotel to find Rob. Together we were then escorted back to the petrol station, by our hotel manager and then pointed in the right direction to find Elephant Falls (an impressive water fall, about 30m by 30m). The road there was also incredibly memorable, it took us mainly through pine forests with a drop down one side, leaving us with wicked views, it also had more twists in it than an Agatha Christie novel which made enjoyable riding. At the falls we walked down some pretty dodgy steps to near the bottom, where we entered a cave that emerged pretty much underneath the fall, so we stripped down to our swim shorts and walked out along some rocks as far as we dared, we were drenched within seconds and provided entertainment for a couple of German tourists. At the very bottom Rob and I swam in a pool (about 5 foot deep), even out of the main flow there was still a noticeable current. After a slog back to the top we asked for directions to a good restaurant that was near. Apparently just 50m down the road there was such a restaurant, it was foul, there were tables with food remains on which were swamped by flies, totally engulfed, one table must have had 50 flies on it, needless to say it didn't take us long to decide to go elsewhere. Another 200m up the road we found another restaurant, unfortunately the menu was in Vietnamese, so it was lucky dip yet again. We ended up with 2 vegetable dishes, an omelette type thing and rice, add onto that 3 cans of coke and it only came to £3.80, but as George said "the only time I would order something without meat in at a restaurant is when I can't read the menu", I couldn't agree more. We hadn't left the restaurant long before it started to rain, it didn't take long for this rain to become torrential, it was so bad we couldn't even see so we pulled over and sheltered in a local's covered driveway and were invited in. The rain turned into a proper storm, ripping a neighbour's roof clean off and sent it flying into a tree, finally (after nearly an hour) the rain eased off and we helped reclaim the metal roof, we were rewarded with a strange fruit, it tasted a lot like mango but it didn't look vaguely like one. 5 miles up the road there hadn't been a drop of rain, clearly it had been extremely localised. We went back to the hotel to drop a few things off, including George then went out for another ride, this time along more mountain roads, for about 30km, it was tiring work as it was very busy and you had to keep your wits about you constantly. Dinner was one of the best meals we have had so far and we didn't pay stupid amounts for it either which is always a bonus. Tomorrow we move on, hopefully to find better weather!
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Day 26 Market Place
30/03/13
Yet another 06.30 start, today there wasn't even enough time for a proper breakfast, so we just grabbed a baguette before getting on a bus to Dalat at 07.30. Apart from a brief 15 minute stop by a river it was a straight 5 hour slog, most of it was crawling uphill and I mean crawling, I could've cycled up faster then we drove. When we arrived there was the mandatory scrum has hotel reps tried to secure our patronage, we selected a guy who was charging $10 for a 3 person room, the only downside is that there is no AC. We got some lunch (noodle soup) at a local restaurant then spent most the afternoon bimbling around the town, until it rained. This was proper 'English' rain so we dashed into a restaurant, where we stayed until it stop, just 15 minutes later. Our wandering took us into a covered market where every shop was the same, literally there was 100+ stalls all selling identical produce, I don't understand how any of them any money. We went down a few more streets and bought 'cream cones' (cupcake icing in a wafer cone) then just 20m on Rob and I bought banana fritters (deep fried bananas), so lush! We finally came back to the hotel after completing a big old loop, all of us were massively under-whelmed, somehow I don't think we will be staying here longer than needed.
Yet another 06.30 start, today there wasn't even enough time for a proper breakfast, so we just grabbed a baguette before getting on a bus to Dalat at 07.30. Apart from a brief 15 minute stop by a river it was a straight 5 hour slog, most of it was crawling uphill and I mean crawling, I could've cycled up faster then we drove. When we arrived there was the mandatory scrum has hotel reps tried to secure our patronage, we selected a guy who was charging $10 for a 3 person room, the only downside is that there is no AC. We got some lunch (noodle soup) at a local restaurant then spent most the afternoon bimbling around the town, until it rained. This was proper 'English' rain so we dashed into a restaurant, where we stayed until it stop, just 15 minutes later. Our wandering took us into a covered market where every shop was the same, literally there was 100+ stalls all selling identical produce, I don't understand how any of them any money. We went down a few more streets and bought 'cream cones' (cupcake icing in a wafer cone) then just 20m on Rob and I bought banana fritters (deep fried bananas), so lush! We finally came back to the hotel after completing a big old loop, all of us were massively under-whelmed, somehow I don't think we will be staying here longer than needed.
Friday, 29 March 2013
Day 25 Lone Wolf
29/03/13
Last night I hit the hay early because I was really tired from getting up early for diving. The other 2 stayed out for much longer, hopping between bars, Rob returned at 02.00 having been kicked out of one place for throwing up, he then threw up in the toilet where he also fell asleep, George returned 2 hours later having gone a massage parlour with another brit called Nick, he claims that there was no 'happy ending'. Today I left for breakfast, just after 9 and left the other 2 sleeping like babies, I left a note saying I was going for breakfast then going to the beach, I expected them to turn up within 2 hours. By 14.00 they still hadn't turned up so I went back to our hotel room and found them still sleeping so I turned round, picked up some food and hit the beach once more. At 16.00 I again return to the room, this time both of them were awake, apparently they had got up earlier to go for breakfast but had then decided that bed was a better option than the beach. I enjoyed my day, sunning myself and swimming in the sea and out to one of the buoys offshore, personally I feel the other 2 wasted their day but each to their own! Later we went out for drinks and dinner but then headed to our room early for an early night and to pack because we leave tomorrow at 07.30.
Last night I hit the hay early because I was really tired from getting up early for diving. The other 2 stayed out for much longer, hopping between bars, Rob returned at 02.00 having been kicked out of one place for throwing up, he then threw up in the toilet where he also fell asleep, George returned 2 hours later having gone a massage parlour with another brit called Nick, he claims that there was no 'happy ending'. Today I left for breakfast, just after 9 and left the other 2 sleeping like babies, I left a note saying I was going for breakfast then going to the beach, I expected them to turn up within 2 hours. By 14.00 they still hadn't turned up so I went back to our hotel room and found them still sleeping so I turned round, picked up some food and hit the beach once more. At 16.00 I again return to the room, this time both of them were awake, apparently they had got up earlier to go for breakfast but had then decided that bed was a better option than the beach. I enjoyed my day, sunning myself and swimming in the sea and out to one of the buoys offshore, personally I feel the other 2 wasted their day but each to their own! Later we went out for drinks and dinner but then headed to our room early for an early night and to pack because we leave tomorrow at 07.30.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Day 24 Man Down
28/03/13
Well not man down, rather camera down. Today was our final day of our Advanced Open Water course. Our first dive took us down just short of 30m, the second was a shallower dive because we were identifying fish. We saw loads of different types, including; trumpet fish, honeycomb eels, a shoal of a few thousand yellow bellied fusiliers, giant puffer fish, porcupine fish and plenty of others, but at the cost of my camera. It is waterproof to 10m but it still let water in, either the frame around the seal was bent or we went deeper than 10m, I couldn't tell because my depth gauge was broken. I think it was probably the latter, I didn't trust our guy from the word go, he couldn't tie knots that he was teaching us and laughed if you asked a simple question, he also nearly killed Rob and George when we made a safety stop with a spare tank, but it wasn't turned on, something that really panicked Rob, he said we wouldn't go deep but who knows with him, I certainly didn't trust his word! We spent a couple of hours on the beach then went out for a drink before dinner then for a couple more afterwards too.
