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Published: February 12th 2010
Boxing Day
Girls looking fresh before we leave for Haylong BayChristmas day was funny, the hangover I had was not so much. After an attempt at some breakfast I had to go back to bed. I didnt feel well enough to take my head off the pillow until 4pm. It was that sort of hangover. I finally got my act into gear and Kate and I went shopping. The only hangover cure! After looking round a million and one shoes shops and being too indecisive to buy anything we went back to drift in time for Kate to Skype her family. The evening was topped off in true hangover style by watching a film and monging out in the DVD room.
The following day we booked a trip to Haylong Bay. Barry was feeling terrible so he didnt make it but the rest of us set off on our day trip on a junk boat round Haylong bay.
The journey to the boat was 3 hours, the trip was about 4 hours and the journey back was 3 hours. But I'd say it was just about worth it. The bay was beautiful but the weather spoilt it. It was the first bit of rain we've had in a while
Boxing Day
Take a closer look, can you see what food this sign is advertising? and you could tell it affected everybodies mood. It didnt stop us having a laugh and doing some kayaking. It was cold, wet and definitely not kayaking weather but like true troopers we had paid for it so we stripped down and jumped straight in. Im sure the Japanese tourists on our boat thought we were mad, I didnt think we were being mad just being typically English. Too polite not to do it and too polite to moan about the weather to the tour guides. We kayaked for about an hour through some amazing caves. The guide told us they used the cave as a location for a James Bond film. I cant remember which one, if I were to guess I'd say the guide said it was 'The Man with the Golden Gun' but if there are any James Bond buffs out there i stand to be corrected. Haylong is a really beautiful place with hundreds of rock formations jutting out of the sea but for us it was slightly ruined by the weather. The scenery would of been more amzaing had the sun been shining. Saying that we could still appreciate what a wonderful place it was,
Boxing Day
Thats right folks they serve DOG!!!! but from the inside of our junk boats cabin :-)
We had booked to leave Hanoi the following day by plane. It was our first and only internal flight because the difference between flying and getting another 24 hour bus ball breaker was only about 10GBP. The only downside was that our pick-up was 3.30!! After watching Villa lose to Arsenal the guys settled down for a few hours sleep but Dean & i decided to stay up instead watching Apocolypse Now. So 3.30 arrived and we made our way to the airport. The flight itself was fine and I was very thankful that it was only an hour and we weren't getting a 24 hour bus journey at 3.30am!!!
At the airport we had the usual hassle of the taxi drivers! At the best of the times it gets annoying but after landing at 6am it becomes very testing. We landed at Danong airport but had to get an hour taxi to Hoi An. After numerous negotiations we finally found a taxi driver that had a taxi big enough to take all of us at a reasonable, albeit still over the top, price. The problem was that
he wasnt a registered airport taxi driver so after he had packed our bags into the boot he got escorted away from the police. This led to it being open season again with the previously mentioned annoying taxi drivers. After being told the taxi driver was not coming back we had to unload our bags and eventually had to go in two taxis as they were so small. This all before breakfast!!
We checked into Greenfields and checked ourselves into some sleep. Hoi An was just going to be a stop off as it was the 28th and we wanted to continue our plans to get to Nan Trang for New Year. So Kate and I woke up and paid for our bus journey the following evening with the rest of the guys. After looking for accommodation in Nan Trang It was getting late so we had some food and retired to our beds.
As we only had one day in Hoi An, Kate and I hired some pedal bikes to cycle round. We made it as far as the old town then the bikes were locked up and Kate was off shopping. We had been told by
people we had met that Hoi An was well known for its tailors and produced some really nice clothes. Both Elaine and Sam had chosen some beautiful dresses to be made so Kate chose to get a Maxi dress mad for New Year. Being as though it was her birthday I thought I'd treat her :-)
So after some retail therapy we hit the beach to catch up on some sand between our toes. Our taxi was booked for six so our sunbathing was only short-lived. We went back to pick Kates dress up and then made it back in time to Greenfields for our taxi. The rest of the guys had decided that they wanted one more night in Hoi An so we would meet them on New Years Eve in Nan Trang.
