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Published: September 17th 2010
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On your bike then
It is amazing how much rice you can fit on a scooter. We have made a little side detour on our trip south down the Vietnamese coast. The trip from Hoi An to Nha Trang would have been 11 hours and we thought that it would be too much for the kids in one hit. So we decided to stop over in Quy Nhon for a couple of days. We hired a car to take us as the only other way would have been to get 3 buses, all of them local non air-conditioned ones, included a couple of waits on the side of the road for drop-offs and pick-ups (now that would have been very low on the old CF scale I can tell you). Although it was only 300km it took almost 6 hours. No-one tends to speed in Vietnam (we did see one crazy local bus driver zooming in and out of the traffic at high speed with the ‘conductor’ hanging out the door) we is great as we are less likely to have an accident. We got to see a fair bit of the countryside and how the locals go about their business. When they dry out their crops they spread it out on the side of the road
These piggies go to market
It is very common to see several pigs in small baskets on the back of bikes. No worries about animal welfare here. or on driveways, keep turning it over and then pack it up before it rains in the afternoon. We also saw way too many bikes with a lot of sacks and pigs on them. As sad as it sounds it was very interesting and educative for the kids (a CF of 2 to me for being such a typical teacher).
We made it to Quy Nhon by mid-afternoon and were delighted to see how quiet and picturesque it was. We also landed at a pretty good hotel to boot. Quy Nhon is a small little fishing village that is a natural harbour that is surrounded by lush mountains. The bay is full of brightly coloured fishing boats and the beach is covered with the giant fishing baskets the locals use to get their catch into the shore. From our room we have a pretty good view of the beach, but from the café at the top we can see the whole town and surrounds.
It is obvious from our walks around town that not too many tourists come here. Firstly we have seen very few other western tourists, and secondly the locals keep pointing at as and yelling
Quy Nhon harbour
Quy Nhon is a natural bay and all the brightly coloured boats anchor here. out hello. All very friendly and polite though. It is very easy to pick up really great meals very cheaply here and we are never hassled to go into a restaurant. The seafood is second to none as it basically comes right off the fishing boats to the restaurants. We have been checking out the few restaurants recommended in the lonely planet but so far only one is still operational. Fortunately there are plenty of other great local ones in their place.
It must be the time for weddings at the moment. There has been a wedding every night at our hotel. In fact one night there were three. I have also seen many more around town. Maybe it is a lucky time for weddings or something. It has made for some interesting and noisy times. The weddings seem to be in two parts. Without fail people come up to their rooms at about 10pm, change clothes and then go back down stairs. Interesting.
Quy Nhon has been a very relaxing break. There are not too many things to do and we have basically had rain and thunder storms all day every day since we have arrived. We
Fish baskets
These giant fish baskets are all along the beach. They are used to get the catch to shore and market. have taken the opportunity to get a dose of worm tablets into us. We got these in Denmark and you have to take them in two lots, two weeks apart. They are pretty bloody potent and you probably don’t want to be too far away from your hotel let alone on a bus for 5 or 6 hours. Oh the joys of travelling the world. Not quite as idealistic as everyone back at work imagines. The fact is worming, although a CF of 2, is very important when you are travelling though various parts of Asia with little kids. We are now ready to move on to Nha Trang and get back into some more sight seeing and tours.
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