Well not man down, rather camera down. Today was our final day of our Advanced Open Water course. Our first dive took us down just short of 30m, the second was a shallower dive because we were identifying fish. We saw loads of different types, including; trumpet fish, honeycomb eels, a shoal of a few thousand yellow bellied fusiliers, giant puffer fish, porcupine fish and plenty of others, but at the cost of my camera. It is waterproof to 10m but it still let water in, either the frame around the seal was bent or we went deeper than 10m, I couldn't tell because my depth gauge was broken. I think it was probably the latter, I didn't trust our guy from the word go, he couldn't tie knots that he was teaching us and laughed if you asked a simple question, he also nearly killed Rob and George when we made a safety stop with a spare tank, but it wasn't turned on, something that really panicked Rob, he said we wouldn't go deep but who knows with him, I certainly didn't trust his word! We spent a couple of hours on the beach then went out for a drink before dinner then for a couple more afterwards too.
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| George on our descent! |
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| One of the many tropical fish we saw (and also the last picture my camera took) |
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Day 23 Advance
27/03/13
We woke up late, due to Rob not waking George and I when his alarm went off (which woke him up). Then we had a rushed breakfast, at the same place as yesterday, as a result. Then a 50m walk to the dive centre to start our Advanced Open Water. A short drive then we were at the port. Then a 40 minute cruise until we were at the dive point, 3 dives followed, the deepest of which was just 14m, tomorrow we should hit 30m. We then hit the Sailing Club (the club our dive centre is linked to), we sat at a table and filled out a load of paper work which was part of the course. It took us nearly 3 hours to complete them all, we didn't buy anything and we far outstayed our welcome. A short stay in our hotel room then out for a fish and chips supper, where we bought a couple of beers, including a half litre 8% brew for 60p. We also bought some chocolate from a supermarket because we haven't really had anything sweet since leaving England, George and I were having withdrawal symptoms.
We woke up late, due to Rob not waking George and I when his alarm went off (which woke him up). Then we had a rushed breakfast, at the same place as yesterday, as a result. Then a 50m walk to the dive centre to start our Advanced Open Water. A short drive then we were at the port. Then a 40 minute cruise until we were at the dive point, 3 dives followed, the deepest of which was just 14m, tomorrow we should hit 30m. We then hit the Sailing Club (the club our dive centre is linked to), we sat at a table and filled out a load of paper work which was part of the course. It took us nearly 3 hours to complete them all, we didn't buy anything and we far outstayed our welcome. A short stay in our hotel room then out for a fish and chips supper, where we bought a couple of beers, including a half litre 8% brew for 60p. We also bought some chocolate from a supermarket because we haven't really had anything sweet since leaving England, George and I were having withdrawal symptoms.
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Day 22 Russian Invasion
26/03/13
Again breakfast today was the same, for me anyway, it consisted of muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit and more fresh fruit, whilst the others had the healthier option of a full english. We then took to the beach and walked along the seafront. We continued for a good mile until we found a harbour pier which we jumped and dived off, into the bath temperature sea water. For the next couple of hundred metres there was just docks so we decided to head back to the road, we went through a set of gates, which on the front had 'Military Docks' written on. The harbour wall we dived off was military property. Another mile or so on we reached our goal, the foot of Vinpearl cable car, a mile long job stretching across the sea to an island. Vinpearl is a huge water/ themepark. It cost just $20 for the whole day 9am to 9pm, we only rocked up at 12.30 but managed to stay for 7 hours. We filled the time by going on copious different types of slides, there were also loads of non-water rides, including our favourite, the Alpine Coaster (a metal toboggan run). There were hundreds of Russians, literally 90% of the customers were Russian, it is the same throughout the whole of Nha Trang, it has many Russian restaurants, bars, shops and even dive centres. There were some indoor games at Vinpearl, including dodgem cars, we teamed up as a trio and destroyed the Russians, occasionally we got as good as we gave, we thoroughly enjoyed being 10 years old again. One thing I didn't enjoy was a small show, which monkeys performed, including riding bikes. We walked back to save money and stopped off and bought 'toasties', they were in fact toasted savoury pancakes, seriously good, especially when they cost just 7p. We later stopped at another street vendor for noodle soup, again extremely good for the money. We went out for a drink but got back at a reasonable time because we're diving again tomorrow.
Again breakfast today was the same, for me anyway, it consisted of muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit and more fresh fruit, whilst the others had the healthier option of a full english. We then took to the beach and walked along the seafront. We continued for a good mile until we found a harbour pier which we jumped and dived off, into the bath temperature sea water. For the next couple of hundred metres there was just docks so we decided to head back to the road, we went through a set of gates, which on the front had 'Military Docks' written on. The harbour wall we dived off was military property. Another mile or so on we reached our goal, the foot of Vinpearl cable car, a mile long job stretching across the sea to an island. Vinpearl is a huge water/ themepark. It cost just $20 for the whole day 9am to 9pm, we only rocked up at 12.30 but managed to stay for 7 hours. We filled the time by going on copious different types of slides, there were also loads of non-water rides, including our favourite, the Alpine Coaster (a metal toboggan run). There were hundreds of Russians, literally 90% of the customers were Russian, it is the same throughout the whole of Nha Trang, it has many Russian restaurants, bars, shops and even dive centres. There were some indoor games at Vinpearl, including dodgem cars, we teamed up as a trio and destroyed the Russians, occasionally we got as good as we gave, we thoroughly enjoyed being 10 years old again. One thing I didn't enjoy was a small show, which monkeys performed, including riding bikes. We walked back to save money and stopped off and bought 'toasties', they were in fact toasted savoury pancakes, seriously good, especially when they cost just 7p. We later stopped at another street vendor for noodle soup, again extremely good for the money. We went out for a drink but got back at a reasonable time because we're diving again tomorrow.
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| Racing slides |
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| Rob and George at the front of a rubbish rollercoaster |
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| Poor monkey riding a bike |
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| George mid-flip on a bungee trampoline |
Monday, 25 March 2013
Day 21 Where's Wobbie
25/03/13
We got in at 05.30 this morning after an uncomfortable ride and very little sleep, so we all had a short nap before doing anything else. At 11.20 we had brunch. We then went to a couple of dive centres, then Rob had his hair cut, to save time George and I went to a few other dive centres to ask prices etc. when we got back to the hairdressers Rob was nowhere to be seen, he had told the hairdresser that he was going to a certain dive centre so George and I followed him to it, when we got there the guy had not seen him, we hadn't got a clue where he was, our finally hope was the hotel, fortunately he was there. Together we then walked a couple of Km down the beach to the Po Nagar Cham Towers, built between the 7th and 12th centuries. The entry was only 50p and I have to say that they looked really impressive, but on closer inspection they had been poorly redone, like most ancient monuments here. Once we had walked back to the centre of town we looked around at other dive centres, then found a restaurant that was doing beers with a huge burger and wedges (probably 6' by 4') for £2. Mcdonalds eat your heart out!
We got in at 05.30 this morning after an uncomfortable ride and very little sleep, so we all had a short nap before doing anything else. At 11.20 we had brunch. We then went to a couple of dive centres, then Rob had his hair cut, to save time George and I went to a few other dive centres to ask prices etc. when we got back to the hairdressers Rob was nowhere to be seen, he had told the hairdresser that he was going to a certain dive centre so George and I followed him to it, when we got there the guy had not seen him, we hadn't got a clue where he was, our finally hope was the hotel, fortunately he was there. Together we then walked a couple of Km down the beach to the Po Nagar Cham Towers, built between the 7th and 12th centuries. The entry was only 50p and I have to say that they looked really impressive, but on closer inspection they had been poorly redone, like most ancient monuments here. Once we had walked back to the centre of town we looked around at other dive centres, then found a restaurant that was doing beers with a huge burger and wedges (probably 6' by 4') for £2. Mcdonalds eat your heart out!