The night bus was pretty uneventful and we made it to Nan Trang for 5am. We had provisionally booked a room at a hostel called Mui Nay but we arrived there at 6am to be told the room wouldnt be ready until 12. So we had a walk round and grabbed some breakfast. Whilst walking on the sea front we were amazed to find
Halong Bay
Nice place to have a wardrobe a whole concreted area with badminton courts full of people. Most of them were over 50 and there they were at the crack of dawn with some very impressive smash shots. I havent even got that much energy or motivation to get up at 7am and I'm 28!!! We then stumbled upon a lovely hotel-type guest house for the same price but had two double beds and a flat screen tv. Not that we are the 5-star traveller type but it was a luxury we wasnt going to knock back.
Nan Trang isnt a very big place but it has an amazing beach and beach front. There are a handful of bars just off the promenade with pools, restaurants and dead comfortable sunloungers. Bliss! We chose a place called the Louisianne Brewhouse where we decided to plant ourselves for the day. Now we love the beach, the sea and the sand and we have been to some amazing beaches but sometimes you cant beat a good sunlounger by the side of a pool.
Lying next to us we got speaking to a couple called Mick and Karen. Turns out they were from Chesterfield, which is not far from
Halong Bay
Nice view, shame about the weather Kate and where some of her friends live, and they were also backpackers. Mick was 52 and Karen was 49!! We spent the afternoon with them and I can hinestly say they are the most lovabable and funniest characters I have ever met. Their story is that after being made redundant they decided to rent their house out and travel the world. They'd never really been outside of Europe but had decided to pack everything up (Karen told me Mick was literally trying to pack everytjing even the DVD player incase they got bored) and head round the world. They had no exprience of travelling apart from their enthusiasm. And believe me they have bags of it. We instantly warmed to them and we enjoyed the afternoon with them. Turns out that they left the UK in September 2008 and they've been in South-East Asia ever since. Mick said that all his friends at home thinks his mad but he loves it!!!
For two weeks over Christmas and New Year their children Lyndsey and Lee and Lyndseys boyfriend Joe had come out to visit them. Lyndsey and Joe had travelled through India and Lee was studying in London. So
Halong Bay
Awesome rock formations after spending the afternoon together we agreed to meet up for some cheap beers later on. Now when I say cheap Mike assured me that he knew a few places that sold a pint of beer for 8,000 VND. As it was 30,000 VND to the GBP this meant it was about 25p! Mick told me that as long as they can stick to a budget of 15GBP a day they'd never have to go back to the UK to work so he knew where all the cheapest bars and eateries were. Great!!! Sidenote- Mick had recommended a fish and chip shop called Somthing Fishy which served the best fish and chips we have ever had. In our time we ate their twice and the after we recommended it to the rest of the guys the majority of them went there at least twice
That evening we had cheap beers, found a bar that gave you a free Mojito with every drink (Kate loved it), played Jenga and then found a bar that had a happy hour between 4-11pm and sole double vodkas with mixer for 10,000 VND (30p)!!!! The bar was called 'Why Not', why not indeed. (Over
Halong Bay
Floating villages our time in Nan Trang this bar would become very popular with us and probably reach nearly legendary status but ill explain more about that later.) We got to the bar at 10pm so we fully made the most of the final happy hour! We left in a more drunken state than when we arrived and headed to the Sailing Club. The bouncers bregrudgingly let us in because Joe was steaming and lasted all of about 5mins before Lee got sick and we had to leave!! It was funny!
All of this was the night before New Years Eve, so needless to say our original plan of an early night in preparation for the guys arrival and the full day session was out of the window but that evening was only the start of 3 fantastic days in Nan Trang
K&K
xxx
That
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