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| Po Nagar Cham Towers |
Day 20 The Marble Mountain
24/03/13
Probably had the nicest breakfast so far, muesli with yoghurt and fresh fruit, a good way to start the day! Neither Rob or George had anything, they felt pretty rough, possibly something they ate last night, they felt fine just a short while later though which was good. We hired 2 bikes, George rode pillion on mine. It was only 20km to the Marble Mountain so not too uncomfortable for George. The mountain itself was little more than a rock. We climbed up a couple hundred steps, stopping occasionally at temples, till we were nearly at the top where we went into a cave. The cave had a small outlet at the back which we climbed out of onto the top where the views were average. We rode back with Rob haring off in front, leaving me to cautiously weave my way through the traffic way behind. We made our last sojourn to cafe 43 then headed to the beach, one last time. At 17.45 we got on another overnight bus, this time to go down the coast to Nha Trang, the diving hotspot of Vietnam.
Probably had the nicest breakfast so far, muesli with yoghurt and fresh fruit, a good way to start the day! Neither Rob or George had anything, they felt pretty rough, possibly something they ate last night, they felt fine just a short while later though which was good. We hired 2 bikes, George rode pillion on mine. It was only 20km to the Marble Mountain so not too uncomfortable for George. The mountain itself was little more than a rock. We climbed up a couple hundred steps, stopping occasionally at temples, till we were nearly at the top where we went into a cave. The cave had a small outlet at the back which we climbed out of onto the top where the views were average. We rode back with Rob haring off in front, leaving me to cautiously weave my way through the traffic way behind. We made our last sojourn to cafe 43 then headed to the beach, one last time. At 17.45 we got on another overnight bus, this time to go down the coast to Nha Trang, the diving hotspot of Vietnam.
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| Pagoda on the Marble Mountain |
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Day 19 Where Is My Son?
23/03/13
The third morning in a row that I had to get up early. Today we were visiting My Son, a collection of about 20 temples (originally 68), it is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. To be honest we were all under-whelmed by it, yes it was 1600 years old but really not that impressive, I am pleased to have ticked it off the list but I don't think I will ever make a return visit. We travelled there by bus, it was one of the worst journeys I have ever taken, the bus itself was 50 years old and the seats were terrible, every little bump we went over they rocked backwards and forwards so I was rocking practically the whole way there, plus it made a dreadful squeaking noise which didn't help anything, on the way back we caught a boat which was much smoother and cooler. In the afternoon we were all going to go to the beach but George decided he didn't want to and the Rob decided he was still too burnt from earlier in the week, so I hired a bicycle and rode the 4.5km to the coast and spent a couple of hours sunning myself whilst the other 2 read in our stuffy room.At the beach I lay down on a sun bed and was promptly asked for money so I took my towel and lay in the sand, the woman didn't t look too happy! This evening we again went to cafe 43 for our evening meal, I had such a nice dish of fried pork, it was certainly worth going back there a second time and I would recommend it to anyone else, probably our best meal so far!
The third morning in a row that I had to get up early. Today we were visiting My Son, a collection of about 20 temples (originally 68), it is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. To be honest we were all under-whelmed by it, yes it was 1600 years old but really not that impressive, I am pleased to have ticked it off the list but I don't think I will ever make a return visit. We travelled there by bus, it was one of the worst journeys I have ever taken, the bus itself was 50 years old and the seats were terrible, every little bump we went over they rocked backwards and forwards so I was rocking practically the whole way there, plus it made a dreadful squeaking noise which didn't help anything, on the way back we caught a boat which was much smoother and cooler. In the afternoon we were all going to go to the beach but George decided he didn't want to and the Rob decided he was still too burnt from earlier in the week, so I hired a bicycle and rode the 4.5km to the coast and spent a couple of hours sunning myself whilst the other 2 read in our stuffy room.At the beach I lay down on a sun bed and was promptly asked for money so I took my towel and lay in the sand, the woman didn't t look too happy! This evening we again went to cafe 43 for our evening meal, I had such a nice dish of fried pork, it was certainly worth going back there a second time and I would recommend it to anyone else, probably our best meal so far!
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| My Son |
Friday, 22 March 2013
Day 18 Open Water Qualified
22/03/13
Another early start at 06.45 (I am now very tired). After breakfast we walked back to the hotel o get pick up, before we got there a guy shouted out of his car window and asked us if we were going diving and to get in, I was very wary and only relaxed after he had mentioned our hotel and room number. A short drive then onto the boat where I was greeted like an old friend. Our first dive was down to 18m, the deeper we got , the worst the visibility got, at points it was down to a metre, making it very hard to keep contact with the others, even so it was still really cool.. Rob didn't equalise his mask so the pressure sucked his face in, leaving him with 2 very blood shot eyes, it actually looked like he had been smacked twice in the face. We spent an hour at the surface then stepped off the back of the boat again and went under the surface, this time to 14m. The second dive was much clearer and we got to see some pretty wicked fish and Deano challenged us to hover whilst hanging upside-down, a really weird sensation but pretty cool. Another cool thing was swimming through an underwater archway. To be honest I love scuba diving and I think it is going to become a very expensive hobby... Again lunch was provided on the island, where I also did the final test and became a qualified diver. Whilst I was doing the test the other 2 feel asleep in hammocks. We had to go to the dive bar in the evening to pick up my temporary card and logbook and get the dives signed off, we chatted to Deano for a while and he suggested heading to Cafe 43 for dinner, I'm really glad we did because it was possibly the nicest meal we have had so far and the staff were really friendly, even better was the price for beer, for $1 or 65p we got 1.8L of beer, not too shabby!
Another early start at 06.45 (I am now very tired). After breakfast we walked back to the hotel o get pick up, before we got there a guy shouted out of his car window and asked us if we were going diving and to get in, I was very wary and only relaxed after he had mentioned our hotel and room number. A short drive then onto the boat where I was greeted like an old friend. Our first dive was down to 18m, the deeper we got , the worst the visibility got, at points it was down to a metre, making it very hard to keep contact with the others, even so it was still really cool.. Rob didn't equalise his mask so the pressure sucked his face in, leaving him with 2 very blood shot eyes, it actually looked like he had been smacked twice in the face. We spent an hour at the surface then stepped off the back of the boat again and went under the surface, this time to 14m. The second dive was much clearer and we got to see some pretty wicked fish and Deano challenged us to hover whilst hanging upside-down, a really weird sensation but pretty cool. Another cool thing was swimming through an underwater archway. To be honest I love scuba diving and I think it is going to become a very expensive hobby... Again lunch was provided on the island, where I also did the final test and became a qualified diver. Whilst I was doing the test the other 2 feel asleep in hammocks. We had to go to the dive bar in the evening to pick up my temporary card and logbook and get the dives signed off, we chatted to Deano for a while and he suggested heading to Cafe 43 for dinner, I'm really glad we did because it was possibly the nicest meal we have had so far and the staff were really friendly, even better was the price for beer, for $1 or 65p we got 1.8L of beer, not too shabby!
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Day 17 Under the sea
21/03/13
An early start for me at 06.45, again I left the other 2 in bed (they eventually got up just before 10 and went fishing). At 8 I was picked up outside the hotel then driven to the small dock, stopping a couple of times on the way to pick up others. We got straight onto the boat for our hour long trip to the Cham Islands, our dive sites for the day. Deano and I weren't diving alone, we were with a french couple who were doing a discovery dive (a scuba dive but they haven't had any training). They had done one before but the wife was getting really panicky and claiming she couldn't breathe properly so she got out, so it was just the 3 of us.It was a really good dive, down to 11.7m, we didn't see anything spectacular but we did see loads of awesome coral and hundreds of different types of fish, including a lion fish which looks pretty cool. After an hour at the surface we went under the water again and this time we went down to 14m, again it was truly spectacular, although the visibility could have been better. Lunch was on one of the islands and it was a big buffet style meal including fresh fish. We then had a short amount of time on the beach before our journey back. I eventually got back to the hotel and met the other guys and we headed to the tailors to pick up our suits. Fortunately my sleeves had been lengthened so they now fitted perfectly. It also only cost $30 each to fly them back to the UK including recorded delivery. After our dinner we went to the dive bar, for the 3rd evening in a row, mainly just for the pool table. Slowly we are getting better/luckier. Tomorrow Rob and George dive with Deano and I.
An early start for me at 06.45, again I left the other 2 in bed (they eventually got up just before 10 and went fishing). At 8 I was picked up outside the hotel then driven to the small dock, stopping a couple of times on the way to pick up others. We got straight onto the boat for our hour long trip to the Cham Islands, our dive sites for the day. Deano and I weren't diving alone, we were with a french couple who were doing a discovery dive (a scuba dive but they haven't had any training). They had done one before but the wife was getting really panicky and claiming she couldn't breathe properly so she got out, so it was just the 3 of us.It was a really good dive, down to 11.7m, we didn't see anything spectacular but we did see loads of awesome coral and hundreds of different types of fish, including a lion fish which looks pretty cool. After an hour at the surface we went under the water again and this time we went down to 14m, again it was truly spectacular, although the visibility could have been better. Lunch was on one of the islands and it was a big buffet style meal including fresh fish. We then had a short amount of time on the beach before our journey back. I eventually got back to the hotel and met the other guys and we headed to the tailors to pick up our suits. Fortunately my sleeves had been lengthened so they now fitted perfectly. It also only cost $30 each to fly them back to the UK including recorded delivery. After our dinner we went to the dive bar, for the 3rd evening in a row, mainly just for the pool table. Slowly we are getting better/luckier. Tomorrow Rob and George dive with Deano and I.
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| Cham Islands |
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Day 16 SCUBA
20/03/13
Today I woke early, showered and went to get breakfast before either of the others was awake. Today was the first day of my 3 day, PADI open water diving course. When I arrived at the 'centre' (the back of The Dive Bar) I met my instructor, a long-haired, middle-aged dude from Brisbane called Deano. After 10 minutes 2 German girls turned up who were also doing the course, but within half an hour they had left again because they couldn't understand the video fully, so the rest of the day I had one to one tuition, I certainly didn't mind. In the morning I just watched the video and answered a few questions about it, after lunch we rode 6km on Deano's beat-up bike to a fancy hotel on the beach front because it had a massive pool. We kitted up and went under the surface. We didn't do anything complicated, just the basics and because we had extra time a couple of more advanced techniques. I haven't done an open water dive yet but I think that I will get hooked on scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving. Whilst I was working hard the other 2 had hit the beach and returned lobster red but thoroughly relaxed. After we were back together we went to the tailors again , everything was wicked, the only problem was my sleeve lengths, they had got them wrong by 1 or 2 centimetres on each garment, an easy fix apparently. George also decided to get measured for a suit because he realised what he was missing out on. Our transport this evening was the scooter the others used to go to the beach, somehow we managed to fit all 3 of us on the one seat, I have to say that I have been more comfortable. Surprisingly we also had some rain this evening, not heavy or long-lasting but it was accompanied by some impressive lightening, Not a large bolt or fork but a sprawling sheet which illuminated the sky, at first I thought it was an electricity cable sparking, which in truth is probably a more likely situation.
Today I woke early, showered and went to get breakfast before either of the others was awake. Today was the first day of my 3 day, PADI open water diving course. When I arrived at the 'centre' (the back of The Dive Bar) I met my instructor, a long-haired, middle-aged dude from Brisbane called Deano. After 10 minutes 2 German girls turned up who were also doing the course, but within half an hour they had left again because they couldn't understand the video fully, so the rest of the day I had one to one tuition, I certainly didn't mind. In the morning I just watched the video and answered a few questions about it, after lunch we rode 6km on Deano's beat-up bike to a fancy hotel on the beach front because it had a massive pool. We kitted up and went under the surface. We didn't do anything complicated, just the basics and because we had extra time a couple of more advanced techniques. I haven't done an open water dive yet but I think that I will get hooked on scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving. Whilst I was working hard the other 2 had hit the beach and returned lobster red but thoroughly relaxed. After we were back together we went to the tailors again , everything was wicked, the only problem was my sleeve lengths, they had got them wrong by 1 or 2 centimetres on each garment, an easy fix apparently. George also decided to get measured for a suit because he realised what he was missing out on. Our transport this evening was the scooter the others used to go to the beach, somehow we managed to fit all 3 of us on the one seat, I have to say that I have been more comfortable. Surprisingly we also had some rain this evening, not heavy or long-lasting but it was accompanied by some impressive lightening, Not a large bolt or fork but a sprawling sheet which illuminated the sky, at first I thought it was an electricity cable sparking, which in truth is probably a more likely situation.
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Day 15 Tailor Made
19/03/13
We walked round the corner and sat in a cafe for breakfast, we all had pancakes, George and I had pineapple and Rob had banana, George wasn't feeling too good (he's fine now)so I finished his, no complaints from me. We then spent the rest of the morning at the tailors, it was recommended to us by an aussi who we met on our Ha Long Bay trip. It was really fun choosing styles and colours and getting measured up, the staff were also brilliant and spoke very good English. They would literally make anything for you, all you had to do was show a picture. Rob bought 2 suits but I pushed the boat out a little more; one casual suit jacket, a DJ and 2 shirts, all for £80. Savile Row has nothing on Hoi An, an estimated 300-500 tailoring shops, each of them probably not far off Savile Row quality craftsmanship either. My favourite choice was the lining, all I can say is you don't normally see many dinner jackets with yellow linings. Tomorrow we have to go back for a second fitting, because they are making them as I write. In the afternoon we wandered around the city and visited a couple of dive centres, I start my PADI open water course tomorrow. As the other 2 are already qualified they are going to the beach tomorrow but on Friday we are diving together.
We walked round the corner and sat in a cafe for breakfast, we all had pancakes, George and I had pineapple and Rob had banana, George wasn't feeling too good (he's fine now)so I finished his, no complaints from me. We then spent the rest of the morning at the tailors, it was recommended to us by an aussi who we met on our Ha Long Bay trip. It was really fun choosing styles and colours and getting measured up, the staff were also brilliant and spoke very good English. They would literally make anything for you, all you had to do was show a picture. Rob bought 2 suits but I pushed the boat out a little more; one casual suit jacket, a DJ and 2 shirts, all for £80. Savile Row has nothing on Hoi An, an estimated 300-500 tailoring shops, each of them probably not far off Savile Row quality craftsmanship either. My favourite choice was the lining, all I can say is you don't normally see many dinner jackets with yellow linings. Tomorrow we have to go back for a second fitting, because they are making them as I write. In the afternoon we wandered around the city and visited a couple of dive centres, I start my PADI open water course tomorrow. As the other 2 are already qualified they are going to the beach tomorrow but on Friday we are diving together.
Monday, 18 March 2013
Day 14 A Hoi there
18/03/13
Hoi An is tailor haven, there are hundreds of tailors about, literally every-other shop is one, which is one reason why we are here. We arrived in Hoi An by another 'sleeper' bus but as it was during the day none of us actually slept during the 3 and a half hour drive. When we arrived there was a rep from one of the hotels, she was offering free transport to the hotel, it just happened that it was the one we wanted to stay at anyway so we climbed on board, because the offer went down so well the rep had to climb into the boot. We got given a 3 person room then headed down to the hotels swimming pool. in reality it was little more than a bath tub so we didn't stay too long in it. After we had dried and changed, we headed out for dinner, we walked down the streets until we found the river front, most the places were rather expensive but eventually we found a cheap place, beers for 13p. Once the meal was over we left and were swamped by reps from different bars, all competing for trade, many of them offering free drinks (most turned out to be buy one get one free). The first place we visited we got a free drink, then rob challenged 2 other English guys to a pool game, I was his partner. Rob played poorly but I lost it for us when I potted the black in the wrong pocket, we had a drink ridding on it so we duly bought the other guy 2 'Pink Ladies', not the most manly item on the menu! Another place we got beers for 4000 dong (8p) somehow I don't think we will get cheaper than this. Tomorrow we get measured for our suits, an exciting prospect.
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| On the 'sleeper' bus again |
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| The Pink Ladies |
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Day 13 4th Gear
17/03/13
4th Gear is Rob's favourite gear, 2 days ago he rode all day in 4th gear, even when pulling away, an impressive feat but not good for the bike. Today we all rode in 4th gear because we rode 150km to the Vinh Moc Tunnels along route 1, the main road in Vietnam. It's the main road but it is still only single carriageway. The tunnels themselves were extremely impressive, 40km of underground tunnels and over 2000km of trenches. A total of 46 babies were also born in the passages during the US war. Having seen the passages I was left in no doubt as to why the vietcong beat the US. On the way there we almost had a couple of accidents, all of us, on more than one occasion skidded. The reason being that motorbikes ride down the hard shoulder which is covered in grit and gravel and every now and then another rider would swerve, meaning you would have to break suddenly, locking up either the front or rear wheel, creating a skid. On the way back this happened to me when an articulated lorry swerved towards a concrete barrier whilst I was undertaking it (the safest way for bikes). I slammed on my brakes, both wheels locked and the bike went down, smashing the mirror. I received road rash and a couple of larger cuts down my left leg and a few small cuts on my right knee, my fingers were also run over by the last 2 sets of wheels from the lorry, some how they're not broken! On the way I also managed to brush my leg against George's exhaust when we stopped for water so now have a 2 inch burn on my left leg as well. A little sore but otherwise perfectly alright.
4th Gear is Rob's favourite gear, 2 days ago he rode all day in 4th gear, even when pulling away, an impressive feat but not good for the bike. Today we all rode in 4th gear because we rode 150km to the Vinh Moc Tunnels along route 1, the main road in Vietnam. It's the main road but it is still only single carriageway. The tunnels themselves were extremely impressive, 40km of underground tunnels and over 2000km of trenches. A total of 46 babies were also born in the passages during the US war. Having seen the passages I was left in no doubt as to why the vietcong beat the US. On the way there we almost had a couple of accidents, all of us, on more than one occasion skidded. The reason being that motorbikes ride down the hard shoulder which is covered in grit and gravel and every now and then another rider would swerve, meaning you would have to break suddenly, locking up either the front or rear wheel, creating a skid. On the way back this happened to me when an articulated lorry swerved towards a concrete barrier whilst I was undertaking it (the safest way for bikes). I slammed on my brakes, both wheels locked and the bike went down, smashing the mirror. I received road rash and a couple of larger cuts down my left leg and a few small cuts on my right knee, my fingers were also run over by the last 2 sets of wheels from the lorry, some how they're not broken! On the way I also managed to brush my leg against George's exhaust when we stopped for water so now have a 2 inch burn on my left leg as well. A little sore but otherwise perfectly alright.
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| Poor Fingers |
Saturday, 16 March 2013
Day 12 Hue There!
16/03/13
Rob and I had to share a double bed last night, there was no duvet, just a sheet, unfortunately for me Rob stole all of it! After breakfast at 'The Kangaroo Restaurant' we walked to the citadel. Within the citadel is the Imperial Enclosure, housing the emperor's residence and all the other state buildings, a pretty impressive enclosure although many of the buildings had recently been renovated but without the use of traditional methods and paints etc. so it kinda ruined it for me. For lunch we headed to a guidebook recommended restaurant but as always we failed to find it, so we just found another place which was ace, the staff were really friendly, they suggested a certain dish to me so I went along with them, I am so glad that I did. It was a banana pancake with beef and salad and a peanut sauce, so, so, so tasty, it is now one of my favourite meals of all time. Again we got our free beer from the hotel and a free shot from the same bar but we really wanted to find a bar with the 6 Nations, no luck with a bar but we have just found an online sight with live streaming, it might be a late night for us as the England game starts at midnight here.
Rob and I had to share a double bed last night, there was no duvet, just a sheet, unfortunately for me Rob stole all of it! After breakfast at 'The Kangaroo Restaurant' we walked to the citadel. Within the citadel is the Imperial Enclosure, housing the emperor's residence and all the other state buildings, a pretty impressive enclosure although many of the buildings had recently been renovated but without the use of traditional methods and paints etc. so it kinda ruined it for me. For lunch we headed to a guidebook recommended restaurant but as always we failed to find it, so we just found another place which was ace, the staff were really friendly, they suggested a certain dish to me so I went along with them, I am so glad that I did. It was a banana pancake with beef and salad and a peanut sauce, so, so, so tasty, it is now one of my favourite meals of all time. Again we got our free beer from the hotel and a free shot from the same bar but we really wanted to find a bar with the 6 Nations, no luck with a bar but we have just found an online sight with live streaming, it might be a late night for us as the England game starts at midnight here.
Friday, 15 March 2013
Day 11 Death wish
15/03/13
After getting up we went downstairs and hired bikes again, because today we were going to an open air war museum (some random Vietnamese guy invested all his money into making a real life village of how it would have been during the US war). George was navigating as he was riding pillion, once again he took us the wrong way, in fact he took us in a U-turn... We did get back on track, going through a massively busy market in the process. Another kilometre on and the bike that George and I were riding lost power, we got it going again but I swapped to pillion on Robs. We were going down a side track when it stopped again, this time for good, after trying to restart it a couple of times and checking a couple of things we realised it was out of fuel, even though the bike said 1/4 left. Rob and I rode for 10 minutes to find a garage, where we filled up a bottle with petrol, as I was ridding pillion I had the privilege of holding the bottle, for the rest of the day my hands stank of fuel. Back at the bikes we filled up George's bike and rode on, after half an hour searching for the museum we still hadn't found it so gave it up as a bad job and went for a coffee by a lake. George had tea, whilst Rob and I had iced coffee (effectively a double espresso with ice), all of this for 60p. We rode back to the hotel, picked up our stuff then started walking towards the bus depot. On the way we stopped at a restaurant for brunch, beef noodle soup. At the depot we had to wait half an hour, I really needed the toilet so went on a hunt but found nothing so I hid behind one of the buses and just went against the wall, I obviously hadn't hidden well enough as I heard a whistle and a shout and saw a man coming towards me, he was coming down one side of the bus so I legged it down the other, a lucky escape. The journey itself was sketchy as anything, the driver drove like a madman, overtaking at any cost. Along the road we were travelling I saw the remains of 3 crashes, 2 of them involved buses and the front ends in both cases were in tatters, after that I looked out sideways instead of the front.The journey to Hue took 4 hours and when we arrived we rocked up at the backpackers hostel, they had 3 beds but only in separate dorms so we looked elsewhere, we settled on 'Why Not? Hotel' which charged the same price but proper rooms, also thrown in was a free beer at their restaurant, we also got free shots at another place, we went there, got the free drinks and left. We had our dinner at a well recommended place but 2 hours later George and I were still hungry (as we were still a meal down), so we went to another place and has another rice dish because it had 10% off between 9-11pm. Afterwards we went to another pub, this time because there was free pool, we got talking to a Cambodian tour guide who might hook us up with some voulenteering at a school when we pass through.
After getting up we went downstairs and hired bikes again, because today we were going to an open air war museum (some random Vietnamese guy invested all his money into making a real life village of how it would have been during the US war). George was navigating as he was riding pillion, once again he took us the wrong way, in fact he took us in a U-turn... We did get back on track, going through a massively busy market in the process. Another kilometre on and the bike that George and I were riding lost power, we got it going again but I swapped to pillion on Robs. We were going down a side track when it stopped again, this time for good, after trying to restart it a couple of times and checking a couple of things we realised it was out of fuel, even though the bike said 1/4 left. Rob and I rode for 10 minutes to find a garage, where we filled up a bottle with petrol, as I was ridding pillion I had the privilege of holding the bottle, for the rest of the day my hands stank of fuel. Back at the bikes we filled up George's bike and rode on, after half an hour searching for the museum we still hadn't found it so gave it up as a bad job and went for a coffee by a lake. George had tea, whilst Rob and I had iced coffee (effectively a double espresso with ice), all of this for 60p. We rode back to the hotel, picked up our stuff then started walking towards the bus depot. On the way we stopped at a restaurant for brunch, beef noodle soup. At the depot we had to wait half an hour, I really needed the toilet so went on a hunt but found nothing so I hid behind one of the buses and just went against the wall, I obviously hadn't hidden well enough as I heard a whistle and a shout and saw a man coming towards me, he was coming down one side of the bus so I legged it down the other, a lucky escape. The journey itself was sketchy as anything, the driver drove like a madman, overtaking at any cost. Along the road we were travelling I saw the remains of 3 crashes, 2 of them involved buses and the front ends in both cases were in tatters, after that I looked out sideways instead of the front.The journey to Hue took 4 hours and when we arrived we rocked up at the backpackers hostel, they had 3 beds but only in separate dorms so we looked elsewhere, we settled on 'Why Not? Hotel' which charged the same price but proper rooms, also thrown in was a free beer at their restaurant, we also got free shots at another place, we went there, got the free drinks and left. We had our dinner at a well recommended place but 2 hours later George and I were still hungry (as we were still a meal down), so we went to another place and has another rice dish because it had 10% off between 9-11pm. Afterwards we went to another pub, this time because there was free pool, we got talking to a Cambodian tour guide who might hook us up with some voulenteering at a school when we pass through.
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Day 10 The second biggest in Vietnam
14/03/13
We got up at 07.00 and hired bikes from our hotel, just after 10.00 we arrived in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. We had breakfast when we arrived, at a little cafe, and this random bloke came up to our table asking for money, he didn't understand the words 'no' and 'go away' it was just a pain and kinda ruined the meal for me. Rob and I had iced coffees, coffee with ice, strange, strong and rather nice. The reason for being in the national park was to visit a cave, we were told it was the biggest in the world but it actually wasn't, the largest is Son Doong Cave and is in the same national park as us but is yet to be open to the public. Our cave, Phong Nha Cave, a UNESCO world heritage site, was 7,729m long and the second largest in Vietnam but not even close to being the largest in the world. It contains 14 grottoes and has a 13,969m underground river, it's passages add up to another 44.5km. At the ticket office we were affered 2 different prices, 380,000 dong (£12) to get a boat downstream and go inside the cave about 600m or pay 700,000 dong (£21) to go 1.5km inside the cave (as far as tourists can go) and wander about. We said that it was too expensive so they randomly made this other deal, 300,000 dong, 1.5km in as long as we found 4 other people to go with, this we did with ease so grabbed ourselves a super deal. After nearly 2 hours inside we arrived back on terra ferma. We hit the road and drove down the river till the road ran out, near the end we met a canadian couple, travelling on a motorbike, we had previously met them 3 days ago at the monkey sanctuary, small world! before leaving we got a drink at a cafe then averaged 60kmph the whole 50+km home, an awesome ride. After we got back George went back to the hotel whilst Rob and I carried on ridding, we hit the coastal road for a few miles and came across some massive dunes, we walked up them but whilst at the top we saw some locals hanging around our bikes so we ran down, jumped on them, were followed, turned round and sped home. We then went out for dinner (on the bikes), had calamari at one restaurant, then couldn't afford anything else there so went to another restaurant for rice.
We got up at 07.00 and hired bikes from our hotel, just after 10.00 we arrived in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. We had breakfast when we arrived, at a little cafe, and this random bloke came up to our table asking for money, he didn't understand the words 'no' and 'go away' it was just a pain and kinda ruined the meal for me. Rob and I had iced coffees, coffee with ice, strange, strong and rather nice. The reason for being in the national park was to visit a cave, we were told it was the biggest in the world but it actually wasn't, the largest is Son Doong Cave and is in the same national park as us but is yet to be open to the public. Our cave, Phong Nha Cave, a UNESCO world heritage site, was 7,729m long and the second largest in Vietnam but not even close to being the largest in the world. It contains 14 grottoes and has a 13,969m underground river, it's passages add up to another 44.5km. At the ticket office we were affered 2 different prices, 380,000 dong (£12) to get a boat downstream and go inside the cave about 600m or pay 700,000 dong (£21) to go 1.5km inside the cave (as far as tourists can go) and wander about. We said that it was too expensive so they randomly made this other deal, 300,000 dong, 1.5km in as long as we found 4 other people to go with, this we did with ease so grabbed ourselves a super deal. After nearly 2 hours inside we arrived back on terra ferma. We hit the road and drove down the river till the road ran out, near the end we met a canadian couple, travelling on a motorbike, we had previously met them 3 days ago at the monkey sanctuary, small world! before leaving we got a drink at a cafe then averaged 60kmph the whole 50+km home, an awesome ride. After we got back George went back to the hotel whilst Rob and I carried on ridding, we hit the coastal road for a few miles and came across some massive dunes, we walked up them but whilst at the top we saw some locals hanging around our bikes so we ran down, jumped on them, were followed, turned round and sped home. We then went out for dinner (on the bikes), had calamari at one restaurant, then couldn't afford anything else there so went to another restaurant for rice.
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Day 9 Oh we do like to be beside the seaside!
13/03/13
I had a terrible sleep last night, the AC didn't work so I was really hot, so kept waking up. We had a bit of a lie in this morning then went to get some breakfast, we all had beef noodles as a 'beer cafe', literally all the locals had flagans which were kept full by huge jugs of beer, we felt it was slightly too early to start drinking at 09.30, especially before a 5 hour bus journey. We got some snacks for the journey then headed to the bus station. Yesterday we were told that our bus would leave at 12.30 but when we arrived at 11.30 we were told that it was going to leave shortly, we put our rucksacks under the bus and it had started to pull out when we jumped on at 11.40, nothing like a keeno! At about 16.00 we arrived in Dong Hoi, during the journey the bloke next to me fell asleep and rested on my shoulder, rather awkward. George was in charge of getting us to the hotel, so he naturally took us the wrong way, Rob and I soon told him the error in his ways, I guess it's a good job he is doing geography at uni next year. After eventually getting to the hotel (£2.50 a night) we went for a wander along the beach front, after a while we sat down at a beach-side cafe and had drink then went to a restaurant a short way away. The menu, like nearly every other one, was in Vietnamese but the owner spoke some English so we were able to order crab. They went down the road to get it and brought it to our table, still alive, then in no time at all it was on our plate. Part way through George asked what the white stuff was, Rob and I replied "meat" and asked what he had previously been eating, it turns out he had been munching on the crab poo, he did find it very tasty though, each to their own I suppose...
I had a terrible sleep last night, the AC didn't work so I was really hot, so kept waking up. We had a bit of a lie in this morning then went to get some breakfast, we all had beef noodles as a 'beer cafe', literally all the locals had flagans which were kept full by huge jugs of beer, we felt it was slightly too early to start drinking at 09.30, especially before a 5 hour bus journey. We got some snacks for the journey then headed to the bus station. Yesterday we were told that our bus would leave at 12.30 but when we arrived at 11.30 we were told that it was going to leave shortly, we put our rucksacks under the bus and it had started to pull out when we jumped on at 11.40, nothing like a keeno! At about 16.00 we arrived in Dong Hoi, during the journey the bloke next to me fell asleep and rested on my shoulder, rather awkward. George was in charge of getting us to the hotel, so he naturally took us the wrong way, Rob and I soon told him the error in his ways, I guess it's a good job he is doing geography at uni next year. After eventually getting to the hotel (£2.50 a night) we went for a wander along the beach front, after a while we sat down at a beach-side cafe and had drink then went to a restaurant a short way away. The menu, like nearly every other one, was in Vietnamese but the owner spoke some English so we were able to order crab. They went down the road to get it and brought it to our table, still alive, then in no time at all it was on our plate. Part way through George asked what the white stuff was, Rob and I replied "meat" and asked what he had previously been eating, it turns out he had been munching on the crab poo, he did find it very tasty though, each to their own I suppose...
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| Before... |
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| After... |
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Day 8 Grim Vinh
12/03/13
This morning, before breakfast, Rob rode to the train station, with me ridding pillion. We failed to find the station on our first outing from the hotel but our second attempt was more successful, we were able to purchase our tickets to Vinh (nicknamed Grim Vinh because the architecture is horrible concrete). We had a slow breakfast, packed then left to wait for our train, which left at 12.30. There are 2 types of seat available on Vietnamese trains, similar to 1st and 2nd class, hard or soft seat, when we bought the tickets there was only hard ones left. They weren't joking when they said hard, the seats were basically high-backed wooden benches, it was made worse by the bloke opposite, he kept putting his foot on the bench in between George and I in a non-existent gap, when it wasn't there it was in between my legs, literally no concept of personal space, he did however tell us when Vinh station was coming, almost 5 hours after setting off. We got a taxi to a hotel we picked from the guidebook, it was cheaper than expected, a very fancy triple room for just £3 each, not too shabby really. Our linner (lunch-dinner) we all ordered different meals, George loved his beef dish, Rob didn't really appreciate his chicken and my fish was just a pain, 20 small fish, all too big to eat whole but too small to de-bone easily! (photos of the last couple of days also up) |
| It was a long journey! |
Monday, 11 March 2013
Day 7 Motorbike Madness
11/03/13
We went out for breakfast this morning and were trying to find something cheap, we didn't have to walk far before we found a small shop selling things a bit like pizza, we bought 3 of them and paid a little under a quid, they also tasted good, which I guess is a bonus. Back at the hotel we picked up our bikes for the day, George and Rob had automatics (George had never ridden a bike before) and I had a 'manual' which was actually a semi-automatic because there was no clutch but you still had to manually change the gears. We then filled the bikes up, costing 1 pound 50, it is roughly $1 per litre, a lot cheaper than the UK. We left the city and headed towards Cuc Phuong National Park (NP), we wound our way through rocky outcrops, weaved our way through villages and shot between paddy fields, reaching speeds of 100kmph. After half an hour we reached Chua Bai Dinh, a huge Buddhist complex, it consisted of many temples and a long walkway up the hill lined by 500 enlightened Buddhists. In one of the temples stood, rather sat, a 100-tonne bronze Buddha and in another a 36-tonne bell, which is the largest in Vietnam. It was so busy that if you were looking for it you certainly wouldn't have found any peace there. They claim that it is ancient but most of the construction has been done in the last 5 years, in fact they still haven't finished constructing the 13 story pagoda which stands prominently on the hill. We then rode on from here to Cuc Phoung NP (which is 45km from Ninh Binh). We were shown around the monkey sanctuary (where they look after trafficked monkeys and prepare them for re-release back into the wild). They also had a turtle sanctuary that we were shown around. We were allowed to ride our bikes in the park, so we went to a prehistoric cave, it was really big and it had a whole network of smaller caves coming off the main chamber, it would be awesome to explore it properly with a torch. The ride to and from the park there was light drizzle not enough to soak us but enough to wet our faces and put a dampener on the mood, it cleared up about half-way back though which was good. We probably won't be getting bikes the whole way down the coast, mainly because the cost, but we will hopefully be using them as our main form of transport to places once we have arrived in a new town.
We went out for breakfast this morning and were trying to find something cheap, we didn't have to walk far before we found a small shop selling things a bit like pizza, we bought 3 of them and paid a little under a quid, they also tasted good, which I guess is a bonus. Back at the hotel we picked up our bikes for the day, George and Rob had automatics (George had never ridden a bike before) and I had a 'manual' which was actually a semi-automatic because there was no clutch but you still had to manually change the gears. We then filled the bikes up, costing 1 pound 50, it is roughly $1 per litre, a lot cheaper than the UK. We left the city and headed towards Cuc Phuong National Park (NP), we wound our way through rocky outcrops, weaved our way through villages and shot between paddy fields, reaching speeds of 100kmph. After half an hour we reached Chua Bai Dinh, a huge Buddhist complex, it consisted of many temples and a long walkway up the hill lined by 500 enlightened Buddhists. In one of the temples stood, rather sat, a 100-tonne bronze Buddha and in another a 36-tonne bell, which is the largest in Vietnam. It was so busy that if you were looking for it you certainly wouldn't have found any peace there. They claim that it is ancient but most of the construction has been done in the last 5 years, in fact they still haven't finished constructing the 13 story pagoda which stands prominently on the hill. We then rode on from here to Cuc Phoung NP (which is 45km from Ninh Binh). We were shown around the monkey sanctuary (where they look after trafficked monkeys and prepare them for re-release back into the wild). They also had a turtle sanctuary that we were shown around. We were allowed to ride our bikes in the park, so we went to a prehistoric cave, it was really big and it had a whole network of smaller caves coming off the main chamber, it would be awesome to explore it properly with a torch. The ride to and from the park there was light drizzle not enough to soak us but enough to wet our faces and put a dampener on the mood, it cleared up about half-way back though which was good. We probably won't be getting bikes the whole way down the coast, mainly because the cost, but we will hopefully be using them as our main form of transport to places once we have arrived in a new town.
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| The 13 story pagoda |
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Day 6 The Knight Bus
10/03/13
Last night we had an early night as we were all so knackered. This morning we had breakfast overlooking the bay, then we had the return journey back to the mainland. On the boat we played cards with an Australian couple and had a cracking lunch which consisted of; rice, noodles, sweet and sour chicken, beef something, calamari, deep fried baby sweetcorn, deep fried onion and deep fried mushrooms, it was lush. A 2 and a half hour drive back to Hanoi where we were dropped of at the bus station. Our next bus left at 18.00 and was meant to get into Ninh Binh at 20.30 but it took just an hour and 40 minutes. The bus itself literally was the Knight Bus from Harry Potter, there was 3 rows of bunk beds, about 24 in total, on a standard coach. Somehow I think we might be travelling by them more often! We found a hotel in the guide book but couldn't actually find it so we just chose another one, George and I are in a twin room whilst Rob has a double to himself. We went out for dinner, another meal of street food, we couldn't understand a word on the menu so randomly picked 3 things, the chicken kebab like thing was nice, the spicy chicken wings were nice but the hard boiled duck eggs weren't so appetising they had partially formed chicks in them, although this didn't stop George and Rob eating a couple.
Last night we had an early night as we were all so knackered. This morning we had breakfast overlooking the bay, then we had the return journey back to the mainland. On the boat we played cards with an Australian couple and had a cracking lunch which consisted of; rice, noodles, sweet and sour chicken, beef something, calamari, deep fried baby sweetcorn, deep fried onion and deep fried mushrooms, it was lush. A 2 and a half hour drive back to Hanoi where we were dropped of at the bus station. Our next bus left at 18.00 and was meant to get into Ninh Binh at 20.30 but it took just an hour and 40 minutes. The bus itself literally was the Knight Bus from Harry Potter, there was 3 rows of bunk beds, about 24 in total, on a standard coach. Somehow I think we might be travelling by them more often! We found a hotel in the guide book but couldn't actually find it so we just chose another one, George and I are in a twin room whilst Rob has a double to himself. We went out for dinner, another meal of street food, we couldn't understand a word on the menu so randomly picked 3 things, the chicken kebab like thing was nice, the spicy chicken wings were nice but the hard boiled duck eggs weren't so appetising they had partially formed chicks in them, although this didn't stop George and Rob eating a couple.
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| The Knight Bus |
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Day 5 Monkey Island
09/03/13
We were woken by a knock on our door, I looked out of our window and saw 2 fellow passengers already on a small boat with their luggage, we quickly changed and packed but we were still the last ones onto the boat, missing breakfast was not pleasant! We sailed to the largest island, Cat Ba Island, drove across it, got on another boat then sailed to Monkey Island, it is an island with monkeys on it.. It is also the most beautiful island I've ever seen, we've got views out to sea which are kick-ass. Lunch almost made up for breakfast, we had chicken and fish fondue with rice and noodles, we then lounged on the beach for an hour or so before going on a walk. We were told that it would be an easy walk so George and I wore our flip-flops (Rob would've done but he doesn't have any), it was in fact a scramble across jagged rocks to another bay to see the monkeys. Once we'd got back we went kayaking, George and I went to another island, about a mile away, where we found a cave, which fills up at high tide, at the back of the cave we found a tunnel (large enough to crawl down), neither gorge or I was brave/stupid enough to go down it because it was so long that you couldn't see the end even with a camera flash. Whilst we were enjoying ourselves Rob and flooded his kayak, got stung by a jellyfish and had to push his kayak back to shore whilst swimming behind, as you would expect George and I were very sympathetic!
We were woken by a knock on our door, I looked out of our window and saw 2 fellow passengers already on a small boat with their luggage, we quickly changed and packed but we were still the last ones onto the boat, missing breakfast was not pleasant! We sailed to the largest island, Cat Ba Island, drove across it, got on another boat then sailed to Monkey Island, it is an island with monkeys on it.. It is also the most beautiful island I've ever seen, we've got views out to sea which are kick-ass. Lunch almost made up for breakfast, we had chicken and fish fondue with rice and noodles, we then lounged on the beach for an hour or so before going on a walk. We were told that it would be an easy walk so George and I wore our flip-flops (Rob would've done but he doesn't have any), it was in fact a scramble across jagged rocks to another bay to see the monkeys. Once we'd got back we went kayaking, George and I went to another island, about a mile away, where we found a cave, which fills up at high tide, at the back of the cave we found a tunnel (large enough to crawl down), neither gorge or I was brave/stupid enough to go down it because it was so long that you couldn't see the end even with a camera flash. Whilst we were enjoying ourselves Rob and flooded his kayak, got stung by a jellyfish and had to push his kayak back to shore whilst swimming behind, as you would expect George and I were very sympathetic!
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| Monkey Island Resort |
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| A monkey! |
Day 4 Ha Long Bay
08/03/13
Last night we ate on the street, there are loads of 'restaurants' which just sprawl across the pavement. We don't quite know what we ordered or what the meat was, we think it might have been testicles, whatever they were they were nice. Afterwards we went to a pub which had a poster on the wall advertising that the Beatles were playing there..This morning we got picked up at 8 to head to Ha Long Bay, just before 13.00 we arrived and found our boat, a rather impressive, 3 decked vessel. The rooms were doubles and the other 2 quickly voted that I should share with someone else, that someone else was a 26 year old girl called Rebecca, from Dublin. The rest of the day was consumed by a visit to some very impressive caves, which had some real interesting formations, later we went kayaking (where I did some deep water soloing and Rob and I dived off a platform which was part of a floating village). Back on the boat, before dinner, a few of us dived/jumped off the top deck, after dinner we just had a few drinks and chatted, it was really cool talking to the other travellers because many of them had visited places we are planning to go to. Ha Long Bay itself is so impressive, there are about 2000 individual islands and put together they create an awesome view!
Last night we ate on the street, there are loads of 'restaurants' which just sprawl across the pavement. We don't quite know what we ordered or what the meat was, we think it might have been testicles, whatever they were they were nice. Afterwards we went to a pub which had a poster on the wall advertising that the Beatles were playing there..This morning we got picked up at 8 to head to Ha Long Bay, just before 13.00 we arrived and found our boat, a rather impressive, 3 decked vessel. The rooms were doubles and the other 2 quickly voted that I should share with someone else, that someone else was a 26 year old girl called Rebecca, from Dublin. The rest of the day was consumed by a visit to some very impressive caves, which had some real interesting formations, later we went kayaking (where I did some deep water soloing and Rob and I dived off a platform which was part of a floating village). Back on the boat, before dinner, a few of us dived/jumped off the top deck, after dinner we just had a few drinks and chatted, it was really cool talking to the other travellers because many of them had visited places we are planning to go to. Ha Long Bay itself is so impressive, there are about 2000 individual islands and put together they create an awesome view!
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| Ha Long Bay |
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Day 3 Monkeying around
07/03/13
Last night we came back to the hotel briefly before going in search of a bar, we finally settled on one which had a free football table, we played a couple of games then Rob and I challenged another couple of Brits, we comfortably won. We were going to challenge a couple of locals but we would have lost horrifically so decided against it. This morning we visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum , we walked towards it but we were abruptly forced to turn around and go towards the correct entrance, we followed the perimeter and half an hour later we got there, we didn't want to queue for ages so left again (time well spent). We left to go to the Botanical Gardens (a large averagely kept lawn with a couple of trees and two large puddles), there was certainly nothing too special about it. After climbing a tree we weren't meant to we left to go even further North. Further North was the Tran Quoc Pagoda, a Buddhist temple with a tower, it was nice to tick it off the list but I don't think we will be making a return visit. Later we tried to go back to the Mausoleum but they had shut so we went to find lunch. We chose one for its beer prices, a 480ml bottle for 8000 Dong (25p), something I could happily get used to.
Last night we came back to the hotel briefly before going in search of a bar, we finally settled on one which had a free football table, we played a couple of games then Rob and I challenged another couple of Brits, we comfortably won. We were going to challenge a couple of locals but we would have lost horrifically so decided against it. This morning we visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum , we walked towards it but we were abruptly forced to turn around and go towards the correct entrance, we followed the perimeter and half an hour later we got there, we didn't want to queue for ages so left again (time well spent). We left to go to the Botanical Gardens (a large averagely kept lawn with a couple of trees and two large puddles), there was certainly nothing too special about it. After climbing a tree we weren't meant to we left to go even further North. Further North was the Tran Quoc Pagoda, a Buddhist temple with a tower, it was nice to tick it off the list but I don't think we will be making a return visit. Later we tried to go back to the Mausoleum but they had shut so we went to find lunch. We chose one for its beer prices, a 480ml bottle for 8000 Dong (25p), something I could happily get used to.
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Day 2 Propoganda
06/03/13
We first awoke at 02.00 (I have no idea why, because it would have been 19.00 in the UK). We woke again at 10.30, we had a very late breakfast and then we went out. Our first port of call was the old prison, it was proper interesting but very anti French and USA (it held US airmen shot down during the war). There was one exhibit with Michael Cains flying suit and his deployed parachute, he actually crashed so never deployed but I guess every piece of propaganda helps. Next we went to the war museum, which again was very anti-French, saying how inadequate the French were and promoting their greatness; in both places there was very little/no mention of Vietnam's mistakes. There was one exhibit which showed a French steel helmet in tatters with a caption saying how poor their kit was (we all agreed that they had actually just found one and shot it to pieces). Rob's fame travels far and wide (at least in Asian circles), he was asked for a photo with a random Korean girl which George and I found hilarious, Rob somehow didn't but obliged. We paid a combined total of £1.50 to visit them, tourist prices here are steep... The Literature Temple was next, charging 70p for entry, we felt we had already paid enough today so just boldly walked through the gates and weren't challenged. we then walked all the way back to our hotel a good 40 minutes. The reason for returning was because we were having a meal (on the house) with the other guests, we were told to be there at 18.30 by 19.00 only 4 people had turned up, by 19.30 everyone had arrived. It was a meal of noodles and spring rolls, because we hadn't had any lunch I was starving, I had about half a plate of noodles and 25 spring rolls, I still feel slightly hungry. We are now sitting in a coffee shop overlooking the lake making plans for Ha Long Bay.
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Day 1 Off to 'nam
4-5/03/13
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